Owen had two seconds, maybe three, to act before sixth-order resonance bloomed.
Gorvax's notes had not covered sixth-order. Gorvax's notes had not even mentioned it as a concept — the highest order Gorvax had described in the materials was fourth, and even fourth had been described as a rare extreme. Sixth was outside Owen's preparation entirely.
Which meant he could not break the rhythm by reading it.
Which meant he had to break it before it formed.
He charged.
Not at Wenrik. At the staff.
Twelve hundred units of CE went into the gauntlet — most of his remaining clean reserve, a deeply costly commitment. The black-violet refined Desolate energy that had been folded into the weapon's structure flared up in a tight, hungry pulse. Not channeled through his core this time. Just channeled out through the gauntlet itself, the way the gauntlet was designed for.
