The next attack came without warning.
One moment the scrying basin showed only the usual slow press of darkness against the eastern barrier. The next moment the water in the basin boiled black. Yelda staggered back with a sharp cry as a wave of hostile magic slammed into the chamber itself.
The golden light around Alicia flared violently. Cracks of pure shadow raced across the floor of the magic circle, trying to reach the princess at its center. The entire underground room shook. Dust rained from the ceiling.
Prince Will shouted for the guards. Clau's Lightning Sword blazed to life. Leafa already had her blade drawn. Fury raised both hands and poured pure light into the circle, trying to reinforce the barrier from inside.
Sekai did not wait for orders.
He pressed the pause button.
The chamber froze in mid-chaos. Shadow cracks stopped spreading. Floating dust hung motionless in the air. Alicia remained locked in her kneeling prayer, the golden light around her caught in a single bright pulse.
Sekai moved carefully through the frozen space and examined the cracks. They were not random. Someone or something had forced a thin spear of darkness through the holy field from the outside and was using it as a channel to attack the ritual directly. If the cracks reached Alicia, the prayer would shatter and the barrier over the capital would fall within minutes.
He followed the largest crack backward through the stone until he found the point where it entered the chamber. The source was a narrow breach high on the eastern wall of the room, almost invisible under normal conditions. Beyond that breach the Realm of Darkness pressed close.
Sekai returned to the frozen party, borrowed Leafa's sword once more, and spent a long stretch of stopped time reinforcing the magic circle itself. He could not use holy magic, but he could move physical objects with perfect precision. He shifted heavy stone blocks from the edges of the room, packed them tightly against the breach, and sealed every visible crack with rubble and pressure. When the physical path was blocked, he positioned Fury's hands so that her light would strike the remaining shadow the moment time resumed.
He stood ready beside Alicia, controller in one hand, and released the pause.
The chamber roared back to life.
Fury's light flared exactly where it was needed. The remaining shadow cracks burned away under the pure radiance. The sealed breach held. The golden field around Alicia stabilized again, though the light now looked thinner than before.
Yelda dropped to one knee, breathing hard. "That was not a probing attack. That was an assassination attempt aimed straight at the ritual."
Prince Will's face was pale. "If the prayer fails, the capital dies before sunrise."
Sekai checked the timer.
Three hours and twenty-seven minutes.
Leafa wiped dust from her blade. "They will try again. They know where she is now."
Fury lowered her hands. The effort of channeling so much light had left her slightly unsteady. "The King of Darkness is no longer testing the barrier. He is trying to end the ritual before it can finish."
Niña looked between them. "So what do we do? Sit here and wait for the next spear of darkness?"
Sekai walked to the edge of the glowing circle and looked at Alicia. Her face remained peaceful, completely unaware of the battle that had nearly reached her. The weight in his chest had grown heavier with every hour.
"We stay," he said. "All of us. No more splitting up. The next attack will be larger, and it will come soon."
Prince Will nodded. Additional guards were summoned. The scrying basin was watched without pause. Clau and Yelda took positions on opposite sides of the circle. Leafa and Fury remained close to Sekai.
The chamber settled into a tense silence broken only by the soft hum of the golden light.
Three hours.
Sekai kept his thumb resting on the pause button and watched the cracks in the stone that had nearly reached the princess. The King of Darkness had shown his intent clearly now. There would be no more small tests.
The real assault was coming.