The moment the guardians raised their hands, the hall awakened.
Light surged through every inscription carved into the walls and pillars. Golden lines ignited in cascading patterns, flowing like rivers of energy through ancient channels that had remained dormant for ages. The pillars responded with deep, resonant pulses, each vibration sending circular waves through the water that distorted vision and bent perception slightly out of alignment.
The environment was no longer neutral.
It had become a weapon.
Then the guardians moved.
They did not advance.
They appeared.
One of them manifested directly before the Suryax generals. The space around it snapped into place like fractured glass sealing itself. Its arm rose, and a thin, crescent-shaped wave of force extended outward from its palm. The crescent did not glow brightly. It shimmered faintly, like heat over metal, but the space it passed through warped inward along its edge.
The crescent cut forward.
