The light did not fade.
It intensified.
Streams of energy spiraled around Dominic in violent waves, rising from the core like living currents determined to pull him apart and rebuild him into something else.
The ground trembled continuously beneath everyone's feet.
Not from destruction.
From instability.
The balance was shifting.
And the realm felt every second of it.
Dominic remained standing at the center of the core, but his body had gone rigid. Veins of black and silver energy spread across his skin, glowing faintly beneath the surface as the realm forced itself deeper into him.
Marcus stared with wide eyes.
"…That can't possibly be healthy."
The old man didn't answer.
Because he was watching too closely.
Watching for signs of collapse.
Leila felt every change happening inside Dominic as though the bond connected her directly to the process.
Maybe it did.
Every surge of power that entered him echoed through her chest, sharp enough to steal her breath.
"Dominic…"
Her voice came out quieter than intended.
Not because she lacked strength.
Because fear had finally started winning against it.
The Sovereign stood near the edge of the core, his expression unreadable as the transfer continued.
"The realm is resisting him."
Marcus looked at him sharply.
"Then maybe stop standing there calmly and HELP!"
"It is beyond interference now."
A pause.
"He either becomes compatible…"
The Sovereign's gaze fixed on Dominic.
"…or he breaks."
The energy surged harder.
Dominic finally reacted.
His body jerked sharply as the pressure intensified, shadows erupting outward in chaotic bursts that cracked the ground around him.
Leila stepped forward instinctively again.
Pain immediately shot through her body as the balance resisted her movement.
She ignored it.
"Stop the transfer!"
The old man shook his head immediately.
"We can't."
"Then force it!"
"If we interrupt it now, both connections collapse."
Leila's fists clenched violently.
Because she knew he was right.
And that made it worse.
At the center of the storm, Dominic could barely hear them anymore.
The world around him had become noise.
Endless noise.
Voices.
Pressure.
Memories.
The realm was inside his mind now, moving through every part of him, searching for weakness, searching for incompatibility.
Trying to decide whether he could truly hold the balance.
Or whether he should be erased.
Images flashed violently behind his eyes.
His childhood.
The cursed pack.
Blood.
War.
Leila.
Always Leila.
Every memory connected to her burned brighter than the rest, refusing to disappear even as the realm tore through everything else.
You cling to weakness.
The voice did not belong to the Sovereign.
Nor the Hunter.
Nor anything he had faced before.
It came from the realm itself.
Ancient.
Vast.
Everywhere.
Dominic forced himself to breathe.
"She's not weakness."
The pressure slammed into him harder instantly.
His knees nearly buckled.
Outside the core, Marcus cursed under his breath.
"…I really don't think this thing likes him arguing back."
The old man's expression darkened further.
"It's testing what defines him."
The voice returned.
Attachment creates imbalance.
Dominic's vision blurred.
Pain tore through him again, sharper this time, reaching deeper than before.
Release it.
"No."
The answer came immediately.
Without hesitation.
Without doubt.
The energy exploded outward violently.
The shockwave knocked Marcus backward completely this time.
One of the Alpha Killers caught him before he hit the fractured ground.
"…Okay!" Marcus shouted. "That definitely sounded like the wrong answer!"
Leila felt tears burn at the corners of her eyes.
Not from weakness.
From helplessness.
Because she could feel the realm trying to strip pieces of him away.
Trying to hollow him out until nothing remained except what it considered necessary.
And Dominic—
Was fighting it.
At the center of the storm, the pressure increased again.
Harder.
Crueler.
The realm pressed against every memory tied to emotion, every connection that made him human, trying to force him to release them in exchange for stability.
Power for emptiness.
Balance without attachment.
But Dominic refused.
Again.
And again.
And again.
The world around the core trembled violently in response.
Cracks spread across the sky itself now, thin fractures of distorted light stretching endlessly overhead.
Marcus looked up nervously.
"…Please tell me reality isn't breaking."
The Sovereign answered calmly.
"It is close."
"…WHY ARE YOU SO CALM ABOUT THAT?!"
Leila's breathing grew uneven as the connection between her and the core destabilized.
The transfer wasn't smooth anymore.
It had become conflict.
The realm wanted obedience.
Dominic refused to surrender himself fully.
And now the balance itself was beginning to tear under the strain.
The old man suddenly stiffened.
"…The synchronization is failing."
Leila's eyes widened.
"What happens if it fails?"
He looked toward Dominic.
And for the first time—
Fear appeared clearly on his face.
"The realm will reject both anchors."
Silence hit instantly.
Heavy.
Horrifying.
Marcus stared.
"…You mean both worlds collapse?"
The old man didn't answer.
He didn't need to.
At the center of the core, Dominic finally dropped to one knee.
The pressure had become unbearable.
Black and silver energy tore violently around him now, cutting through the space itself as the realm continued trying to reshape him.
But even then—
He still held onto himself.
Leila took another step forward despite the pain.
"Dominic!"
His head lifted slightly at the sound of her voice.
Just slightly.
But enough.
And suddenly—
The bond reacted.
The connection between them surged violently open, stronger than ever before.
Not unstable.
Not fractured.
Complete.
Everything froze.
The pressure.
The realm.
Even the cracking sky above.
For one single moment—
The world stopped fighting them.
The Sovereign's eyes narrowed for the first time.
"…Impossible."
Leila felt it too.
Not just the bond.
Not just love.
Something deeper.
The reason the realm couldn't fully erase him.
Couldn't fully reshape him.
Because Dominic's connection to her had become part of what defined him.
Not weakness.
Not imbalance.
A foundation.
At the center of the storm, Dominic slowly stood again.
The energy around him changed.
Not calmer.
But aligned.
Balanced.
Without surrender.
Without letting go of himself.
The realm pulsed once.
Then again.
As if reconsidering.
And for the first time since the transfer began—
The pressure started to ease.