[Level Four — 2:47 PM]
One second of complete darkness.
Not a blackout. Active darkness — the kind that has weight, that presses against your eyes and makes your brain doubt whether they're open or closed.
Then the crimson light.
---
It didn't explode outward.
First it collapsed inward — all the accumulated power of one thousand harvested souls from months of dungeons, of battles, of creatures and Heralds and the Iron Bull and everything that had come before, converging toward the point in Grim's chest where Fragment 1 lived.
One second of collapse.
Level Four completely still during that second.
The Heralds not moving. The Veil not moving. The team not moving.
As if the universe had taken a breath.
Then.
[SYSTEM — THRESHOLD REACHED: 1,000 souls]
[GRIM — EVOLUTION — AWAKENING FORM 2/7 — INITIATING]
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The previous form dissolved.
