The warehouse was supposed to be dark, dusty, and full of the smell of rust.
But when Ensaria held the synchronization inside Mira's body, the space changed golden light and black shadow collided like two poles that had always wanted to destroy each other.
The creature prepared to strike again.
But this time, it didn't run.
It vanished.
Kael squeaked, "BRO, WHAT THE HELL IS IT"
In an instant the creature was already above Mira, its arm turning into a spear of shadow.
Eren and Rhen moved at the same time, but still too slow.
The spear came down
Ensaria raised Mira's hand.
Golden light clumped into a curved shield.
CRASH.
The impact screamed with a metallic sound that didn't come from any metal on earth.
The shield cracked.
The shadow cracked.
The room trembled as if time itself had been head-butted.
Mira screamed not physically, but in her consciousness.
"I can't… hold it!"
Ensaria responded calmly, too calmly:
"You're strong. Your body isn't."
The creature stepped back half a pace, its head rotating 180 degrees without sound, observing Mira like a predator studying prey that suddenly grew fangs.
"VESSEL… POTENTIAL… 41%."
Kael almost fainted. "Bro it even has a progress bar?!"
Rhen spat blood but still readied his sword.
"Kael… shut up and focus."
The creature lowered its body, ready to pounce. Black energy flowed from pillar to pillar, as if it was absorbing the building as an extra heart.
Eren whispered, "Mira… if you can't raise synchronization, we die here."
Mira opened her eyes Ensaria controlled her body, but Mira could still see, feel, and choose.
"I want control," Mira said inside. "How do I take it?!"
Ensaria fell silent.
Then spoke softly:
"By remembering something you want to protect… not something you want to defeat."
The words felt like shattering glass in Mira's chest.
She remembered Shaolin.
She remembered Kael who was loud but loyal.
She remembered Rhen who looked at her like a sister.
She remembered Eren who… carried too much alone.
She remembered everything that would disappear if she backed down now.
Mira gripped her consciousness like gripping a sword.
"Fine. Let's share control."
Ensaria smiled not a sound, but a feeling.
"One small step, Keeper."
The creature moved.
THE WORLD exploded in black-and-white motion.
But this time, Mira saw it.
Truly saw it.
Its movements, its patterns, even the shadow behind its shadow.
"Left! Now!" Mira shouted in her mind.
Ensaria moved her body following that command.
The shadow spear hit the floor, not Mira.
The warehouse cracked open like the earth ripping apart.
Kael yelled, "MIRA CAN RESPOND?!"
Rhen: "OH MY GOD STOP DISTRACTING HER!"
The creature attacked again but now Mira started first.
Ensaria's light swept the air, no longer a shield, but a round golden blade like a heavenly disk.
The creature blocked, but there was a fraction of a second delay.
It stepped back two steps.
For the first time.
Eren saw that opening.
And he understood.
"Mira… you're seeing movements even I can't see."
Mira smiled bitterly from within her body.
"Still 41%, bro."
Rhen clicked his tongue. "DON'T SAY IT LIKE THAT OR AT 42% WE ALL EXPLODE!"
The creature paused.
Its two silver-ringed eyes widened.
"…synchronization… rising without permission…"
Ensaria turned, staring at it.
"You think the Keeper of Eden just waits for orders?"
The creature screamed a low howl like thousands of hell's doors opening at once.
Shadows shot out, covering the entire room.
Then…
The world split open.
Mira suddenly stood somewhere else.
A white desert.
A sky without a sun.
The ruins of Eden floating like shattered islands.
Before her a figure in white robes, face wrapped in light, hair long to the waist, skin like opal glass.
"Welcome… to the Fracture of Time."
Mira stepped back. "Wh-who are you?!"
The figure bowed slightly, aura gentle but firm.
"I am Sefir. Former Envoy of Eden."
"And you… are a Keeper awakened too early."
Mira swallowed hard.
"If so… explain what's happening."
Sefir looked at her with eyes deep as a well of light.
"You are walking the same line that once destroyed Eden."
"And if you misstep… Edenveil will suffer the same fate."
From afar, Ensaria's voice called her panicked, loud.
"Mira! Wake up! Don't go too far!"
Sefir placed a hand on Mira's shoulder.
His touch warm.
Real.
"I will teach you… but only if you're willing to pay the price."
Mira wanted to ask what price
but the world cracked again.
She returned to the warehouse.
Kael screamed, "MIRA PLEASE COME BACK THE THING IS USING ITS ULT!!!"
Eren held off a massive shadow strike.
Rhen lay on the floor again.
Ensaria panted, the light in Mira's body flickering.
Mira opened her eyes
and for the first time, her eyes weren't black.
A thin golden ring circled her pupils.
Ensaria whispered:
"You brought something back from the Fracture…"
The creature stepped forward.
Mira raised her hand.
The air split like fabric being torn.
Eren's eyes widened. "Mira… what are you doing?"
Mira took a breath.
"41%? Raise it to 50."
Ensaria shouted, "THAT'S FAR TOO DANGERO"
But it was too late.
Light erupted from Mira's body.
The creature froze completely.
As if time refused to touch it.
And Mira said:
"Now I get it.
Let's finish this chapter."