The first impact shattered six city blocks.
The colossal Executioner's sword carved through the avenue with overwhelming force, splitting the earth apart as skyscrapers collapsed into the widening chasm. The shockwave hurled dozens of elite hunters through the air before they could even react.
Kairen crossed his arms in front of his face.
Black-and-red energy erupted around him just as the wave reached him.
The ground beneath his feet disintegrated.
Yet he remained standing.
Behind him, Daniel slammed both dagers into the pavement, anchoring himself against the violent force.
"Everyone spread out!" he shouted.
"No!" Kairen roared.
The command echoed across the ruined city.
"Stay together!"
The strike teams immediately abandoned their instinct to scatter. Instead, hundreds of hunters tightened their formation.
The Burden responded instantly.
Hundreds of faint silver threads appeared between them, strengthening as they closed ranks.
The Executioner stopped.
Its golden flames flickered.
For the first time, it hesitated.
Then the giant spoke.
"You have rejected fear."
Its voice shook the city.
"So I shall teach despair."
The spear-bearing Executioner disappeared.
Not moved.
Disappeared.
"Kairen!" Rowan shouted.
The warning came a heartbeat too late.
The giant reappeared directly above the formation, its massive spear descending like a falling mountain.
Kairen thrust the Oathblade upward.
The collision exploded across the heavens.
The spear stopped.
For one impossible second.
Then Kairen's knees bent beneath the unimaginable pressure.
Blood streamed from his mouth.
Every muscle in his body screamed.
The spear continued descending.
Daniel appeared beside him without hesitation.
His twin daggers struck the shaft of the spear.
The pressure eased slightly.
Another hunter joined.
Then another.
Rowan's massive sword crashed against the weapon.
Sera leaped onto the spear itself, driving both blades into its surface.
Within seconds dozens of hunters had joined the struggle.
The Burden Network glowed brighter.
They weren't sharing power.
They were sharing effort.
The Executioner looked down at them.
"...Interesting."
Its grip tightened.
Every hunter supporting the spear felt the same crushing force.
Bones cracked.
Armor split.
Blood stained the ruined street.
Yet nobody let go.
Kairen gritted his teeth.
"This..."
His voice trembled under the weight.
"...is why..."
The Burden flared.
"...you'll never understand us!"
With a deafening roar, the combined strength of every connected hunter forced the spear upward.
The Executioner took one step back.
The city fell silent.
Daniel stared upward in disbelief.
"We..."
"...moved it."
The giant looked at its own weapon.
Then back at the hunters.
The golden flames around its face flickered violently.
"Impossible."
Far away, inside the cathedral beyond reality, the Seven Keepers watched in silence.
One finally spoke.
"They continue violating predicted outcomes."
Another answered.
"The Burden Network amplifies cooperation beyond measurable limits."
The First Keeper slowly raised its head.
"They no longer fight as individuals."
A third Keeper spoke.
"They have become a single decision."
The cathedral became silent once more.
The Sovereign remained motionless upon its throne of extinguished stars.
Then one golden eye slowly opened.
"Proceed."
Back inside the Domain, the third Executioner finally moved.
The one carrying the enormous black scythe.
Unlike the others, it didn't attack.
Instead, it slowly dragged its weapon across the ruined street.
Wherever the blade passed, the silver threads connecting the hunters began to dim.
Daniel suddenly staggered.
"What..."
Sera clutched her chest.
"I can't feel..."
One by one, the Burden Network weakened.
Kairen's eyes widened.
"It's cutting the connections."
The Executioner stopped.
Its deep voice echoed across Lumina City.
"The bond between hearts."
The scythe rose into the air.
"Can always be severed."
It swung once.
A crescent of black energy expanded across the battlefield.
Every hunter braced for impact.
The attack passed through them harmlessly.
No wounds.
No destruction.
Only silence.
Daniel blinked.
"...Did it miss?"
"No," Kairen whispered.
He looked around.
The silver threads had disappeared.
Completely.
The Burden Network was gone.
At once, confusion spread through the strike force.
Hunters who had moved with perfect instinct moments before now hesitated.
Formations broke.
Commands overlapped.
Fear returned.
The sword-bearing Executioner charged.
Without the shared awareness of the network, its speed became overwhelming.
One swing sent an entire squad crashing through a building.
The spear-bearing giant struck next, scattering another formation before they could regroup.
Within seconds, the battlefield descended into chaos.
Vale's voice suddenly burst through the communicators.
"Kairen!"
Static crackled between every word.
"We've identified the Domain's core!"
"Where?"
"Beneath..."
The signal distorted violently.
"...Cathedral..."
Then silence.
Kairen closed his eyes.
The Burden was still there.
He just couldn't reach anyone.
He slowed his breathing.
Ignored the sounds of battle.
Ignored the collapsing buildings.
Ignored the pain.
Then...
He heard it.
Not through the Burden.
Through himself.
A heartbeat.
Then another.
Not his own.
Daniel's.
Then Rowan's.
Then Sera's.
Then hundreds more.
The threads weren't gone.
They had simply become invisible.
A slow smile crossed Kairen's face.
The scythe had cut the manifestation.
Not the connection itself.
He opened his eyes.
"The Burden isn't made of light."
The Executioners paused.
"It's made of choice."
Black-and-red energy erupted from Kairen's body with greater intensity than ever before.
The invisible network responded.
One by one, every hunter lifted their head.
They couldn't see the threads.
They didn't need to.
They could feel each other.
The Burden had evolved again.
No longer dependent on visible links.
No longer something Finality could simply sever.
The sword-bearing Executioner took a step backward.
For the first time since entering Lumina City...
The giants hesitated.
Kairen pointed the Oathblade toward the heart of the ruined city.
"The Domain's core is beneath the cathedral."
He looked at every hunter gathered around him.
"We don't need to defeat them."
"We only need to reach it."
Daniel grinned as he spun his daggers.
"So..."
"We punch a hole straight through?"
Rowan rested his massive sword on one shoulder and laughed.
"I was hoping you'd say that."
Sera wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth before drawing both blades again.
"The fastest path is through all three."
Kairen smiled.
"Then that's where we're going."
The three Executioners lowered their weapons simultaneously.
The ruined streets trembled.
Far in the distance, beyond the shattered skyline, an enormous cathedral slowly rose from beneath the earth.
Its towers pierced the crimson sky.
Its bells rang without anyone touching them.
And seated upon the highest spire, watching the approaching hunters with quiet interest, was a lone figure dressed in flowing white robes.
Its face was hidden beneath a golden crown.
When it looked toward Kairen, the Burden within him pulsed once.
Not in warning.
In recognition.
The Sovereign's first Herald had been waiting for them all along.