The silence that followed Selira's warning hung heavy in the air, more final than the collapse of the Tear Wyrm. Around them, the chamber's residual glow pulsed in quiet rhythm with the newly stabilized Anchor Core. But beyond the boundaries of this reprieve, the Cataclysmic Confluence—an ongoing upheaval where realms collided and merged—shifted again. It ground against the seams of reality, folding and reshaping existence itself. The Outer Ring was awakening.
Leon stood, the last threads of golden Dominion light flickering along his arms. Dominion—the inner force of will and identity harnessed by those attuned to the Codex—served as both weapon and shield in this fractured world. He turned his gaze to the floating lattice map projected by the Codex, a sentient artifact bound to his existence. New nodes shimmered into focus—each representing an Anchor: focal points of stability in the Confluence. Two blinked red, their Stability Indexes dangerously low. The Codex pulsed again, this time with urgency.
[New Mission: Outer Ring Anchor Stabilization]
Targets:
Northern Spiral Reach – Status: 8.4% Stability (CRITICAL)
Hollow Meridian Bastion – Status: 9.7% Stability (SEVERE)
Directive: Secure both Anchors before total destabilization. Estimated Tear Event onset: 3.7 hours.
Selira limped beside him, wincing with each step. "Those readings… We're running out of time."
Leon nodded, voice low but steady. "We move now."
They exited the Temple of Echoes beneath skies still fractured with threads of aurora and thunder. Outside, the path to the Outer Ring stretched like a jagged wound in space—an open corridor of unstable ley-lines (streams of raw magical current) and floating terrain tethered to collapsing sub-realms. Each Anchor emitted gravitational pull of its own, drawing nearby ruins, lost constructs, and surging mana-storms into chaotic orbits.
Waiting at the edge was Karya and the rest of the Buenos Aires survivors. They'd fortified the threshold with salvaged materials—hexagonal shields made from reality thread remnants, and barricades reinforced by Vell's geomantic abilities.
"You're heading into the Spiral Reach first?" Karya asked, arms crossed, her crimson blade slung across her back.
Leon studied the Codex map. "It's closer and deteriorating faster. If we don't move within the hour, we'll lose the node entirely."
Markus stepped forward, skin still etched with glowing tectonic veins—remnants of his bond with Earth's leylines. "We've rigged a short-range stabilizer drone. It won't stop a full Tear Event, but it'll buy you ten minutes if the Core collapses."
Selira took the device and clipped it to her belt. "Appreciated."
Rui, standing quietly behind them, spoke in a near whisper. "That place… the Spiral Reach. It used to be a city before the Fold took it. My sister might've been there. Bring something back. Anything."
Leon met his gaze and gave a solemn nod. "We will."
Northern Spiral Reach
They stepped through a Fold Gate—temporary rifts stabilized by the Codex—entering the Reach. The transition was instantaneous and violent. One moment, they stood within the Temple's buffer zone. The next, they were plummeting through warped gravitational shears. Stone platforms spun through pitch-black air, and flaming fragments of a broken city swirled around skyscraper shards that floated like icebergs.
Selira flared her Dominion—her internal force blooming in a radiant pulse—to anchor herself mid-air. Leon followed, activating his own core of Resolve, a Dominion discipline tied to unyielding will. They landed hard on a shifting platform of scorched marble and twisted steel that might once have been a rooftop.
The Anchor Core glowed faintly ahead, nestled in the ruins of what had once been a skyline. But the area was flooded with hostile entities drawn to the weakening pulse.
The first to strike were Phase Reavers—humanoid wraiths formed from shattered timelines and broken memories. They moved erratically, glitching through reality with flickering afterimages. [Threat Rating: -Dominion Class]
Leon shouted, "Left!" and ducked as a Reaver's blade phased half a second too deep into their dimension, grazing his arm with a hiss of warped energy.
Selira retaliated instantly, forming a fractal blade of obsidian energy. She cleaved the Reaver cleanly in two, its body dissolving into a digital shimmer.
"We need to keep moving," she said, breath sharp.
Leon surged forward, releasing a Pressure Wave—an explosive burst of Dominion that shattered stone and scattered enemies. Behind them, spectral distortions bled into view—echoes of lives erased by the Confluence, trying to overwrite reality. One of them looked like Natalie. Smiling. Reaching for him.
He tore his gaze away and pressed on.
They reached the Core's chamber—a broken plaza suspended in open space, crumbling in slow motion. The Anchor itself floated at the center, entangled in corrupted mana strands pulsing with malignant intent.
[Anchor Core – Spiral Reach]Stability: 7.1%Action Required: Immediate Integration
Leon stepped forward, placing his palm over the Codex interface.
[Memory Required: Isolation][Truth Required: You fear becoming what you destroyed][Choice Required: Reinforce or Rebuild?]
"I choose… Rebuild," he whispered.
The Anchor exploded in wild light. Reality convulsed. The Reavers screamed as the choice radiated outward, severing their link to corrupted Dominion energy.
Selira held the line as Leon cried out in pain. His thoughts unraveled, reshaped, and restructured into a new Core Thread—a mental and emotional conduit to the Anchor.
Anchor of Dominion – RECONSTRUCTION: AcquiredSystem Stability: 39.2%
Leon staggered, chest heaving.
"Next… the Hollow Meridian."
Hollow Meridian Bastion
They transited through a leyline fold—this one far less stable. Raw mana coursed around them, the Fold howling with dimensional static. The Hollow Meridian, once a spaceborne megastructure orbiting Earth, now drifted within the Confluence in a state of gravitational collapse. Its architecture bent in impossible angles, like a city stretched through time.
The Core was located deep within its central conduit—a shaft that once served as its power spine. But it was not unguarded.
A Dominion Echo Beast patrolled the shaft. Serpentine and skeletal, the creature was composed of crystallized regrets and failed ascensions. It did not see as mortals do—it sensed through intention, reacting to purpose and drive. [Threat Rating: - Dominion-Class]
Selira whispered, "We can't fight that thing directly."
Leon nodded. "Then we go around it."
He activated the stabilizer drone Markus had given them. A temporal distortion field unfolded, cloaking them in a shell that bent time just enough to render their intentions unreadable.
They slipped past the beast, hearts pounding, until they reached the core chamber. This Anchor was more intact, but unstable in rhythm—its pulses misaligned, skipping like a broken heart.
[Anchor Core – Hollow Meridian]Stability: 9.4%Error: Synchronization Drift DetectedCorrection Requires: Dual Integration
Selira looked at Leon. "We do this together."
They placed their hands on the core. Energy surged. The Codex did not ask for memories or truths this time—only faith.
Their Dominion energies merged, creating a spiraling matrix of Insight and Resolve. The Core responded with a deep hum and ignited in hues of gold and cobalt.
[Anchor Secured – Hollow Meridian]Trait Gained: Synchronized Threading (Passive): Dual Dominion signatures may now resonate temporarily, enhancing combined system functions during co-action.System Stability: 52.7%
The Hollow Meridian stilled. Its fragmented geometry reformed. The Confluence held its breath.
Leon and Selira stood in the quiet that followed, absorbing the weight of what they had just stabilized.
[Quest Completed: The Outer Ring Expedition]Objective: Traverse the Outer Ring, establish Dominion presence, and secure at least two additional Anchors before the next Tear Event.
Rewards Unlocked:
Enhanced Dominion Integration: Internal resonance improved; all future Dominion-based techniques cost 12% less Focus.
Skill Unlocked – [Dimensional Flux]: Temporarily phase through unstable reality threads to evade or reposition. [Cooldown: 60 seconds]
Faction Recognition: Codex Collective (Rank: Initiate Representative): Access to low-tier Codex Vaults and mission briefings.
"Two down," Selira said.
Leon stared at the Codex's map. Several more nodes blinked in red.
The Codex pulsed once—calm, satisfied. For now, they had succeeded.
"Too many left."