The battlefield didn't fall silent after the Counterpoint shattered.
It screamed.
Every crack in the Pane bled with resonance too raw for language—like the cries of a million broken reflections set free at once. Glass thundered into the abyss, shards spinning into oblivion, but Ren hardly noticed. His body trembled on one knee, Thorn buzzing violently in his hand, its jagged glow flickering like a dying star.
The silver-haired girl rushed to him, dropping to her knees. "Ren!"
Blood streaked his lips, his breath ragged, but he forced a grin anyway. "Told you… noise beats silence."
But before she could answer, the world itself shifted.
The cracks above them spread wider, stretching into the void like black veins splitting through heaven. Beyond them, something stirred. At first, it was only pressure—like a storm gathering on the other side of a door too thin to hold it. But then—
It opened.
An eye.
