Cassian stood alone in the upper sanctum of the Thorned Gate.
The chamber pulsed with red thorns of system code, twisting like veins through the air. His disciples knelt behind him—silent, watching, afraid.
One screen floated before him.
It showed Elias.
Alive. Upgraded.
And worse…
Bonded to Lunara.
Cassian's hand curled into a fist. Cracks formed on the floor beneath him.
"That wasn't supposed to happen," he muttered. "She was meant to destroy him."
His disciple, the masked one who had failed against Lilith and Echo, knelt lower. "We underestimated her connection to him."
"No," Cassian whispered. "He changed the rules. Again."
He turned to the others.
"Ready the Fractured Ones. Unseal Sector 7. We're not waiting anymore. The Dominion falls before the cycle resets."
---
Meanwhile, at Dominion…