The warning signs started quietly.
Birds stopped flying.
The wind changed direction.
Even Lyra's power felt uneasy.
Then the sky cracked.
Not metaphorically.
Actually cracked.
Lines of white light spread across the clouds like broken glass.
Rylan looked up.
"Well… that's new and very bad."
Kael drew his weapon.
The stranger already knew.
"He started Phase Three."
A massive floating structure appeared above the horizon.
A celestial mechanism made of rotating rings and glowing symbols.
Seraph stood at its center.
"This world is unstable," his voice echoed.
"So I will reset the equation."
Lyra's heart dropped.
"What does reset mean?"
The stranger answered quietly.
"Mass extinction."
Lyra stepped forward immediately.
"Then we stop him."
But this time even she felt fear.
Because this wasn't just a battle.
This was survival of the world.
The structure began draining energy from the entire region.
Including Lyra.
Lyra struggled to stand as the celestial machine pulled at her power.
Her balance energy made her a primary target.
Kael grabbed her before she fell.
"Easy."
She hated feeling weak.
"I can't be the liability."
Rylan shook his head.
"You are literally the reason we still exist."
The stranger added.
"You are the objective. That makes you the opposite of a liability."
Lyra forced herself up again.
"If he wants my power… we make him regret it."
But something else worried her.
The dream warning.
Prepare to lose one.
Her eyes moved between the three.
Fear returned.
Not battle fear.
Loss fear.
She whispered internally.
Please… not them.
Seraph activated guardian constructs stronger than anything before.