Four days had passed since Malakor's transformation and Aria's terrible revelation about Nyx's sabotage. Four days of suffocating tension at the Cancún base, where the fragile alliance labored under the double shadow of Cthulhu's awakening in the Caribbean and the active betrayal of Umbria's former Mistress. Aria had spent much of that time in deep meditation, trying to understand and control Chi, teaching the Punishers the rudiments under Dracula's watchful eye, and mentally preparing for the attempt to contact Nyx's consciousness through the Grid.
The relative calm, if there ever was one, was shattered that afternoon.
Umbria's magical alarms, reconfigured by Merlin to detect specific chaotic fluctuations, erupted simultaneously with a deafening cacophony. At the same time, the global news monitors Javier and Elena's team were monitoring lit up with red alerts from multiple major cities: London, Tokyo, Sao Paulo, Cairo, New York...
"Multiple large-scale chaotic energy events!" Alatar shouted, his eyes staring at a scrying orb showing swirling dark energy swirls spreading across a world map. "Coordinated. Too precise to be random. It's her!"
On the news screens, the images were nightmarish. In London, an unnatural fog descended over Trafalgar Square, triggering mass hallucinations and collective panic attacks. In Sao Paulo, violent riots erupted for no apparent reason, anger and fear magnified to an irrational frenzy. In Tokyo, thousands of people reported seeing twisting shadows slithering across the periphery of their vision, whispering doubt and despair. In Cairo, a swarm of sickly-looking beetles erupted from the ground near the museum, causing chaos.
"It's Nyx," Merlin confirmed, his face grim as a storm cloud. He concentrated, his senses sweeping across the planet's magical currents. He paled slightly. "But it's worse than I thought. It's not just causing chaos... it's feeding on it!"
He closed his eyes, visualizing the energy flows. "I can feel it. The raw psychic energy... the fear, the anger, the despair of millions of people... is being channeled. Drained. As if it's harvesting human negative emotions on a global scale and absorbing them." He pointed at the Alatar orb. "Towards multiple hidden focal points... but all connected to a central signature... that of Nyx, amplified by Poimandres."
Aria felt a wave of nausea. He remembered Eleonora, the teacher who had taught him to value life, to respect balance. To see her now transformed into a psychic parasite, feeding on human suffering... it was a desecration.
"She's using humanity as a battery," Kaelen said in horror.
"A brilliant and monstrous tactic, courtesy of Enlil, no doubt," Dracula commented coldly, though his red eyes held a new and dangerous intensity. Nyx hadn't just weakened them by sabotaging their rings; she was now actively destabilizing the world he, in his own dark way, also considered his domain. "She weakens her enemies, strengthens her own position, and sows terror... all at once."
"We cannot allow it to continue," Merlin said. "This level of chaos and fear not only strengthens her and Poimandres, but further weakens the dimensional barriers. It could hasten Cthulhu's full manifestation or attract the hostile attention of the Netlin!"
The situation was critical. Nyx had emerged from the shadows. She was no longer a hidden saboteur, but an active aggressor on the world stage. Her army of corrupted elves, likely led by Enlil, was waging a global psychological and energetic war.
Aria stood, her decision made. The sight of millions suffering, their fear fueling the woman who had been like a mother to her, was unbearable. The ethical dilemma faded in the face of the urgency of the catastrophe.
"I have to contact her," she said, her voice ringing with a new, steely determination. "Now. While she's... occupied. Perhaps her mind is stretched, vulnerable. We need to know where she's channeling that energy. We need to know her ultimate goal. And if there's a spark of Eleonora left... I have to find it. Or extinguish it."
She looked at Merlin, not asking for permission, but declaring her intent. "Prepare to support the link. And prepare for the worst."
The fear was still there, a cold knot in her stomach, but now it was covered by a layer of icy resolve. Confrontation was no longer a distant option, it was an immediate necessity. She would have to delve into Nyx's mind, confront the darkness of her former mentor, and pray she didn't lose herself in the process. The war had just entered a a much more personal and terrifying phase.