"Axel! Wake up! Don't let him win!"Zara's voice exploded like static in Axel's ears. Axel tried to move his fingers, but it felt like dragging thousands of tons of iron. His golden shoulders, now gray, felt dead, a hollow void where his existence used to be. Up above, the sky of Reality 402 was still filled with lidless eyes watching them with cold hunger."He has Liana, Zara," Axel whispered, his voice cracking as if his vocal cords were made of shattered glass. "I feel it. That silver hand, it's really there.""It's psychic pressure, Axel! He's weaponizing your connection to Earth!" Zara tugged at Axel's shoulder, trying to help him stand amid the ruins of the bell tower. "If you give up now, he won't just silence Earth, he'll silence the entire Symphony!""But how do we fight him?" Axel looked up at the thousands of silver cracks scarring the sky. "Our Gilded power... he just consumes it. We attack, and he only grows stronger. We're essentially feeding the monster with our own lif

"Zara, increase the flow! The north sector wall is cracking!""I'm trying, Axel! But the frequency keeps shifting! He's not hitting us with brute force, he's canceling our code!"Zara's voice was shrill amidst the static storm raging in the Symphony Core. Her electric blue light form pulsed wildly, her energy fingers dancing over the harmonizer console that was beginning to fade. In front of them, a giant pale gold dome, the energy fortress they had built with the remnant power of the Gilded Apex, began to shake violently."Don't let that gap open! If he gets into the Core, all realities will freeze!" Axel shouted, channeling all his remaining energy into the transmission center."Axel, your arm! Look at your arm!"Axel glanced at his arm. The usually stable gold glow was now starting to be covered by dead gray spots. An unnatural cold climbed up, killing the sensation of his existence inch by inch."It's just a scratch, Zara! Keep pumping the energy!""That's not a scratch! He's eras