Asher didn't stay to watch the place collapse.
Once the last soul fragment dispersed, the structure had no purpose left. Without the collector controlling it, the systems would shut down on their own.
He walked back through the settlement. People were already coming out of their homes, confused and uneasy. The pressure that had been hanging over the valley was gone.
No one stopped him.
By the time he reached the edge of the valley, the sun was fully up.
Asher paused and looked back once.
"This wasn't a lone operation," he said. "Just one branch."
The symbol was gone, but the method remained. Someone had funded this. Someone had planned it carefully.
He turned and headed toward the nearest road.
The Association would want a report. More importantly, they would want to know one thing.
That a collector had been confirmed.
And that Asher had crossed paths with something larger than a single mission.
"This changes the scale," he said quietly.
