The signal continued.
"TOO LATE."
The words echoed through every active layer of the Nexus.
Not spoken.
Received.
The difference mattered.
Because no one had transmitted them.
No known resonance route connected to the source.
No Gate linked to it.
No pathway existed between the Nexus and whatever waited beyond the edge of mapped reality.
And yet the message arrived anyway.
The prison layers fell silent.
The Hollow stopped moving.
The observing masses froze.
The balance branches suspended active debate protocols.
For a terrifying moment, every ancient power inside the Nexus simply listened.
The signal pulsed again.
Closer.
Stronger.
Deliberate.
Sarya felt it through the bridge immediately.
The sensation was different from the Hollow.
Different from the Nexus.
Different from anything she had encountered before.
The Hollow felt like overwhelming connection.
The observing masses felt like crushing authority.
The balance branches felt like structured harmony.
