The sky over Qivittoq didn't turn black; it turned clear.
In the Adventurer's Hub of Glacier-Point, the Aether-meters didn't explode—they simply stopped. The mathematical Magigrams used to keep the heaters running began to vibrate, the geometry warping into unrecognizable shapes before shattering like glass.
Deep below the ice, in the 100th Floor of the Labyrinth, a 12-foot obsidian chrysalis cracked. A pulse of Prismatic White light rippled outward, not as an explosion, but as a frequency.
In Aethelgard, the Imperial King fell from his throne, clutching his heart. He didn't feel evil. He felt irrelevance.
Simultaneously in Shenzhou, it was not much different for the Heavenly emperor.
In Kushvanipad, millions of Ejijiwin larvae began to hum in their sleep, a collective vibration that shook the very foundation of the World Turtles. The "Larvae" were no longer waiting. Their King was calling.
...
(The first breath of the 44th King)
The black silk mummy cocoon did not tear; it unfolded in a lotus bloom pattern.
For a thousand years, Oba Zimbila had drifted in the Mystery Gorge. He had stood before the Infinity Barrier, feeling the radiant heat of Omnione's Glory. In that space, he was nothing—a speck of dust in the presence of the Infinite. And he loved it. He understood the Love of the Barrier; he understood that his very existence was a gift of Mercy.
Then, the vibration reached him. It wasn't the song of the Celestials. It was the screeching sound of Standardized Magigrams. It was the grinding of Industrial Meridians.
The world above was trying to mathematize God. They were trying to turn the infinite Love of Omnione into a currency—a "Magigram."
Oba Zimbila's eyes snapped open. They were not beady black beetle eyes anymore; they were swirling vortices of Prismatic White.
He spread his four wings. The hind-wings, delicate and leaf-like, pulsed with a light that defied the darkness of the deep.
...
The wind in Qivittoq doesn't just blow; it screams. The group is huddled beneath the bridge's underside, hanging by Madara's reinforced silk threads.
"Train is 30 seconds out," Madara vibrates, her antennas twitching with the frequency of the approaching engine. "The Aether-shield is fluctuating. Just like Gimli-Var said it would."
Kaelen checks his lead club. "Nyra, you're up first. Disable the Lock-Runes on the third carriage. Tari, you're rear guard. Gimli... you sure about those bypass codes?"
Gimli-Var smiles, a glint in his eyes that Tari mistake for excitement. "Standard Church encryption, Kaelen. I wrote half the code myself before they 'kicked me out.' The door will slide open like butter."
Tari looks at the Dwarf. Something in the "Flow" feels off. In Qi-Culture, a liar's Aether usually stutters, but Gimli-Var's Aether is perfectly calm—too calm. "The rhythm of the bridge is strange," Tari whispers, adjusting his grip on his staff. "The wind... it sounds like a trap."
"It's just the cold, [redacted]-boy," Gimli-Var grunts, tapping a device on his belt—the hidden transponder already pulsing a silent signal to the Church Paladins hovering in the clouds above.
The train roars overhead. Nyra leaps, a blur of grey fur and shadow. She sticks to the side of the metal beast, her claws digging into the frost. She reaches the door—but instead of a Lock-Rune, she finds a "Detection-Trigger."
"Kaelen! The code is a fake! It's a—"
BOOM.
The side of the carriage doesn't open; it explodes outward in a wave of Golden Light (Yellow Aura). Six Church Paladins, encased in Magistone Power Armor, hover out of the smoke.
"Unchained scum," the lead Paladin's voice is amplified by a vocal-rune. "By order of the Unified Church, your souls are now forfeited to the Tithe."
Gimli-Var slips behind a bridge pillar, pulling a crossbow. "Sorry, Kaelen. It's just good business. The Church pays better than 'Omnione's Love' ever did."
Kaelen is pinned by a Gravity-Rune. Nyra is dangling from the moving train by one hand. Tari is surrounded by three Paladins.
But then, the ground—the actual sky-ice of the bridge—begins to vibrate.
It's not the train. It's a frequency so deep it makes the Paladins' Power Armor crack. Below them, in the Labyrinth directly beneath the bridge, a Prismatic White light begins to bleed through the ice.