The Crucible wasn't fire. It was deconstruction. Lin Mo felt the Void Seed unravel at a subatomic level, its hunger and rage laid bare. The Echoes' voices boomed:
["THE CONSUMER'S ESSENCE IS ENTROPY. CHAOS. THE URGE TO REDUCE ALL TO NOTHING."]
["TO RECAST IT, YOU MUST OFFER A COUNTERVAILING PRINCIPLE: PURPOSE. SACRIFICE. ENDURING WILL."]
Wu Gen's essence burned beside him – not fading, but transmuting. His life force, his Keeper's resolve, flowed into the dissolving Seed. The jagged shards of his Elder blade melted, becoming liquid silver threads weaving through the chaos.
[KEEPER TECH INTEGRATION: 37%]
[WU GEN ESSENCE INTEGRITY: 18%]
"Old man… stop!" Lin Mo's thought-voice roared.
Wu Gen's spectral form grinned, fierce. "This is my purpose, kid. Forge the damn thing right." His essence flared brighter, then dimmed, becoming pure, stabilizing energy within the Seed's core.
[KEEPER INTEGRATION: 100%]
[WU GEN: ESSENCE DISPERSED. SIGNATURE ABSORBED.]
Grief, sharp and cold, pierced Lin Mo. Then Yu's light enveloped him.
[CATALYST SYNCHRONIZATION: ENGAGED]
Yu wasn't just anchoring; she was filtering. The Crucible's chaotic energy passed through her, emerging cleansed, imbued with her unwavering compassion and fierce love. The Void Seed's dissolving fragments began to reknit, shimmering with a softer, steadier light.
[VOID SEED RECONFIGURATION: 58%]
Outside the Sanctum, on Titan, Elara's sensors screamed. Tomb-01 had arrived. Not firing. Phasing. Its colossal obsidian structure began merging with Titan's ice.
[OBJECTIVE: ASSIMILATE BUILDER STRUCTURE / SANCTUM PORTAL]
The Titan Builder roared – a psychic blast of pure terror and defiance that cracked ice sheets continent-wide. It couldn't fight. Not while sustaining the Crucible portal.
Elara opened a fleet-wide channel. "All Pagoda Remnants! Defensive Pattern Sigma! Buy them time!"