The runes on the ground still sizzled, hissing faintly as the last of Rinni's screams echoed off the cavern walls. Her breath came in ragged gasps, her entire body trembling in Allen's arms. Glowing slime trails from Luna shimmered along her legs, slowly pulsing like veins full of magic.
Fina knelt beside them, eyes flicking between Rinni and the circle.
"She's not just a masochist," she muttered. "She's a conduit."
Allen's fingers brushed Rinni's cheek. She was dazed, smiling weakly, practically glowing with sweat and afterglow. "And she just opened a door."
A sudden crack split the air—sharp and unnatural, like glass fracturing under pressure.
They all turned.
At the far edge of the circle, the stone wall began to ripple. Not move—ripple, like someone had dropped a stone into the world's fabric itself. The magic surged, runes crawling upward, spiderwebbing out into the rock, pulling apart the very matter of the cave.
