The giant moved.
Its hand—a grotesque fusion of claw and glass—swung down like a guillotine. The air itself bent under the force, the sound of shattering mirrors echoing across the endless hall.
Ren leapt aside, dragging the girl with him as the blow slammed into the floor. A shockwave rippled outward, sending shards of liquid glass raining across them. The Thorn hummed violently, as if craving to pierce the monster's hide, but Ren could already tell—this wasn't like the fragments.
This thing wasn't weak enough to shatter.
The girl steadied herself, hair clinging to her face, her silver flame flickering like a second heartbeat. "It's not just a monster. It's the Pane's answer to you. Every time you resisted, every time you broke something it tried to control—it collected those pieces. And now it's wearing them like armor."
Ren snarled. "So it's me, but wrong."
