They didn't stop.
Not after the hunt.
Not after the realization.
Not after Dain.
They moved faster now.
Because they understood something worse than before—
They were running out of time.
The city wasn't expanding anymore.
It was accelerating.
Kael could see it in the skyline.
The Bloom had grown again.
Larger.
Closer.
The veins spreading from it now reached across entire districts, threading through structures, connecting everything into one continuous system.
"It's moving toward the gate," Sera said.
Kael didn't respond.
Because he had already seen it.
"If it reaches the gate—" Reth started.
"It doesn't matter," Kael cut in.
Reth looked at him.
Kael's voice stayed flat.
"We won't make it in time if we keep getting stopped."
Silence.
Then Reth nodded once.
"…Then we stop stopping."
They pushed forward.
Hard.
No more testing.
No more probing.
Straight movement.
For a while—
It worked.
No enemies.
No interference.
Just distance.
Reth let out a short breath.
"…Feels wrong again."
Sera didn't answer.
Kael slowed.
Too quiet.
Too clean.
He felt it.
That pressure.
Different now.
Focused.
Tight.
"Kael," Sera said.
He already knew.
"They're setting something up."
The ground disappeared.
Not cracked.
Not broken.
Gone.
The entire street collapsed beneath them in a single, violent drop.
Kael reacted instantly—
Jumped—
Caught the edge of a broken support beam—
Pulled himself up.
Reth landed hard beside him—
Rolled—
Recovered.
Sera caught a hanging structure—
Swung—
Dropped beside them.
The ground below—
Gone.
Replaced by a massive, open cavity.
And inside it—
Movement.
Not dozens.
Not hundreds.
Thousands.
Bloomed.
Constructs.
New forms.
All moving.
All connected.
"…This isn't a trap," Reth said.
Kael looked down.
"No."
His voice lowered.
"It's a kill zone."
The walls shifted.
The edges of the collapse began to close inward—
Slowly.
Deliberately.
"They're sealing it!" Sera shouted.
Kael scanned.
One exit.
A narrow structure still intact—
Leading forward.
But unstable.
"We move," Kael said.
They ran.
The structure beneath them cracked with every step.
The walls closed faster.
The mass below surged upward.
"They're coming up!" Sera shouted.
Reth turned—
Fired into the rising forms—
Forcing them back—
But more came.
Too many.
The path narrowed.
The structure ahead—
Breaking.
Kael saw it.
The collapse point.
The timing.
He made the calculation instantly.
One of them wouldn't make it.
"Kael—" Sera started.
"I know."
Reth looked at him.
And understood.
"No."
Kael didn't look at him.
"We don't have a choice."
Reth stepped forward.
"Then I'm making it."
"Reth—"
He shook his head.
"No hesitation this time."
A beat.
Then he grinned.
Not reckless.
Certain.
"Don't slow down."
He turned—
And charged backward.
Into the collapse.
"RETH—" Sera shouted.
Too late.
He hit the first wave head-on.
Not holding.
Not stalling.
Breaking them.
His movement was different now.
Not controlled.
Unleashed.
He tore through the first line—
Forced the second back—
Held the third.
The structure shifted.
Cracked.
Kael saw it.
The timing.
The moment.
"MOVE!" Reth shouted.
Kael turned.
Ran.
Sera followed—
But she looked back.
Reth was still there.
Still fighting.
Still holding.
Then—
The ground gave out beneath him.
The entire section collapsed.
Reth dropped—
But he didn't fall alone.
He grabbed one—
Then another—
Dragging them with him.
The mass surged upward—
Trying to consume him—
And he laughed.
Actually laughed.
"COME ON THEN!"
The collapse swallowed him.
Gone.
Kael didn't stop.
He couldn't.
Because if he did—
Reth died for nothing.
They cleared the structure just as it collapsed behind them.
Silence.
Heavy.
Final.
Sera dropped to one knee.
Breathing harder now.
"…He knew."
Kael didn't answer.
Because he did too.
Reth didn't hesitate.
Not once.
Because he trusted him.
And Kael—
Had made the call.
For the first time—
It hit.
Not logic.
Not strategy.
Weight.
Something deeper.
Something he wasn't built to carry.
Kael stood still.
For one second.
Too long.
Then—
He moved.
Because if he didn't—
Everything they lost—
Would mean nothing.
Far behind them—
Deep within the Bloom—
Valen felt it.
The shift.
The loss.
And for a moment—
Even he paused.
"…So that's how you break him," he said quietly.
Then—
He smiled.