As the raid ended, Valeris came to him.
"That was… unreal."
"Still," Asher said as he resealed his powers, "he didn't force me to use my full power."
Valeris raised an eyebrow, brushing starlight-ash from her shoulder, her body still trembling from the aftershock of their fused strike.
"You're telling me that wasn't your full strength?" she said, half-laughing, half-exhausted.
Asher exhaled slowly, the aura around him condensing back into silence. The marks of the eight seals—celestial bindings etched along his spine and chest in ancient script—dimmed and vanished beneath his skin.
"No. That was… seventy percent. Maybe seventy-five, after I burned through the fifth seal."
Valeris stared at him for a long moment. "You're insane."
He smiled faintly. "Maybe. But so was the Emperor—thinking his era could outlast mine."
She walked closer and rested her hand against his chest, feeling the barely-leashed storm beneath.
"How many seals do you have?"
