As the group descended deeper, the very air began to solidify, turning into a "Gravity Sea" that threatened to crush bone and spirit alike. Fang Yuan felt the pressure, but his Space-Time Threads vibrated at a frequency that nullified the weight, creating a small pocket of normal physics around him.
"We are close," Eron whispered, his glowing runes pulsating with a frantic rhythm. "But the path to the Star-Core is not guarded by demons. It is guarded by the Absolute Law of Mass. To pass, one must offer a 'Living Logic'—a soul that understands the laws of the universe, only to have them torn apart."
Fang Yuan's eyes narrowed. He looked at the old Weaver, then sensed a disturbance through the Soul-Stasis Needle he had planted in Xarax.
Back in the upper sectors, a Rank 2 High Inquisitor named Vultar had arrived. Vultar was a creature of pure sensory perception, tasked by the Abyssal Overlord to sniff out dissent. He stood over the spot where Xarax had last been, his long, insectoid antennae twitching. He didn't find blood, but he found the lingering scent of "Void-Essence"—a frequency that shouldn't exist in the Abyss.
"Xarax is compromised," Vultar hissed to his guards. "Follow the indigo trail. If it leads to the Heart, execute everyone."
Fang Yuan sensed the Inquisitor's approach through the mental link. The clock was ticking. He turned to Eron, his voice a cold, sharp blade. "The Inquisitors are coming. Start the sequence, Old Man. Now."
Eron hesitated, his milky eyes darting to Kaelen and Zane. "The first sequence of Rank 3: Galactic Overlord requires a sacrifice of 'Order'. To bridge the gap, you must sacrifice a fragment of a Hero's soul—someone who once stood for the Light. It is the only way to stabilize the Negative Mass of the Core."
Fang Yuan looked at Kaelen, the former Hero. He had spent months refining this puppet, but in his eyes, everything was a resource. "If a fragment is what the universe demands," Fang Yuan said, his threads beginning to glow with a dark, forbidden luster, "then the universe shall have its due. But I do not sacrifice... I invest."
With a flick of his wrist, Fang Yuan began the first chant of the Forbidden Sequence, even as the heavy footsteps of Inquisitor Vultar echoed in the tunnels above.