Location: Yxtrielle – Vault Theta-9, Core Breathline
Time: [Drift Pressure Spike – Combat Timestamp: 0.8s]
Riven lunged.
No warning. No flair. Just pure rage-fueled blink-step, her corrupted glyphs screaming violet and red across the floor.
The air bent.
The fragment inside her roared.
Va'theran's whisper echoed through her lips like a war drum:
"END THE THREAD."
And she moved—
Except she didn't get far.
Because Lira punched her soul off its lease.
Not a weapon.
Not a fancy glyph.
Just one, clean, bored-looking, casual jab.
Her fist connected with Riven's face like the universe was done negotiating.
[SYSTEM ALERT – Combat Duration: 0.68s]
💥 Strike registered: LIRA – DRIFT-WARDEN MODE
☠️ Damage: 98.3% fatal
⚠️ RIVEN STATUS: "Don't even ask."
✨ Quote of the Frame: "You woke me up for this?"
Riven flew backwards like a regret shot from a cannon, hit the wall hard enough to reset the paint, and slid down in a smoking pile of nope.
She twitched once.
Twice.
Then just lay there.
Face flat.
Glyphs hissing.
Consciousness? On sabbatical.
REN (blinking fast):
"Did… did you just one-punch Riven?!"
LIRA (cracking knuckles):
"I was going to have a monologue."
SNARKSTEEL (murmuring in Ren's hand):
"Bro. She speedran trauma."
FROST (stammering):
"She didn't even use a glyph. That was just… biology?!"
BLAZE (whistling):
"That wasn't a punch. That was a fuck-you-wake-up call from God."
TIME (laughing hysterically):
"Ohhhh my glyphs. Play it again. Rewind it. She ragdolled!"
GRAVITY (deadpan):
"She's alive. Technically. But no longer emotionally available."
Ren slowly turned toward Lira, wide-eyed, pointing at Riven's motionless form.
REN:
"You were asleep for five chapters and this is how you wake up?!"
LIRA (stretching):
"I'm cranky when I nap too long."
SNARKSTEEL:
"She decked a revenge plot into the recycling bin. I stan."
Ren walked toward Riven, who made a weak coughing sound like her lungs were filing complaints in Morse code.
He looked back at Lira.
REN:
"So… are you gonna explain the Caldrith Verge now, or…?"
LIRA (yawning, waving off the smoke):
"Yes, yes. Sorry. Rage first, lore second."
She sat down cross-legged next to the still-sparking Riven.
LIRA:
"The Caldrith Verge is the name of this system. All twenty planets. The sun core. The Drift lines. All of it. This—Ka'rath'Mar, Solmerea, Threxil—they're all just fractured districts of a bigger machine."
REN (processing):
"So I've been living in a cosmic loading screen this entire time?"
LIRA:
"Yes. And guess who's the bug patch the system installed to fix it?"
Ren slowly raised his hand like a kid realizing he's the homework.
REN:
"It's me, isn't it."
LIRA:
"It's painfully you."
AETHERIUM CORE (very politely):
> STATUS: USER = STABILIZED
> ROLE: 'Walking Update Package'
> FUNCTION: Punch Problems. Hug Nothing. Fix Everything.
SNARKSTEEL:
"I demand we rename you to Patch Notes."
TIME:
"Riftboy v2.0. Sexier. Sadder. Glitched only emotionally."
Ren groaned and sat next to Lira.
REN:
"Alright. So what now?"
Lira looked at him, calm again. Soft smile.
LIRA:
"Now… we fix it.
Together.
Before the rest of Va'theran wakes up."
A pause.
She glanced at Riven.
LIRA (muttering):
"And maybe get her a blanket or a reboot."