"Well, I guess that's all." Damien turned to Arielle and she responded with a shrug.
The air around the ruined hideout still carried that faint, acrid taint of demonic essence.
Damien and Arielle were preparing to leave, each step heavier than the last, when Arielle's staff caught against a faintly glowing rune carved into the floor near the central chamber.
She stopped. "Wait… this mark—"
Before Damien could stop her, the rune pulsed. A sudden thrum of energy rippled outward, invisible yet oppressive.
Woooong~
The walls shuddered. Dust rained from the fractured ceiling.
Damien's eyes snapped wide. "Arielle—back!"
Craaaack!!
Too late. The ground beneath them split open as arrays hidden beneath the rubble flared to life, flooding the chamber with a crimson glow.
Shards of stone lifted into the air, floating unnaturally before fusing together into crude, humanoid figures. Their bodies were jagged rock and metal fragments bound by threads of crimson essence.
