The head spoked.
"I have returned."
A ripple of unease moved through the council. One member whispered, "You were never meant to leave."
The shadow didn't answer.
Instead, the head continued. "Two years ago, I left this planet without informing you. I broke our pact. But I had to know. I had to see what lies beyond the stars."
A screen bloomed to life in the air above them.
Planets. Systems. Shapes that defied known geometry.
"Out there… I found a civilization. Older than ours. Larger. Sleeping beneath the folds of time. They call themselves The Vestige."
The room turned still.
"They cannot enter our world directly. Not yet. Something binds them outside…"
The image shifted.
A globe. Planet Qiyun.
Around it, a field. A barrier invisible to the naked eye, but shown now in glimmering light. A shield that wrapped the world in silence.
