They didn't speak much after that.
There wasn't anything left to say that hadn't already been made clear.
Voss wasn't hiding. He wasn't testing. He wasn't sending pieces anymore.
He was choosing.
And that made everything worse.
Jovian walked slightly ahead of the others, his pace steady but slower than before. Not cautious. Focused.
Vital Mirage stayed close, more present now than it had been in a while.
"…You're thinking about what he said," Lucien noted from behind.
Jovian didn't deny it. "He said he wanted to see what remains."
Iggy scoffed lightly. "Yeah, like we're some kind of experiment."
"…We are," Alaric said flatly.
That shut him up.
Jovian's grip tightened slightly.
"He wasn't measuring strength," Jovian continued. "He's already seen enough of that."
Lucien nodded. "So he's looking for something else."
"Resolve," Alaric said.
Jovian stopped walking.
"…Yeah."
Because that word mattered more than anything else Voss had said.
Not power. Not ability.
Resolve.
Which meant one thing.
"He's going to push us until something breaks," Jovian said.
Iggy crossed his arms. "Then we don't break."
Simple answer.
Not an easy one.
They didn't have to wait long.
The moment came without warning.
One second, the air was still.
The next—
Everything tightened.
Not like before. Not distortion, not pressure.
Something sharper.
More focused.
Jovian felt it instantly.
"…Down!"
They reacted on instinct.
A thin, invisible force cut through the space where they had just been standing.
No sound.
No impact.
Just a clean line carved into the ground behind them.
Iggy turned sharply. "What the hell was that?"
Lucien's eyes narrowed. "…That wasn't a fragment."
"No," Jovian said.
Vital Mirage was already fully formed now, its stance tense.
"That was directed."
Another strike came.
Faster.
This time, Jovian moved before it landed.
Vital Mirage intercepted, the impact sharper than anything they had felt before. Not heavy—precise.
Like a blade.
Jovian slid back slightly, his expression tightening.
"…So this is new."
Alaric stepped forward, Golden Cavalier forming instantly. "It's targeting specific points."
Lucien looked around carefully. "…But there's nothing visible."
Iggy clenched his fists. "So we're just getting sliced by nothing now?"
"No," Jovian said.
He stepped forward slowly, eyes focused—not on what he could see, but on what he could feel.
"There's something there."
Another strike came—
Jovian moved with it this time, not against it.
Vital Mirage shifted its position slightly, letting the attack pass just close enough to reveal it.
For a split second—
A line.
Thin. Sharp.
Almost like a cut in space itself.
"…Found it," Jovian said.
Lucien reacted instantly. Midnight Sontana moved, striking at the exact position Jovian had indicated.
The hit connected—
And something flickered.
Not fully visible.
But real.
Iggy grinned slightly. "Good. I was getting bored of punching air."
Phantom Ember flared, heat distorting the space further.
Now they could see it.
Not clearly.
But enough.
Thin distortions, like edges rather than shapes, cutting through space in controlled patterns.
Alaric's voice stayed calm. "…It's shaping the battlefield without entering it."
Jovian nodded.
"Yeah," he said.
"He's not here."
Another strike came.
Sharper. Faster.
Jovian didn't block this time.
He stepped into it.
Vital Mirage struck at the origin point—
And this time—
Something cracked.
Not the ground.
Not the air.
Something deeper.
The attack stopped instantly.
The space returned to normal.
Silence followed.
Iggy blinked. "…That's it?"
Lucien didn't relax. "…No."
Jovian exhaled slowly.
"He just confirmed something," he said.
Alaric looked at him. "What?"
Jovian's gaze hardened slightly.
"…He can reach us."
Not through fragments.
Not through constructs.
Directly.
And that meant—
Next time—
It wouldn't stop halfway.