The battlefield buckled once more—this time not in collapse, but in ascension.
The eyes below did not close. Instead, they blinked. The simple act shattered entire ridges into dust, flipped rivers back into the sky, and made the air itself fold like paper. Where their lids fell, fragments of new pathways etched themselves into being—bridges of black-gold light, ladders of runes, doorways without frames.
Liliana's threads snapped taut, dragged by invisible anchors. She hissed through clenched teeth, her vision fracturing into shards of symbols only she could see. "It's building conduits. Not for itself… for us."
Milim snarled, refusing to be pulled closer to those watching runes. "For us to what? March? Kneel? No!" Her aura detonated in a shockwave, snapping half the conduits in an instant. The Listener's laughter only grew louder, as if delighted by her rebellion.
