Something in the intricate weave of the celestial runes shifted. The moment was so subtle that even Seraphina, who had been watching with desperate intensity, almost missed it...but Lucas didn't. His hands moved faster now, guided by instinct and reason working in perfect, feverish unison. A faint tremor ran through the restraint glowing around the Empress's neck, and then came the smallest flicker of change...a rune dimmed, its light sputtering like a candle deprived of air.
Lucas's breath caught, a sharp exhale of realization breaking through the pressure choking the air. "I've got it," he murmured, the words barely audible. Beads of sweat rolled down his temple, his veins thrumming with Qi as he channeled spatial threads into the lock's intricate pattern. Slowly, agonizingly, the celestial bindings began to yield. Eight parts of ten...he was already past the threshold that most would have deemed impossible.
