The black solar nova exploding from the shadow’s chest did not scatter into light; it inverted the landscape, freezing the ink-stained mirror floor into a jagged, featureless sea of calcified silver glass.The crushing kinetic backlash struck Elena full in the chest, snapping her breath away and driving her to her knees upon the slick silver floor. White-hot static screamed through her skull as the raw, unmortgaged energy of her son’s blood radiated from the cracked obsidian armor before her. Superheated black ink and golden solar plasma misted into the air, searing her skin and staining her pale dress crimson. Yet, despite the blinding agony tearing through her restored body, Elena’s hands clawed forward across the frozen silver, her dark eyes wide with an unhinged, desperate grief as she stared into the open chest of her General’s shadow."CASSIAN!" Elena shrieked into the static, her voice tearing raw, dark crimson splashing over the glowing golden scroll embedded in his sternum. "

The catastrophic plunge through the cosmic trapdoor did not terminate in a physical crash; it suspended their bodies in a hyper-dense, gravity-less expanse of liquid starlight that burned like pure ozone.The kinetic backlash of the descent shattered Cassian’s right wrist where he clutched Elena, sending fresh, hot crimson pooling into the shimmering void. The absolute atmospheric pressure threatened to cave in his mended chest, forcing dark blood from his lips as his single open eye fought through blinding white static. Yet, even as his freshly restored human nerves screamed in excruciating agony, Cassian’s left arm locked around Elena’s waist with the unyielding strength of a dying titan, keeping his broad chest firmly wedged between her frame and the crushing cosmic vacuum."ELENA!" Cassian rasped into the star-lit quiet, his voice tearing raw, dark crimson drifting through the ozone air in tiny floating spheres. "I'M HERE! I'VE GOT YOU!"Elena clung frantically to his broad should

The sudden transition from liquid obsidian fire to the pristine green earth of the untouched vault did not bring relief; it delivered a sickening, pressure-warping shockwave that slammed their fading minds back into their battered bodies.The sudden influx of crisp, hyper-pure air tore through Cassian’s lungs, forcing a violent coughing fit that sprayed fresh crimson onto the dew-kissed grass beneath him. The cold white wave of memory purgation recoiled slightly, leaving his human mind raw and agonizingly fractured. His shattered shoulder burned like white-hot iron, and his broken knee throbbed with excruciating intensity. Yet, despite the agonizing haze blurring his single open eye, Cassian drove his blistered fingers into the soft earth, dragging his battered frame across the clover to lock his broad body over Elena, his breath ragged and laced with metallic frost."ELENA!" Cassian choked out, his raw rasp spraying blood across her pale forehead. "HOLD ON TO MY HAND! DON'T LET THE F

The violent gravitational drag of the black vortex did not pull them through empty air; it tore at their flesh with the sheer, crushing torque of a dying star, turning the pristine vault into a hurricane of pulverized bone and liquid silver static.The kinetic backlash struck Cassian full in his shattered left shoulder, snapping the bone completely and driving a fresh spray of scalding crimson from his lips across Elena’s face. The superheated void-fire still consuming his right arm seared straight down to the bone, sending waves of white-hot agony through his restored human nerves. Yet, despite his body breaking under the immense pressure, Cassian’s left arm remained locked around Elena’s waist with the suicidal tenacity of a dying titan, his shattered right knee digging into the crumbling earth as he anchored her against the roaring abyss."HOLD ON TO MY NECK, ELENA!" Cassian bellowed into the howling vortex, his voice tearing raw, dark crimson splattering against the silver static.

The kinetic static radiating from the dark duplicate did not just freeze the air; it warped the gravitational grid of the floating bone slab, cracking the dense, calcified stone into razor-sharp splinters beneath Elena’s boots.The sheer atmospheric pressure slammed into Cassian’s shattered chest, forcing another thick, agonizing spray of crimson from his lips as he lay collapsed in Elena’s arms. The void-fire burning near his heart flared violently in direct alignment with the cosmic broadsword held by his dark mirror. His single open eye, dim and bloodshot, fought through blinding white static as his battered human nerves screamed under the oppressive weight. Yet, despite his broken left shoulder and shattered knee, Cassian’s right hand clawed at the slick stone, struggling to push his bleeding frame between Elena and the void-clad titan before them."STAY... BEHIND ME... REGENT..." Cassian rasped, his voice tearing raw, dark crimson pooling on her pale lap.Elena held him tighter a