The light didn't just pull
it peeled.
Like the system was stripping her away layer by layer, not physically, but something deeper something that made her her.
Dante felt it.
That exact moment his grip stopped being enough.
Her fingers slipped from his shirt.
Her body dragged forward
not violently
inevitably.
"Dante!"
"I'm here"
He lunged again, catching her wrist but it didn't feel the same.
Not solid.
Like holding onto something already halfway gone.
The core pulsed.
Bright.
Hungry.
"…Integration stabilizing…"
"No."
Dante pulled harder.
The force resisted instantly equal, opposite, absolute.
The space around them sealed tighter, the walls locking into place like the system had decided this was the point of no return.
"You don't get to take her."
The core didn't react to the words.
Only to the resistance.
The light surged again
and this time, it answered him.
"…She is required."
Dante's jaw tightened. "She's not yours."
"…She is compatible."
