It blurred again, faster this time, the world cracking around them as two identical forces collided.
Roselle fired into the melee, but the bullets bent around the energy field. "We can't touch them!"
Steve shouted, "If we overload the relay, it might destabilize its feed!"
"Do it," Cain barked, locking blades once more.
Steve tore the relay from his back and slammed a manual override into the power cell. The lights across the cavern flared, then snapped into chaos.
The mirror-clone froze for an instant.
Cain drove {Eidwyrm} through its chest, forcing the blade deeper until it shattered into shards of light. The fragments disintegrated, scattering into the monolith, which began to collapse inward—imploding with a deafening, metallic scream.
The light vanished. Silence swallowed the ruin.
Cain dropped to one knee, breathing hard. His hand trembled as he looked at the cracks still glowing faintly under the rubble.
Susan approached slowly. "Did we win?"
