The chamber had not yet settled from the collapse of the three guardians when a new vibration rippled through the metallic floor. It was not the echo of conflict, nor the tremor of structural failure—it was a pulse. Deep. Ancient. Calculated. A pulse that resonated with the same strange frequency Sarah had sensed at every step since entering the Outer Faction's labyrinth.
The light in the chamber dimmed, drained as if harvested. Crimson and violet echoes from Sarah's Proto-Ascension flickered, caught momentarily in a pull they could not fully resist.
Rias stiffened. "It's waking."
Akeno's voice lowered. "No… it's answering her."
The central spire—the heart of the Outer Faction's core—split open with a mechanical shudder, revealing an obsidian sphere suspended by thousands of luminous tendrils. It resembled a heart stripped from a titan, full of cold intellect and old purpose.
But it did not look at Sarah.
It analyzed her.
The sphere pulsed again, this time synchronizing with her Proto-Ascension like a predator aligning its heartbeat with prey.
Lilith Fragment whispered inside her mind, tone sharp and calculated: "This is not a guardian. This is the Source-Entity. The architect of the Faction's entire lattice. Prepare yourself."
Sarah tightened her stance. "We've trained. We've synchronized. We've survived everything they threw at us. We end this now."
The harem tightened formation around her, each touch calibrated, each breath measured. They did not tremble. They did not doubt. The chamber fell silent in that instant, as if the universe itself was holding its breath.
The sphere contracted slightly—then detonated a wave of force. Not explosive, but gravitational. The air twisted. The ground folded. Time bent in microfractures around them.
Sarah forced her feet down as the entire room warped. Proto-Ascension flared instinctively, instincts sharpened to a blade.
Rossweisse slammed an anchor rune into the metal floor to stabilize them.
Koneko absorbed the leftover kinetic distortion with sheer physical discipline.
Xenovia cut through the first incoming vector of force before it reached Sarah.
Rias and Akeno pressed their hands against Sarah's spine and ribs, amplifying her channeling field.
Skill Triggered: Proto-Ascension – Full Lattice Stabilization
Effect: Neutralizes gravitational distortion channels for 4.2 seconds.
Enough time to breathe. Enough time to plan.
Sarah lifted her gaze as the sphere's outer layer fractured, revealing an inner structure of mirrored plates arranged in impossibly complex geometry. It was not simply a machine; it was a consciousness translated into architecture.
And it spoke—without sound.
Without language.
Directly into the Ascension lattice.
A surge of foreign data slammed into Sarah's mind. Equations. Histories. Directives. Simulations. Predictions. An entire civilization's will condensed into a single overwhelming flood.
Her knees nearly buckled.
Rias reacted instantly, grabbing her shoulders. "Stay with us."
Akeno pressed closer, her voice low. "Anchor yourself. Use us. Use the resonance."
Sarah forced her breathing steady, locking onto their presence. "I'm not alone. You don't get to overwhelm me."
Lilith Fragment sharpened her tone: "Convert the intrusion. Reframe it. Turn it into fuel."
Sarah pushed back. The Proto-Ascension surged. The data flood twisted, restructured, absorbed—converted into raw intent.
The sphere pulsed again, this time with clear hostility.
It recognized her resistance.
The tendrils retracted, then hardened into jagged spears of pure energetic construct, launching toward the group at impossible speed.
Sarah moved before conscious thought formed. The lattice transmitted every intent directly through muscle and motion.
The first spear shattered against her forearm.
The second dissolved under Xenovia's blade.
The third fragmented when Koneko redirected the kinetic wave into the chamber wall.
Rossweisse shifted runic matrices to erect a temporary barrier.
Akeno electrified the airflow to distort incoming paths.
Rias extended her influence, reinforcing Sarah's Desire outputs into controlled bursts.
Skill Triggered: Ascendant Reflex Grid – 72-vector Counter-Alignment
The sphere reevaluated.
Shifted pattern.
Escalated.
Its mirrored plates spun, rearranging into a multi-layered structure that refracted incoming energy. Light bent. Motion lagged. Sound warped.
Then it struck.
Not physically.
Not energetically.
Cognitively.
A mental spike forged from pure algorithmic precision punched into the Ascension lattice, aiming at Sarah's emotional core.
Her vision blurred. Images from her past—pain, fear, loneliness—compressed into weaponized memories designed to fracture her resolve.
Sarah gasped—then felt Rias's hand tighten.
Akeno's warmth steady her.
Koneko's grounding presence.
Rossweisse's structured calm.
Xenovia's unwavering focus.
Lilith Fragment's guidance threading through the storm.
They did not shield her.
They synchronized with her.
And the mental spike splintered under collective will.
Sarah's voice cut through the pressure:
"I am not yours to break."
The chamber shook violently as the sphere's hostility escalated to full activation. The mirrored plates unfolded into a massive construct—half machine, half geometric nightmare—descending like a collapsing star.
Proto-Ascension cracked at the edges, output climbing beyond intended limits.
Lilith Fragment hissed: "You are exceeding your tolerance. If you continue—"
"I continue."
Sarah stepped forward.
One step into the gravitational crush.
One step into the storm.
Rias and Akeno flanked her immediately, their hands on her skin.
Xenovia and Koneko blocked incoming distortions.
Rossweisse overclocked her runes.
Lilith Fragment reinforced neural pathways.
The Proto-Ascension ignited into blinding crimson-lilac radiance.
Skill Triggered:
Ultimate Proto-Ascension – Threshold Breach Mode
Effect:
– Desire output maximized beyond safe operating range
– Neural lattice synchronization reaches full unity
– Emotional vectors merge into single directive
– Physical and conceptual barriers destabilize upon contact
The sphere recognized danger.
Its plates snapped inward.
Its core contracted.
It prepared a terminal defense pattern.
Sarah raised her hand, every heartbeat aligned with her harem in a perfect living circuit.
And she spoke with absolute clarity:
"You are not the one who decides how this ends. I do."
She struck.
The Proto-Ascension pierced the core's defensive geometry, splitting tendrils, fracturing plates, destabilizing the entire construct. The sphere shrieked in a frequency that shook the walls, rippling through the whole complex.
A crack formed—
then another—
then the entire core fissured in a brilliant explosion of refracted light.
The chamber erupted in cascading bursts of energy.
Sarah staggered, her body trembling under the strain. The Proto-Ascension output dipped dangerously, slipping in and out of control. The harem immediately rushed to stabilize her, channeling touch, breath, and intent to ground her against the volatile aftermath.
Akeno whispered, "Hold on. Focus on us."
Rias pressed closer. "We've got you. Don't lose the connection."
Sarah forced herself steady.
Her pulse normalized.
The lattice settled.
And then—
she saw it.
Floating where the sphere had shattered.
A single shard of light.
Not hostile.
Not algorithmic.
Something else.
Something alive.
She reached for it—
and the chamber collapsed into white silence.