The different hand belonged to the nearest commander, which raised one finger toward the narrow road without looking away from Hajin.
The gesture crossed the realm boundary before any visible force struck Ouro, and the five windows compressed into a single black seam.
Hajin kept five Rings open around his arm while Didi's six Shards held the royal recall against her chest beneath the narrowing route.
The refusal socket inside Ferra's divided cradle answered with a white pulse, preserving one narrow pocket around the human side of the road.
That pocket kept the court visible, though the pressure outside it crushed every other route into darkness beneath the commander's raised finger.
The Royal Collector remained kneeling below the commanders, and its damaged shoulder folded inward beneath the finger's casual authority from the distant court.
