The celestial steel wards surrounding the valley of Oakhaven were mathematically impenetrable. They had successfully repelled every microscopic cosmic threat for twelve planetary cycles.
However, planetary physics dictated that during the peak of the summer solstice, the massive influx of raw solar radiation caused a temporary thermal expansion in the ambient magical atmosphere.
For a fraction of a microsecond, the wards experienced a microscopic spatial gap.
It was a mathematically insignificant fluctuation, but it was just enough for a terrifying cosmic remnant to slip directly into the Golden Age.
The entity was a corrupted remnant of the old formatting code. It was a chaotic monstrosity constructed of jagged, glitching red digital geometry and lethal cosmic shadow. It lacked a biological form, relying entirely on raw kinetic destruction to overwrite whatever it touched.
It crashed into the northern fields, bypassing the outer perimeter.
