The explosion of existence was seen across kingdoms.
Including Velmora.
Lyra Voss didn't wait for permission.
She tore open a gateway.
Not a portal—
A wound.
Reality resisted, screaming against her will, but she forced it open anyway. The laws of Aethercraft shattered around her like glass.
"Lyra, you'll die—!" Seredin's voice echoed behind her.
"Then I'll die knowing," she replied.
And stepped through.
She arrived in nothing.
Or what used to be something.
Fragments of Eryndor floated like broken memories. Pieces of land drifted without gravity. Time flickered inconsistently, replaying moments that no longer existed.
And in the center—
Two beings.
One, she understood.
One, she didn't.
Gideon stood surrounded by collapsing reality, his form flickering between states—human, something else, something beyond naming.
And before him—
Azael Veyr.
Lyra felt it instantly.
That pressure.
That wrongness.
Her instincts screamed one truth—
Neither of them should exist.
But she moved anyway.
"Aether bind."
Chains of luminous energy erupted from her hands, weaving through space, locking onto both Gideon and Azael.
For a brief moment—
Everything stopped.
Gideon turned.
Their eyes met.
And the world held its breath.
"You shouldn't be here," Gideon said.
Lyra smirked faintly, despite the chaos.
"Yeah. I get that a lot."
Then—
The chains shattered.
Not broken.
Rejected.
Both of them.
At the same time.
Lyra's expression changed.
"…Oh."
Azael looked at her.
Curious.
"A mortal who breaks laws," he said. "How inefficient."
Lyra raised her hand again, power surging dangerously.
"Try me."
Gideon stepped between them.
"Stop."
Not loud.
But absolute.
For a moment—
Even Azael listened.