Silence fell.
Not peace... but a brittle, razor-thin silence stretched so tight it felt like the sky itself might tear.
The Celestial proxies stood frozen. Their expressions were carved from shock and disbelief.
For the first time since the expedition began... they had failed to stop something.
And the Eternal Ruin of Stillness... was reacting.
The frozen desert that was once still as a corpse... shuddered.
A low groan rippled across the dunes, followed by another... deeper... older... angrier.
Then—
WHOOOOSH—!!
A storm rose.
A swirling maelstrom threaded with fragments of Law. It was raw and uncontrolled.
The Celestial proxies instantly moved. Sigils bloomed like star-fire around their hands.
They spread their domains as they shielded the crowd.
"Stay behind us—do NOT approach the altar!" one barked.
Their voices were steady, but their eyes…
Their eyes betrayed the truth.
The Ruin was slipping out of control.
And just then—
A laugh.
Cruelly amused.
