The Nebula of Screams was a beautiful, terrible place—swirls of glowing gas stained with veins of corruption. At its heart floated Vex'thal.
It was massive, a being of solidified shadow and screaming light, with tendrils that pierced asteroids and drank their energy. It radiated Dawn-Class power—a pressure that made their bones ache.
Their stealth ship dropped them on a stable asteroid within striking distance.
"Charge is set for thirty minutes. Move."
They leaped across floating debris, avoiding searching tendrils. Vex'thal's intelligence was evident—it had created patrols of Tier 8 Void Hunters, sleek predators that phased in and out of reality.
One found them.
The fight was brutal. Leyla's claws couldn't pierce its hide. Mira's spatial shears glanced off. Echo's Error-Sight showed him its weakness—a core that shifted location every second.
He used the Reality Lockpick.
The device hummed, emitting a frequency that made the Void Hunter stutter. For three seconds, it was frozen, vulnerable.
Leyla tore out its core.
But the Lockpick's use sent a ripple through the nebula.
Vex'thal's attention focused on them.
"ANOMALY. YOU CARRY THE KEY. YOU WILL BE UNMADE."
A wave of corrupting energy surged toward them. Mira threw up a desperate spatial shield, but it cracked under the pressure.
They were going to die here.