And right in the dead center of that swirling ring of liquid silver and blood-red fire, pooling at the center of her core, the phantom of a fifth layer began to form.
It was tiny at first… a hairline layer of raw, unshaped light no thicker than a thread of silk. But the moment it appeared, the surrounding reality pushed back.
"She's almost there." Zephyra gasped, "She is touching the threshold! Sol, the barrier between Layer 4 and Layer 5 is not an ordinary wall... it is a moat of pure void! To bridge it, the core must expand to twice its natural capacity without bursting!"
Sol's jaw were locked shut. His neon-crimson eyes bored into Veylara's floating form, watching the subtle, terrifying war playing out across her skin.
She wasn't past the danger. The sky had run away, but the sheer physical reality of mortal limits was still demanding its toll.
