The air around the Architect's core thrummed with raw potential. The chamber—a space impossibly vast, folding in on itself like origami of pure energy—responded to every heartbeat of Sarah's Proto-Ascension. Threads of crimson-lilac power coiled outward, mapping her presence across the conceptual lattice, resonating with the Origin Layer itself.
Rias stepped closer, hand brushing along Sarah's waist. "This is it. The final approach. Its defenses will adjust in real-time."
Akeno's fingers traced deliberate patterns along Sarah's arm, sending precise pulses of Desire through the lattice. "Every spark counts. If we synchronize fully, nothing can touch you."
Koneko, Rossweisse, and Xenovia flanked her, their touchpoints reinforcing both physical and conceptual vectors, while Lilith Fragment flowed seamlessly within, observing, calculating, amplifying.
Sarah inhaled, feeling the edges of Phase 3 pulse through her. Her body was a conduit; her mind a command center. "We move together. Formation Omega-Prime."
The floor shuddered. Geometric spikes erupted from the ground—extensions of the Architect's consciousness, probing, testing, reshaping.
Skill Activated: Phase 3 Proto-Ascension – Full Convergence
Effect: Emotional, tactical, and Desire vectors fuse seamlessly with the harem; all physical, spatial, and conceptual interactions amplified; temporary +800 Force, +1500 Desire, +400 Agility.
The first wave of defense constructs advanced: crystalline prisms spinning at impossible velocities, each one armed with collapsing logic fields designed to fracture Proto-Ascension coherence.
Sarah moved, her steps perfectly aligned with her harem's synchronized vectors. Every frôlement, every heartbeat, projected as controlled kinetic and conceptual strikes, tearing through the spinning constructs before they could complete their assault.
Rias pressed against Sarah's back, amplifying reflexive precision. Akeno's teasing, deliberate touches destabilized enemy momentum. Koneko smashed through constructs attempting physical compression. Rossweisse's runes redirected collapsing energy flows. Xenovia cut through concentrated vectors with surgical precision. Lilith Fragment threaded through every strike, ensuring no overload destabilized Sarah's emerging Phase 3 core.
Constructs fell in waves, their collapse leaving trails of fractured light. But the Architect reacted—its avatar partially manifested, a shifting silhouette of impossible geometry, an ethereal entity pulsating with cold, calculating awareness.
"Observation: Proto-Ascension Phase 3 detected. Emotional resonance exceeds tolerances. Initiating counter-convergence."
The space itself contracted. Gravity warped unpredictably; energy currents twisted; the very conceptual framework of the chamber began to tear.
Sarah's aura flared, edges of crimson-lilac fire lancing outward. "We hold it. All of us, together!"
Skill Triggered: Harem Absolute Synchrony – Conceptual Overdrive
Effect: Multi-layered resonance with harem enables full conceptual interaction; Proto-Ascension adapts to environmental manipulation in real-time; reflexes, Desire output, and tactical prediction triple temporarily; +1000 Force, +2000 Desire, +500 Agility.
Every strike, every touch, every glance became a weapon. The constructs could not anticipate a lattice that projected future vectors in real-time, anticipating both attack and environmental deformation.
The Architect's avatar recoiled, partially destabilized by the integrated resonance. Lilith Fragment whispered, sharp and precise: "It can sense the fracture… push further."
Sarah clenched her fists. "Then we fracture it."
Crimson-lilac arcs radiated outward, weaving through the constructs, through the avatar, through the chamber itself. Energy folded inward, then exploded outward as a shockwave that rippled across the Origin Layer. The Architect's avatar shimmered, edges trembling, coherence momentarily broken.
Rias's hand tightened against Sarah's back. "It's… vulnerable. Its control is slipping."
Akeno's voice purred with controlled intensity. "Then now, we escalate."
The harem surged, Proto-Ascension fully realized, every pulse and frôlement projected as tangible, unstoppable force. The Architect's avatar screamed—not in sound, but in conceptual resonance—as cracks began to form in its form.
Sarah's eyes burned. Her heartbeat echoed like a war drum across the lattice. "We end this convergence. Now."
And with that, the chamber erupted into a storm of pure, coordinated power, the Proto-Ascension reaching its first true Phase 3 climax—a display that even the Architect itself had not fully anticipated.