Zerrei was shaking long after the blast faded.
Lyra held him tightly, her hands pressed to his face, her voice trembling with fear and urgency.
"Zerrei, look at me. Please—please look at me."
His eyes refused to focus.
His runes flickered in frantic, disordered patterns.
"…cold…" he whispered.
"…dark… inside…"
Arden rushed to their side, sword drawn and bloodied from the impact.
"Is he dying?! Oren—tell me he's not dying!"
Oren, breathless and pale, examined the oscillating patterns of light around Zerrei's chest.
"He's not dying."
Arden exhaled in relief—
"Yet."
Arden froze.
"YET?!"
Lyra snapped:
"Oren! Not now!"
Oren raised his hands defensively.
"I'm being realistic! His core is overloading!"
Zerrei's body jerked in her arms.
His voice cracked.
"…Master… pulling…"
Lyra grabbed him tighter.
"No. Ignore it—ignore him. Look at me!"
Zerrei tried.
He truly did.
But the pain—
the cold—
the mental tug of obedience he had spent his entire life under—
pulled harder than instinct.
His runes spasmed into glitching patterns.
The grass around him turned brittle from mana interference.
Small stones levitated and vibrated violently.
His chest pulsed with unstable, white-blue flares.
Arden gritted his teeth.
"He's going to explode."
Oren nodded grimly.
"Unless Lyra stabilizes him."
Lyra blinked.
"Me?"
Zerrei clung to her clothes.
"…Lyra… anchor…"
Oren met her eyes, voice steady but stern.
"His evolution linked your mana, your emotional resonance, directly to his core. If he loses you—even mentally—he collapses."
Arden stared.
"So we keep her with him at all times?"
Oren shook his head.
"No. We need more."
He gestured urgently.
"Lyra—sit with him. Close. Touch his core."
Lyra's heart pounded.
"What? But—"
"Do it! That's the command root—the center of his evolution!"
She swallowed hard, then gently pressed her hand to the hollow in Zerrei's chest, where the faint white-gold light pulsed beneath thin carved layers.
He jolted violently.
"—Lyra—!"
She held him firmly.
"I'm here."
His glow spasmed—
then steadied slightly under her touch.
Just slightly.
His fingers dug into her sleeves as if she were the only thing keeping him tethered.
"…warm…"
Lyra exhaled shakily.
"That's right. Stay with me. Stay here."
His voice cracked again.
"…hurts…"
She touched her forehead to his.
"Then hold onto me."
VESSEL THREE MOVES
A vibration rippled through the air.
Arden turned instantly, sword raised.
Vessel Three pushed himself out of the crater Zerrei had thrown him into.
He stood.
His mask-like face cracked down the middle.
Red light seeping through.
One arm twitched unnaturally, bent from the blast.
Lyra tensed.
Oren's eyes widened.
Arden snarled.
"Oh, you want ROUND TWO?!"
Vessel Three didn't move toward them.
Instead—
He analyzed Zerrei.
Chest glowing with shifting sigils.
Then he spoke again:
"VESSEL ONE—
CORE RESONANCE UNSTABLE.
ERROR: ANCHOR OVERRIDE DETECTED."
Arden spat on the ground.
"Yeah, no shit, Sherlock."
Oren hissed:
"Be quiet! It's recalibrating!"
Vessel Three lowered his arm.
His voice deepened, layered with multiple tones.
"REVISING DIRECTIVES."
Lyra stiffened.
"What directives?!"
"OBJECTIVE CHANGED."
"NEW PRIORITY:
ELIMINATE ANCHOR."
Lyra's blood ran cold.
Arden roared:
"OVER MY DEAD BODY!"
Vessel Three stepped forward—
smooth
mechanical
terrifyingly fast
despite the damage.
Lyra instinctively shielded Zerrei.
Zerrei gasped, clutching her arms hard.
"…no… Lyra… no…"
His glow flared wildly.
He tried to stand—
but collapsed immediately, overcome by the mindlink's aftershock.
"…Lyra… protect… Lyra…"
His hands clawed at the earth.
He tried to crawl in front of her—
But Lyra held him back, tears streaming.
"No! You're going to break again—stop!"
He trembled violently.
"…must… protect…"
His entire body shook as he forced himself upright—
legs buckling—
arms trembling—
and he managed to stand in front of her—
just barely.
He spread his arms protectively.
Facing Vessel Three.
The other vessel stopped.
As if analyzing a new impossibility.
Zerrei's voice was hoarse, cracked—
but fierce.
"…Lyra… safe."
Lyra grabbed his arm.
"Zerrei, you can't fight—please—please just stay with me—!"
He looked back at her.
And his entire expression softened.
Warm.
Tender.
Fragile.
"…Lyra… need Zerrei."
She sobbed.
"I need you alive!"
He smiled.
Just slightly.
"…alive… because Lyra here."
A sound between a sob and a laugh escaped her.
Arden roared behind them:
"MOVE, ZERREI! WE'LL TAKE THIS—!"
But Zerrei shook his head.
He pressed his hand to Lyra's cheek.
"…stay.
Zerrei… stand."
She gripped his wrist.
"You'll die."
He leaned his forehead against hers.
"…if Lyra safe… Zerrei… warm."
Arden choked.
"Oh, that's—
that's heartbreakingly sweet—
AND TERRIFYING!"
Oren shouted:
"Lyra—keep touching him! It stabilizes the resonance!"
Lyra pressed her hand on Zerrei's back, runes glowing brighter under her touch.
He straightened.
His glow steadied.
His stance firmed.
He took a single step forward.
Facing Vessel Three again.
"…fight."
His hand trembled.
"…not for Master."
He took another step.
"…not for command."
Another.
"…not for purpose."
The ground shook under his foot.
And he whispered—
glow blazing with new gold patterns:
"…for Lyra."
Vessel Three's runes blazed.
"ANCHOR CORRUPTION CONFIRMED."
He prepared his strike.
Zerrei's runes erupted in white.
Lyra held onto him, tears falling.
And the two vessels—
one bound by commands,
one fueled by choice—
collided.
A shockwave of white and red light blasted through the forest—
splitting the ground
fracturing the sky
and echoing for miles.
Oren covered his eyes.
Arden shielded Lyra.
And for the first time—
Zerrei pushed back with his own will.
Not instinct.
Not programming.
Will.