The Inner World, which had been vibrating with the feverish energy of the Jade Empress's live broadcast, suddenly fell into a deafening, terrifying silence.
One moment, the mesmerizing green eyes of the Empress were promising a new era of freedom; the next, the feed cut to a jagged burst of static before vanishing entirely.
The shock was physical. Across twenty billion worlds, trillions of lifeforms stared at their darkened system panels in a state of collective withdrawal.
The Cult of the Empress had been severed from its source, and the vacuum left behind was immediately filled by a chaotic, hysterical surge of speculation.
The System Forums, once the Empress's primary weapon, now turned into a whirlpool of madness.
The focus shifted with the fickle cruelty of a digital mob. Yesterday, Anohara was the tyrant to be toppled; today, the Jade Empress was the tragedy to be dissected.
