The moment the ground detonated, all three moved.Aleric vanished first... space tore where he had been, abyssal residue screaming like a wound left open. Baxter didn’t chase him. He predicted him.Thousands of probabilistic overlays slammed together in Baxter’s vision as the NeuroSpark system brute-forced causality itself.[TRAJECTORY CONVERGENCE: 97.2%]Baxter twisted sideways an instant before impact.Aleric’s fist passed where Baxter’s skull had been, the punch collapsing into a compressed black star that imploded with enough force to erase a mountain that hadn’t existed five seconds ago.Lorenzo moved through the implosion.Reality peeled open for him like a curtain recognizing its master. He stepped between collapsing vectors, boots touching nothing, eyes blazing with a system that refused to quantify itself.[ERROR: TARGET NOT BOUND TO CORE LOGIC]“Predict that,” Lorenzo muttered.He snapped his fingers.Aleric felt it like a spike driven into his spine. Baxter staggered, blood

Aleric hovered there, suspended by irrelevance to gravity. His body was wrong now... still humanoid, but threaded through with abyssal sigils that burned dimly beneath his skin like scars carved by the universe itself.His eyes were no longer simply eyes. They were windows into something that ate endings.Opposite him, Lorenzo stood calmly, boots planted on nothing, hands relaxed at his sides. And yet… the void leaned toward him.“You really did it,” Lorenzo said quietly. “You severed yourself from the system entirely.”Aleric tilted his head, rolling his neck as if loosening stiff muscles.“Feels lighter,” he replied. “Like I stopped carrying a coffin on my back.”Lorenzo’s gaze sharpened. “You don’t understand what you’ve become.”Aleric grinned. “Then explain it while you still can.”The void shuddered. Lorenzo took a step forward. The moment his foot moved, reality snapped.Aleric reacted on instinct alone... his body blurring, phasing, reasserting itself a thousand times in overl

The void convulsed as a new authority signature slammed into existence.STOP! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TRYING TO DO LORENZO?Aleric turned just as a part of the system split open.Adams stumbled through the fracture, Erica closed behind him, her arm locked around his shoulder as if dragging him through sheer refusal to let go.The system reacted instantly.[ERROR: UNKNOWN ENTRANCE][ERROR: NON-COMPLIANT ENTITIES DETECTED][FORCEFUL CORRECTION ENGAGED]Chunks of broken code erupted like shrapnel. Gravity inverted, then shattered. The void twisted, folding in on itself as alarms screamed in overlapping layers.Baxter hit the ground hard, skidding across dissolving terrain.Lorenzo staggered, barely catching himself.Aleric straightened slowly.His smile returned.“You brought outsiders,” he said calmly. “How careless.”Adams coughed, blood streaking his chin as he forced himself upright. His eyes locked onto Baxter, then Lorenzo.“Don’t,” he shouted, voice hoarse but cutting through the ch

He felt guilty immediately. It hit him like a physical blow. His chest tightened, breath breaking as the reality of what he’d done caught up all at once.He cried, quiet at first, then harder, and wrapped his arms around Adams, holding him as if letting go would shatter them both.“I’m here,” he choked out, burying his face into Adams’s shoulder. “I’m here.”Adams didn’t pull away. He held him back just as tightly, one hand gripping the back of his jacket, the other pressed flat between his shoulder blades. The world trembled around them, metal groaning, alarms screaming, but for a heartbeat, that was all that existed.“Four minutes, fifty seconds!” Erica shouted over the noise.A concussive blast tore through the chamber as Erica fired again, sparks exploding from the exposed motherboard.The final barrier gave way with a shriek of tortured metal. Energy surged, unstable and blinding, and the portal snapped open, an oval of violent light clawing at the air, dragging debris toward it.

Ogodo led them deeper into Kogi, the streets subtly rearranged themselves, pathways widening, lights softening, colors shifting into warm, iridescent hues. Towers bent ever so slightly, like elegant giants bowing in acknowledgment. Soft harmonic tones rippled through the air, a melodic resonance that seemed tuned to their heartbeats.“Are the buildings… reacting to us?” Erica whispered.“Yes,” Ogodo replied serenely. “Kogi recognizes distinction. The city adjusts itself to honor guests of high value.”Before any of them could respond, a procession emerged from the central boulevard. Figures clad in flowing, luminescent garments approached, men and women adorned with crystalline threads that pulsed gently with light. Floating drones hovered above them, projecting delicate symbols that shimmered like constellations.One stepped forward and bowed deeply.“Honored Ones,” the figure said, voice layered with a soft echo, “Kogi welcomes you.”With a graceful wave of his hand, garments mat