The sanctum went still.
Not quiet.
Still.
Even the Ash Monolith's runes dimmed, as if bowing to something far larger than themselves.
Lucian felt it first—not as pressure, not as pain—but as **attention**.
Something had noticed him.
Something vast.
Something old enough that the Emperor's presence suddenly felt… finite.
Kaelis tightened her grip on Lucian's arm.
"…that feeling," she whispered. "That's not the Auditor."
Lucian swallowed.
"No."
The Emperor straightened slowly, every trace of casual authority gone from his posture.
"The Sovereign," he said.
The word landed like a funeral bell.
The air folded inward.
Not tearing.
Not fracturing.
Aligning.
A presence pressed against reality itself, as if the universe were being forced to acknowledge a superior claim.
Lucian's Core reacted violently—not with instability, but with _defiance_.
White-gold-green flame condensed further, sinking deeper into itself.
Kaelis felt it too.
Their bond tightened—not painfully, but urgently—like a hand gripping another before a fall.
The Auditor recoiled several steps, its mirrored surface rippling.
**"Deviation acknowledged,"** it said, voice strained for the first time.
**"Authority override in progress."**
The Emperor barked:
"GET OUT."
The Auditor didn't argue.
It vanished—peeled out of existence as if erased from the current layer of reality.
And then—
The Sovereign spoke.
Not with sound.
With **law**.
**"You have overstepped."**
The sanctum walls groaned.
Lucian's knees buckled, Kaelis bracing him instantly.
The Emperor stood his ground.
"I acted within necessity."
**"You acted within fear."**
The Sovereign's presence sharpened.
A shape formed—not a body, not an avatar—but a _concept_ given outline.
A towering silhouette of layered symbols and impossible geometry, each line a rule, each curve a constraint.
Lucian's vision blurred.
"…that's him," he whispered.
Kaelis felt her throat tighten.
"So that's the thing that decides who's allowed to exist."
The Sovereign's attention shifted.
Lucian felt it land on him like a verdict.
**"Unbound Heart,"** the Sovereign intoned.
**"Your recurrence was an error."**
Lucian clenched his fists.
"Funny," he said hoarsely. "Feels intentional."
The Emperor's eyes widened.
"Lucian—do not provoke him—"
Too late.
The Sovereign regarded Lucian with cold, distant curiosity.
**"You speak with density you have not earned."**
Lucian met that impossible gaze.
"I earned it by surviving everything you sent to kill me."
Silence.
Then—
A pressure wave slammed into the sanctum, shattering lesser runes instantly.
Kaelis gasped as her breath was stolen from her lungs.
Lucian staggered—but didn't fall.
The Sovereign's voice hardened.
**"Your bond should not exist."**
Kaelis snarled, forcing air back into her chest.
"Then stop staring at it and deal with the fact that it does."
The Emperor's heart nearly stopped.
"KAELIS—!"
The Sovereign paused.
Slowly, its attention slid to her.
**"Anchor."**
Kaelis's skin prickled violently.
"I'm not your Anchor," she shot back. "I'm his."
The Sovereign studied her.
**"You are a flaw."**
Lucian stepped fully in front of her.
"Say that again."
The Sovereign's presence intensified.
**"You are an instability vector that compromises systemic control."**
Lucian's flame surged.
"Good."
The Emperor stepped forward sharply.
"That is enough."
The Sovereign's attention shifted.
**"You forget your place."**
The Emperor didn't flinch.
"I remember it perfectly. I was placed beneath you so I could see the cracks."
The Sovereign's form pulsed.
**"You were permitted autonomy. Not rebellion."**
The Emperor's jaw tightened.
"I did not rebel."
**"You trained a Monolith Pair."**
The accusation struck like a hammer.
"You opened the lattice," the Sovereign continued.
"You revealed forbidden structure.
You endangered containment."
Lucian's blood went cold.
"So this whole reality is a containment unit," he muttered.
The Emperor didn't deny it.
The Sovereign spoke again:
**"Your authority is revoked."**
The sanctum shook violently.
The Ash Monolith screamed—its runes flickering erratically.
Kaelis grabbed Lucian's arm.
"What does that mean?"
The Emperor exhaled slowly.
"It means," he said quietly, "I am no longer protected."
The Sovereign's presence sharpened to a blade.
**"Step aside."**
The Emperor didn't move.
Lucian felt something twist painfully in his chest.
"You're going to kill him."
The Sovereign's reply was emotionless.
**"Correction. I will erase a variable."**
Lucian didn't think.
He moved.
White-gold-green flame flared as he stepped between the Emperor and the Sovereign's conceptual form.
Kaelis followed instantly, blade snapping up.
The Sovereign paused.
**"…Interesting."**
Lucian's voice shook—but held.
"He protected us. You don't get to erase him."
The Emperor barked:
"LUCIAN—NO—!"
The Sovereign regarded Lucian carefully.
**"You would interpose yourself between law and correction?"**
Lucian nodded.
"Yes."
The Sovereign's presence pressed harder.
**"You do not understand what you are opposing."**
Lucian clenched his jaw.
"Then explain it to me while I'm standing."
Silence stretched.
Then, unexpectedly—
The Sovereign withdrew pressure.
Not fully.
But enough.
**"Very well,"** it said.
**"Then you will leave."**
Lucian blinked.
"…leave?"
The Emperor stared.
"Leave… where?"
The Sovereign answered:
**"Beyond my immediate jurisdiction."**
Kaelis stiffened.
"You're exiling us."
The Sovereign's tone was indifferent.
**"I am postponing deletion."**
Lucian exhaled sharply.
"And the Emperor?"
The Sovereign's gaze flicked to him.
**"He will face audit."**
The Emperor closed his eyes briefly.
Lucian shook his head.
"No."
The Sovereign's attention snapped back.
**"You do not dictate terms."**
Lucian met that gaze with everything he had.
"If he falls, we don't go quietly."
The Sovereign paused.
Longer this time.
The silence was heavy with recalculation.
**"…Your defiance is inefficient,"** the Sovereign said finally.
**"But noted."**
The Emperor looked at Lucian sharply.
"Lucian—this is your chance. Take it."
Lucian clenched his fists.
"What happens if we go?"
The Sovereign answered:
**"You will be hunted."**
Kaelis laughed darkly.
"So nothing changes."
The Sovereign continued:
**"You will be denied safe zones, system arbitration, and recovery cycles."**
Lucian nodded slowly.
"And if we stay?"
**"You will be erased."**
Lucian didn't hesitate.
"We're leaving."
The Sovereign's presence began to recede.
**"Run,"** it said coldly.
**"Let us see how long your bond endures without shelter."**
The pressure vanished.
The sanctum groaned, half-collapsed.
Lucian turned to the Emperor.
"…we can't take you with us."
The Emperor nodded grimly.
"No. You cannot."
Kaelis swallowed.
"What happens to you?"
The Emperor gave a thin smile.
"I will do what I have always done."
Lucian frowned.
"Which is?"
"Delay the inevitable."
He stepped closer and placed a hand on Lucian's chest.
"Your Monolith is incomplete.
The Sovereign knows this."
Lucian nodded.
"So we finish it."
The Emperor's eyes hardened.
"You finish it fast."
The sanctum began to dissolve—
not collapsing, but **releasing** them.
A gateway formed—raw, unstable, unprotected.
Kaelis tightened her grip on Lucian's hand.
"No safety nets," she muttered.
Lucian smirked faintly.
"Didn't like them anyway."
The Emperor's voice followed them.
"Lucian. Kaelis."
They turned.
"You are no longer pieces on the board," he said quietly.
"You are the board."
Lucian nodded.
"We'll make it messy."
The Emperor smiled—just a little.
"Good."
They stepped into the void.
Behind them, the Ash Monolith Sanctum sealed shut.
And somewhere far above—
The Sovereign began mobilizing forces that had not moved in millennia.
The Monolith War had begun.
The world did not welcome them.
Lucian felt it the moment his feet hit solid ground—
if it could be called ground.
It was ash, but not the kind he knew.
Too fine. Too quiet. Like the residue left after something had been erased instead of burned.
The sky above was colorless, stretched thin like parchment scraped too many times. No sun. No stars. Just a pale gradient that suggested light without offering warmth.
Kaelis tightened her grip on his hand.
"…this place feels unfinished."
Lucian nodded.
"Or abandoned."
They stood on a broken plateau overlooking a vast, uneven expanse of fractured terrain—floating slabs of land drifting slowly, lazily, colliding and separating without sound.
No cities.
No structures.
No system markers.
Lucian's Core pulsed uneasily.
"There's no framework here," he murmured. "No rules."
Kaelis swallowed.
"That's worse than bad rules."
Lucian released her hand reluctantly and knelt, pressing his palm to the ash.
Nothing answered.
No feedback.
No resistance.
No validation.
"It's an ungoverned layer," he said quietly. "The Sovereign wasn't lying."
Kaelis exhaled.
"So this is what's outside the cage."
Lucian straightened.
"For now."
The air shifted.
Not violently.
Precisely.
Lucian's head snapped up.
Kaelis's blade was in her hand before the sound finished registering.
"Lucian," she whispered. "We're not alone."
The space in front of them bent inward.
Not opening like a gate.
**Condensing.**
Something stepped out of the distortion—
tall, lean, wrapped in layered plates of dark matter that drank in light instead of reflecting it.
No system aura.
No rank.
No visible Core.
Just a presence that made Lucian's Monolith tighten instinctively.
Kaelis felt it too—
a pressure that wasn't aimed at her body, but at the **bond itself**.
"…that thing," she said softly, "is looking at _us_, not you."
Lucian stepped forward.
"Then it's already made a mistake."
The figure stopped several meters away.
Its head tilted.
A voice emerged—not mechanical, not organic.
**"Target confirmed."**
Lucian clenched his fists.
"Sovereign Hunter."
Kaelis's stomach dropped.
"They didn't send an army."
Lucian's jaw tightened.
"They sent a scalpel."
The Hunter raised one hand.
Reality folded inward around its fingers.
Lucian felt something tug at his chest—not pain, not force—
**Extraction.**
He snarled and flared his flame instinctively.
The Hunter's head tilted again.
**"Monolith density detected.
Bond integrity prioritized."**
Kaelis's breath hitched.
"…it's not trying to kill you."
Lucian realized it at the same time.
"It's trying to separate us."
The Hunter stepped forward.
Lucian moved to intercept—
But Kaelis suddenly staggered.
"Kaelis—!"
She dropped to one knee, gasping as her Core spasmed violently inward.
Pain ripped through Lucian's chest in perfect synchronization.
"What—what's happening—?"
Kaelis clenched her teeth.
"…my resonance… it's lagging."
Lucian froze.
"Lagging?"
She looked up at him, fear flickering across her face for the first time.
"I can't… respond instantly anymore.
It's like… there's a delay."
The Hunter advanced.
**"Co-Monolith instability detected,"** it intoned calmly.
**"Anchor response time exceeding tolerance."**
Lucian's blood ran cold.
Kaelis whispered:
"…Lucian. I think… I burned something permanent."
Lucian shook his head violently.
"No. No, we stabilized it—"
"We stabilized _you_," she said hoarsely. "Not me."
The Hunter raised its hand again.
This time, Lucian didn't wait.
He lunged.
Lucian's strike didn't explode.
Didn't flare.
Didn't announce itself.
It landed like a collapsing star.
His compressed Monolith released a _controlled_ burst—dense enough to fracture space locally.
The Hunter slid back several meters, feet carving trenches through the ash.
Kaelis stared.
"That… was quiet."
Lucian exhaled sharply.
"Compression."
The Hunter's head lifted.
**"Data updated.
Subject has entered uncontrolled Monolith state."**
Kaelis forced herself upright, blade trembling in her hand.
"Lucian—my timing's off. I can't sync like before."
Lucian glanced at her.
"How bad?"
She swallowed.
"…seconds."
His heart dropped.
In their fights, seconds were fatal.
The Hunter moved again—vanishing and reappearing directly behind Lucian.
Lucian barely twisted in time.
A blade of condensed absence sliced past his shoulder.
Kaelis moved to intercept—
Too late.
The delay hit her like a wall.
Lucian felt the failure ripple through the bond.
The Hunter adjusted instantly.
**"Anchor latency confirmed."**
Lucian roared and slammed his fist into the ground.
The terrain warped violently, shards of ash and broken land launching upward.
The Hunter leapt back, recalibrating.
Kaelis gasped, clutching her chest.
"…Lucian… it's learning."
Lucian's flame deepened, turning almost colorless at its core.
"Then we don't give it time."
Lucian made a decision.
Not a tactical one.
A **foundational** one.
He turned fully toward Kaelis.
"Stop reacting."
Her eyes widened.
"What?"
"Don't chase my rhythm," he said urgently. "Set your own."
She stared at him.
"That's not how the bond works."
"It was," Lucian said. "Before the Monolith."
The Hunter advanced again.
Lucian didn't turn.
"Kaelis. Trust me."
She clenched her jaw.
"…you better not be wrong."
She closed her eyes.
And **let go**.
For the first time since their bond formed, Kaelis stopped trying to match Lucian's Core.
Instead, she anchored herself.
Her blade steadied.
Her breathing slowed.
Her resonance—lagged, yes—
But stabilized.
Lucian felt the bond shift.
Looser.
Less immediate.
But stronger.
The Hunter lunged.
Lucian stepped aside—
And Kaelis struck.
Not fast.
**Precise.**
Her blade cut through the Hunter's shoulder, severing part of its condensed form.
The Hunter staggered.
**"Unexpected variance,"** it reported.
Lucian smiled grimly.
"You expected a system bond."
He advanced.
"We're improvising."
The Hunter retreated slightly.
For the first time—
It hesitated.
The Hunter recalibrated again.
**"Bond has entered nonstandard configuration,"** it said.
**"Risk level elevated."**
Lucian's Monolith hummed.
Kaelis's stance held.
Lucian felt the bond change again—not tighter—
**More flexible.**
Not a fuse.
A framework.
The Hunter's voice shifted.
**"Recommendation: escalate."**
The sky darkened.
Lucian felt something vast align far above them.
Kaelis's eyes widened.
"…Lucian. That thing just asked for backup."
Lucian's jaw tightened.
"Then we finish this fast."
The Hunter lowered into a combat stance.
Lucian's flame deepened further.
Kaelis raised her blade.
And both of them felt it—
The Sovereign watching.
Waiting.
Measuring.
The Hunter did not rush them.
That alone was wrong.
It stood still, head slightly bowed, plates along its arms unfolding like overlapping blades. The air around it grew thin, stretched, as if reality were being gently pulled apart thread by thread.
Lucian felt it then.
Not danger.
**Preparation.**
"Kaelis," he said quietly. "That thing isn't escalating power."
She narrowed her eyes.
"…it's changing function."
The Hunter raised both hands.
The world _desynced_.
Lucian staggered as the bond between him and Kaelis stretched unnaturally—not breaking, but distorting, like a rope pulled through shifting gravity.
Kaelis gasped, blood instantly trickling from her nose.
"Lucian—my Core—!"
The Hunter spoke, voice layered now, no longer singular.
**"MONOLITH EXTRACTION MODE: ACTIVE."**
Lucian's blood froze.
Extraction.
Not separation.
**Removal.**
The air between Lucian and Kaelis turned viscous, resistant. Every instinct screamed at Lucian to pull her closer.
The Hunter wanted that.
Lucian stopped.
He stepped _away_ from Kaelis.
Her eyes snapped to him in shock.
"What are you—?!"
"Trust me," he said, teeth clenched. "It's fishing."
The Hunter paused.
Just a fraction.
Enough.
Lucian felt it.
The logic thread.
It was mapping tension, not distance.
Stress points, not proximity.
"You're not pulling us apart," Lucian growled. "You're trying to tear the Monolith where it's weakest."
The Hunter tilted its head.
**"Hypothesis correction accepted."**
Kaelis coughed, wiping blood from her lips.
"…it talks like a damn spreadsheet."
Lucian almost laughed.
Almost.
Lucian made another decision.
This one was worse.
He turned inward.
Past the first compression.
Past stability.
Into territory the Emperor had _explicitly_ warned him against.
Kaelis felt it immediately.
"Lucian—no—whatever you're doing—stop—!"
He didn't.
He forced his Monolith tighter.
Not expanding.
Not releasing.
**Stacking density on density.**
Pain tore through him like his spine was being folded inward.
Lucian screamed.
The ash beneath his feet crystallized.
His flame didn't flare.
It **collapsed**.
Kaelis watched in horror as the color drained from it, leaving behind something dark, heavy, and silent.
"Lucian—!"
The Hunter recoiled.
**"WARNING.
SECONDARY COMPRESSION DETECTED.
STRUCTURAL FAILURE PROBABILITY—"**
Lucian lifted his head slowly.
Blood ran freely from his nose and ears.
"Too late."
He stepped forward.
Each step dented reality.
The Hunter struck.
A blade of absence slashed toward Lucian's chest.
Lucian caught it.
With his bare hand.
The space around his fingers warped violently.
The Hunter froze.
**"…Impossible."**
Lucian crushed the blade.
It shattered into nothing.
Kaelis felt the bond _lurch_—not snapping, but straining like a beam under impossible load.
"Lucian," she whispered, terrified. "You're tearing yourself apart."
He didn't look back.
"Not yet."
The Hunter reacted instantly.
Its form unfolded further, revealing a lattice beneath its armor—
a mirror of Lucian's Monolith.
Kaelis's eyes widened.
"…it's not just a Hunter. It's a prototype."
The Hunter spoke again.
**"Monolith Pair destabilization required."**
A pulse erupted outward.
Kaelis screamed.
Her Core spasmed violently as the bond feedback surged—not into Lucian this time—
Into _her_.
She collapsed, convulsing, as her resonance lag spiked catastrophically.
Lucian felt it like a knife through his ribs.
"KAELIS!"
He turned—
And the Hunter seized the moment.
It drove its arm into Lucian's chest.
Not physically.
Conceptually.
Lucian felt something _hook_ into his Monolith.
Kaelis screamed again, blood pouring freely now.
Lucian roared.
"No—YOU DON'T GET HER—"
He slammed both hands into the Hunter's torso and released the second compression.
Not outward.
**Inward.**
The Hunter's lattice screamed as density overwhelmed its extraction framework.
Its body cracked.
Kaelis felt the pressure lift—but the cost hit immediately.
She gasped, vision going white.
"…Lucian… I can't—hold—"
Her knees hit the ground.
Lucian felt her slipping.
Not dying.
**Disconnecting.**
Not from him.
From herself.
The sky folded.
Not presence.
**Manifestation.**
Lucian felt it like a guillotine lowering.
The Sovereign stepped into the ungoverned layer.
This time—
With form.
Not law.
Not concept.
A body of shifting geometry and burning symbols, eyes like collapsing stars.
The Hunter froze instantly, dropping to one knee.
**"PRIORITY OVERRIDE,"** it intoned.
Lucian stood shaking, bloodied, Monolith screaming under the second compression.
Kaelis lay on the ground, barely conscious.
The Sovereign looked at Lucian.
Not angry.
Not curious.
**Disappointed.**
**"You escalated beyond projection."**
Lucian spat blood.
"You sent that thing to rip her out of me."
The Sovereign looked at Kaelis.
**"She is not sustainable."**
Lucian's flame pulsed darkly.
"Then rewrite your damn projections."
The Sovereign raised a hand.
Kaelis whimpered.
Lucian moved.
He didn't attack.
He didn't defend.
He **interposed**.
Again.
The Sovereign paused.
Slowly.
**"…You will burn out."**
Lucian met its gaze, eyes wild.
"Then I burn."
The Sovereign studied him.
Then—unexpectedly—
Lowered its hand.
**"Very well."**
Lucian blinked.
"…what?"
The Sovereign turned its gaze to the Hunter.
**"Withdraw."**
The Hunter hesitated.
**"Extraction incomplete."**
**"WITHDRAW."**
The Hunter vanished instantly.
Silence crashed down.
The Sovereign looked back at Lucian and Kaelis.
**"Your bond has demonstrated unexpected elasticity."**
Lucian breathed hard.
"…that's it? You just leave?"
The Sovereign's eyes narrowed.
**"No."**
The ground beneath them shifted.
**"You will be tested again."**
Kaelis stirred weakly.
"…told you… this wasn't over…"
The Sovereign's final words echoed as its form began to dissolve.
**"Recover.
Adapt.
Or break."**
And then—
It was gone.
Lucian collapsed beside Kaelis, catching her before her head hit the ash.
"Hey. Hey. Stay with me."
She smiled faintly, bloodied and exhausted.
"…you really hate following instructions."
He laughed weakly.
"Apparently."
She coughed.
"…next time… I'm hitting it first."
Lucian pressed his forehead to hers.
"Deal."
But deep inside—
His Monolith screamed.
Second compression was not meant to last.
And somewhere far away—
Something had learned how to hurt them.
Lucian couldn't stand.
Not because his muscles failed.
Not because of wounds.
Because **gravity felt personal**.
The second compression sat inside him like a collapsed star, dense beyond design, screaming to unfold. Every heartbeat felt delayed, like time itself had to negotiate passage through his chest.
Kaelis lay half in his arms, half on the ash, breathing shallowly.
"Lucian," she whispered. "You feel… wrong."
He laughed weakly.
"That's reassuring."
She tried to sit up and failed.
"No. I mean it. You don't feel _unstable_. You feel… heavy. Like if you move wrong, the world will crack."
Lucian exhaled slowly.
"That's… probably accurate."
He tried to loosen the compression.
Nothing moved.
His Monolith refused to decompress.
The Emperor's warning echoed in his mind.
_Second compression without lattice equals structural debt._
Lucian swallowed.
"I don't think I can hold this."
Kaelis's fingers tightened around his sleeve.
"Then don't hold it alone."
He shook his head.
"I can't push it into you again. Not like before."
She didn't argue.
Instead, she closed her eyes.
And _listened_.
Her Core pulsed faintly—no longer responsive, no longer fast—but **anchored**.
"…I can't take weight," she said slowly. "But I can take _direction_."
Lucian frowned.
"…what does that mean?"
Kaelis opened her eyes.
"It means instead of absorbing pressure, I can tell it where to go."
Lucian's breath caught.
"You're saying you can _steer_ the compression."
"Not all of it," she said honestly. "But enough to stop it from tearing you apart."
Lucian hesitated.
"That might kill you."
She smirked faintly.
"Everything seems to."
He closed his eyes.
"…okay."
Kaelis pressed her palm against his chest.
Her resonance didn't surge.
It aligned.
Lucian felt it immediately.
The pressure inside him shifted—not less, not more—
**Directional**.
The second compression settled just enough to stop screaming.
Lucian sagged in relief.
"…that worked."
Kaelis slumped forward, exhausted.
"…don't get used to it."
They didn't move for a long time.
When Kaelis finally pulled her hand back, her fingers shook uncontrollably.
Lucian noticed instantly.
"Kaelis."
"I know," she said quietly. "Don't."
Her vision blurred.
She blinked several times.
"…that steering thing?"
Lucian nodded.
"It hurts."
"No," she corrected. "It _costs_."
Lucian's stomach dropped.
"What did you lose?"
Kaelis hesitated.
Then answered honestly.
"I don't feel the future anymore."
Lucian froze.
"…what?"
She swallowed.
"You know how I always knew when something was about to go wrong? That sense before impact, before danger?"
Lucian nodded slowly.
"It's gone."
Silence hit hard.
Kaelis looked down at her hands.
"I can still fight. Still think. Still react."
Her voice softened.
"But I don't _anticipate_ anymore. I'm always half a step late now."
Lucian's chest tightened painfully.
"That's because of me."
She looked up sharply.
"No."
He met her gaze.
"I forced the second compression."
"And I chose to adapt to it," she said firmly. "This isn't on you."
Lucian clenched his fists.
"It shouldn't have taken that from you."
She gave a tired smile.
"Power always takes something. We're just… honest about it."
Lucian pulled her into a careful embrace.
"I swear," he said quietly, "I will never let you pay alone again."
She rested her forehead against his chest.
"…hold you to that."
The ash wind changed.
Lucian felt it immediately.
"…this layer is thinning."
Kaelis lifted her head.
"You mean we're falling through?"
"Or being pushed."
The ground beneath them cracked—not violently, but _politely_—like reality opening a door it didn't want to explain.
Light bled upward from below.
Warm.
Alive.
Lucian's Core reacted differently this time—not defiant—
**Cautious**.
They dropped.
Not falling.
**Descending.**
They landed on stone.
Real stone.
Rough. Uneven. Warm from sunlight.
Lucian sucked in a breath.
"…there are people here."
Kaelis heard it too.
Distant voices.
Movement.
Life.
They stood on the edge of a cliff overlooking a sprawling city carved into layered terraces of red rock and white stone. Banners fluttered. Airships drifted lazily overhead.
No system overlays appeared.
But the world was clearly _inhabited_.
Kaelis whispered:
"We just brought the Monolith War into someone's home."
Lucian scanned the city.
"And they don't even know it yet."
Before they could move—
A voice spoke behind them.
"You're not supposed to be here."
Lucian spun, flame twitching.
A woman stood several meters away, leaning casually on a spear carved from pale crystal.
No aura.
No system markers.
But her presence was… _anchored_.
Not heavy like the Sovereign.
Not sharp like the Hunter.
Stable.
Neutral.
"You fell through a sealed boundary," she continued calmly. "That's impressive. Or reckless."
Kaelis straightened.
"Who are you?"
The woman smiled faintly.
"Someone who cleans up messes like you before they become extinction events."
Lucian frowned.
"…you're not aligned with the Sovereign."
"No."
"And not with the Emperor."
"Also no."
Lucian exchanged a glance with Kaelis.
"…that's a short list."
The woman planted her spear into the stone.
"Welcome to the **Null Accord**," she said.
"We don't govern. We don't conquer."
Lucian waited.
She met his gaze directly.
"We survive."
Lucian felt it then.
This woman wasn't here to fight.
She wasn't here to test.
She was here because **they were a problem**.
"We're not staying," Lucian said carefully.
The woman nodded.
"Good. Neither are we."
Kaelis frowned.
"Then why talk?"
"Because you're leaking," the woman replied calmly.
Lucian stiffened.
"Leaking what?"
The woman tapped the air.
"Monolith density. You're destabilizing probability just by standing still."
Lucian exhaled.
"…how bad?"
She shrugged.
"In this city? Weeks, maybe months, before something very ugly notices."
Kaelis clenched her jaw.
"We can't let that happen."
"Then listen," the woman said. "We can hide you. Temporarily."
Lucian narrowed his eyes.
"And the cost?"
She smiled thinly.
"You don't bring your war into our worlds."
Lucian hesitated.
Kaelis squeezed his hand.
"…it's fair."
Lucian nodded slowly.
"Okay."
The woman tilted her head.
"One more thing."
Lucian braced.
"When the Sovereign comes again—"
She smiled without humor.
"—we will not protect you."
Lucian met her gaze.
"Wouldn't expect you to."
The woman stepped aside.
"Then move. Before the sky realizes you exist."
Lucian and Kaelis followed.
Behind them—
Far above—
The Sovereign recalculated.