My eyes narrowed. Knight controlled both Space and Darkness. There were very few places capable of stopping him from entering.
I activated the bond.
"Ragnar. Aurora. Fall back."
For a moment no response came. Then Ragnar’s irritated voice echoed through the connection.
"But I just got started."
"Fall back."
A loud growl followed.
Several seconds later a gigantic splash erupted from the Soul Sea as Ragnar disengaged from Verilux and launched himself toward our position. Aurora arrived shortly afterward, lightning still dancing across her fingers while traces of her previous storm remained visible throughout the sky.
The moment both of them joined us, our entire group gathered together above the city.
And Verilux noticed.
The gigantic Hydra slowly turned its heads toward us. Six enormous eyes settled upon our position.
The pressure immediately increased. The surrounding atmosphere distorted beneath its attention while currents of soul force began converging toward the colossal guardian.
The two Eternal Saints noticed the change as well. Their domains expanded slightly.
"Since we can’t deal with it, should we run from here?" Silver muttered while staring at the colossal Hydra dominating the battlefield.
"I don’t think it’s going to give us that option."
My gaze remained fixed on Verilux as Right to Insight continued dissecting the countless layers of power radiating from its body. The more I observed, the more troublesome the situation appeared.
Ancient runes embedded beneath its scales pulsed continuously with silver light, but those runes were not simply enhancing the creature’s strength. They were interacting with the region itself. Every pulse synchronized with the surrounding space, creating an enormous web that extended throughout Region Three and anchored itself into the very fabric of the territory.
The realization immediately made my expression darken.
Verilux was no longer merely blocking teleportation. The creature had effectively merged its authority with the surrounding space. Every path leading out of the region was sealed beneath its influence, and every attempt to escape would immediately alert it.
Under normal circumstances I could have forced my way through, but doing so would require revealing far more of my strength than I was willing to expose at this stage.
At the same moment, Verilux shifted its massive body and the atmosphere throughout the region immediately changed. Endless streams of soul force began converging toward the creature from every direction while the three gigantic heads slowly rose higher into the sky.
The runes covering its scales illuminated one after another until its entire body resembled a constellation of ancient symbols floating above the city.
The pressure gathering around the creature was becoming ridiculous.
"What’s the plan, Billion?" Lyrate asked while a crimson blade slowly materialized in her hand. "Because I’d really like to hear it before that thing decides we’re no longer worth the effort of keeping alive."
I was about to answer when something unexpected entered my perception. At first it was so small that I almost dismissed it.
A fluctuation.
Tiny.
Insignificant compared to the overwhelming pressure generated by Verilux.
Then another appeared.
And another.
My eyes narrowed. Someone was activating formations.
Somewhere inside the city.
The fluctuations continued spreading beneath the battlefield. Individually they were weak enough that nobody would notice them amidst the chaos, but together they formed a pattern. One formation connected to another. Then another. Then dozens more.
Like pieces of a hidden network awakening beneath the city. I remained silent while following the disturbances with my perception.
"What now?" Ragnar asked.
Still I didn’t answer.
Because what I was seeing was becoming increasingly interesting.
Beneath the streets, hidden beneath buildings, something was moving. Formations buried deep within the city were coming alive one after another. They had clearly been constructed over an enormous period of time because their signatures differed greatly from one location to another.
Then they connected. The reaction spread throughout the entire city.
The two Eternal Saints noticed it almost immediately.
Their expressions changed for the first time since the battle began.
"What is that?" one of them muttered.
The second Eternal’s perception exploded outward across the city and a moment later genuine alarm appeared on his face. That alone told me whatever was happening wasn’t supposed to be happening.
Suddenly hundreds of hidden formations ignited throughout Region Three.
Silver light erupted beneath roads and buildings. Entire sections of the city began glowing as ancient runes surfaced from places where they had remained hidden for centuries.
My attention immediately found the source.
Andrea.
She stood atop a distant building while three others stood beside her.
All four were Transcendents. All four were insignificant compared to the Eternal Saints.
Compared to Verilux they were less than insignificant.
Yet none of them looked frightened.
What I saw instead was determination.
The kind possessed by people who had spent a very long time preparing for a single moment.
One of them was a human male covered in old scars whose soul force felt damaged but extraordinarily dense. Another was a silver-eyed woman whose soul contained layer upon layer of formation marks. The third appeared to be an elderly Feran carrying a staff formed from crystallized soul force.
Together they looked unimpressive.
"Stop them," The Eternal Saint shouted.
The command echoed across the battlefield. One of the Saints immediately moved.
Verilux reacted even faster.
One of the gigantic heads opened its mouth while soul force condensed into a sphere so dense that space itself began distorting around it.
Unfortunately for them, they were already too late.
The hidden network completed itself.
Millions of runes illuminated throughout the city. Entire districts lit up beneath our feet as the contingency finally activated in full.
Andrea looked upward.
Despite the immense distance separating us, her gaze found mine immediately.
"I don’t know who you really are, Billion Ironhart," her voice echoed through the formation, "but if you’re looking for the same answers we are, then this is probably your only chance."
The hidden network completed itself. Silver light surged through the network like blood rushing through veins and converged toward a point high above Andrea and the three Transcendents standing beside her.
The surrounding space immediately began distorting.
A gigantic portal tore itself into existence above the city. Ancient runes rotated around its edges while immense amounts of soul force poured into maintaining the passage. It was clearly not something designed to stay open for long. The entire structure trembled violently as though reality itself was resisting its existence.
The Eternal Saints reacted immediately.
Both domains expanded.
Verilux roared.
The sound shook the region while the gigantic Hydra turned all three heads toward the portal. It understood the danger instantly.
The opening represented escape.
And escape was the one thing it had been summoned to prevent.
Andrea looked upward toward the portal and then toward us.
"Let’s go!"
She didn’t waste another second. The four Transcendents immediately shot upward and entered the portal without hesitation.
At the same time, one of Verilux’s gigantic heads opened its mouth.
Soul force gathered. Then compressed.
The Eternal Saints smiled.
They clearly believed it was already too late.
The beam fired.
A pillar of destruction erupted from the Hydra’s mouth and tore through the sky toward the portal. The attack crossed the distance almost instantly while countless layers of space shattered in its wake.
I didn’t need Insight to understand what would happen if it connected.
The portal would cease to exist.
"Move!"