The sky split open.
Not like lightning—no.
This was surgical. A perfect wound carved through the fabric of heaven.
White light bled through it, pulsing with a rhythm that didn't belong to this world.
The ruins trembled. Dust fell in soft sheets from the fractured ceiling as the world itself groaned.
Lirya stepped back, eyes reflecting the rip in the sky. "They're here…"
Her voice cracked on the last word, and for the first time, I heard fear in it.
From the wound descended three silhouettes.
Tall. Weightless. Wrapped in robes of light that bent and folded like liquid glass.
No faces. No wings.
Just halos of motionless radiance orbiting around them.
The air grew heavy. My lungs refused to move.
Each breath felt like breathing molten iron.
> [Entities Identified: Watchers of Order]
Threat Level: Divine Class
Correction Objective: Terminate Anomalous Existence]
Their voices came not through sound but through pressure.
A vibration that resonated inside my skull.
> "Boundary-breaker located."
"Spatial disturbance confirmed."
"Termination—authorized."
The world darkened.
The twin suns dimmed beneath their arrival.
The temperature dropped—not from cold, but from absence.
Even heat didn't dare exist near them.
Lirya's hand brushed mine. Cold, trembling. "If they erase you, the world resets. Everything near you will vanish. Even me."
I didn't answer.
My pulse slowed.
The System's interface flickered before my eyes—warning after warning flooding in.
> [Caution: Dimensional Compression Detected]
[Spatial Limit Overlap — Engage Defensive Field?]
"Yes," I whispered.
The air snapped.
A translucent sphere unfolded around us—my Limit Field. The first wave of light struck it, bending like it had collided with liquid glass.
Reality rippled.
The Watchers paused.
Their halos spun faster, analyzing.
Then the second wave came—sharper, hotter. It struck the barrier and shattered against it, leaving rings of glowing distortion that faded into static.
My nose bled. My head pounded. Every nerve screamed.
> "Rin!" Lirya's voice reached through the pressure. "You can't outlast them—there are three!"
"Then I'll change the field," I said.
The System pulsed violently.
> [Overclocking: Spatial Limit Field]
[Warning: Perception Strain Exceeding 300%]
The world stretched.
My eyes widened—literally. I saw everything. Every flicker of light, every atom twisting under the Watchers' pressure.
The threads of the world—blue, silver, red—unfolded like a vast tapestry.
And through it all, I saw their structure.
Their limits.
"They think they're infinite…" I muttered. "They're not."
I reached out.
The barrier vanished—and in its place, the space collapsed.
The air between us folded like paper, dragging the Watchers inward. Their halos distorted, their light twisted, bending against itself.
They tried to resist—rays of pure white energy cutting through the distortion—but I caught them, froze them mid-motion.
> "Second Layer…"
"Spatial Inversion," I whispered.
The world imploded.
Silence.
The temple floor cracked under the pressure wave.
Lirya shielded her face as dust and light exploded outward.
When it cleared, the Watchers were gone—reduced to fragments of glass and trembling mana fading into the dusk.
Only faint static hung in the air, whispering like dying stars.
I sank to one knee, breathing hard. The veins under my skin glowed faintly blue. My vision blurred—reality itself flickering at the edges.
Lirya knelt beside me. "You can't keep using it like that. The world will notice."
I smirked weakly. "It already did."
The System chimed softly, a sound almost… proud.
> [Correction Entities Neutralized]
[Third Layer Unlocked — Energy Limit]
'To compress infinity is to create collapse.'
Energy surged through my veins like fire.
The wounds vanished. My breathing steadied.
For a brief moment, I felt whole.
Then, I heard it—a sound like wind through shattered glass.
High above, the wound in the sky began to close. But before it did, a single voice bled through it—calm, ancient, curious.
> "A mortal with infinite sight…"
"Amusing."
The voice faded. The sky sealed.
Lirya looked at me. "That… wasn't a Watcher."
"No," I said softly. "That was something higher."
Silence lingered between us as the ruins settled into quiet once more.
The twin suns had merged into twilight now—one red, one white.
And somewhere, deep within the horizon, I could feel it: a pull, like the world itself was waiting. Watching.
I stood, dusting blood from my sleeve.
"Looks like the gods are watching now," I said.
Lirya's expression was unreadable. "Then what will you do?"
I looked up at the twin suns, their light painting my reflection in gold and blue.
"I'll give them a reason to keep watching."