The balance didn't hold.
It shattered.
The moment the distortion pushed back, the fragile alignment Liora had found collapsed under the force. The silver light around her surged violently, no longer contained, no longer controlled. It didn't expand like before—it erupted, tearing outward in jagged arcs that warped everything they touched.
The Deep Border reacted instantly.
Space bent.
Fragments of the ground lifted, then twisted, then folded into angles that shouldn't exist. The air itself fractured, thin cracks spreading through nothingness like reality had become something that could break.
And at the center of it—
Liora stood.
"…Liora!"
Cairis's voice cut through the chaos, sharper than before, but it didn't reach her the same way.
Not fully.
Because something else was louder.
The power.
It wasn't wild.
That was the terrifying part.
It felt… right.
Her breathing slowed.
Her pulse steadied.
