The first relay station died.
Then the second.
Then the third.
Once the pattern had been exposed, the map no longer waited for the Keepers to make themselves obvious.
The merged Origin Core had learned the shape of their poison.
Lucien stood alone before the Origin Core Shrine's projected map.
Every strong force Lootwell could move had already moved.
Seran went from reflection to reflection.
Elias shut down formation veins before they could poison nearby locks.
The ancient beasts broke rhythm stations that did not touch world scars.
The Celestials burned open false roads.
The Lunarians froze command pulses mid-flow.
The Obsidian Collegium preserved records before enemy scripts collapsed.
The Silent Monastery rang bells over places that had pretended to be sacred.
Marie, Kaia, Sylra, and Marina guided teams away from anything the world leaned on.
And the slimes continued their work.
Leybound Assimilation spread across the continents like soft rain entering dry earth.
