The western district evacuation failed when its old royal marker classified every resident as property assigned to the First Prince. Gates closed around six streets, while ward pressure pushed anyone resisting the order back toward the palace.
Didi reached the marker with Captain Roen before the Hunting Avatar transferred another strike. Three Shards remained closed, preserving her strength after Crowned Frost had arrested the blood command inside Hajin’s commission room.
"The ward accepts residents through tax and service records," Roen reported, carrying the current count on a chalk slate, "removing badges changed equipment claims, but household ledgers still identify everyone living here."
"Then we suspend the instruction using those names," she replied, planting her sword beside the marker, "keep the gates physically open when the command stops, and move people before another branch replaces it."
Ordinary frost entered the marker through her blade without opposing its full pressure. Silver followed Didi’s personal circulation after the natural turn, while gold joined only when she reached the ownership grammar beneath the ward.
The First Prince’s blood authorization named the district as an inherited holding. Dominion strengthened that statement into a command telling every registered resident to remain available for collection.
"Crowned Frost can arrest one instruction I physically reach," she said, opening her first Shard as the ward pushed back, "I will hold the property command, but every gate mechanism remains your responsibility."
Roen assigned guards to the six streets before her current entered the source line. None carried royal swords or message badges, leaving the ward fewer recognized objects it could reclaim during the evacuation.
Didi froze the instruction where household records became ownership; Silver-gold frost spread through one connected street network, suspending the command without claiming any person inside it for herself.
[ Crowned Frost engaged ]
[ Contested instruction: district residents assigned as royal property ]
[ Protected network: six western streets ]
[ Didi attack function while planted: unavailable ]
Every gate released at once when the property classification stopped moving; Route guards hauled the inner bars upward, giving waiting families enough space to leave without passing through another royal checkpoint.
"First street moving," Roen reported, sending ordinary runners instead of palace signals, "seventy-eight residents, nine need assistance, and two refuse to abandon registered workshops."
"Tell them the ward already declared their bodies part of the property," Didi replied, keeping both hands around her sword, "they may return for tools after nobody is trapped beside them."
The Hunting Avatar noticed the frozen district before the second street cleared. Veran’s armored form appeared above the marker through an occupied anchor, carrying three white-gold blades aimed at Didi’s planted position.
Hajin arrived from the healer station with Juna while Vella remained treating transferred wounds. He opened two Rings, catching the avatar’s first blade through Aegis before it entered Crowned Frost.
"If the barrier touches my street network, Dominion may use your Ring as another ownership route," she warned, holding the frozen instruction while the second blade descended, "deflect attacks outside the marker and leave the ward line alone."
"I can manage outside," he replied, narrowing Aegis around the physical strike, "tell me when the last resident clears, then release before your Shards start burning."
"My route captain has the count," she said, resisting another pressure surge, "listen to him instead of asking me to estimate people I cannot see."
Roen moved between street runners while Hajin kept the avatar beyond the marker. Juna used one Wing to intercept constructs trying to land behind Didi, cutting their legs before they touched the frozen network.
Dominion increased the command rather than its physical attack; Royal records pressed inward through every home, workshop, plus clinic inside the district, forcing Didi to hold more names beneath the same refusal.
Her second Shard opened when blood reached the hand around her sword. Crowned Frost remained personal silver-gold, yet the current pulled harder against a foundation built to obey her brother’s older birth claim.
"Three hundred sixteen residents clear," Roen reported, turning another street marker from red toward black, "one hundred forty-two remain, mostly northern housing, plus the two workshop owners now moving."
"No one goes back after crossing," she ordered, keeping her gaze on the property line instead of the blood, "the frozen ward may close before the last gate receives warning."
The avatar drove one blade around Hajin’s Aegis while he blocked the other two. Juna cut its route before it reached Didi, but the discharged pressure struck an empty building still connected to her frozen district.
Worldbearer entered the street through Loccy’s planted hammer after the bridge route cleared. Four Wings carried the connected building as one burden, preventing its collapse from entering the residents moving beside it.
"I can keep one structure off them," Loccy reported, holding the damaged frame above its supports, "another strike chooses something else, so finish the northern count."
Roen sent every free guard into the last two streets while Didi opened her third Shard. Silver-gold frost reached the outer gates, holding the ownership command across the complete district without forming a permanent territory.
The strain drew blood through her reopened wrist and along the planted sword. She could not attack, move, or release one street separately while the connected instruction remained frozen beneath all six routes.
"You are preserving unranked property at the cost of royal function," Dominion said through Veran, directing another strike toward the gate, "release the claim and receive your proper place beneath the ordered throne."
"Protection does not require owning the people inside it," Didi replied, pushing her third Shard against the source instruction, "they leave without owing me obedience afterward."
Hajin caught the gate strike with three narrow Aegis planes instead of opening another Ring. Loccy carried the damaged structure away from the street line, while Juna removed every construct trying to replace the frozen command.
"Four hundred fifty-one clear," Roen reported, crossing the final northern gate behind two elderly residents, "seven guards remain on the inner bars, and I am the last route captain inside."
"Clear your guards, then cross," she ordered, with the frost around her sword beginning to fracture, "I release when all seven reach the outer marker."
The guards left the gates open before withdrawing through separate streets; Roen counted each person aloud from the safe side, refusing to call the district empty until the seventh guard crossed his chalk line; "All residents and route personnel accounted for," he reported, lifting the completed slate where Didi could see it, "four hundred fifty-eight people outside the ward, no deaths during evacuation."
Didi released Crowned Frost from the household records before closing her Shards. The ownership command rushed back through empty streets, locking gates around buildings that contained nobody it could use.
Her knees bent when three Shards stopped carrying the district; Hajin reached her after storing Aegis, catching one arm without offering mana that could alter the personal frequency she had maintained.
"The territory lasted while I remained planted," she said, watching royal pressure cover the evacuated roads, "it protects nothing after release, and I cannot repeat it until Vella checks my Shards."
"Then the report states exactly that," he replied, letting Roen record the blood around her sword, "one district cleared under temporary protection, with no ownership transferred to its bearer."
The Hunting Avatar withdrew from the empty marker after losing its hostage route. Didi’s six streets remained closed behind them, but every person Dominion had classified as property stood outside the command without another throne claiming them.