At the heart of the theocracy, the divine silhouette was rapidly fading, His power draining away so swiftly that His form grew translucent. The moment His strength waned, the speed at which He raised the node also slowed. With that, the transformation of the surrounding terrain slackened as well.0

This unintentional pause granted the remaining inhabitants more precious moments to flee. By now, the circular region encompassed by the altered landscape had spread to roughly seventy percent of the entire theocracy's radius.0

Within that vast boundary, only a scant few—grand wizards and grand knights—could hold back the distortion spilling from the void. All others had already been twisted into voidspawn and slain, but nearly half the theocracy's population still lay outside the node's influence.0

Naturally, the shifting state of the God of Light did not go unnoticed by the other powers outside. Though they could not fathom why the God of Light had suddenly slowed His attempt to haul the node into place, they at least recognized the opportunity...0