Chapter 693: The Ritual Beneath the Earth
Sophia knew what this was immediately.
The moment the world around her shifted, she understood she was seeing a vision.
The realization settled into her before she could even fully process her surroundings.
The noise of the square disappeared completely. The shouting, the panic, all of it vanished as though someone had ripped her out of reality itself and dropped her somewhere else entirely.
Cold air brushed against her skin, but it wasn't the cold that came from the snow.
This place was different.
Sophia slowly lifted her head, her breathing uneven as she looked around.
Dark stone walls stretched outward beneath flickering torchlight. Shadows crawled across the chamber like living things, twisting and bending whenever the flames moved.
The air smelled strange. It was a mix of smoke and iron and, beneath it all, blood.
Sophia's stomach tightened instantly.
