Mana conduits roared, Arkenhall's defenses channeling raw power into the wounded lattice. For a heartbeat, the shield held. Light blazing across the horizon.
Then it shattered.
The world shook. A storm of burning fragments fell like dying stars, scattering across oceans and plains. Where shield-runes hit ground, they detonated with the force of collapsed mountains.
And through the breach, the Vestiges came.
Colossal ships descended, their hulls etched with writhing glyphs. War engines like titanic insects unfolded, claws and cannons pulsing with fire. Smaller craft swarmed ahead, vomiting out troops that were neither flesh nor metal but some union of both—constructs birthed for war.
The people of Qiyun looked up and saw the end descending.
★★★
Inside the council chamber, chaos erupted.
Seroi slammed a fist into the console. "They're inside the atmosphere! We can't repel them with orbital fire anymore!"
