Chapter 59: Catalyst Bound, VI
The third wave struck like a command.
The sky folded. The air snapped. The square split open, time unraveling from its seams. All around us, moments bled together—children cried in echoes, buildings aged and reverted, torches blinked in and out of light.
Konrad didn't move.
He stood at the center, holding back the collapse, his thread tethered to the civilians behind him. His jaw clenched. Blood ran from his eyes. And still, he didn't let go.
Helene didn't wait.
She raised her hand, and something sharp spiraled from her palm—thread, coiled like a blade, but shifting, shifting, always shifting. She hurled it toward Clara first.
Clara didn't flinch.
She raised her hand, threadlight rippling outward. A defensive pulse bloomed around her—a silent shimmer of will. The blade slowed. Bent.
Then split into three.
One curved toward me. Another toward Erich. The third reversed back toward the civilians.
"Konrad!" I shouted.