Nathan felt the eerie silence as pressure around his chest. Then his mental link began to fray—Mirko's presence dimming, Kuro's voice growing distant, then gone. The connections drowned, one by one, swallowed by a stillness with teeth.
[Warning: Zone of Absolute Silence. Mental link suppressed.]
He looked across the chapel. Mirko was already looking back, pink eyes wide, lips shaping a word—Master—that arrived nowhere. No sound. No thought-voice. Nothing. Mental link silenced.
The Buddha's six arms unfolded—slow, deliberate, almost gentle. Then the first fist came down.
Nathan threw himself sideways. Snow exploded where he'd stood. Mirko intercepted the second fist with [Impenetrable Fortress], the barrier fracturing but holding.
Nathan came up with Moonlight in hand.
No orders. No voice. Just Mirko's eyes finding his, reading his weight as he leaned toward the Buddha's left flank. She was already there, blade singing into [Unstoppable Force]'s opening swing.
