The garden temple standing in the middle of the dark lake shuddered, and for a moment, the dim twilight of the Hollows was illuminated by a brilliant blaze of cold light.
Powerful torrents of ghostly blue flame shot from the overgrown windows on the higher floor of the castle, extending dozens of meters in all directions like rays of a fiery star. The vines and branches covering the embrasures were instantly reduced to ash.
For a split second, the world seemed frozen. Then, a net of brilliant cracks revealed itself on the ancient walls, and the entire top of the castle disappeared in the annihilating radiance of a violent explosion.
A vast flower of blue flame blossomed above the dark lake. A cloud of burning splinters was shot outward like shrapnel, and a deafening thunder rolled across the surging water like a roar. The immense spire of the castle tilted slowly, collapsing into the flames, and then plummeted down from a great height.