The Hunting Avatar struck the southern ward before Hajin reached the first route marker. A white-gold blade entered an empty monument, yet the impact left through the western infirmary and tore open three treatment rooms filled with patients.
Vella contained the injuries through direct contact without entering the divine network. She kept gold around the wounded while royal carriers moved them beyond every line connected to the monument.
"Damage transfers between districts after each active node accepts the same command," Aria said, placing nine circles around the capital map, "the avatar can attack one location and release the force through another."
"Then hitting the nearest circle changes the address," Hajin replied, following Divine Eye beneath the road, "we need people counts before anyone decides which ward can absorb a severance."
Didi joined him outside the evacuated infirmary after all six route captains signed their assignments. She had placed the western district under a senior guard named Captain Roen, giving him authority to ignore property seals whenever a life remained inside.
"Current civilian counts arrived from seven districts," she reported, handing Hajin the route slate, "the river quarter still has two census blocks unconfirmed, and the eastern barracks shelter contains families who entered without registration."
"Nobody attacks an unknown block," he said, widening the map while the Hunting Avatar moved between ward circles, "tell the barracks to count bodies before names, then separate anyone attached to a healer relay."
Roen’s guards passed the instruction through ordinary runners because the palace message lines had become hostile. Local route captains answered with chalk counts on doors, bridges, plus public wells that remained visible when ward plates failed.
Hajin had expected court officials to argue over command once the King became fixed at the throne. Instead, Didi used captains who knew their streets, while each officer rejected assignments outside a district they could count.
"Hans would approve," he said, watching one captain refuse a noble escort request until the nearby clinic emptied, "probably after complaining that their casualty boards use terrible handwriting."
"Your defense commander is welcome to criticize them after his region stops recovering from a war," Didi replied, moving the last unknown blocks into red, "the capital possesses competent people without borrowing every person you trust."
"That was the point," he said, shifting Divine Eye toward the river quarter, "I need their knowledge, not another audience waiting for me to decide which alley exists."
The avatar appeared through a fountain monument before their route reached the next intersection. Veran’s armored body remained solid only above the waist, while the lower half distributed across three occupied ward lines.
"The false claimant organizes unauthorized resistance," Dominion announced, turning the fountain water into white-gold restraints, "local weapons will return to their assigned holders before the district receives correction."
Didi froze the command entering the guards’ swords without trying to arrest the complete avatar. Crowned Frost held the weapon claim for four breaths, giving every officer time to throw marked blades beyond the fountain’s route.
"Use unregistered tools until the ward stops recognizing equipment," she ordered, planting her own sword outside the line, "carry patients with your hands, and leave Crown carts where they stand."
Roen repeated the instruction without asking why a captain should abandon royal steel. The guards took clinic poles, work hammers, plus ordinary ropes from residents already moving toward the safe road.
The avatar drove one hand into the fountain as retaliation; Its force entered the water network, crossed two districts, then burst from a reservoir beneath the canal bridge Loccy still protected.
Her Burdenfall boundary caught the rising foundation before it could split the patient route. Loccy carried the recoil through the connected bridge while Ferra marked its direction against the nine-circle map.
"Three wards shared that impact before it reached me," Loccy reported through a surviving route plate, "the fountain supplied force, the river gate changed direction, and the canal monument released it."
"Every transfer needs an entering node, a turning node, plus an exit," Ferra said from beside her second stake, "grounding one part should force the avatar to expose another, but the wrong part sends stored pressure toward people."
Hajin closed one Ring before reaching toward the fountain with Aegis; Two Rings could break the visible shell, yet Divine Eye found human signatures attached to every route feeding its lower body.
The first belonged to patients inside a healer station, while another came from guards trapped beneath an inverted gate. A third line carried no person, giving Ferra a possible ground point after its surrounding road cleared.
"Route captains clear the old mint square," Didi ordered, directing Roen toward the empty branch, "do not touch the fountain until Ferra places a stake under the unoccupied node."
The avatar heard her order and moved pressure into the mint circle before the guards arrived. It understood their target through the shared foundation, forcing Hajin to change the operation rather than chase a path Dominion had prepared.
"It can hear every royal line," he said, looking at the chalk counts on nearby doors, "stop sending targets through message plates, and let captains choose their clearing order from the map already in their hands."
Didi broke her route slate against the fountain edge, killing its active mana without destroying the written counts. Roen removed every palace signal badge from his officers, replacing distant coordination with runners who carried only the next safe instruction.
The change cost speed, though it denied the avatar a complete view of their decisions. Two captains cleared the mint while making enough visible noise near the river gate to keep Dominion’s attention divided.
Ferra rode behind Juna through the unoccupied approach once the last resident left. She drove a grounding stake into the mint monument, closing its turning function before the Hunting Avatar transferred another strike.
The foundation retaliated through Veran’s willing body instead of the ward, before anyone changed position. White-gold armor formed across the mint square, carrying his soul plus three occupied anchors toward Ferra before she could finish the circuit.
Hajin opened three Rings only after Divine Eye confirmed the residents had cleared. Aegis crossed between Ferra and the avatar, stopping its first blade while Juna carried the forgemistress beyond the connected ground.
He could kill the visible body before it recovered, but the three living anchors would receive every severed part. Vella had not reached those branches, leaving raw power unable to distinguish captives from collaborators.
"You have enough strength to end the hunt," Veran said through the broken armor, showing his own awareness beneath Dominion, "your restraint only proves you accept lesser lives as chains around your rank."
"They are people you attached without asking," Hajin replied, forcing the avatar away from Ferra’s unfinished stake, "you do not become stronger when somebody else pays for the hit."
Juna cut the empty mint route behind Veran without touching his occupied anchors. The grounding stake locked, removing one transfer point from the nine-district network while the avatar withdrew through its remaining circles.
[ Ward transfer map updated ]
[ Grounded districts: one ]
[ Occupied anchors identified: eight ]
[ Civilian counts pending: two blocks ]
Hajin closed his third Ring after the empty square settled, before the next response arrived. Eight living anchors remained beneath the avatar’s willing core, and every district captain now understood that clearing streets mattered as much as reaching the enemy.