Velrion did not allow this renewed momentum to fade.

The moment the last traces of hesitation left the chamber, he straightened in his seat and placed both hands upon the carved surface of the round table.

His sharp gaze moved across every face present there, measuring their readiness, resistance, and resolve.

He no longer found the fear that was strong enough to halt their action. The doubts remained, but that doubt had shifted into more caution rather than refusal to their proposal.

"Let’e begin now. You can start giving your suggestions," Velrion said with firm authority.

The tone alone made it clear that the discussion had moved beyond whether they would act. The only matter left was how.

No one challenged him.

The other four Archmages, who earlier had filled the room with warnings and objections, now understood that they had reached the point where standing still would be the greater danger.

With Dragonborn support, with Sylven’s confidence, and with the threat hanging unseen over the world, none of them could justify delay any longer.

Kelor was the first to respond. He leaned forward and struck one fist lightly against the table and said, "If we are changing the foundation of the Sky Anchor, then we need stability first. Kingdom of Valdros will secure our military routes, transport lines, and the major energy channels in our territory. If the unrest begins anywhere, we will suppress it immediately."

Lisara nodded and followed without pause. "Seraphelle will also begin information control and coordination. Rumors of instability must not spread before we understand the process. Panic could damage our kingdoms faster than Magic failure. I will also assign my analysts to map every connected cultivation line."

Selena rested her fingers together in thought before speaking. "Elaris kingdom will prepare healing sanctums and emergency support stations," she said calmly. "If even minor backlash occurs during the rewriting, civilians and cultivators must have treatment ready. I will also gather harmonists to monitor fluctuations."

Morvain’s expression remained severe, though the resistance in it had lessened.

"Drakenmere possesses the deepest sealed archives on ancient structures," he said. "I will open them and retrieve every record tied to foundational runes, world anchors, and forbidden reconstruction methods. If there is forgotten knowledge useful to this task, we will find it."

Velrion gave a single approving nod before adding his own commitment.

"Leonora will host the central operation," he said. "My arrays, towers, and scholars will serve as the coordinating heart until we determine where the first structural intervention must occur."

The chamber began to transform.

The room that had been full of disbelief only a short while earlier now became a war council of minds moving in unison.

Questions replaced arguments. Strategies replaced their fear. Magical diagrams were summoned above the table in glowing layers.

Maps of kingdoms, ley routes, and Sky Anchor connections unfolded in rotating light.

Erend and the other three watched the change with quiet relief.

This was exactly what they had needed for now. Not warriors or worshippers for now. But minds capable of moving an entire world.

Velrion then looked toward the four Dragonborn.

"We will begin from our own kingdoms first," he said. "Each realm will inspect its local Anchor-linked structures, secure its people, and prepare specialists. Once that is done, we converge our findings and move to the core."

Sylven gave a small nod of approval.

"That is the correct order," he said. "Strengthen the branches before touching the root."

The words settled heavily across the chamber.

The five Archmages exchanged looks and found no retreat left in any of them now.

Their kingdoms would become the first stage of a task never attempted in history.

Above them, the glowing constellations continued their silent motion across the dome while beneath that calm light, the first steps to rewrite the fate of the world had begun.

—

Seven days passed after the gathering in Leonora, and with each passing day the world gave harsher proof that the warning had been true.

What first appeared as isolated incidents soon revealed itself as a spreading pattern of disorder.

Problems rose in different kingdoms at nearly the same time. They were too frequent and too unnatural to dismiss as coincidence.

The balance that had quietly supported civilization for ages was beginning to strain.

In Valdros kingdom, Magical beasts that normally remained deep within mountain territories descended in violent packs and attacked roads, villages, and fortified supply routes. Creatures that were before predictable in habit now moved with maddened aggression as if driven by unseen agitation.

Kelor personally led suppression forces more than once, cutting through beasts while ordering barriers raised across vulnerable regions.

In the Seraphelle kingdom, communication towers tied to refined energy currents began failing without warning. Transmission arrays distorted messages or sent fractured echoes of voices that belonged to something else unhuman.

Worse still, hidden panic started spreading through markets and noble districts as rumors multiplied faster than officials could silence them.

Lisara responded with ruthless efficiency, deploying analysts, censors, and stabilization teams day and night.

In Elaris kingdom, rivers and sacred springs long known for healing properties turned foul in scattered locations. Water clouded black or shimmered with strange colors that sickened those who drank without caution.

Farmlands near those sources suffered first. Crops withered overnight while some plants twisted into grotesque forms with thorned growth and unnatural movement.

Selena mobilized healers, purifiers, and warding circles across the countryside, but even she could not be everywhere at once.

In the Drakenmere kingdom, old ruins and sealed caverns began awakening.

Dormant runes flared to life without command. Buried vaults trembled beneath the earth. Ancient constructs they thought were dead for centuries moved again.

Morvain locked down forbidden zones and sent trusted specialists below ground, even though several of them did not return.

Even Leonora kingdom, the most stable center of Magical order, did not remain untouched.

Energy towers flickered. Protective arrays misaligned for moments at a time.

The scholars and Mages working on Sky Anchor models reported hearing distant sounds inside silent chambers, as if something vast scraped against reality itself.

Velrion ordered constant rotations of mages to maintain the capital’s core systems while continuing preparations for the greater task.

And above all of this, the kings of the five kingdoms were forced into action beside their Archmages.

Armies were repositioned. Granaries were guarded. Roads were repaired as fast as monsters destroyed them. Emergency decrees were issued. Noble disputes were frozen. Merchant fleets were redirected to support damaged regions.

For once, crowns that normally competed now spent their strength trying to preserve the same collapsing balance.

To the common people, it felt like a season of misfortune.

To the rulers, it was something worse. They knew it.

It was escalation.

Every new report that reached the convergence meeting they hel confirmed the same truth.

The Dragonborn had not exaggerated anything. The malevolent being still had not fully arrived, yet its search alone was enough to wound the world from afar.

With every day that passed, the damage became faster, stranger, and harder to contain.

When the seventh day ended, none of the Archmages needed further convincing.

They didn’t know how many days remained before it became unstoppable.

—