Flower Room.
The heavy doors slowly opened. Wind rushed in from outside, sweeping the scattered petals across the floor like a silent snowfall.
Rock walked over the petals, his footsteps almost inaudible.
It felt like a different world from the one outside.
There was no roar of cannon fire, no battle cries shaking the sky. It was so quiet he could hear the wind brushing the flower stems.
At the heart of the sea of flowers, Imu stood with his back to Rock, his figure shrouded in deep shadow.
"You made it here after all."
Rock stopped. "It's not my first time."
Only then did Imu slowly turn, his broad cloak shifting with the movement.
"But this time is different."
"It is."
Rock looked at him, his voice level. "Before, I still had to let you save a little face."
The Flower Room fell silent for a moment.
Imu showed no anger. He merely stared at the man before him.
"I should have killed you at God Valley."
Rock raised an eyebrow. "Garling said that too."
He paused, a faint smile tugging at his lips. "How's that working out for him?"
Imu's gaze finally turned colder.
Rock stopped smiling. He opened his right hand, revealing a small black crystal in his palm.
He had recovered it from deep within the ruins of Lulusia.
"This is what Lulusia left behind."
Imu glanced down at it without lingering.
"What gives you the right to destroy a country with a single word and leave so many people without even a chance to escape?"
Imu was silent for a moment before he answered calmly.
"What gives me the right?"
He lowered his gaze slightly. He looked less like a man regarding the remains of a country than one regarding a speck of dust on