Chapter 43: The Final Judgment

A hush fell over the grand hall, so profound it was as if a vacuum had sucked all sound from the air. Lily Ye’s words, “My plan…”, hung in the space between them, an iridescent bubble of poison that had finally burst. Her face, a mask of triumphant malice just moments before, was now a canvas of stark, bone-white terror. The blood drained from her cheeks, leaving behind a pasty, horrified visage. “My… my plan?” she stammered, her voice a reedy, unconvincing squeak. She took a clumsy...