The Origin Layer did not recover.
It recalibrated—badly.
After Sarah's rewrite, the Vault Corridor no longer obeyed linear hierarchy. Gravity stuttered. Distance lost meaning. The Observation Platforms drifted like fragments of a broken theorem, each one emitting residual echoes of a law that had just been overwritten by something infinitely less sterile.
Desire.
Not indulgent. Not chaotic.
Authoritative.
Sarah stood motionless at the epicenter, her aura no longer flaring, no longer unstable. Phase Three had settled into her frame like a crown that did not weigh her down—but instead recognized her. Crimson-lilac light traced her silhouette in slow, intimate patterns, responding to her breathing, her focus, her will.
The lattice held.
Rias was the first to feel the shift.
She straightened slightly, eyes narrowing as something new brushed against her perception. "Sarah… we're being watched. Not by the Observer."
Rossweisse froze mid-calculation, her expression sharpening. "Confirmed. External signal intrusion. It's not coming from the Origin Layer's stack."
Lilith Fragment surfaced fully, her presence colder—but edged now with something like tension.
"That rewrite propagated," she said. "You didn't just affect the Observer. You flagged the system."
Sarah tilted her head. "Flagged how."
Lilith did not answer immediately.
Then—
The space ripped.
Not violently. Not explosively.
Casually.
A vertical tear opened in the air, bleeding an unfamiliar shade of red—darker, thicker, saturated with something feral. The smell hit them next: iron, smoke, and a violence so normalized it felt almost mundane.
Akeno inhaled sharply, eyes glinting. "Oh. That's not a holy realm."
Xenovia frowned. "Nor an abstract layer. This feels… grounded. Brutal."
From the tear spilled data.
Not numbers. Not runes.
Conceptual signatures.
Predation. Contracts. Hunger given form.
Koneko stiffened, ears metaphorically flattening. "Something is hunting."
The Observer—what remained of it—twitched.
Its Prime Form, fractured and dimmed, struggled to reassert coherence. Rotating halos misaligned, symbols collapsing into recursive loops.
"External universe detected," it said, voice degraded, almost hoarse.
"Classification: Hostile equilibrium. Emotional saturation: extreme."
Sarah's eyes narrowed.
A screen—raw, system-level—unfurled before her vision.
SYSTEM ALERT:
Multiversal Detection Triggered
Anomalous Sovereign-Class Entity Identified
Designation: SARAH
Threat Index: Undefined
Signal leaked beyond Origin Layer containment
Rias stepped closer, hand brushing Sarah's arm—steady, deliberate. The contact reinforced the lattice instantly.
"This is because of Phase Three," she said. "You didn't just break its rules. You announced yourself."
Akeno smiled slowly, dangerously. "To predators."
The tear widened.
And through it—
A city skyline flickered into view.
Modern. Concrete. Neon-drenched.
And wrong.
Buildings loomed under a sky stained amber-red, as if sunset had been nailed in place. Sirens wailed in the distance. Shadows moved with intent. Something screamed—and was abruptly silenced.
Rossweisse whispered, horrified and fascinated. "That world runs on fear and transaction."
Lilith Fragment confirmed it, tone precise.
"A universe governed by contracts with embodied concepts. Devils. Desire commodified. Death normalized."
Sarah felt it then.
A pull.
Not from the tear itself—but from within it. Something had noticed her rewrite. Something ancient, amused, and deeply interested.
A voice slipped through the breach—not loud, not commanding.
Curious.
"Well now," it murmured, distorted, amused.
"That's a strange smell… power mixed with attachment. Haven't tasted that in a while."
Koneko stepped in front of Sarah instinctively.
Xenovia raised her blade.
Rias's voice hardened. "Identify yourself."
A pause.
Then a laugh—low, feral, delighted.
"Names are expensive where I'm from," the voice replied. "But you can call me a scout."
The tear stabilized.
Not as an invasion.
As an invitation.
SYSTEM UPDATE:
Second Arc Parameters Detected
Crossover Compatibility: CONFIRMED
World Anchor Identified
Chainsaw-Class Universe: SYNCHRONIZING…
Sarah did not move.
Her gaze locked onto the bleeding skyline, her aura tightening—not flaring, not reacting.
Choosing.
"So," she said calmly, authority woven into every syllable,
"this is the world that noticed me."
Lilith Fragment answered softly, almost approvingly.
"And this is where your sovereignty will be tested… not by systems, but by hunger."
The tear pulsed once more.
The Observer fell silent.
And the Origin Layer—irreversibly altered—began preparing for something it had never planned for:
Contamination by desire with teeth.
Sarah's lips curved, slow and deliberate.
"Then we don't just visit," she said.
"We enter."
The lattice responded as one.