Chapter 25: The Sovereign War (1)
The sky was the first to shatter.
Not with a bang, nor with flame, but with a slow, terrible groan — like a world pulling itself apart at the seams. Clouds fractured into mirrored shards. Lightning stitched the heavens together with silver thread. The Riftstorm had begun.
Ning Que stood on the fractured platform above the Third Gate, wind screaming around him like a creature in mourning. Below, the sea churned into impossible spirals, as if the ocean itself were convulsing in confusion. And beside him — collapsed, threadbare — lay Mireya.
Her body flickered between light and transparency, as if the very reality that tethered her was unraveling.
"No, no, stay with me," Ning whispered, falling to his knees. He cradled her head gently, brushing her damp hair from her face. "Mireya, look at me."
Her eyelids fluttered. A weak glow pulsed in the hollow of her throat — where the last piece of her thread clung like a dying flame. Her breath came in gasps.
> {System Alert: Thread Severance 82%. Temporal Anchor unstable. Emergency interface override suggested.}
Ning clenched his teeth. "Override it. Transfer core stability to me."
> {Warning: This action will compromise Reclaimer Sovereign balance. Memory integrity at risk.}
"Do it anyway."
His body convulsed as a shockwave of golden energy surged from Mireya’s chest into his. For a heartbeat, he saw everything — her past, her fears, her moments with him. Their first meeting. The warmth of her laugh. The pain she buried under strength.