72 hours.
That was all the time they had.
Rivan stood at the edge of the crater now known as the Crown's Root, watching energy veins crackle like lightning across the blackened landscape. The air pulsed with tension — not heat, not magic, but anticipation.
Kael knelt near the system pedestal, his eyes scanning the countdown interface.
[Crown's Womb Awakening: 71:42:16]
"Three days," he said. "Maybe less if the pulses accelerate."
Selina had been quiet since the fusion. Her aura still shimmered faintly with golden sparks — residual energy from the bond core they'd unlocked.
Rivan turned to both of them. "We don't wait. We move. I need a team. A real one."
Kael rose. "Then we go south. The Flameborne Raiders owe me a debt. If even half of them survived the last Purge, they'll come."
Selina nodded. "I'll call on the Scarlet Sisters. If they know what's coming, they'll help — even if it means breaking exile."
Rivan's system blinked.
