The rhythm of light and shadow over the lake began to feel wrong.It started with a change so small it was almost impossible to notice.
The wind suddenly aligned into a single direction, as if it were being pulled toward the lake's center.
The faint moisture in the air was stripped away layer by layer.Dry, like it had been wiped clean.My nose could catch neither scent nor temperature.
It felt as though the entire airspace around the lake had been passed through a filter.
Emilia was the first to look up.
Her eyes narrowed as she locked onto the bright point at the center of the lake.
The angle of that light was strange.As if it had been refracted once, then frozen mid-shift.
"The second phase… it's early," she said.
Alden lifted his head as well, his gaze sharpening."It's way faster than projected."
The light suddenly sank.
It was as if a massive weight had been pushed up from beneath the lake.The surface dipped by an inch, yet no ripples spread outward.
A collapse, held down by force.
My chest tightened.
It wasn't pain.It felt like my awareness had been grabbed and dragged downward for a split second,my thoughts and body slipping out of sync by a single frame,then being forced violently back into alignment.
Emilia was operating the device. Her fingers wouldn't stop trembling.
The screen flickered once. Her voice caught."The lake core is skipping reads. The intervals are breaking. This isn't normal mode."
Patch's fur exploded outward, his tail puffed into a thick brush.A low growl vibrated in his throat, restrained,as if he knew making more noise might draw something closer.
Another flash.
This one was brutal. Fast.The lake's center lit up like a blade cutting through the surface.
In that instant, something deep in my mind was pinged.Extremely brief. Extremely precise.Like someone confirming a value.
Alden's shoulders locked."If it flashes again, do we pull back? This isn't natural."
Emilia didn't answer.
"Wait until it stabilizes."
Her voice was calm, but her fingers tightened slightly.She was calculating a timing window.A threshold.
I recognized it.
That wasn't fear.It was the focus that comes when a task reaches its critical stage.
Alden turned to me."That thing in your chest… what stage is it at now?"
"Don't ask yet," Emilia cut in immediately. "Later."
It was the first time she had spoken to Alden in that tone.
The air froze for a second,more uncomfortable than the shifting light.
In that gap—
The lake's center expelled a thin ring of mist.
Not steam.Not fog.
More like residue scraped off time itself.
As it rose, the bright point stretched slightly.
For a brief instant, I felt it.Like the shadow of the next frame appearing too early.
"The entry point… it's almost formed," Alden said, his breathing shallow.
Then the countdown appeared.
It didn't fade in.It slammed into view like a system overlay.
01:59:12
Emilia's pupils constricted. Her focus lagged by a fraction of a second.
Then it jumped.
01:59:12 → 01:59:04
Eight seconds vanished.
The lake flared for a single frame, then went dark.
Patch hissed and flattened himself against the ground,as if those seconds might be torn out from beneath his paws.
"Skipped seconds," Emilia said, swallowing."This isn't reading. It's execution."
A sound rose from deep within the lake,too heavy to be water.
Slow.Like metal twisting,or wood groaning under unbearable pressure.
Another flash.
The lake's center collapsed even deeper,as if the entire lakebed were caving in.
Alden stepped back half a pace. Veins surfaced along the back of his hand.
Not fear.A reaction to miscalculation.
The countdown jumped again.
01:59:04 → 01:58:51
Thirteen seconds disappeared.
A perfect black ring surfaced around the lake's center,as if something were being boxed into defined boundaries.
At the same time, the countdown turned blood red.
The air split along a thin, icy seam.
"It's entered destructive mode," Emilia said, her face drained of color.
The mist thickened.
Something was watching from inside it.
For a split second, I saw my own chest,as if it had cracked open.
Not pain.Just a frame running ahead of time.
Runes.Fractures.Burn marks left by something written directly into a system.
Then it was gone.
The lake erupted into pure white.
Then collapsed.
The countdown shattered.
The lake's center imploded.
A black hand emerged.
This time, it had mass.
As it moved through the air, it made a sound like sandpaper brushing against glass.
"Don't let it touch you!" Emilia screamed.
Patch lunged forward, throwing his entire body in front of my chest.
The light froze.