The Containment Domain stabilized.
White space stretched endlessly in every direction—no sky, no ground, no horizon. Just silence so absolute it pressed against the mind.
Dioka floated upside down, hands behind his head.
"…kinda cozy," he said.
Guakulia didn't answer.
He was watching something else.
Far beyond the Domain's artificial boundary, presences stirred.
Not energy signatures.
Not lanes.
Intent.
Guakulia narrowed his eyes.
"…they woke them up."
Dioka stopped smiling.
---
POV: THE VEILED COUNCIL
Deep beneath a continent erased from modern maps, a circular chamber lit itself for the first time in centuries.
Seven thrones.
Only four were occupied.
A woman wrapped in layered veils spoke first.
> "The anomalies escaped the Tournament arena. Satellite observation failed. Global feeds collapsed."
A skeletal figure seated in shadow tapped the arm of his throne.
> "So the Supernova System failed."
Another voice—calm, ancient, amused.
> "No. The system worked exactly as designed."
Silence.
> "It was never built to handle them."
A projection ignited at the center of the chamber: Dioka and Guakulia frozen mid-motion inside the Domain.
The veiled woman's voice tightened.
> "Confirm classification."
The projection flickered.
Then glitched.
Then displayed a single message:
[ERROR — SUBJECTS OUTSIDE ALL LANES]
One of the thrones cracked.
> "…that classification doesn't exist."
The amused voice replied softly:
> "It does now."
---
POV: APEX HERO COALITION
A floating fortress above the clouds.
Heroes—real ones, not symbols—stood watching fractured feeds.
A man with a burning crest clenched his fists.
> "Those two… they ran through Apex units like civilians."
A woman made of light whispered:
> "No. Worse."
She zoomed the feed.
Paused it.
> "They weren't trying."
The room went quiet.
> "If they wanted," she continued, "this planet would already be gone."
Someone muttered the unthinkable.
> "…are we even relevant anymore?"
No one answered.
---
POV: THE UNDERMARKET
Beneath cities. Beneath nations.
Information brokers, rogue Supernovas, and forbidden entities gathered.
Screens replayed Dioka waving at officials.
Guakulia folding space like paper.
A masked figure laughed nervously.
> "So that's what the government's been hiding."
A beastlike man snarled.
> "If those two move freely… every power balance collapses."
A whisper slithered through the room:
> "Then maybe we follow them."
The room froze.
> "Or worship them."
---
POV: CONTAINMENT DOMAIN
Inside the white void—
Cracks began to form.
Not in space.
In the concept of containment itself.
Guakulia exhaled slowly.
"…yeah. This thing wasn't made to hold us."
Dioka glanced around.
"So," he said casually, "who's watching?"
The Domain trembled.
Far away, unseen observers felt it—
That moment.
The moment the anomalies noticed them back.
A presence recoiled.
Another leaned closer.
Something ancient smiled.
Guakulia looked straight at nothing.
> "You've had your fun. Now it's our turn."
Dioka grinned.
> "Round two isn't for the arena."
The white space fractured—
And every faction watching felt the same thing at once:
The world had changed its rules.
And the anomalies were now aware of everyone.
---
FINAL LINE
> "When the watchers move… the gods start panicking."