A Limbo Tier Divine Construct hovered silently atop a sandy ruin in Salissic Vein's outer perimeter, its black dust form flickering faintly under the warped sky.
The psychic quake had passed, but its aftermath lingered like a venomous fog—colors still glitching in sporadic bursts, shadows stretching unnaturally before snapping back, and the distant wails of civilians caught in fleeting illusions echoing through the bastion's concentric walls.
The Construct's pale flame eyes dimmed as it processed its isolation.
Samael, the Divine Hive, had placed it in self-autonomy mode, detaching it from the hive network to shield her from the overwhelming sensory overload of the Aequorian phantoms.
But this severance felt different—absolute, without the planned residual link that would allow Samael to monitor its POV or data stream.
No faint hum of shared perceptions, no trickle of tactical updates from the other 199 Limbo Tiers scattered across the defenses.
