> System Status:
❖ Eclipse Trial: Active
❖ Rebellion Level: Tier IV – Contagious
❖ Flame Court Response: Mobilizing Inquisition
❖ Threat Focus: Sovereign Ryon and All Bonded Threads
❖ Project Codename: Ash Purge
Midnight.
The sky above Ryon's camp went still—unnaturally still.
The stars disappeared.
The air thickened, brittle like frozen breath.
And from the dark…
They came.
Figures cloaked in flame-iron. Masks like sealed thorns. Eyes empty, except for one glowing glyph:
> 𝕀
Inquisition.
Kaela was the first to move, intercepting a black bolt midair with her blade.
Neive raised an emergency barrier. "We're being erased from the flame-index. They're deleting our right to exist—digitally and magically."
Maris: "This is preemptive assassination. Not justice."
Shaera cracked her knuckles. "Then let's show them we don't need permission to survive."
Elara silently stepped in front of Ryon.
Seris whispered, "I warned you. The Court never gives second chances."
