Veridian traced the active relationships far enough to identify a safer answer.
The formation narrowed movement by drawing power through several inscription lines cut into the road itself. The eastern group did not need to disable the entire network. If they prevented the defenders from controlling one side of the split, the coalition could continue through the other while leaving the remaining structure untouched.
The commander listened and changed the advance.
"We use the outer road. Keep enough people here to stop them from closing it behind us, but do not attack the center structure."
The formation moved.
The demons controlling the road responded by strengthening the outer section, but doing so reduced pressure elsewhere. Veridian marked the change, and Blue Sphere adjusted again instead of committing itself to the original path.
The eastern front continued through the defensive position without ever needing to destroy the entire structure.
The result mattered for the receiving district behind them.
More ground became available without leaving a large unstable formation collapsing through the road.
The southern command route took longer.
Umbrel scouts found that one of the two buildings beside it contained only a small guard group and storage rooms. They cleared the entrances without entering deeper than necessary. The second building carried a local messenger station with several soldiers moving in and out, so Blue Sphere waited until one group left before advancing far enough to take the adjoining junction.
The fight there remained brief but not silent.
Weapons struck inside the covered entrance, and one demon escaped through a rear opening before an Umbrel cultivator intercepted him in the side passage. By the time the noise carried toward the nearest military structure, the coalition already controlled the junction and had people watching both entrances.
The Blue Sphere officer who had spoken with Haotian earlier returned.
"The southern road is secure now. We control the entrances to both buildings, and Umbrel checked the rear routes. The path from the command position back to the passage is clear."
Haotian opened the small Creation connection.
Xuanyin appeared with the command group behind her.
This time the officer spoke first. "The southern position is ready. The road back to the assembly district is under our control, and both buildings beside it are covered. The northern front is beyond the first military block, but the intersection ahead is still contested."
Xuanyin looked toward Haotian. "Do you see any reason I should stay inside?"
"No."
She nodded. "Then we cross."
Several Blue Sphere communication officers emerged first and moved south under escort to confirm the position for themselves. They checked the surrounding entrances and the routes through which reports would arrive before signaling that the area could receive the rest of the command group.
Xuanyin crossed afterward.
She did not stop beside Haotian.
The passage remained too busy, and the assembly district was no longer where she wanted reports accumulating.
"I am moving command south. Keep the passage focused on deployment and casualties unless something here actually requires me."
Haotian nodded. "That is what I planned to do."
Xuanyin continued with the command group.
Her route remained entirely within coalition-held ground.
By the time she reached the prepared position, Blue Sphere officers had already started transferring reports from the northern and eastern fronts. The first map outside Creation contained less detail than the one they had rehearsed because only confirmed possession mattered now. Roads not yet checked remained unmarked rather than being treated as friendly or hostile based on old reconnaissance.
Xuanyin stood over it and began correcting the way the reports were being recorded.
One officer referred to the contested northern position as the first intersection.
Xuanyin looked at the marker. "Do we control every approach?"
"Not yet. We have the western side and the road behind it. Demons are still entering from the north-east."
"Then call it the northern junction until we actually own it. I do not want people hearing 'our intersection' and assuming every road into it is safe."
The officer changed the notation.
Another report concerned the eastern route.
"We are through the storage road. The defensive formation at the split is still active, but Veridian found a usable route through the outer side."
"Can the second wave keep using that road?"
"Yes."
"Then leave the formation alone until it causes a problem we actually need to solve."
The next report concerned the communication relay Haotian's group had disabled.
Xuanyin asked whether anyone deeper inside had reacted specifically to its loss.
"No confirmed response."
"Then do not keep people near it waiting for one. If something comes, the local formation can report it."
The command position settled into work.
Haotian could feel the difference almost immediately in the information reaching the assembly district. Local commanders no longer sent everything through the officers beside the passage. Northern information moved directly toward Xuanyin's position, eastern reports followed another route, and only changes affecting deployment or the safety of Creation's opening came back to Haotian.
That was how the passage needed to function.
It was a route.
It was not command.
The second wave continued crossing while the coalition pushed farther into the western district.
Shuyue and Liora came through with the medical support group once Xuanyin confirmed the southern route was ready. They did not establish the main treatment area outside Creation. Instead, they created a smaller stabilization position along the protected return lane where wounded cultivators could receive immediate care before being sent back through the passage if they needed more than battlefield treatment.
Shuyue looked over the southern side after arriving.
"We have more room for casualties here than we did during rehearsal."
Liora was already examining the ground. "Keep the stretch closest to the passage empty. If people start leaving equipment there, the lane will disappear before the first serious wounded come back."
Shuyue noticed a Blue Sphere supply group preparing to set several cases beside the wall and walked over before they put them down.
"Please move those farther south. This side is for people coming back injured."
The supply cultivator looked at the empty wall. "We thought this was far enough out of the road."
"It is until someone has to carry a stretcher through here. There is an unused recess farther down that will not block anyone."
The cultivator looked toward the recess and signaled the others to move the cases.
Liora continued preparing the treatment position.
Yanfei's technical group crossed later in the second wave.
They carried only the smaller kit agreed upon during the final rest day. The heavier equipment remained inside Creation.
Yanfei found Haotian near the passage.
"We brought the compact set. If one of these formations needs the larger tools, somebody will have to send back for them."
"That was the plan."
"I know. I am reminding you because the plan is less convenient now that we are actually here."
"Do you need the heavier set yet?"
"No."
"Then the smaller one is doing its job."
Yanfei looked at him for a moment before nodding. "For now."
The specialists did not immediately move toward the active defensive formation on the eastern road. Veridian had already found a way through it, and sending technical people there merely because a formation existed would waste time. Instead, Yanfei's group remained near the assembly district until a front commander identified a structure that genuinely required technical inspection.
The second wave neared completion.
More of the western assembly district emptied as formations received destinations and moved onward. The passage remained busy, but the square itself no longer looked like a receiving ground packed with newly arrived cultivators. People crossed and left.
The first wounded returned not long afterward.
Two Blue Sphere cultivators supported a Marephoros fighter between them. His left leg remained functional but could not bear full weight, and blood had soaked through a wrap high along the thigh. They stayed within the southern lane without forcing incoming formations to stop.
Shuyue met them before they reached the passage.
"What happened?"
"Blade through the outer thigh," one Blue Sphere cultivator said. "The healer at the front stopped the worst of the bleeding, but he cannot keep fighting."
The Marephoros cultivator looked down at the bandage. "I can still walk."
Shuyue looked at the two people supporting him. "You are moving because they are carrying part of your weight. Let us look at the wound before you decide what you can do."
She checked the injury while Liora examined the circulation around it.
The embedded healer had already done enough to prevent dangerous bleeding. Shuyue reinforced the stabilization rather than healing the entire injury beside the passage.
Liora finished first. "You should go back into Creation. The wound is stable, but if you keep fighting on that leg, it will reopen."
The Marephoros cultivator looked toward the northern road. "My formation is still up there."
"They already sent you back because they know you cannot help them like this," Shuyue said. "Get treated properly. If you recover quickly enough, you may still return later."
He did not argue after that.
The Blue Sphere cultivators helped him through the passage.
The return lane remained clear after they disappeared.
The northern junction finally changed hands near the end of the second wave.
Blue Sphere had spent most of the earlier fighting holding the western side while the demons continued entering from the north-east. Yinxue and Lianhua remained on separate portions of the line, preventing stronger officers from rebuilding the defensive structure whenever ordinary coalition teams gained ground.
The demons eventually committed more people to the junction.
That increased their immediate strength and reduced their ability to move.
Marephoros took advantage of the congestion.
Pressure shifted along the narrowest approach and forced the incoming formation to slow before enough of its members reached the intersection. Pyrelith struck the portion already compressed inside, while Blue Sphere advanced from the western side.
The defenders tried to withdraw north-east.
Umbrel had spent the earlier fighting reaching the smaller road behind that route.
The demons found it contested rather than open.
Several groups escaped deeper into the stronghold, but the formation holding the junction stopped functioning as a single body. Blue Sphere took the center and immediately began reorganizing rather than chasing every retreating soldier.
The northern commander sent the report directly to Xuanyin once Blue Sphere had replaced the cultivators who had taken the worst of the fighting and confirmed that the center of the junction could remain open. Several demons had escaped along the north-east road, but the coalition had no reason to chase them while people were still reorganizing around the newly captured ground.
"We have the junction," the commander reported. "The west and south approaches are under our control, and Umbrel has people watching the smaller north-west route. The demons withdrew through the north-east road, but we have not followed them beyond the next stretch."
Xuanyin looked down at the map beside her and adjusted the northern marker herself. "Can you keep enough room through the center for Tianlan's reserve to move once they arrive? I do not want them spending the first several minutes trapped behind your front line."
The commander turned away from the communication officer long enough to check with the Blue Sphere cultivators reorganizing the road behind him. Their answer came back quickly.
"Yes. We can keep the center open. The wounded are already moving along the western side, so the reserve will not interfere with them."
"Good. Hold where you are for now. Let the front settle before you start pushing farther north-east."
The commander hesitated. "The demons are still pulling back. If we wait too long, they may form another line farther up the road."
"They probably will," Xuanyin said. "But if you chase them before the junction is stable, you will stretch the formation between roads we have not checked yet. Let them use the extra distance. We can deal with the next line when we know what is around it."
The commander accepted that and ended the report.
Xuanyin waited until the northern communication line cleared before opening contact toward Creation. Tianlan had remained near the smaller reserve since the second wave began, and the people around him were already equipped and organized without standing directly beside the passage.
"The northern junction is secure enough for you to move," Xuanyin told him. "Blue Sphere is holding the center open, and the road from the assembly district is clear. You should have room to decide where the reserve is actually useful once you get there."
Tianlan glanced toward the reserve formation behind him. "Are you sending the larger reserve too?"
"No. I want most of it left inside Creation."
"That will leave the smaller group with me for a while."
"Yes. I expect the northern commanders to ask for part of it as soon as they see you arrive. Listen to them, but do not send people just because their front is the closest one."
Tianlan nodded. "If north is stable and east needs us more, I keep the reserve free to move."
"Exactly."
Xuanyin glanced toward the two healthy Frost Rainbow Falcons. "And keep the birds close until the internal airspace is actually useful. We do not know enough about the towers yet."
"I was going to."
"I know. I am making sure we agree before you leave."
Tianlan accepted that without complaint.
The contact closed, and the smaller reserve began moving toward the passage inside Creation.
Outside, the second wave was still clearing the receiving district. Haotian remained beside the opening while Blue Sphere shifted incoming formations away from the southern return lane and toward the routes already assigned to them. Several cultivators carrying damaged weapons crossed back into Creation beside another wounded fighter, while the next mixed team waited a few breaths rather than forcing both directions through the same portion of the passage.
Shuyue noticed the hesitation and pointed toward the open northern side. "You still have room to bring them through. We are using only the southern side."
The Blue Sphere officer accompanying the incoming team looked at the wounded man being helped toward Creation. "I did not want to block your lane."
"You are not. Just keep your people north of us and we can both move."
The officer checked the actual space and signaled his people forward.
The movement through the passage continued without anyone reorganizing the receiving area around one returning casualty.
Yanfei's technical group had settled near the southern structures while waiting for a reason to move forward. She and two blacksmiths were examining several damaged pieces brought back from the northern fighting when Haotian saw her look toward the eastern road.
"The defensive formation is still active?" she asked.
"Yes."
"And they are still moving around it instead of breaking it?"
"Yes."
Yanfei nodded. "Then they do not need us yet."
Haotian looked at the damaged pieces on the ground beside her. "You sound disappointed."
"I am not disappointed. I would rather inspect it before somebody destroys it, but if Veridian already has a safe route, there is no reason to drag the whole technical group forward."
She returned her attention to the metal.
The first members of Tianlan's reserve began emerging from Creation not long afterward.
They did not come out in a dense block. Blue Sphere allowed enough space between groups for each to clear the passage and turn toward the northern route before the next reached the square. Tianlan crossed near the middle of the first group, carrying his spear without lowering it into a combat stance simply because he had entered the stronghold.
The two healthy Frost Rainbow Falcons remained inside until most of the people immediately ahead of them had cleared the opening. They emerged separately and stayed low over the assembly district, where the damaged rooftops and military buildings gave them enough room without forcing them into the higher airspace Celestara had not yet fully secured.
Tianlan stopped near Haotian only long enough to make sure he had the latest information.
"Xuanyin's command position is south of the square?"
"Yes. The northern reports are going directly to her now."
"And east is still stable?"
"The last report said they were through the storage road and working around the defensive formation farther ahead."
Tianlan looked toward the northern road. "Then I will check the junction before I decide whether any of the reserve moves."
Haotian nodded. "That is why you waited."
Tianlan continued north.
The Falcons followed only after he had moved beyond the first military block. One remained above the reserve while the second climbed enough to see across the rooftops near the northern junction. Tianlan formed a brief sensory bond with the higher bird after reaching the road beyond the assembly district.
The borrowed view showed him what the written reports could not.
Blue Sphere controlled the junction itself, but the road north-east remained crowded with retreating demons and smaller groups trying to assemble farther away. Several coalition formations occupied the western side without advancing, exactly as Xuanyin had ordered. The eastern streets were harder to see because taller military structures interrupted the view, and Tianlan did not keep the bond active long enough to search every roof and side road.
He released it.
The Falcon remained above on its own.
One of Tianlan's reserve officers walked beside him. "The northern commander still wants two teams to push north-east before the demons settle."
Tianlan looked toward the buildings ahead. "I will speak with him first. If he still believes he needs those teams after we look at the road together, he can explain what they are supposed to accomplish."
The officer nodded and moved ahead.
Tianlan kept the reserve together.
Back at the western assembly district, the last groups assigned to the second wave had nearly finished crossing. Haotian did not begin the third wave simply because the passage had become less crowded. The northern front had just changed shape with Tianlan's arrival, the eastern formations were still working through the defensive road split, and Xuanyin had only recently moved her command structure outside Creation.
A Blue Sphere deployment officer approached with the next staging list in his hand.
"The third wave is ready inside. Xuanyin has not released them yet."
"Then they stay where they are."
"I wanted to make sure you did not want the passage wider before they come."
Haotian looked at the current opening. "This width handled the second wave without difficulty."
"That was my thought as well."
"Then leave it."
The officer nodded and returned to the deployment group.
Several minutes passed without another major formation crossing. Empty equipment cases were moved farther from the casualty lane, damaged paving near the eastern side was marked more clearly, and one Veridian terrain reader redirected a supply officer who had started stacking heavy crates over the same underground support line everyone had spent the morning avoiding.
"You cannot put those on this section," the Veridian cultivator said. "The support underneath is already the weakest part of the road."
The supply officer looked at the crates. "They are lighter than a combat formation."
"They also stay in one place. Put them along the western wall where the foundation is deeper."
The supply officer considered the alternative and signaled his people to move the crates.
Nothing about the adjustment required Haotian.
He continued maintaining the passage while listening to the reports that actually concerned it. The southern route remained open. Shuyue and Liora had enough space for wounded cultivators returning from the first fronts. No demonic formation had reached the assembly district since the northern and eastern roads were secured, and the local communication relay remained inactive.
Xuanyin sent no order for the third wave yet.
Haotian did not ask for one.
The cultivators inside Creation were resting or waiting with their own formations rather than standing compressed against the passage, and the people already inside the stronghold still had useful ground to occupy before bringing more of the army through.
Another wounded group approached from the northern road.
Shuyue moved toward them with two healers.
Haotian shifted slightly to leave the southern side of the passage completely open while they came closer, and the Blue Sphere officers managing incoming traffic stopped the next small support group before it crossed from Creation.
The wounded reached the treatment area.
The passage remained stable.
The third wave remained inside long enough for the quieter interval to become useful rather than uncomfortable.
A report arrived from Tianlan through Xuanyin's command structure before the next deployment began.
At the northern junction, Tianlan had found the situation less urgent than the earlier request for reserve support suggested. Blue Sphere controlled the center of the intersection and the roads behind it, while the demons had withdrawn several hundred yards along the north-east approach and were gathering around another group of military buildings.
The northern commander met Tianlan near the eastern edge of the junction and pointed down the road.
"They have moved several groups into those buildings during the last few minutes. I wanted two reserve teams so we could hit them before they finish settling into another defensive position."
Tianlan studied the buildings. "How many have you actually seen enter?"
"Three groups. Around eighty or ninety that we could count. There may have been more already inside."
"And do we know where the roads behind those buildings lead?"
The commander glanced toward an Umbrel scout.
"Not completely," the scout answered. "There is another road behind the western structure, but we have only confirmed the first section. We have not checked the intersections beyond it yet."
Tianlan looked back toward the commander. "Then I would rather not send reserve teams through those buildings yet. If the demons give ground and pull them farther north, those teams could end up becoming the front before we know what is beside them."
The commander frowned as he looked down the road again. "My concern is that if we leave them alone, they will have enough time to reorganize."
"They probably will," Tianlan said. "But right now we have the junction, they are several hundred yards away, and they are not attacking us. We can use that time to understand the roads around them before we decide where the reserve should go."
The commander remained silent for a few breaths before nodding. "All right. I will hold the current line. If they start moving back toward us before Umbrel finishes, I will send word."
"That is enough."
Tianlan kept the smaller reserve near the junction without placing it directly into the frontline. One Frost Rainbow Falcon remained on a low roof where it could watch the northern road, while the second stayed closer to the reserve. Tianlan did not maintain a sensory bond with either bird after the earlier observation. The roads around the junction were visible enough from the ground, and ordinary scouts were already checking the neighboring structures.
The eastern front had a different problem.
The coalition had passed through one side of the defensive split without destroying the formation controlling the road, but the demons behind the central military structure had begun changing how much power flowed through the active inscriptions. The adjustment did not close the route Blue Sphere was already using. Instead, it placed more pressure farther ahead, where the road opened toward a second cluster of buildings.
Ziyue remained with the eastern commander while Veridian Prime traced the change.
One of the terrain readers knelt near the outer edge of the road with one hand against the paving. He kept his cultivation narrow, following the inscription lines beneath the stone without feeding enough energy into them to produce a response from the defensive system.
"They are shifting power farther east," he said after several moments. "This section under us is not becoming stronger."
The commander looked toward the road ahead. "Can they turn whatever is farther east into an attack?"
"I cannot tell from here. The next section uses a different set of buried lines, and I would need to move closer before I could say what they are connected to."
Ziyue asked, "Can the formations already behind us keep using this road safely?"
"Yes. What we have already secured is stable."
"Then we do not need to rush farther until you know what they are changing."
The commander nodded. "We will hold at the next building line and let Veridian check ahead before the rest of the formation commits."
Yueru had been listening nearby.
"They are going to use the time to prepare something," she said.
"I expect they will," the commander replied.
Yueru looked toward the active inscription lines. "I do not like leaving them that much time."
Ziyue rested her sword against her shoulder. "Neither do I, but we already have usable ground behind us. There is no reason to give that up just because they are preparing something we have not identified yet."
Yueru considered that and nodded. "Fine. I will stay with the forward group until Veridian knows what is ahead."
The eastern line held while Veridian and Umbrel gathered more information.
Xuanyin received both reports within a short interval.
She stood at the southern command position with several Blue Sphere officers around the working map, which now contained more markings than it had when she first crossed but still left large portions of the stronghold blank.
The northern report reached her first.
"Tianlan is holding the reserve at the junction," the communication officer said. "Umbrel is checking the roads around the group farther north before he sends anyone after them."
Xuanyin looked toward the northern marker. "Is the road behind his reserve still clear?"
"Yes. The wounded are using the western side of the junction, so reserve movement is not being blocked."
"Then leave the reserve where it is for now. If Tianlan decides the northern road needs it, he can move from there."
The eastern report followed.
Xuanyin listened while the officer explained that the defensive formation had shifted power farther ahead but had not closed the route already secured.
"Can the eastern road still take more formations from the assembly district?"
"Yes. The problem is farther forward."
"Then I do not need the third wave waiting inside because of that."
The officer checked the deployment notes.
"The northern road is open to the junction. East can take more people as far as the storage route. The southern command road is also clear."
Xuanyin looked at the current numbers before deciding.
"Begin the third wave. Keep the passage at the same width. We have enough room outside now, but I do not want people crossing faster than the roads can absorb them."
The order reached the assembly district a short time later.
Haotian had already heard enough of the local reports to expect it, but he waited for Xuanyin's actual instruction rather than treating his own assessment as a replacement for command.
The first third-wave formations began crossing.
The difference from the earlier deployments was immediately visible. Nobody arriving now needed to stop in the western assembly district to learn where the front existed. Blue Sphere officers had placed route markers along the northern and eastern exits, and commanders from earlier waves remained positioned where they could direct incoming teams without pulling Xuanyin's command staff back toward the passage.
Celestara began entering with this wave.
The first aerial groups did not rise high over the stronghold the moment they reached Blue Sphere. They moved north and east along the same secured roads as the ground formations, using rooftops and elevated walkways only where those positions had already been checked. The fortress still contained towers and defensive formations designed to punish cultivators who treated the airspace as uncontested.
One Celestara commander reached the northern junction and spoke with Tianlan before sending anyone higher.
"From the roof level, we can see only the first district beyond those buildings," she said. "If I send a few people higher, they should be able to see where the demons are actually going."
Tianlan looked toward the nearest wall towers. "How high do they need to go?"
"Not high enough to challenge the towers. I only need a few people above the buildings for observation."
"If the defensive formations react, bring them back down immediately."
"That was my plan."
"Then do it."
Several Celestara cultivators rose above the rooftops.
They spread rather than clustering, using different heights and viewing angles so a single defensive response would not catch all of them together. Their cultivation remained controlled, enough for stable flight but not enough to resemble the beginning of a large aerial attack.
The stronghold did not immediately respond.
That gave them enough time to see behind the northern military buildings.
The Celestara commander returned to Tianlan shortly afterward.
"Most of those soldiers are moving farther north," she said. "There is a smaller group staying behind near the buildings, but the larger body is already using another road beyond them."
Tianlan looked toward the northern commander.
The man exhaled slowly. "Then attacking them now would have put us against their rear guard and probably pulled us into the next district."
"Yes."
The commander nodded. "I understand why you held the reserve."
Tianlan redirected one mixed reserve team toward the eastern side instead. The north no longer needed additional strength waiting behind an already stable junction, while the eastern front was still dealing with a defensive formation whose deeper behavior remained uncertain.
The first Falcon remained on the roof.
At the eastern front, additional Veridian cultivators from the third wave allowed the terrain teams to examine the defensive formation from more than one point without stripping support away from the receiving road. Yanfei's technical group also received its first request to move forward.
A Blue Sphere messenger found her near the assembly district.
"The eastern commander wants someone to inspect the structure carrying part of the defensive formation. Veridian says some of the support runs through the central building."
Yanfei set aside the damaged metal piece she had been examining. "Did they ask for the entire technical group?"
"No. They said to send whoever you think you need."
"How far forward are they?"
"Past the storage road. The route from here is secure."
Yanfei selected two blacksmiths and one formation specialist. The remainder of the group stayed near the southern side of the assembly district.
Haotian saw her preparing to leave.
"The eastern front finally asked for you?"
"They want us to inspect the support structure."
"Do you need the heavier equipment?"
"Not until I know what the structure is made of."
Haotian nodded. "Then the smaller kit was enough."
Yanfei gave him a look. "For now."
She followed the messenger east with the three specialists.
The third wave continued crossing.
More wounded began returning from the northern front as the fighting there settled into smaller exchanges around the junction. Most did not require immediate evacuation. Embedded healers had already stabilized cuts, bruised organs, and minor meridian strain before sending people back, and Shuyue's group decided who could remain in the protected district and who needed to return inside Creation.
A Pyrelith cultivator arrived with burns across one side of his armor.
Shuyue examined the damaged section while Liora checked the circulation beneath it.
"The burn came from your own technique?" Shuyue asked.
The cultivator nodded. "The enemy redirected part of it back toward me."
"Can you move the shoulder?"
He lifted the arm carefully and stopped when the movement tightened through the burned side.
"It moves, but it hurts."
"Then do not force it again until Liora finishes checking you."
The cultivator lowered his arm.
Liora pressed two fingers against the edge of the damaged area and followed the circulation beneath the skin.
"The tissue is strained, but I do not think you need to return inside yet," she said. "Stay here for observation. If the swelling increases or your circulation becomes irregular, you go back into Creation."
"I can return to my team after you finish."
"Not immediately," Liora replied. "Give the injury time to settle first. If it stays stable, we can reconsider."
The cultivator looked toward the northern road but did not argue.
On the eastern road, Yanfei reached the active formation and spent several minutes listening to the Veridian terrain reader explain what they had already established before touching anything herself.
The central military building supported part of the defensive field. Several inscription channels entered through its foundation and connected to metal reinforcement plates built into the lower walls. The demons farther ahead were shifting energy through those supports, changing which parts of the road received the strongest restriction.
Yanfei crouched beside one exposed plate where previous fighting had broken away part of the surrounding stone.
"Do you know what metal they used here?" she asked.
The terrain reader shook his head. "No. I have only been following where the formation pressure moves through it."
"That is fine. Show me which sections have changed since you started watching."
He pointed out three areas.
Yanfei scraped a small portion of the exposed plate and examined the metal beneath the Abyss inscription. The reinforcement had been chosen because it tolerated repeated changes in formation pressure without warping easily. Breaking it through brute force would work, but the damage would transfer unevenly into the surrounding foundation and could collapse part of the central structure across the same road the coalition was currently using.
Yanfei stood.
"I would leave this support intact."
The eastern commander looked toward the building. "Because of the collapse risk?"
"Yes. If we break the metal while the formation is carrying this much pressure, we do not know which part of the foundation will take the release. The building could fall into the road, and then we create our own obstruction."
The commander looked toward the outer route the coalition had already been using. "Can we keep moving without touching it?"
Yanfei glanced toward the Veridian terrain reader.
He answered first. "Yes. As long as we keep following the weaker side when they shift the pressure."
Yanfei nodded. "If you eventually need the full width of the road, call us again. With more time, we can isolate the support plates before Pyrelith breaks anything. Right now I would leave it alone."
"That is enough for me," the commander said. "We keep using the outer side."
The technical group remained only long enough to mark the sections they wanted Veridian to watch before returning toward a safer position.