BOOM!

This time, the sound was heavier, more physical: an explosion that cracked not only the skull but the void itself as the Tower of Worth found its mark.

The Serpent's head bent hard, driving its body downward into the nothingness, but luckily Brakhtar's transparent hands held it firm, not letting it be flung away.

"Not enough."

Adyr saw the Spark badly damaged yet far from finished: its skull bent, armor-black scales cracked, blood oozing from its mouth and nose—that was all.

It looked badly hurt, yeah, but to Adyr the wounds were superficial; the Serpent still writhed and hissed, very much alive.

Fortunately, this Spark wasn't as strong defensively as Colossith, whose hide was thicker and, more importantly, could reflect every strike as a shockwave, which made that one so hard to subdue.

Still, Adyr didn't lower his guard. He readied a second strike, fully aware that the Serpent had at least one more ability it hadn't shown yet.

"You guys take the core and leave." While charging his next attack, he looked to the mixed-race group.

Maruun tried to understand, especially with Adyr seeming to have the upper hand. "Are you sure? You know, once we take the core, this Sanctuary will start to crumble."

"I know. Take it and leave; we'll follow soon." His tone was heavy, and this time no one argued.

Brakhtar and Thalira gave the same order to their kin, telling them to leave the Sanctuary immediately.

They weren't agreeing with Adyr's decision blindly; they had realized something, too.

The fight was going too easily—almost one-sided—and that alone made them suspicious.

There were countless types of Sparks, each with its own skills and counters, but a Rank 4 Spark was still a Rank 4. It shouldn't be going down this easily.

And there was another thing making them extra cautious: ever since they faced the Spark, the 'Spark Detected' message had not appeared for anyone.

They did not know why. Not knowing what they were fighting, and why the system refused to show them what it always showed for other Sparks, was reason enough to move like they were crossing thin ice.

"Are you ready?" Adyr looked at the two of them and waited for their nods. He slid his gaze to the giant book floating in the dark, catching it at the edge of his vision like a bad omen. "I will strike as soon as they take the book."

The void around them felt stale and pressurized. The Serpent writhed under Brakhtar's transparent hands, its scales laced with hairline cracks. Every few heartbeats, another lightning soldier detonation bloomed against its body, Thalira's work, sharp white flashes tearing shadows open and stitching them shut.

Maruun and the others closed in on the book.

"I hope it's not as heavy as it looks." He set both palms on the cover and pushed. The book did not twitch. "Yeah, it's heavy."

His face fell for a single breath, then steadied. The others rushed in shoulder to shoulder, palms and forearms pressed to the leather, and they shoved.

The book did not feel like something that floated. It felt fixed in place, as if thick, invisible resin held it, as if unseen bolts had driven through its spine into the void itself.

"Again," Maruun said.

They strained until muscles shook. A slow, reluctant shift crept through the thing, a fraction to one side and then a fraction back. The book started to move, and the void moved with it.

RUMBLE.

The sound rolled low and long, like a mountain slipping down its own face. Dustless air vibrated. Breaths hitched.

"Don't stop," Maruun shouted, already knowing. "It's the anchor."

The Core tied the Legacy Domain together. That was its job. Pull the nail, and the plank comes loose.

They pushed as cracks whispered through the emptiness, and a tremor rippled through the void itself, the kind of motion that made the stomach think it was falling; the black around them puckered as if time were fabric pinched and pulled, light bent, distance folded, and the book groaned against whatever held it.

"Harder."

And finally, the book tore free, the emptiness screaming in agony.

WAAAUUUM.

A report like a split planet slammed through the Sanctuary. The echo chased itself into forever.

"Oh shit, run, run." Loudbark was already on his giant dog, fists tight on a rope fastened to the book. The dog hammered the void with its wings, wind knifing past as it hauled weight that should not have moved in a place that should not have allowed movement at all.

The void convulsed, and walls that had never existed began to splinter. Far off, planes of darkness sheared apart and cascaded into deeper dark. Space pitched and rolled as the pull shifted, trying to tip their bodies into a long fall, and the dimension began to crumble faster than nerves could keep up.

"Okay, we are also leaving after this." Adyr had already drawn the mass of stone into his hands. The block thrummed with caged force, dense as a verdict. He stepped into position over the Serpent's skull.

If this landed cleanly, he would take the Spark with him. If it failed, he would run.

Please no surprises, he told himself, the thought passing thin and sharp through his mind.

He really wanted to subdue the Spark, but everything depended on this attack.

He brought the stone down.

BOOM.

The column smashed into the Serpent's head. Bone and scale warped inward with a crumpling shriek, the impact crushing the crown like a tin vessel. The shock tried to fling that vast body into the collapsing dark, but Brakhtar's translucent hands held fast, tendons drawn tight from nowhere to nowhere.

Silence pressed in around the fading echo. They watched.

The void continued to shiver and groan. Fissures of unreal geometry opened and closed at the edges of sight, as if the idea of the room kept forgetting itself and then remembering at the last second. For several breaths, the Serpent did not move. Not a coil. Not a twitch.

Thalira arched one eyebrow. "Is it dead?"

Adyr paused as the same suspicion ran its route through his thoughts. Dead would be surprising, and wasteful. He had not come to kill it. A Spark like this was worth more alive than dead.

"Was I wrong? Is it really that weak?" he murmured, his brows drawing in.

But soon he realized he was right as the Serpent started to move again.

A thin hiss leaked through broken teeth. The body writhed, slow at first, then with an ugly determination that ignored pain. Relief slid through Adyr's chest, clean and simple.

"Good." He beat his wings once and drew closer, studying the lines of its head, the give in its movements, and the tremble in its jaw.

He reached out for direct contact.

He knew how the system worked. If he wanted to see a Spark's information, certain requirements had to be met first, such as the Spark being visible and at a sufficient distance for it to be detected. He wanted to test whether, for this one, the requirement was to be close enough to touch.

To prove his thoughts, the system responded this time.

[Spark Detected]

A window opened in front of him, the glyphs bright enough to bleach the crumbling world behind them.

"Haha, good." Adyr laughed in satisfaction as he began reading the description

But it didn't take long for the satisfaction to drain away in degrees. The lines of his face hardened, his expression settling into sharp angles as he kept reading. The last trace of color slipped from his features.

Then he looked up and spoke, his voice cutting through the collapsing void.

"Run."

***

A/N: We're finally holding a good position in the Golden Ticket rankings. Bonus chapter coming soon. Thanks for all the support :]

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