I raced through the streets of Veridia City, my body protesting with every movement. Clarissa sat beside me in the car, her face still pale from our narrow escape from the collapsing Mystic Realm. The memory of that void still chilled me—an empty nothingness that would have consumed us both if we'd been seconds slower.
"How are you holding up?" I asked, glancing at her.
She managed a weak smile. "Better than being dead, which is what would have happened without you."
I nodded, focusing back on the road. My mind kept replaying the final moments in the Mystic Realm—the walls crumbling, the floor giving way beneath us. The Umbral Covenant had clearly installed some kind of self-destruct mechanism. Typical. If they couldn't have it, no one could.
A sharp pain suddenly lanced through my chest. I gripped the steering wheel tighter, trying to hide my discomfort.
"You're hurt," Clarissa observed, her eyes sharp despite her weakened state.
"It's nothing," I lied.
