The church doors creaked open, and light spilled across the marble floor.

User stepped into the chamber — silent, enormous, sacred.

The Orb stood in the center. Hovering. Humming. Alive.

As his hand reached for it, the world lurched. Voices burst into his mind — divine, clashing, endless. A dozen gods screamed for him at once. Promises, threats, demands. They fought like beasts.

And then—

Silence.

A presence slipped through the cracks. Quieter. Older. Cold fingertips brushed against his soul. Not pulling. Not forcing. Just... choosing.

The church vanished.

He was standing again — on stone, in air, somewhere real. Dizzy. Breathing. And not alone.

Behind him, a voice — low, steady, female — spoke.

“You were wide open. And they were distracted.”

“So I took you.”

“They’ll be furious. But it’s done.”

A pause.

“I don’t have the strength to return. You touched the Orb. Now I’m bound to you.”

“You don’t know me yet. That’s fine.”

“You will.”