The explosion struck like a collapsing storm.
Silver energy tore across the mountain valley, ripping through rock and sky alike. Entire sections of terrain lifted into the air before crashing down violently. Lyra reacted immediately.
"Contain the spread!" Kael drove his blade into the ground, releasing flame barriers around the collapsing cliffs. Rylan shot upward in a burst of lightning, redirecting debris away from nearby settlements.
The stranger expanded shadow fields across the valley, slowing the destruction. But the silver-eyed man stayed at the centre.
Screaming, his power continued to grow.
Wild. Chaotic. Unbalanced.
Lyra sensed the truth clearly now. This wasn't a natural awakening. This was forced evolution without stability. And the system had no idea how to handle it. The man dropped to one knee, clutching his chest.
"I can't—"
Another surge burst outward. This one is worse. Reality itself distorted around him. Kael shouted:
"Lyra!"
She already knew. Only balanced energy could stabilise another balanced mutation. But there was a risk, a huge one.
If she linked directly with him while his energy remained unstable, his collapse could spread to her.
Lyra stepped into the storm. Immediately, the pressure hit her. The man's energy lashed violently against her balance field like a wounded animal trying to survive.
Rylan called from above:
"Lyra, wait—!"
Too late. She reached him. The silver-eyed man looked up desperately. Fear filled his face. Not evil, not madness, just suffering.
"Please…" he whispered.
"Help me."
That decided it. Lyra placed her hand against his chest. The reaction was instant. A massive wave of corrupted balance energy flooded into her body.
Pain exploded through her nervous system. She nearly collapsed. This energy felt wrong.
Incomplete. Like broken equations forced together. The stranger realised it first. He's not a true Balance Keeper. Kael looked at him.
"What does that mean?" The stranger's face darkened. It means the system tried copying Lyra's existence. Rylan landed beside them.
"And failed." Exactly. The silver-eyed man wasn't chosen naturally. He was a side effect.
A flawed adaptation.
Lyra pushed herself deeper into the energy link. Balance flowed from her into him slowly.
Carefully, not overpowering. Guiding. The man screamed again as silver fractures spread across his skin. For one terrifying second.
Lyra thought he would explode. Then suddenly Everything stopped. The valley went silent. The unstable energy faded.
The floating debris crashed harmlessly to the ground.
The silver-eyed man's glowing eyes dimmed slightly. Normal breathing returned. He stared at Lyra as if she had performed a miracle. "What… are you?" Lyra pulled her hand away slowly.
"Someone is trying to stop this from getting worse." The man looked shaken. "My name is Elias." His voice trembled slightly. I was normal yesterday.
Kael exchanged a glance with the others.
That confirmed their fear. The spread was accelerating quickly. Elias looked at Lyra again.
"When I awakened… I heard voices." Lyra's eyes narrowed. "What kind of voices?"
His expression turned pale.
"They kept repeating one sentence." Silence filled the valley. Then Elias whispered, "Phase Expansion has begun." Everyone froze.
Because that was the exact phrase from the higher entities, Rylan swallowed hard. Okay… that's officially bad. The stranger looked toward the darkening sky.
"No."
His voice grew colder. Worse than bad.
Lyra understood immediately. The system wasn't just observing anymore. It was actively changing reality, creating more anomalies, and testing larger populations.
And if unstable awakenings kept spreading, Entire nations could collapse. But something else worried her more. Elias looked at her carefully, then asked quietly:
"Why do I feel connected to you?" Lyra's bond mark burned again. New words appeared beneath it: Anomaly Network Expanding. Her heart sank.
Because she realised the terrifying truth, this wasn't random anymore. The system was creating others linked directly to her existence. Far away, in another kingdom.
A young woman opened glowing golden eyes for the first time. And accidentally stopped time around her entire city.