Kael didn't hesitate.
---
He moved immediately.
---
Full force.
---
Not blind.
Not reckless.
---
Controlled.
---
"Mobilize core units."
"Lock all outer nodes."
"Redirect all flow."
---
The system responded.
---
Not like before.
---
Faster.
Stronger.
---
Alive.
---
Liora moved with him.
---
Elara didn't follow.
---
She went ahead.
---
Good.
---
Because now—
this wasn't defense.
---
It was confrontation.
---
The silent node lay ahead.
---
Empty.
---
Wrong.
---
Kael stepped inside.
---
And felt it.
---
Not absence.
---
Presence.
---
Waiting.
---
Then—
it spoke.
---
"You continue."
---
The voice wasn't human.
---
But it wasn't nothing either.
---
Kael didn't hesitate.
---
"Yes."
---
A pause.
---
"Then you will be removed."
---
Kael smiled.
---
"Try."
---
And the war—
changed again.