Hajin hauled his chain toward the fractured ledge while Juna kept the climb clear beside him.
StarGuard held the threshold on anchored links while the apex clawed upward, forcing fresh pulses along the mother's damaged cord. Hajin needed its throat above the seam before the barrier burned away the strength his strike needed for solid stone.
Juna braced against his shoulder as loose gravel skittered off the ledge beneath his foot.
"Not that side, idiot," she snapped, throwing one Wing across the slope, "the ridge broke deeper than it looks, and I can't catch you while that thing is charging above us."
"Then I won't step there."
He jammed his heel into the exposed seam where Vella's guiding pulse still touched the cliff, "Just shove its ugly face where I can reach it."
Loccy and Cassie appeared on the upper trail as the ward flickered beneath the apex's horns.
