The Dominion God opened a narrow escape route above the throne while Loccy carried the foundation below it.
White-gold light connected the Crowned Avatar’s hidden core to an aperture beyond Ouro while the route crossed three palace towers and one cloud layer.
It avoided every street where the outer pylon ring had failed, and if the vessel collapsed, the core could withdraw through that road.
"Closing it before the Court boundary opens may redirect the avatar into the King," Aria said within Hajin’s thoughts.
Juna manifested four Wings and looked toward Ferra’s tower map before saying, "Certify every structure empty, and I will store the return cut around the aperture and release only after the core commits."
Ferra used Masterwork Network to inspect the first tower’s physical supports. Eirwen’s captains verified occupancy records while Rumi and Nari checked only routes they had previously touched.
The tower map listed one sealed prayer room as empty, but a gardener remembered palace servants used it during attacks, so Juna opened the physical door before marking anything and found seven people inside absent from the royal evacuation ledger.
She escorted them down, corrected the tower count, and required the remaining captains to ask local workers about unofficial shelters.
The first tower contained no other civilians, but two palace guards remained trapped beneath a weapon label while Vella could not reach them remotely after losing demonic range.
Hajin carried her physically to the lower door, and she severed both commands by touch while Juna waited above.
The guards descended beyond the planned path before Juna crossed the roof. They offered to remain and defend the stair, but Juna assigned nothing.
She explained the stored cut and let them choose a position below its plane. Both decided to guide later evacuees, carrying a voluntary task rather than their former weapon label.
Daybreak Path recorded Juna’s first solar cut around the escape aperture while the stored edge remained above the empty tower and aimed toward the divine route rather than the city.
The second tower contained an archive room the Court had labeled royal property. Didi froze the ownership line from outside the throne shield.
Clerks removed irreplaceable casualty records while Juna helped carry two chests down ordinary stairs before marking the route.
One chest contained cult evidence under protected witness seals, and Juna carried it without opening anything before delivering it to Didi’s clerks beyond the tower.
The second held property ledgers whose owners had fled, but those papers received no greater priority than the people using the stair.
"The faster answer was burning the archive beneath the cut," Juna said when she returned to the roof, "but the correct path waits."
Executioners emerged from the aperture and attacked along the tower line. Juna used ordinary solar strikes below the stored Daybreak edge.
She kept the future return cut intact and destroyed two willing cores after Vella confirmed their status through Hajin’s nearby Spirit Ring.
A third body contained one coerced guard preserved inside divine armor. Juna disabled its knees and carried the shell to Hajin’s range.
Vella freed the host by touch, and Juna destroyed only the empty core afterward, preserving one life without weakening the sky route’s final condition.
The third tower leaned over an empty ceremonial courtyard while Ferra certified the stone, but one Masterwork Network fixture crossed the planned solar path.
"I need that fixture for Loccy’s burden," Ferra said, tracing its connected load, "so move the route above it or wait until the foundation releases."
Juna climbed the damaged spire physically and marked a higher line through open sky as the detour increased her mana cost while keeping Ferra’s support untouched.
Wind from the divine aperture pushed her toward the stored edge while she folded two Wings and used stone handholds.
An accidental solar discharge could have entered the path, so every meter of the detour still required physical travel before Daybreak accepted it.
Cloud pressure gathered around the final aperture as the Dominion God tried to widen the road without sending another body through it.
The change made the route harder to cut, but it revealed the complete frequency, and Hajin sampled that frequency with Divine Eye from below.
He did not use Phase Lock while Loccy’s foundation burden and Sanctuary already strained his pathways, and Hajin said, "The opening is stable enough for your stored path, but do not release until the core leaves its shield."
Juna completed the outer line and began the return across all three towers while every roof remained empty.
Eirwen’s captains posted physical guards beneath the stairs, preventing anyone from returning for property or weapons while Ferra monitored the leaning spire.
Masterwork Network carried small shifts away from the marked cut while the Crowned Avatar sent visible targets into the courtyard below.
White-gold bodies formed around abandoned statues and attacked Loccy’s supports. Juna watched one strike reach the bearing column and kept running.
Hajin intercepted with Aegis while Ferra rerouted the impact into an empty stair. Spending Daybreak below would have saved seconds but reopened the God’s escape.
Juna did not spend it, so Hajin held the lower approach with three Rings while Ferra marked hostile joints and Didi froze their royal commands.
Juna continued running the empty sky route above them while one executioner reached the final roof and placed itself directly inside her stored line.
Its willing core expected her to release the entire path early. It opened false images of the Crowned core along the aperture.
Each image matched the visible Dominion frequency, but Juna relied on Aria’s report from Hajin instead of the copies and carried the fight away.
Her prepared skill remained pointed toward the actual road rather than its bait as she crossed the remaining distance physically.
Juna caught the executioner’s weapon with two Wings and carried the fight beyond the marked edge, then destroyed its core over the empty courtyard.
She rebuilt the short return segment by running it again while Daybreak Path held every cut and Hajin tracked the change through Divine Eye.
Four Wings showed the stored geometry without automatically excluding Juna herself while she moved to a safe stance beyond the return edge.
She marked the final roof door with mundane paint so any ally approaching would see the hazard even if communication failed.
"Return line complete," Aria said, "but the aperture remains open, and the Crowned core has not committed to withdrawal."
Juna landed on the final roof and kept four Wings spread around the stored route while solar light traced the opening without closing it.
"I wait for Hajin’s signal," Juna said, facing the empty sky, "because nothing below changes the target."
Ferra’s tower crew withdrew the final connected tool beneath her route. Eirwen’s captains locked each stair with ordinary guards.
The guards understood the stored cut and could reopen the doors after release. Juna checked the aperture through her own solar sight without entering it.
The road carried the avatar’s escape frequency but no complete core yet while Daybreak Path remained armed and unused.
Her four Wings held the return line while the fight below grew louder, leaving the Dominion road available to the avatar and vulnerable to one prepared cut.
Juna stayed above the throne while everyone else entered the Court. She reported her exact roof and release plane through two separate channels before communications could fail.
Then she drank the last water in her flask without lowering the Wings holding the route.
The empty sky demanded the same care as an occupied street. Juna checked the wind direction, the tower edges, and the hazard paint one final time.
If the core committed, she would release only the stored route, not the city beneath it. If it refused, she would keep holding the cut until the others created a different answer.
Her patience was part of Daybreak Path’s safety, because a precise line released at the wrong moment still became another weapon without a target.
Juna kept her eyes on the aperture and her feet outside the stored line. The core would have one chance to commit, and she would not spend the route on a convincing imitation.