The cracked sky did not collapse immediately.
It hung.
Split open.
Like a wound forced to stay open.
From that fissure.
Energy poured down endlessly.
But it was not just energy.
Forms.
Consciousness.
New figures began to emerge one by one.
They did not fall.
They… descended with control.
Each step they took made the ground tremble slightly. Not wild. Not chaotic. But full of measured pressure.
Ragnar lifted his chin.
His eyes blazed.
"Greater numbers."
He grinned.
"More fun."
Kael let out a long breath.
"More troublesome."
Orion did not take his eyes off the sky.
"More organized."
Aurelia remained silent.
But inside.
She felt everything.
Those beings were not connected to the main network.
But they were connected to each other.
In a different way.
Stiffer.
More precise.
Like parts of the same system.
The first figure they had faced earlier stepped back slightly.
Making way.
Not retreating because it was defeated.
But because its role had changed.
