The crystalline eye didn't blink. It emitted a high-frequency shriek that shattered the remaining glass in the nearby ruins, and then it lunged.
It didn't move like a living creature; it teleported in short, jagged bursts of light. One moment it was ten feet away; the next, it was a blur of obsidian shards aimed directly at my throat.
I reacted on instinct. *Spatial Compression.*
I attempted to warp the space between us, intending to shunt the entity ten meters to the left. But as the power flared, the world tilted. A spike of white-hot pain lanced through my skull, and the space didn't warp—it shuddered.
`[WARNING: SYNCHRONIZATION STRAIN AT 18%]`
`Effect: Spatial Misalignment / Neural Feedback`
The Sentinel didn't move left. It moved *through* my flawed warp, its crystalline edge slashing across my shoulder. I was thrown backward, my tactical gear shredding as I hit the frozen earth.
"Evelyn!" Alex screamed. He opened fire, his rifle barking in rhythmic bursts. The bullets sparked off the Sentinel's geometric hide, leaving nothing but superficial scratches.
The entity ignored him. It focused on me, the "threat" that had attempted to manipulate its space. It coiled itself, preparing for a final, piercing strike.
I tried to stand, but my legs felt like lead. The "blur" was taking over; I could see three versions of the Sentinel, and I didn't know which one was real. I reached out for the Base Core's connection, trying to draw a surge of emergency energy to stabilize my mind.
`[SYSTEM ERROR: ENERGY DRAW DENIED]`
`Reason: Core Synchronization too low for high-output transfer.`
I was wide open. The Sentinel launched, a spear of obsidian light accelerating toward my chest.
*CLANG.*
The sound was like a mountain hitting a diamond.
I blinked. A shimmering, iridescent wall of force had snapped into existence inches from my face. The Sentinel had slammed into it with enough force to create a shockwave that blew the mist back for twenty feet.
Lily was standing five feet behind me. Her face was pale, her teeth clenched, and her hands were thrust forward. She wasn't just holding a shield; she was shaking with a concentrated effort I had never seen from her.
"Lily, get back!" I gasped, coughing up a metallic tang.
"No," she whispered, her voice trembling but fierce. "I'm tired of watching you bleed."
The Sentinel recoiled, orbiting the barrier with predatory speed, searching for a gap. It began to vibrate, preparing to phase through the shield.
"Now!" Lily screamed.
Instead of maintaining the wall, Lily did something that defied everything I had taught her. She didn't push the barrier *out*; she collapsed it *inward*.
The shield snapped shut like a giant, translucent venus flytrap, trapping the Sentinel in a sphere of reinforced force. The entity shrieked, its crystalline body slamming against the walls of the sphere, unable to phase out because Lily was feeding the barrier with every ounce of her willpower.
`[SENSING UNEXPECTED VARIABLE: OFFENSIVE BARRIER MANIFESTATION]`
`User: Lily Shen`
`Efficiency: 64%`
"Do it now, Mom!" Lily yelled, her nose beginning to bleed from the strain.
I didn't waste another second. I ignored the screaming in my nerves and the blur in my vision. I reached out, not to the Sentinel, but to the Mana Vein leaking from the spire. I didn't try to warp it