The skies darkened—not from storm or Rift, but from crafts cloaked in silence, sliding between clouds like obsidian knives. At least twenty—a formation not from any known alliance.
Sanctum's orbital surveillance registered them as non-registered IFFs. Unknown signatures. No soul-flag. No mana imprint.
Which meant only one thing.
[INTRUSION DETECTED – FLEET SIGNATURE: BLACKSIGIL]
The Blacksigil Conclave—a banned techno-mercenary sect long thought extinct after the Abyss wars—had arrived.
Their goal was simple:
"Sanctum has grown too dangerous. If we seize its core, we rule the broken world."
They moved with coordinated precision, activating stealth rupture drives and directing surgical units straight toward:
The Crownfall Core Vault
The Fallout Stabilizer Hub
And the Sanctum Mindspire
Three strikes. Fast. Efficient. Ruthless.
Only one mistake.
They attacked Iden's Sanctum.
Within 3.6 seconds of intrusion, Iden stood atop the Mindspire. The air had thickened, not with tension—but with pressure. Soul gravity. Command dominance. Absolute intent.
Behind him, ten of the new Tier V Constructs phased into view—massive skeletal titans brimming with antimagic cores and photon-disruptor war engines.
A whisper left Iden's lips.
"Cleanse them."
Every tower awoke. Every cannon roared.
Crown-powered rail cores and layered shatterlight missiles obliterated the Blacksigil's forward fleet before they could land. A shockwave rolled across the valley, shattering cloud layers and pulsing Sanctum's blue shield outward.
On the ground, skeletal mages created mana sink fields—nullifying teleportation escape attempts.
Kael's battalion circled wide, cutting off retreat paths with Phasewall Crucifixes, while Rael invoked Sanctum Pulse to blind command signals.
Arlen unleashed his new Arbitus Grid Shell, overloading their cloaking with raw signal radiation.
It wasn't a battle.
It was an execution.
[Hostile Faction "Blacksigil Conclave" – EXTERMINATED][Total Incursion Time: 2 minutes, 17 seconds][Zero damage to Core Zones]
News spread like wildfire. Footage leaked—on purpose—by Iden's Crownwatch drones:
A still shot of Iden watching silently as enemy ships exploded mid-air.
The vaporization of one of Blacksigil's ancient dreadknights by a single Nova Singularity burst.
Rael standing with silver flames around her, shielding a civilian ward without blinking.
Kael raising his skeletal halberd in one hand, surrounded by burning wreckage.
It was a message louder than missiles.
That same evening, Iden addressed the world. The broadcast was uninterruptable—routed through Crownfall's satellite net and boosted by tiered AI relays.
He stood in front of the Vault of Thrones, armored in his Crownlink gear, backed by a sea of undead banners waving silently in the wind.
His voice was calm. Absolute. No theatrics.
"To all who still watch the world burn for personal gain—this is your final warning.""Sanctum will offer peace, protection, and alliance to those who stand for survival.""But to those who scheme, lie, or approach with poisoned intent…""There will be no quarter. No negotiation. Only ruin.""Let this day be remembered not as a defense—but as judgment."
The signal ended not with a flourish—but with silence.
One single line remained across all systems:
[CROWN AUTHORITY LOCKED – REGIONAL ACCESS DENIED TO UNTRUSTED PARTIES][NEW ZONE DESIGNATION: CROWN SANCTUM – TRESPASS LEVEL: OMEGA]
Inside the control chambers beneath the Citadel, Rael watched Iden quietly.
"You didn't hesitate."
"I won't again," Iden said. "Not this close to the end."
She touched his arm. "What now?"
He looked to the east—where the horizon had begun trembling, not from warships or Rifts—but something older.
Something vast.
"Now," Iden whispered, "we finish preparing for the one thing that doesn't care for warnings."
As the night fell, distant sensors began to hum.
The final Omega Entity had moved again.
Its arrival estimate: Thirty-nine hours.
It had changed course.
It was heading straight for Sanctum.
Drawn by the two Fragments in Iden's control.
[THE FINAL ENTITY HAS SET SANCTUM AS ITS TARGET][IMPACT RANGE IN: 39 HOURS][WARNING: TIER BEYOND CALCULATION][PREPARE FALLOUT AND CROWNFALL STAGE II]