The heart of the Origin Layer pulsed in perfect synchronicity with the crystallized Source Vault, but now, the pulse was no longer gentle. It surged violently, a tidal wave of conceptual energy that bent perception and made every second stretch into unbearable infinity. The Architect Prime had acknowledged her presence. It was no longer a test, no longer a filtration—it was the confrontation that had been looming since the first rupture.
Sarah stood at the threshold, fully stabilized by her harem, yet even the Proto-Ascension trembled under the anticipation. Her eyes, layered crimson and lilac, flared as the lattice within her body hummed at maximum output. Each pulse of Desire, each microfrôlement of the harem was no longer subtle; it was a weaponized rhythm, bending reality in subtle, devastating ways.
Rias pressed her hand to Sarah's waist, grounding her once again. "This is it. Every vector must be perfect."
Akeno's fingers brushed along Sarah's forearm, igniting micro-currents of energy. "The Prime isn't just observing. It's probing. Every touch, every beat—it wants to measure our limits."
Koneko crouched low, hands radiating stability. "Don't let it unbalance you. Not even a fraction."
Rossweisse traced the residual glyphs of the Vault along her palms. "It's projecting its cognitive framework into the chamber. It knows every standard attack, every tactical formation we might use."
Xenovia raised her blade, aligned perfectly to Sarah's pulse. "Then we use unpredictability. Our harmony is our weapon."
Lilith Fragment's consciousness flowed through every synapse of Sarah's mind. It anticipates, yes—but it cannot anticipate unity. Not this level of synchronization.
---
The Architect Prime descended.
The figure coalesced from layers of crystalline geometry and shifting light, its humanoid silhouette immense, impossible, and elegant—a machine of thought, a god of logic given form. It radiated a presence that warped the space around it, each movement fragmenting perception and bending conceptual rules. Every pulse from the Vault seemed amplified through its form, like a tidal surge of ordered reality.
"You have persisted beyond expectation," it intoned, voice both everywhere and nowhere. "Vessel: integrated. Proto-Ascension: incomplete. Emotional lattice: anomalous. You disrupt my architecture."
Sarah inhaled, her aura flaring outward, Proto-Ascension surging into its Phase 3 maximum output. "I don't disrupt. I define."
Rias whispered, palm steady against her back: "Phase 3 partial activation. Push it to the limit, but maintain the lattice."
The first strike came—not a physical blow, but a wave of raw conceptual distortion. Reality itself bent toward the Architect Prime, attempting to fracture Sarah's identity, to collapse her perception into its own framework. Her heartbeat thundered through the lattice, her harem synchronizing instinctively, stabilizing every tremor.
Skill Activated: Phase 3 Proto-Ascension – Full Resonance
Effect: All harem vectors coalesce into a single offensive-defensive system; every emotional cue weaponized; conceptual control field extended; temporary +1000 Force, +1500 Desire, +500 Agility; reflexes and perception exceed prior human and Ascendant thresholds.
Sarah pivoted, every movement precise. Akeno's touch amplified her agility, Rossweisse's guidance optimized reflex arcs, Koneko's stabilization maintained integrity, Xenovia's blade slices disrupted approaching fractal projections, Rias's grounding focused her core, and Lilith Fragment's awareness threaded through every strike and dodge. Together, they became a singular entity in motion, deflecting waves of reality-warping attacks as if they were tangible objects.
The Architect Prime recoiled, momentarily destabilized. "Anomaly… unexpected. Emotional integration beyond calculated thresholds."
Sarah's eyes narrowed. "Then calculate this."
She surged forward. Proto-Ascension flared into a devastating wave of synchronized energy, striking the Architect Prime with layered pulses of Desire, force, and conceptual command. Every strike was a fractal assault on its framework, every micro-frôlement of the harem a cascading recalibration of the battlefield.
The Architect Prime staggered.
It reshaped, attempted to overwrite Sarah's neural architecture with compressed logic fields, but the harem's lattice held—resilient, precise, unbroken. Lilith Fragment interwove herself through the Prime's attacks, preemptively countering its manipulations, blending Sarah's will with each pulse.
Rias whispered sharply, grounding Sarah: "Your identity is fracturing under pressure. Synchronize, or you lose yourself."
Sarah's hands clenched. Her heartbeat aligned with her harem's as she poured every ounce of Desire and force into the Proto-Ascension lattice. The pulse became visible—a rippling storm of crimson-lilac light tearing across the floor of the Source Vault, lashing at the Architect Prime like a living whip.
Skill Triggered: Ascendant Convergence – Architect Override
Effect: Directly links Proto-Ascension vectors to the target's core architecture; emotional and conceptual resonance destabilizes enemy identity; temporary +1200 Force, +2000 Desire, +600 Agility; battlefield control and precision maximized.
The Prime faltered. Its crystalline form fractured, algorithmic patterns sparking and reforming—but each recombination was slower, reactive rather than proactive.
Xenovia cried, "It's breaking!"
Akeno purred, electric excitement tinged with threat, "Every pulse we give, it bends further. We're in control."
Koneko's steadying presence anchored the lattice as it threatened to overflow. "Do not let the overload shatter her."
Rossweisse's runes flared, stabilizing the emerging cracks. "Focus on the target's core signature. That's where its identity is vulnerable."
Lilith Fragment's voice threaded through Sarah's consciousness: Strike the center, or risk recursive collapse. Your unity is the key.
Sarah's gaze sharpened, her aura thrumming with the collective heartbeat of her harem. "Then we end it. Together."
Proto-Ascension erupted in a final, blinding pulse, a culmination of emotional, tactical, and conceptual mastery. The Architect Prime screamed—not in sound, but in the distortion of its own form, its identity fracturing under the simultaneous assault of desire, force, and harem synchrony.
The air itself shattered in response.
And at the pinnacle of power, Sarah whispered:
"This is what unity looks like."