Sixty meters above the royal dais, a swirling funnel of pale cloud ripped open across the morning sky.
Didi followed the pressure down toward the dais, keeping her defensive line between the surge and the people below.
The Crowned Avatar projected an emergency escape aperture through the clouds, attempting to create a withdrawal conduit toward the upper atmosphere.
Juna flared her four silver wings against the updrafts, banking sharply beneath the apex of the eastern spire.
The wind howled past her pointed wolf ears, whipping loose strands of hair across her focused, determined eyes.
"The escape aperture is active at sixty meters altitude," Aria reported through the tactical link, projecting a cylindrical boundary grid.
"Dominion conduits are attempting to link with the upper atmospheric currents," the artificial intelligence added with clinical precision.
"My Daybreak Path will seal that sky road," she replied, resting her fingertips on the pommel of her hunting sword.
