Chapter 328: Deployment

Vaelor’s Personal Elites entered the outer corridors of the Loom in formation, six figures who caused lesser gods to part before them even when unbidden. They did not have to raise their voices to be heard. Authority clung to them in thick, smothering bands that flattened local reality.

At the front of the group, Orrax, the Executioner, loomed over the rest. His body appeared to be crafted from black iron and cooling magma with veins of dull red light running through his arms and neck. He was silent, as usual, his words few and lethal when he deigned to speak. His role within the Loom was simple and direct - whenever Vaelor made a decision, Orrax ensured that there were no second thoughts.

To his right, Veyra, the Silent Calculus, moved in parallel. She was an inconsistent mix of pale gold and glass that constantly reshaped itself, mathematical equations floating across her surface before vanishing without a trace. She was always calculating, determining probabilities and potential weaknesses with unwavering precision. Her mind considered emotions as little irritants that she forced away. If Orrax represented raw determination, then Veyra was the careful intelligence that guided his violence with precision.

The twins, Kael and Ryn, brought up the rear. Kael burned with white-hot solar fire, his aggressive nature evident even without words. In contrast, Ryn exuded cold that leeched the warmth from the very air around him. They were two sides of the same coin, their methods different despite the common goal. While Kael pushed his enemies toward immediate surrender with overwhelming force, Ryn made certain that those who refused to comply could not do so a second time. The two had worked in tandem more than once before, laying entire rebellious sectors to waste.

Seris, the Binder, waited patiently at the edge of the group. Strange chains of raw thought flickered around her person, and when she moved, they flowed like water around her wrists and legs. She specialized in binding, in stopping people in their tracks, and in restricting their movements. Seris spoke in short sentences and hated wasted effort.

Finally, there was Hollow, the Withered, who had no particular shape or appearance aside from the constant sense of him hovering at the edges of perception. He worked in shadows, ensuring that nothing survived after the others had finished their work.

It was Orrax who first spoke as they neared the last threshold.

"The orders remain the same. We enter the sealed region and systematically destroy the major realms within. Our priority is to force Aeloria out, but we cannot ignore the entities responsible for Korrath’s death."

Veyra’s face changed as she absorbed the words, shifting through the potential outcomes and probabilities.

"Aeloria’s defenses are higher than expected for a sealed region. According to the last report from Selene, there are at least several progenitor-level entities within, along with one anomalous combat formation."

"If it can kill a reaver, we break it," interjected Kael.

"Breaking it is what got us into this mess in the first place," Ryn countered. "We need to remove their ability to coordinate before attempting anything else."

Seris gave a short nod as she shaped chains from the air around her. "You both are thinking too small. We bind their strongest assets and erase the rest."

"As long as the erasure comes last, I am perfectly fine with the general idea." Hollow’s shifting form almost seemed to smile as he spoke.

Orrax gave a brief inclination of his head. "Good. Veyra, pick the openings, and we will move as one. We do not engage the primary defenses until we have mapped the outer layers."

The transit gate shimmered before them, opening onto the unknown. The six Personal Elites stepped forward one after the other.

The outer edges of the sealed region resisted their intrusion, layered glyphs and barriers pushing against the newcomers with long-established determination. Reality bent around the group, trying to push them away, to stop them, to deny them entry. The defenses were old, worn, but effective, layering illusion upon illusion, attempting to confuse the intruders and prevent a direct approach.

Orrax moved forward nevertheless, forcing a path through the shifting barriers, cracks of dull red light bleeding from his body. Veyra changed her trajectory constantly, ensuring that they neared the target without presenting an actual threat. Kael and Ryn flanked on either side, burning away weaker barriers and freezing the stronger ones in place with carefully placed bursts of power. Seris ensured that the path remained open behind them, binding the barriers in place with temporary locks so that no pursuit could follow. Hollow faded to the edges, removing the evidence of their intrusion.

They reached the heart of the first layer.

The sealed region stretched before them, even denser and more complex than any isolated portion the Loom had previously cataloged.

The First Progenitor opened her eyes fully for the first time in an age. She barely reacted to the disturbance at the edges of her domain, save for a vague curiosity about the wasted potential of a dead Loom Reaver, the strange fusion of a core, and the noisy skirmishes that had erupted shortly after these individuals had appeared. It was more impressive that the disturbance was approaching again, with an entire company of high-level entities, each carrying an unmistakable aura of authority. Vaelor had apparently grown impatient with the inability to recover his property and had decided to take more direct action.

The First Progenitor’s perception stretched into the depths of the sealed region, brushing over the remnants of the recent struggle and the long, meticulous work that Aeloria had put into its creation. There was something strange at the center of that disturbance, something beyond even her considerable understanding. It was not simply the fusion of cores or the unusual arrangement of the hybrid seed at the center of the realm. Something had grown there, in isolation, nurtured by Aeloria, hidden from the prying eyes of the Loom.

The First Progenitor did not move, only watching, only listening.

What exactly had Aeloria been trying to conceal that it took six Personal Elites to unearth it? What power did that strange disturbance at the center of her domain possess that it had attracted the attention of the Loom?