The academy no longer felt like a school.
It felt like a frontline.
Three direct manifestations.
Two psychological intrusions.
One encirclement.
And now—
Ruin had begun testing precision.
Arjun stood at the center of the training field as instructors adjusted the outer barrier formations. Students trained in coordinated squads instead of individually.
Everything was tightening.
Just like the sky.
"System status," Arjun said calmly.
"Synchronization: 34%.
Core fracture stability maintained.
New protocol available."
Arjun's eyes sharpened.
"Define new protocol."
A brief pause.
Then—
"Convergence Protocol unlocked.
Activation requires multi-fragment alignment and external pressure threshold."
External pressure.
So it only activates during real danger.
"Purpose?" Arjun asked.
"Temporary core unity.
All fragments recombine into pseudo-original structure for limited duration."
Arjun's heart slowed.
"You mean… the complete system?"
"Partial reconstruction.
High strain.
High risk.
High output."
So this was it.
The first true step toward what the Broken Sky once was.
---
Pressure Builds
The sky shifted again that afternoon.
No dramatic storm.
No eclipse.
Just a subtle distortion ripple spreading across the upper atmosphere.
Sebastian looked up immediately.
"He's layering reality."
Punya's voice was tense. "Multiple dimensional overlaps forming."
Godly added calmly, "Probability of spatial collapse increasing."
Arjun felt it too.
This wasn't an attack.
It was compression.
Ruin was tightening space itself around the academy.
Testing structural resistance.
---
Distortion Field
The air thickened.
Students began struggling to stand upright.
Gravity fluctuated.
Sound warped.
Harshil staggered slightly. "Vale… this isn't a creature."
"I know," Arjun replied.
The fragments around him trembled.
"External pressure threshold rising.
Convergence conditions approaching."
The sky above fractured—not with a tear, but with cracks spreading like glass across invisible layers.
Ruin's voice echoed calmly.
"You redirect force well."
The cracks deepened.
"But can you withstand collapse?"
---
Activation
The pressure multiplied instantly.
The academy barrier buckled.
Cracks formed across stone walls.
Students dropped to their knees.
Harshil forced himself upright, but barely.
Arjun felt the fragments begin to destabilize.
This wasn't something to redirect.
It was everywhere.
Compression from all sides.
"Convergence threshold met," the system announced.
Arjun closed his eyes briefly.
The first host accelerated recklessly.
The second hesitated.
Balance is decisive timing.
Now.
"Activate Convergence Protocol."
The fragments shot outward violently—
Then reversed.
Instead of orbiting him—
They merged.
One by one.
Light condensed.
Cracks sealed temporarily.
A circular construct formed behind Arjun's back.
Incomplete.
But powerful.
A halo of broken sky.
---
Core Unity
The pressure around him lessened.
Not because Ruin stopped.
But because Arjun was stabilizing the field itself.
The pseudo-core pulsed once.
A wave of harmonic energy spread outward.
The distortion field trembled.
Harshil gasped. "What did you just do?"
"Stabilizing space," Arjun replied quietly.
The unified structure behind him rotated slowly.
Not chaotic.
Not aggressive.
Balanced.
Ruin's silhouette appeared within the cracked sky layers.
"You reconstruct what was meant to remain shattered."
Arjun stepped forward against the crushing gravity.
"I'm not rebuilding it."
The pseudo-core pulsed brighter.
"I'm refining it."
---
Clash of Control
Ruin intensified the compression field.
Reality groaned.
Trees bent unnaturally.
Stone fractured.
The pseudo-core behind Arjun began showing faint stress lines.
"Strain level rising.
Time limit approaching."
Arjun didn't attack Ruin directly.
Instead—
He expanded the harmonic pulse frequency.
Not outward violently.
But evenly.
Balancing pressure across space.
Compression equalized.
The cracks in the sky slowed.
Ruin's silhouette flickered.
"You are learning structural warfare."
Arjun's voice remained steady.
"You fight to consume."
The pseudo-core rotated faster.
"I fight to preserve."
---
The Breaking Point
The pressure spiked suddenly.
Higher than before.
A final test.
The pseudo-core cracked sharply.
Pain surged through Arjun's entire body.
"Time limit exceeded.
Fragment stability failing."
If he held it longer—
The system might fracture again.
Irreversibly.
Balance is decisive timing.
Arjun exhaled slowly.
Then—
He released the Convergence Protocol.
The pseudo-core dissolved back into separate fragments.
But the compression field—
Had already been equalized.
The cracks in the sky stopped spreading.
Ruin's silhouette observed silently.
Then—
The distortion faded.
Not violently.
Not defeated.
But withdrawn.
---
Aftermath
Students slowly stood up.
The academy barrier stabilized.
Sebastian walked toward Arjun, eyes calculating.
"You didn't overpower him."
"No," Arjun replied.
"I stabilized the battlefield."
Harshil stared at the fragments now calmly orbiting again.
"That thing behind you… that was insane."
"Temporary," Arjun said quietly.
"Dangerous."
The system pulsed.
"Convergence Protocol cooldown initiated.
Core strain at 48%."
Arjun looked up at the now-clear sky.
Ruin had tested collapse.
And for the first time—
He failed to force it.
Far beyond sight, Ruin's presence shifted uneasily.
"He approaches reconstruction."
But this reconstruction was different.
Not blind.
Not hesitant.
Controlled.
And if the Broken Sky ever became whole again—
It would not shatter from within.
It would decide its own limits.