The blue screen vanished. No one moved.
The words it had left behind remained frozen in every mind.
Witness already inside fortress.
Silence pressed against the council chamber like an invisible weight. Even the crackling fireplace sounded unnaturally loud. Kaelith was the first to speak.
"Seal every gate."
His voice cut cleanly through the silence.
"Nobody enters."
A heartbeat later—
"Nobody leaves."
The guards snapped back to attention.
"Yes, General!"
The chamber erupted into motion. Messengers sprinted through the doors. Armor clattered.
Orders echoed through the stone corridors as soldiers hurried to every entrance. Within minutes, the heavy fortress bells began to ring.
Not the frantic rhythm of an attack. A slower... More deliberate sound. One every soldier recognized.
Lockdown.
Rin stood where he was, still staring at the empty space where the System had disappeared. His heartbeat refused to slow.
