"Sister," Lucien said. "Hold him for me first. I want to try something."
Kaia's flame rippled, then she condensed just enough for a face to appear. Sweat beaded on her brow even here.
"I will run out of mana soon," she said. "Make it quick, Brother."
She did not wait for reassurance.
Kaia turned into a comet again.
This time she moved with fewer feints and more commitment, which meant one thing. She trusted Lucien enough to burn herself faster.
The Eternal Alloykin tried to counter her with metal spirals and hinge-plates, reflexes drilled by centuries. His Astrafer resonance surged to scatter every impact into harmless vibration.
It failed.
Worse, he could not expand his domain.
His Law of Metal pulsed, searching for an outside to claim. Lucien's divine energy core denied it politely, like a locked door denying a beggar.
And he still could not kill a Celestial "pest."
His eyes burned as he glanced at Lucien.
An Ascendant stood there, calm as a scholar.
