Victor moved first as they entered the temple.
The blade master pressed himself against a pillar, dark eyes scanning the corridor ahead. No enemies visible. No signatures within immediate range. The carved walls spiraled inward, leading deeper into the structure, and the mana concentration increased with every step.
Grey followed three meters behind.
Lyra took the rear.
Her green eyes swept the corridor with an intensity.
They moved in silence.
Corner to corner. Pillar to pillar. The temple's interior was a maze of twisted hallways and chambers, each one more grotesque than the last. Carvings on the walls depicted things that made Victor's jaw tighten—figures screaming, bodies merging, shapes that might have been human transforming into something else entirely.
The mana grew thicker.
It pressed against their senses like a physical weight—Like standing next to a river that had been dammed for centuries and was finally overflowing.
Grey paused at an intersection.
