Part One
The eye opened completely.
It did not blink.
It did not move.
It simply existed.
And its existence pressed down on Riverfall City like an invisible ocean.
Clouds evaporated around it. Rain ceased midair, dissolving into mist. The sky itself seemed stretched thin, as if reality were struggling to contain what was looking through.
Wen De couldn't breathe.
It wasn't fear.
It was suppression.
The kind that crushed bone and thought alike.
Every instinct screamed at him to kneel.
Beside him, Lea staggered slightly but remained standing.
"That's not an Observer," she said quietly.
"Really?" Wen De croaked. "I was hoping it was friendly."
The eye shifted.
Focused.
On him.
The pressure multiplied instantly.
His knees slammed into the rooftop.
Cracks spread across the concrete beneath him.
Pain shot through his spine.
Inside his mind, the mechanical voice spoke.
Higher Authority Manifestation confirmed.
Designation: Minor Enforcer of the Origin Throne.
Threat Level: Catastrophic.
"Minor?" Wen De gasped.
The eye pulsed faintly.
And the city responded.
Windows shattered across several blocks.
Car alarms screamed and died.
People below collapsed unconscious, overwhelmed by pressure they couldn't even understand.
Lea stepped forward.
Energy lines unfolded behind her again—but this time, they were clearer.
Not circuitry.
Wings.
Geometric structures of light extending outward from her back in layered patterns.
"You need to run," she said.
"I can't even stand."
"You must."
The eye narrowed.
A thin beam of silver light descended—not like before.
This one didn't erase.
It crushed.
The rooftop caved inward where it touched.
Concrete folded like paper.
Wen De forced his hand upward.
Instinct.
Desperation.
He reached for the network beneath the city.
And it answered.
Street grids surged.
Power stations roared.
Invisible lines of energy raced through underground cables.
He pulled—
And slammed it upward.
The beam collided with a wave of redirected current.
The air exploded outward in a shockwave.
For half a second—
The eye flickered.
Hope flared in his chest.
Then—
It looked amused.
The pressure increased tenfold.
Wen De screamed.
His connection snapped violently.
Blood spilled from his nose.
The network beneath the city dimmed instantly.
He collapsed face-first into broken concrete.
The eye remained unscathed.