The Will tried to scream, but the mindscape did not allow it. The golden-white structures had already sealed the space around its remaining core, and the runic simulation of devouring was accelerating with every word it spoke. Its threats, its offers, and its begging were all being converted into fuel, because even its desperation carried information. Even its fear carried memory. Even its desire to survive revealed the structure of its soul, and that structure was now being read by the one person it should never have tried to deceive.
Runar's consciousness continued to rise.
