The Sanctum trembled as Elric's question bled into its walls.The obsidian gear at the chamber's center—the very heart of the Machine—shuddered, its teeth cracking one by one. Equations that once glowed with cruel certainty now unraveled, symbols dripping like molten lead.
The Phantom roared. His voices, once united in chilling harmony, fractured into thousands of discordant screams."Error! Error! All answers accounted—none sufficient—error!"
Selene dragged Evangeline behind a column of brass as fragments of mirrored glass exploded around them. Each shard still reflected a different Phantom, some raging, some pleading, some muttering broken proofs to themselves.
Evangeline's body glowed with fading glyphs. For the first time in hours, her voice was her own. "Elric… it's working."
Elric's cane struck the floor, steady as a heartbeat. "Not yet. We've only shaken him. He still believes he can solve me."
He raised his chalk again, and the Sanctum howled in anticipation.