They didn't have time to get comfortable.
The instant the last erasure glyphs were scraped free of the shattered hall, the combat pressure was being replaced with something sharper-edged. Attendants blocked the most serious tears in the foundation. Medical law was practiced in rapid, precise passes. The dead were swept away without ceremony as the higher beings argued over the implications of what had just happened to the nine.
Malakhiel's projection reappeared first, colder than it had been during the fight. "A Black Star team attacked a contested location attached to our bloodline and residual mass. That is no longer a matter of local custody concerns. This is exposure."
Tohu wiped at the blood on his lip, refusing to bow to Malakhiel's tone. "Exposure caused by attempted erasure rather than training, perhaps? They came to remove the carrier, if you had locked him away in ignorance. They might have found an easier kill."
