The Ordered Court withdrew from every outer district and entered the palace foundation at once.
Labels faded across the streets while white-gold law compressed into the central wards, and released pressure struck Loccy’s carried western section from below.
It tried to make Worldbearer fail before the archive evacuation finished. Hajin held the southern approach through three Rings while Ferra watched the damaged palace settle.
"Final archive count?" Hajin asked.
"Zero people inside the carried section, and all six support workers have cleared the Daybreak release plane and reached the western court," Eirwen said through the garden network.
Ferra expanded Masterwork Network beneath Loccy’s support column while six surviving fixtures formed a physical cradle across reinforced foundations, and each prepared mark could receive ordinary weight after supernatural release.
None could absorb Worldbearer’s entire declared burden at once, which left the transfer dependent on careful fractions.
"Lower by fractions," Ferra said, watching the load gauges, "because the network can distribute stone, but it cannot absorb the whole burden in one transfer."
Loccy bent her knees as the western palace section descended onto Ferra’s reinforced circuit, and stone settled across six masterworks.
Heat moved between the marks as royal engineers tightened ordinary braces by hand, then iron beams alongside measured foundations received the final weight.
One fixture cracked when the load shifted, so Ferra redirected its share through mundane braces before the building could move toward the shelter.
The section would remain unstable until later reconstruction, so Eirwen kept the cleared archive below closed and no one returned for records or supplies.
"Five fixtures," Ferra said, "so continue at half the previous rate."
Loccy lowered another fraction while four Wings trembled behind her, and the fractures along her forearms widened without receiving a restorative breakthrough.
Vella stabilized her breathing from outside Worldbearer’s active circuit while full healing remained impossible until the skill released the connected burden.
The final weight entered Ferra’s foundation cradle, and after checking every gauge, Vella said, "Physical supports holding, so release only the declared section."
Loccy withdrew Worldbearer, and Aria recorded the result inside the active ledger. The skill released only after every connected part rested on physical support.
One decorative tower remained attached by a thin bridge Ferra had missed, and it dragged against Loccy’s fourth Wing when she tried to close the ability, so Juna severed the empty bridge after a visual sweep.
Worldbearer ended without pulling the tower onto the shelter, and the four bearing planes folded behind Loccy as she collapsed against the column while the palace section remained on reinforced stone instead of falling into the archive.
Vella treated both arms immediately, closing internal bleeding and setting stress fractures without pretending the damage had vanished.
Loccy retained all four Wings but lacked the strength to manifest them again during the contraction, and Aria recorded the limitation beside the active burden.
The arms were functional but strained, and no minimum six-week restriction existed yet because the later destructive release had not occurred.
Loccy accepted splints around both wrists, tested an ordinary grip before standing, and said, "I can walk," while testing one knee.
"After two minutes," Vella replied, supporting her shoulder, "and you will not carry another palace until I finish this assessment."
Rumi and Nari moved toward the central foundation while the mountain endpoints they had marked during the rescue remained visible through their paired sense.
The marks offered the only surveyed direction capable of receiving destructive mass away from civilians. Rumi opened a narrow amber line from the palace mouth toward the distant basin.
Nari fixed the known endpoint with both smoke-gold Wings while royal surveyors reconfirmed the basin through the established mark.
No new camp, traveler, or water diversion had appeared since the earlier inspection. The destination remained valid even though the sisters lacked enough power to carry the intended mass.
The route accepted light with one small stone, and Ferra marked the stone before verifying that it arrived intact at the basin through a paired gauge.
Rumi attempted a piece connected to the palace foundation, testing the difference between a loose object and declared structure, but the spatial middle collapsed before the fragment moved.
When Loccy tested a palm-sized piece of connected foundation, the road folded beneath its mass, so Rumi released the opening before it tore her Wing, while Nari closed the endpoint without trapping the fragment between locations.
The failed test left the stone where it had started.
"Two Wings not enough," Rumi said, rubbing her shoulder, "because the road knows the place, but it cannot carry the palace."
"Endpoint holds," Nari said, keeping one claw against the mark, "but mass breaks the middle."
Hajin examined the failed route with Divine Eye and saw that the sisters possessed a real connection between verified endpoints, but their current evolution could not sustain the foundation’s connected weight.
"Keep the marks," Hajin said, "and do not force the road until your progression changes or the mass becomes smaller."
Both sisters dismissed their Wings and preserved the known direction without reopening it. A route that worked for one stone did not become a palace solution by hope.
The Crowned Avatar pulled the final outer laws into the palace. Possession choir branches, foundation mass, sky routes, royal blood shields, Court boundary, and incarnation pressure appeared as distinct layers around the throne.
Didi gathered guards who had chosen their district oaths while Juna arrived with four Wings available after rest but no stored Daybreak route.
Ferra kept the two weapon furnaces hot through her reduced network. Vella left the child inside the cleared archive route with medics the child had accepted nearby.
The child chose the records desk again after Loccy left for treatment. Vella placed the blanket and ration within reach while two medics remained seated beyond arm’s length.
Sanctuary stayed open, but Hajin issued no command through it as the battlefield contracted. The refuge remained protection rather than a way to direct the child’s fear.
The child remained under Bloodline Sanctuary and beside Loccy until the larger woman could stand. Rumi and Nari occupied the archive doors without turning the child into their responsibility by default.
Eirwen maintained evacuation command through ordinary captains while her Zone stayed empty after the orchard, preventing the coming palace assault from receiving another impossible forest answer.
The King still contained the central city discharge through his remaining connected Shards. Released outer channels allowed him to breathe more freely, but the blood-authorized throne lock remained.
Fourteen Shards stayed fixed around active hostage circuits while six could move within narrow limits. The King used those six to protect evacuated districts from contraction shock instead of attacking the avatar.
The movement preserved the mechanism’s visible cost, and his strength remained tied to the people beneath the royal routes.
"The Court has abandoned the districts," the King said through the royal line, "and everything now points toward this foundation."
"Then the battlefield is smaller," Hajin said, storing the Chain before checking his damaged right arm, "but the consequences are not."
Loccy stood after Vella finished the first treatment, and Ferra closed her network around the stabilized western section.
Juna looked toward the contracted sky while Didi followed the blood shield into the throne hall. Rumi and Nari touched the mountain marks once more, then left them unopened.
Ferra sent one light gauge through the narrow connection and received the same object back. The test confirmed a real destination without testing mass again.
The sisters closed both Wings before the Court could seize the route. Eirwen’s riders departed for another physical survey of the basin.
A verified empty place could acquire travelers between checks, so the team kept the destination useful without treating yesterday’s inspection as permanent proof.
Every surviving ally converged toward the palace through roles they had chosen. The Ordered Court gathered its remaining laws into one structure they could finally dismantle layer by layer.
Aria numbered those layers before anyone crossed the contracted boundary. Ferra copied the numbering onto physical metal tags for the assault team.
The final archive route stayed guarded behind them, keeping recovery separate from the approaching assault. The palace no longer threatened the entire capital at once.
That smaller battlefield made each remaining layer more dangerous because the Court had nowhere else to spend its pressure.