The sky cracked.
Not metaphorically.
Actually cracked.
Lines of light spread across the air above Ground Zero—
Like reality itself was splitting apart.
— Immediate Panic —
The battlefield froze.
Everyone looked upward.
Fragments spiraled wildly overhead—
No longer controlled by anyone.
Not the Vessel.
Not Juvy.
Not even Lina.
"…What is happening…?" someone whispered.
— Kael Understands First —
Kael's expression darkened immediately.
"…The balance is collapsing."
Juvy turned toward him.
"…What does that mean?"
Kael looked at the sky.
"…The Source was never meant to divide this far."
A pause.
"…Now too many fragments are acting independently at once."
Maxruell scoffed slightly.
"…So freedom breaks reality. Great."
Kael shook his head.
"…No."
"…Conflict without balance does."
— The Vessel's Instability —
At the center—
The Vessel staggered slightly.
Cracks spreading across its body faster now.
Its voice distorted.
"…source deviation… increasing…"
"…rejection… spreading…"
For the first time—
It sounded uncertain.
— Lina Feels It —
Lina grabbed her chest suddenly.
"…It hurts…"
Her light flickered violently.
Juvy rushed to her side.
"…Lina?!"
Lina looked upward.
"…Something's waking up…"
— The Sky Opens —
The cracks widened.
Then—
Darkness appeared beyond them.
Not night.
Not shadow.
Absence.
A void beyond reality itself.
Everyone felt it instantly.
Fear.
Pure instinctive fear.
— The New Presence —
Something moved inside the crack.
Slowly.
Watching.
Not the Vessel.
Something older.
Bigger.
Even the Vessel froze.
"…impossible…"
— Kael Reveals the Truth —
Kael stepped forward.
"…The Source didn't just shatter."
A pause.
"…Part of it was left outside."
Juvy's eyes widened.
"…Outside…?"
Kael nodded slowly.
"…Beyond reality."
"…Beyond form."
Maxruell looked at the opening above.
"…And now it noticed us."
Kael didn't deny it.
— The Vessel Reacts —
For the first time—
The Vessel turned away from them.
Toward the sky.
Its body trembled.
"…return sequence… accelerating…"
It began absorbing fragments faster again.
Desperately.
Juvy noticed immediately.
"…It's scared."
— The Shift in Threat —
Everything changed in that moment.
The Vessel was no longer the biggest danger.
Something beyond it existed.
And it was coming closer.
— Lina's Vision —
Lina's eyes widened suddenly.
Images flashed through her mind.
Worlds collapsing.
Fragments consumed.
Entire realities erased into silence.
Then—
One overwhelming feeling.
Hunger.
Lina gasped.
"…It wants everything back…"
Silence fell.
Even Maxruell stopped joking.
The crack in the sky widened further.
A massive eye slowly opened within the void.
Watching the battlefield below.
Watching all of them.
The pressure that descended—
Made even the Vessel kneel slightly.
Kael whispered quietly:
"…The Source has awakened."