Inside the "Tracing Light" capsule, time seemed to have been stretched and warped by an invisible force, flowing at an extreme crawl.
The deathly stillness of the Cold Pond outside, the lingering tremors deep within the wreckage, and even the chaotic rhythms of the entire Space-Time Crevice were all isolated and diluted by this strange Space-Time Fold effect, becoming distant and blurred.
At the center of the capsule, the Shadow Fiend Fragment floated silently. It no longer looked like the charred, shattered wreck that had been on the verge of falling apart.
The savage cracks and corroded pits across its surface had not vanished, but their edges were now covered and connected by newly formed dark gold veins, like molten material that had cooled and solidified anew.
These veins were neither shadow matter nor pure metal. They resembled some highly condensed new substance that fused Order, shadow, and even a trace of the "Key" frequency's traits.
They gave off a steady, restrained glimmer. The fragment's overall shape remained irregular, yet it carried a strange sense of resilience and weight, as though it had been tempered through countless trials.
Like a rough billet of divine iron taken from an ancient furnace, slowly cooling.
At the fragment's core, that spark of Shadow Fiend's true spirit was now wrapped in a warm, gentle pale-gold halo.
The spark no longer flickered erratically. It burned steadily, sending out faint but distinct waves of intent that carried Shadow Fiend's characteristic tenacity.
Like a sleeping warrior receiving the deepest nourishment and restoration beside a warm campfire.
The Origin Resonator light-dust attached to the fragment, along with the Seeker information afterwaves, were also steeped in this pale-gold radiance of fusion. The light-dust grew more solid.
Tiny runes seemed to flow within it; the information afterwaves, meanwhile, changed from