The pause was brief.
But in a realm built on inevitability, a pause was rebellion.
The void-entity’s weapon faltered, its shape stuttering as the light bursting from Elara’s thread collided with the darkness it commanded. The impact did not explode.
It refused.
Reality warped around the collision point, light and void grinding against each other like tectonic plates locked in defiance The enforcement units froze mid-descent, their perfect formation shuddering as if awaiting instructions that would not arrive.
Draven felt it felt her like a sudden expansion in his chest. Not pain. Not heat.
Recognition.
“Elara,” he breathed, awe threading through the terror. “What did you do?”
She stood at the center of the flare, hair lifting as if caught in an unseen current, eyes glowing not silv
