The stark, glowing message burned itself into Kael’s retinas, echoing the cold, synthetic voice that still vibrated in his bones. [Optimalisasi Sistem Dimulai. Data Anomalous Akan Dihapus. Estimasi Waktu Sisa: 72 Jam.] Seventy-two hours. Three days. All of Aethernia, all they had fought for, everything they were, would be wiped clean. Lyra stood beside him, her hand clamped over her mouth, her eyes wide with a terror that mirrored his own. The ancient data crystals in the library pulsed with a sickly, iridescent light, as if counting down their own demise.
Kael felt a crushing wave of despair, heavy and suffocating. His stomach churned. He had dismantled the Admin panel, not to destroy, but to liberate. To create. Now, that act of liberation had awakened a silent, merciless force, a digit
