The hesitation didn't last.
Edrin knew it wouldn't.
Things like this—
Didn't stop.
They adjusted.
"…Okay," he muttered, breathing unevenly. "…what now?"
The figure lowered its hand slightly.
Not retreating.
Not abandoning its attempt.
Just… recalculating.
Lyra stayed close to Edrin, her magic steady but strained.
"It's testing new parameters," she said.
Edrin blinked.
"…Can we not call it that?"
Ronan grinned. "I think it fits."
"I don't like things that sound like they're thinking smarter than me!"
Kael's voice cut through calmly.
"Then don't try to outthink it."
Edrin nodded.
"…That I can do."
The figure moved again.
But this time—
Not toward the echoes.
Not directly toward Edrin.
It stepped to the side.
Edrin frowned.
"…That's new."
Lyra's eyes sharpened.
"It's changing angle."
"Why?"
Kael answered.
"To bypass interference."
Edrin's stomach dropped.
"…Oh."
The figure raised its hand again—
But now—
Targeting the connection from a different direction.
Not cutting through Edrin.
Not directly.
Around him.
The air warped.
The link trembled violently.
Edrin gasped.
"…It's going around me!"
"Yes!" Lyra said. "It's avoiding the block!"
Ronan stepped forward.
"Then we don't let it."
Edrin clenched his teeth.
"…I can't cover everything!"
"Then don't," Kael said.
Edrin blinked.
"…What?"
"Expand."
"…That sounds worse."
"Do it."
The figure struck—
A sharp, invisible cut—
Slipping past Edrin's defense—
Reaching the echoes—
Two of them flickered violently—
One nearly vanished.
Edrin's heart pounded.
"…No!"
He reached out instinctively—
Not to one—
To all of them.
The connection flared.
Wider.
Messier.
Harder to control.
"…Okay, this is definitely worse!"
Lyra reinforced it immediately—
Her magic spreading across the widened link—
Stabilizing what she could.
Ronan stepped in—
Not understanding it—
But holding the line physically—
Grounding them.
Kael adjusted—
Precise—
Interfering with the figure's movements—
Limiting its angles.
The next cut came—
But weaker.
Distorted.
Not clean.
Edrin felt it.
"…It's not getting through fully!"
"Keep going!" Lyra urged.
"I don't know what I'm doing!"
"Neither does it anymore," Ronan said.
"That's not comforting!"
The figure paused again.
Longer this time.
Its head tilted—
Not just observing—
Analyzing failure.
"Interference… increasing."
Edrin laughed weakly.
"…Yeah."
A pause.
"…We're good at that."
The void behind it pulsed—
But not aggressively—
Uncertain.
The figure tried again—
A sharper cut—
More focused—
Edrin reacted—
Not perfectly—
But instinctively—
Pulling the connection tighter where it mattered—
Looser where it didn't.
The cut hit—
But split—
Losing strength.
The echoes flickered—
But held.
Edrin's eyes widened.
"…I did that."
"Yes," Kael said.
Edrin nodded slowly.
"…I'm adapting."
Ronan grinned.
"Finally."
"I don't like that word!"
Lyra smiled faintly.
"…Too late."
The figure stepped back.
Just one step.
But it was the first time it had moved away from them.
Edrin blinked.
"…Wait."
A pause.
"…Did it just retreat?"
Kael shook his head.
"No."
The figure raised both hands again.
But this time—
Not cutting.
Not directly.
The air shifted differently.
The void pulsed.
And the connection—
Didn't break.
Didn't weaken.
It changed.
Edrin gasped.
"…It's not attacking the link."
Lyra's expression darkened.
"…It's changing what the link is."
Edrin's stomach dropped.
"…That sounds worse."
The echoes flickered again—
But not from damage.
From distortion.
Their forms shifting—
Blurring—
Becoming less defined.
Edrin felt it.
"…It's rewriting them."
"Yes," Kael said.
"If it cannot remove them…"
"…It changes them," Edrin finished.
The figure spoke calmly.
"Reclassification."
Edrin clenched his fists.
"…No."
The pressure returned—
Different this time—
Not cutting—
Not pulling—
Reshaping.
Trying to turn the echoes into something else.
Something acceptable.
Something that fit.
Edrin shook his head.
"…They're fine as they are!"
Lyra's voice was urgent.
"Edrin, if it changes them—"
"They won't be themselves anymore," he said.
Ronan frowned.
"…That's worse than losing them."
Edrin nodded.
"…Yeah."
The figure stepped forward again.
Closing the distance.
Not rushing.
Not forcing.
Confident now.
Because this method—
Was working.
Edrin's breathing grew heavier.
"…I can't hold this forever."
Lyra shook her head.
"You don't have to."
Edrin blinked.
"…What?"
Kael stepped forward.
"…We end it."
Silence.
Edrin looked at him.
"…How?"
Kael met his gaze.
"…We make it stop choosing."
Edrin frowned.
"…That sounds complicated."
Ronan grinned.
"Or we hit it where it actually exists."
Edrin blinked.
"…We can do that?"
Lyra's eyes focused on the figure.
"…If we find the right moment."
Edrin looked back at it.
At its calm.
At its control.
At how it was slowly reshaping everything.
"…Okay."
A breath.
"…New rule."
Ronan laughed. "There it is."
Edrin tightened his grip.
"…We stop reacting."
A pause.
"…And start interrupting."
The figure raised its hand again—
Continuing the rewrite—
Confident.
Stable.
In control.
Edrin stepped forward.
Not backing away.
Not holding ground.
Advancing.
"…Your turn to deal with us."
And for the first time—
They weren't just resisting.
They were about to fight back.