Kaelen knew they couldn't afford a direct, prolonged journey. The moment Valerius felt the Aetheric Thunderclap, every major city would be put on lockdown.
"We cannot use a portal or a flying spell," Kaelen explained as they raced away from the Sunstone Caves. "Too visible, too slow. We must use the Phase Shunt again, not as a weapon, but as transport."
He led Elara to a hidden Varr Aether Conduit—a large, standing stone used by his ancestors for long-range communication, now dormant.
"I am going to use the Conduit to project a stable Temporal Shunt along the central Aether Grid," Kaelen declared. "We will phase ourselves a fraction of a second into the future, allowing us to move at impossible speeds, invisible to the present timeline, covering the distance to the capital in minutes."
Elara understood the terrifying risk: "If the connection is unstable, we could be stretched across the timeline, or simply scattered into dust."
"The Codex will stabilize the conduit," Kaelen affirmed, placing the scroll on the stone. "Trust the math, Elara. We are entering the highest-level Transfiguration in the Varr library."
Kaelen initiated the Temporal Shunt. The stone conduit glowed brilliantly blue, and the air around them distorted. He held Elara's hand tightly, anchoring her to his stable Aether core.
With a sensation like falling through glass, they phased out of the present timeline.
They reappeared minutes later in the alleys behind the Royal Treasury, miles away from the breach site. Kaelen was severely winded, but the journey was complete.
The city was a hive of frantic, low-level magical activity. Valerius's guards were deploying panic spells, binding runes, and mass-surveillance charms—but Kaelen and Elara were already within the heart of the defense.
"The Sunstone Aether Bank is three blocks east, beneath the Royal Tower," Kaelen commanded, using the internal map provided by his Temporal Foresight. "It's shielded by a Seven-Fold Shield Rune—standard Archmage defense, but I know the exact frequency for a single-point destabilization."
Elara led the way, navigating the choked alleys with the instinctual knowledge of the novel's heroine. They slipped past frantic patrols, their presence undetectable amid the chaos.
They reached the concealed entrance to the Bank: a heavy, reinforced steel vault door protected by shimmering, overlapping layers of protective runes. Two Purple Rank guards stood watch, radiating intense, protective Aether.
"The guards are the last defense," Kaelen whispered. "I cannot waste Aether fighting them. I must use a non-Aetheric distraction to initiate the Temporal Foresight sequence."
Elara immediately went into action. She moved out of the shadows, her Zero Rank status her perfect disguise. She affected a look of terror and pointed wildly down the alley they had just emerged from.
"Treason! A massive explosion! The Archmage is at the wall!" she screamed, her voice carrying panic and conviction.
The guards, already on edge from the distant thunderclap, instantly turned toward the perceived, massive external threat. It was the crucial half-second Kaelen needed.
He seized the moment, projecting the pre-calculated, single-point attack directly into the Seven-Fold Shield Rune.
"Rune Destabilization, Varr Frequency!"
The overlapping shields didn't collapse; they fractured, creating a single, minute gap in the defense. Kaelen drove his Staff into the small gap, leveraging the power of the Codex to open the reinforced vault door.
With a grinding groan, the massive steel door shuddered inward. Kaelen and Elara slipped inside, leaving the confused guards to stare at the empty alley, having been undone by a woman's foresight and a split-second of magical precision.