A cold wind passed through the broken arches of Irasios Academy's Old Wing, tugging at torn banners and fractured glass. Despite Aeris's defeat, the world hadn't returned to normal. The dreamlogic still clung to reality like cobwebs—lingering, stubborn. The name that flashed in the air—[ERROR: AUTHOR ID NOT FOUND]—wasn't just a system glitch. It was a declaration.
Verena stared at it grimly. "Someone hijacked the narrative. Aeris wasn't the mastermind. Just the pawn."
Vivienne knelt beside a broken mirror gate, still pulsing with residual Arcane energy. Her fingers glided over the silver surface. "This isn't a simple rewrite," she said, voice low. "It's a hijack of authorship. They're overriding the world's code by replacing its story anchors."
"You mean the heroines," Clarina said. "The Dreamgates tethered to them... They weren't doors. They were edits. Patches."
