Chapter 99: No Way Out
The runes on the stone door began to move.
They slithered across the surface like living things, peeling free from their original positions and rising into the air. Lines of light twisted and recombined, forming an entirely new pattern.
The next second, the stone door slid open to either side without a sound.
Beyond it lay a space choked with gray mist.
The fog was so dense it seemed almost solid, rolling slowly in heavy waves. Through it, faint silhouettes could be seen. Broken pillars. Collapsed arches. A floor shattered into uneven slabs.
Everything was submerged beneath that gray veil, outlines blurred, edges melting into nothing.
But though the door had opened, a glowing magical barrier still sealed the entrance.
It was semi-transparent, like light frozen into a sheet. Silver-white runes flowed across its surface, pulsing at a steady rhythm.
The barrier locked the gray mist firmly inside. The fog slammed against it, ripples spreading across the membrane, but nothing passed through.