Six ward constructs hung inside the Legendary Chain while Loccy held the bridge beneath their connected pylons. Each feeder kept attacking through white-gold blades, giving Hajin no surrendered branch to remove before the finishing strike.
"Last chance to stop," he ordered, tightening the Chain around their shared formation, "close the pylon links and release the bridge."
The constructs carried no mortal souls capable of answering, yet their active order remained readable through Divine Eye. All six drove another impact toward the cleared western bank, choosing continued destruction after the evacuation had ended.
Juna cut their return path beneath the bridge before Hajin pulled, while the nearby formation held. Three Rings drove the Chain upward, crushing every feeder into one bound line while Divine Sever removed the command linking them to the pylons.
All six shells split beneath the valid strike and released pale authority into Hajin’s Fragment. Their destruction removed the hostile definition holding the bridge, giving Loccy control over the connected structure already inside her Burdenfall boundary.
[ Divine ward feeders destroyed: six ]
[ Loccy contribution EXP gained: 760,000 ]
[ Loccy EXP: 7,500,000 / 7,500,000 ]
[ Hajin EXP gained: 760,000 ]
[ Hajin EXP: 43,390,000 / 50,000,000 ]
Loccy’s first three Wings pulled inward when the completed threshold reached her soul. The three insignia rings around her hammer aligned, then a fourth mark formed beneath them without changing the burden she still carried.
Pale-gold light opened behind her back through a fourth Wing marked by dark fault lines. Its arrival pressed the bridge downward once before the new current spread through every support she had declared.
[ Wing evolution achieved ]
[ Current Wings: four ]
[ New ability acquired: Worldbearer ]
[ Wing 5 progress: 0 / 37,500,000 ]
Worldbearer entered Loccy’s understanding as one exact relationship rather than unrestricted terrain control. While planted, she could name one physically connected structure as a single burden, carrying its weight plus attached force until movement, lost contact, or bodily failure ended the effect.
"The bridge is one piece now," she said, lifting her hammer while all four Wings held their spread, "the pylons remain attached, but they are not part of what I chose to carry."
Hajin stored the Chain after confirming every feeder had died; he closed one Ring, leaving two available for Aegis support without connecting another surface to Loccy’s new boundary.
The Hunting Avatar sent stored pressure through three occupied districts before Ferra could ground them. Worldbearer received the force through the bridge supports, allowing Loccy to carry the intact span while excluding the hostile pylon mass hanging beneath it.
She raised her hammer another handspan, and the bridge followed as one continuous structure. Both banks separated along their expansion joints instead of cracking through the evacuated road.
Captain Roen ordered every guard away from the canal edge when the complete span lifted above its supports. Hajin placed Aegis behind the retreating treatment line, catching fragments without carrying any part of Loccy’s chosen burden.
"Stable foundations remain beneath both banks," Ferra reported, using her tools to check the exposed joints, "lower the bridge onto my marks before releasing anything else, or the pylons will pull it sideways."
Loccy stepped nowhere, preserving the planted condition while Worldbearer shifted the connected span through her hammer. She rotated the complete bridge above its supports until both ends aligned with Ferra’s certified markers.
The avatar tried reclassifying the road as royal property before she lowered it. Didi reached the western marker and froze that command through Crowned Frost, arresting the ownership instruction without touching Loccy’s current.
"It belongs to the people using it," Didi said, holding silver-gold frost around the ward line, "the palace does not regain control merely because construction records carry a royal seal."
Loccy lowered the bridge after both foundations accepted its weight; Worldbearer kept every span connected until Ferra’s bracing stakes caught the joints, leaving the civilian road intact despite the hostile mass beneath it; "Bridge seated," Ferra said, driving one floating tool through the final brace, "separate the six pylons now, and use the empty canal as the declared release boundary."
The pylon mass still carried four impacts stored before the feeders died. Loccy excluded the bridge from that hostile burden, causing every white-gold cable to become visible beneath her hammer.
Juna cut the cables connected to occupied wards after Didi froze their transfer commands. Hajin caught each severed line inside narrow Aegis pockets, preventing stored pressure from returning through the people those districts still sheltered.
Only the six empty pylons remained attached when Loccy changed her declared burden. Worldbearer released the bridge from her soul, then accepted the connected monument mass already hanging above the water.
Her four Wings bent beneath the new weight before stabilizing around the single chosen structure. The bridge stayed on its foundations as Loccy drove her hammer down through the canal boundary Ferra had cleared.
Six pylons followed the strike into the empty channel, carrying every stored impact into their own construction. White-gold supports broke against one another until the connected mass stopped below the waterline.
The release sent force back through Loccy’s arms without crossing the repaired bridge. Vella’s gold entered Hajin’s right hand through Assimilation after he stored his Chain, allowing him to stabilize both wrists before her pathways tore farther.
"Do not heal the numbness yet," Loccy warned, keeping her hammer planted while the fourth Wing settled, "Burdenfall emptied through the pylons, and I need to feel whether Worldbearer is still carrying anything."
"Your arms receive examination before another structure," Vella replied through Hajin’s borrowed touch, "a new Wing does not make broken pathways negotiable."
Loccy opened her grip only after Ferra confirmed the bridge carried no hidden ward connection. Hajin removed his hands when Vella reported bruised pathways without fractures, leaving natural sensation to return under treatment.
The capital route guards crossed the restored span without patients to test both foundations. Roen walked first with his recognized sword still abandoned on the western bank, placing ordinary weight across every repaired joint before allowing another cart near it.
"The road holds," he reported, reaching the eastern marker before turning toward Loccy, "four hundred five residents crossed before the attack, and none were lost on the bridge."
The Hunting Avatar watched through a distant monument after losing six pylons plus one transfer point. Veran’s willing soul remained connected to eight living anchors, while Dominion withdrew pressure from the canal district rather than contesting Worldbearer again.
Stream comments arrived once the civilian ledger replaced the evolution screens; Hajin allowed three to remain visible while Loccy sat beside her planted hammer and flexed feeling back into both hands.
[ Loccy_Defense_Squad: ] SHE PICKED UP PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE, REPAIRED ITS POSITION, THEN PUT THE ENEMY UNDER IT.
[ MomOfThree: ] The count before celebration matters more than the extra wing, thank you.
[ RationalSkeptic7: ] Ability limit is contact plus one connected structure; do not turn this into free city telekinesis next week.
"The last viewer understands limits better than half the palace," Loccy said, reading the comments while her fourth Wing remained visible, "keep that one near Ferra when officials request impossible construction work."
Ferra struck one tool against the restored brace before answering; the bridge had survived, but seven other ward districts still carried occupied anchors the Hunting Avatar could turn against anyone standing nearby.