“Let’s move. We shouldn’t linger here,” Dustin said. He took the lead, stepping onto the slippery and dilapidated path with steady strides.
However, Grace could sense that the energy waves surrounding him had become even more restrained than before. It was as if he were accumulating strength to face whatever unknown challenges lay ahead.
The group followed in silence, the atmosphere thick and suffocating Rhydian and the other two guards gripped their weapons tightly. Their eyes scanned the churning crimson lake, alert for anything that might surge from the depths.
Judith supported Cyprian, whose condition was worsening by the minute. The corrosive effects of the dragon blood malevolent energy were causing his remaining vital energy to drain away. His eyes were beginning to lose focus.
As they ventured deeper, the surrounding scenery began to change in disturbing ways.
The once clearly demarcated boundary between the deep blue lake waters and the corrupted crimson zone started to blur. The two hues now bled into each other like swirling oil paints, forming an unsettling sight.
The spiritual and malevolent energies in the air had also completely merged, growing violent and chaotic.
Even more unsettling was that everyone began to feel an invisible yet omnipresent pressure. It wasn’t coming from any enemy, but from the very space around them.
The first abnormality was gravity. One moment, everyone felt their bodies grow heavy, as if carrying a thousand-pound burden. Each step became agonizingly difficult, and the stone path beneath their feet seemed to bend downward under the weight.
The next moment, the crushing weight vanished, replaced by a faint upward pull that almost sent them floating off the path. They had to circulate their internal energy with all their strength just to stay grounded.
The fluctuation in gravity was completely unpredictable-heavy one moment, weightless the next. The constant changes.
drained their physical and mental strength.
“Stay calm. Regulate your breathing and adapt to the changes.”
Dustin’s voice cut through the chaos, steadying their nerves. An invisible force field seemed to surround him. It weakened most of the chaotic gravity, but he still had to stay focused to counter it.
However, their trials were far from over. Soon after, the space around them began to warp subtly. The path ahead looked straight, but one wrong step could leave them off course, nearly falling into the lake
Objects in their vision would stretch at times and compress at others, and even the transmission of light became strange, inducing intense vertigo.
“It’s spatial distortion,” Grace said, her face turning pale.
She focused on using her spiritual energy to sense the true currents of the space around her. But the chaotic energy twisted and churned her divine sense like a violent whirlpool, scattering it in every direction.
One of the guards tried to slash through an area that looked particularly warped. His blade cut through, but it felt like slicing into thick jelly. Not only did the strike slow down, but the blade itself bent slightly. Startled, he quickly withdrew his weapon.
And this was only the beginning. The further they proceeded, the more chaotic the laws of space became. Invisible spatial rifts appeared without warning, like transparent blades, slicing through everything in their path.
One guard couldn’t dodge in time. When a rift grazed the edge of his clothing, it instantly disintegrated into dust, leaving him drenched in cold sweat
At the same time, turbulent elemental energy would erupt. Ghostly blue cold flames suddenly ignited on the left side, while thick ice walls instantly formed on the right. Fire and ice intertwined in a deeply unnatural display.
Occasionally, fragmented illusions from unknown sources would intrude into everyone’s minds, disrupting their perception of reality.
