The next Null Sect arrival was different.
---
Kael felt it before anyone reported it.
---
The system—
reacted.
---
[Warning: High-Tier Anomalous Presence Detected]
---
That had never appeared before.
---
Liora saw his expression.
---
"What is it?"
---
Kael didn't answer immediately.
---
Because this—
was new.
---
Not assassin.
Not observer.
---
Something else.
---
Elara's voice dropped.
---
"Higher rank."
---
Yes.
---
The air itself felt—
compressed.
---
Wrong.
---
Not absence.
---
Pressure.
---
By the time the scouts confirmed it—
it was already too late.
---
A full node—
went silent.
---
Not destroyed.
---
Not attacked.
---
Gone.
---
Communication severed.
Signal lost.
Presence—
absent.
---
Dren stared at the map.
---
"That's impossible."
---
"Yes," Kael said.
---
"But it happened."
---
This—
was escalation.
---
Real escalation.
---
Because now—
the Null Sect wasn't probing.
---
They were asserting.
---
And Kael—
had to answer.