We slipped into the core layer without sound.
The region felt suffocating, because the laws here were stacked too tightly. Even with my perception spread wide, I moved carefully, wrapping both of us in layered concealment. Shadows, spatial folds, Essence suppression, everything I had stacked together until our presence became a blur. Knight stayed close too.
The core layer was not built for rest. It was built for war.
Massive platforms floated in a wide arc, forming the innermost crescent of the demon defenses. These were not barracks. These were firing platforms. Thick Essence shields curved outward from them, overlapping like scales, each one pulsing with a deep green glow.
Beyond them lay the battlefield.
Rows of demon soldiers floated in formation, tens of thousands at a time. Grandmasters formed the bulk, with Transcendents positioned like keystones between them. Their auras were restrained, disciplined, held tight instead of flaring wildly.
