The air in the sanctuary grew heavy, not just with the usual oppressive thrumming of The Void, but with a new, chilling density of fear. Kael felt it acutely – the cold vibration of internal unease intensifying, coinciding with the distant, focused pull of the grey outside that Vispera perceived as "Draw. Closer." The link was active, a terrifying feedback loop.
Captain received Elara's report of the concentrated fear and Kael's sensing of the Void's focus with grim urgency. He knew they were running out of time. He ordered all hands to battle stations, doubling patrols near the outer defenses. He didn't reveal the reason – that their own fear might be drawing the enemy – knowing it would only cause more panic.
The hidden group of Gus's sympathizers, meeting in a disused storage area where the fear resonance was thickest, felt it too. Not Kael's sensing, but the rising tension in the sanctuary, the increased activity, fueled by their own amplified fear and Gus's whispered ideology. They saw it as validation – proof that the child was a curse, that the Void was coming because of him.
Suddenly, the sanctuary siren blared, a piercing wail that cut through the thrumming grey.
"MANIFESTATION! SECTOR C! MAIN WALL!"
Panic surged, overriding Captain's attempts at calm. Survivors scrambled, grabbing salvaged weapons, rushing towards the designated defense points.
Kael, amidst the chaos, felt Vispera's warmth pulse with a new, urgent message. Not just danger, but "Attract. Here. Fear." The incoming manifestation wasn't just a random occurrence; it was being drawn, pulled towards a specific point within the sanctuary.
He pointed frantically towards the section of wall in Sector C, then towards the lower levels, towards the direction of the storage area where he sensed the concentrated fear. "Coming! There! Fear... drawing!" he rasped, his voice lost in the din.
Elara understood instantly. The manifestation wasn't attacking a random point. It was being drawn to the epicenter of concentrated fear, the very 'feeding pit' Gus's influence had created.
Captain, already moving towards Sector C, saw the terror on Kael's face, the urgent pointing. He didn't fully grasp Kael's fragmented words, but he trusted the sensing. He needed to get there, not just to defend the wall, but to see if there was a connection to the internal fear.
They reached Sector C just as the manifestation hit. It was a horrifying sight – a contorted mass of grey, solidifying from the pervasive mist, striking the reinforced wall with brutal force. But it wasn't attacking randomly. It seemed drawn to a specific section, directly opposite the storage area where Gus's sympathizers were still huddled.
Survivors opened fire with salvaged weapons, the desperate cacophony echoing in the confined space. Captain organized the defense, yelling orders, pushing back against the encroaching grey form.
Inside the storage area, the fear was a suffocating blanket. Gus's sympathizers huddled together, their amplified terror a potent signal. They heard the attack, felt the impact on the wall, and their fear spiked, creating a feedback loop that seemed to empower the manifestation outside.
Kael, brought nearby by Elara (despite her protective instincts), felt the terrifying convergence. The external entity attacking the wall, and the intense, localized fear radiating from within the storage area. Vispera's warmth pulsed with chilling clarity: "Feed. On Fear. Here."
He cried out, not just in fear, but in desperate understanding. "Stop! Fear! Stop fearing!" he rasped, though no one could hear him over the battle.
The manifestation outside seemed to surge, drawing strength from the concentrated terror within. The wall began to buckle.
Captain saw the correlation – the intense fear coming from within, the manifestation hitting that specific spot, the way it seemed to gain strength. He understood, with a terrible clarity, that Elara's research and Kael's sensing were horribly correct. Their internal conflict wasn't just dividing them; it was actively inviting destruction.
He had to make a choice. Defend the wall? Or address the source of the fear that was drawing the enemy? The wall wouldn't hold if the manifestation kept feeding.
With a roar, Captain diverted a small group of loyal guards towards the storage area, barking orders. "Break them up! Disperse them! Stop the fear!"
The battle for the sanctuary was now explicitly two-fronted – a physical defense against the Void outside, and a desperate struggle against the consuming grey of fear within, directly linked by Kael's terrifying Bedel-filtered perception.
The chapter ends with a Void manifestation attacking the sanctuary, explicitly drawn to a location of concentrated internal fear (where Gus's sympathizers are). Kael senses the entity feeding on this fear, confirming the fear/Void link's dangerous reality. Captain is forced into a desperate, two-fronted battle to defend the wall and simultaneously combat the source of internal fear, highlighting the convergence of the story's major conflicts.