Heng's Last Stand Downward

Heng wrenched his gaze from the groaning Sky's End Anchor. The brief surge of downward resonance from his earlier defiance was fading, replaced by a chilling stillness that wasn't stillness at all, but the precursor to utter cessation. "It's not just holding," he muttered, the words scraping his throat, "it's *consuming*."

A sliver of Reflection's consciousness, a desperate flicker against the encroaching void-light, momentarily coalesced. "The Pull... it's a hunger now," she whispered, her voice a fading echo. "Zero... *wants*..."

Heng felt a searing agony as the anchor chains around him tightened, an attempt to impose Zero's stillness upon his own unmoored state. But his defiance, fueled by the phantom ache of Tiechui's sacrifice, burned hotter. He lunged, not at the anchor, but at the console broadcasting Zero's signal, intending to shatter the conduit itself.

He would not be unmoored into nothingness. He would fall, yes, but he would fall *fighting*.

Then, from the upward abyss, a hum began to grow, deeper than any downward resonance. It was the sound of something immense, descending.