The wind surrounding Shawn slowly came to a halt.
For several breaths, it remained suspended around the platform before drifting away from him. It did not enter his body, nor did it scatter throughout the chamber. Instead, the currents flowed directly toward the reinforced iron doors, passing effortlessly through the formations and barriers.
Morgan watched the air trace across the ceiling.
"The wind is bypassing the door barriers."
Boulder remained silent. He watched the currents slip through the heavy stone without making any attempt to stop them. Whatever was guiding that wind completely ignored the rules governing their formations.
Within moments, the air cleared entirely, leaving the chamber perfectly still.
Shawn noticed the change immediately.
The cold pressure against his skin disappeared, but the air in the room suddenly felt unnaturally thin.
He took a breath.
Something was wrong.
He inhaled again, and this time his chest had to work harder to draw in the air. His brows furrowed. The weight beneath his heart continued growing denser, yet the chamber around him felt like a vacuum.
He could still hear the steady beat of Morgan's heart, the quick breathing of the servants, and the low hum of the arrays.
Yet every breath demanded more effort than the last.
Above the Vonte Manor, the escaping currents gathered in the open sky.
At first, they drifted lazily over the rooftops. Then more air joined them from chimneys and ventilation shafts. The gentle breeze gradually accelerated, twisting into a broad rotating current.
Dry leaves lifted from the courtyard stones.
Dust rose from the pathways.
Branches swayed heavily, even though the rest of the mountain remained perfectly still.
On the ramparts, a Sovereign Manifest guard looked toward the sky.
"The wind is pooling above the manor."
Beside him, another guard retrieved a transmission talisman from his belt. After listening for a brief moment, he turned toward the squad.
"The main house is reporting a pressure drop. The shield is drawing too much attention."
A few swift hand seals followed.
The bright blue dome faded until it became nearly transparent, leaving only a faint shimmer covering the estate.
The guards stepped back into the shadows.
Above them, the vortex continued growing.
The sky darkened as the clouds packed tightly together, swallowing the afternoon sunlight.
For one brief moment, the air became completely still.
Then the central current tightened, dragging the surrounding mountain winds into its center.
A massive funnel formed directly above the manor.
No one dared interfere.
Deep within the laboratory, the air was disappearing rapidly.
It wasn't flowing into Shawn.
It was being drawn straight upward through the stone ceiling.
One servant standing near the perimeter pillars staggered, his knees nearly giving out.
"Master... I can't breathe."
Another servant leaned heavily against a pillar, struggling for air.
"The pressure... it's dropping."
Morgan's head snapped around as he felt his own lungs tighten.
"The chamber is losing oxygen."
"Open the intake shafts."
Three servants rushed toward the control runes embedded in the wall. Their hands struck the ancient stones, causing the arrays to ignite.
Hidden iron gears groaned deep within the walls as the concealed ventilation shafts slowly opened.
Fresh mountain air should have rushed into the chamber.
It didn't.
The instant the outside air entered, it was immediately pulled upward toward the ceiling and vanished.
The servants' faces turned pale.
Morgan looked toward the platform.
Shawn's chest was rising and falling much more slowly now.
"The intake shafts aren't holding," Morgan said, frustration sharpening his voice. "The pull from above is too strong."
Boulder stepped closer to the platform.
"If that vortex continues drawing air like this, the vacuum will suffocate everyone inside the manor."
Morgan didn't hesitate.
He slammed both palms onto the circular master rune engraved into the stone beneath his feet.
The rune erupted with blue light, and the entire chamber shuddered violently.
Deep beneath the laboratory, ancient mechanisms that had remained dormant for decades finally awakened.
Massive gears ground against one another.
Bedrock groaned beneath unimaginable strain.
Enormous iron deadbolts snapped back one after another, sending violent tremors through the foundations of the estate.
Outside, the guards felt the ground shake beneath their boots.
"The main structure..."
"It is rising."
Far beneath the courtyard, the entire laboratory complex began ascending toward the surface.
The surrounding mountain split cleanly along ancient seam lines.
Protective formations blazed to life along the rising stone walls, preventing the surrounding earth from collapsing into the widening shaft.
Inside the chamber, Morgan kept both hands firmly pressed against the master rune.
"Hold the stabilizing arrays together!"
"Don't let the platform tilt!"
The servants obeyed immediately, gripping the control flags tightly as they fought against the thinning air.
With one final, earth shaking thud, the laboratory reached the surface.
The massive stone ceiling split apart down the middle.
Huge granite panels slid away across the grass, exposing the blackened sky for the very first time.
The instant the vault opened, the enormous vortex spinning above the manor froze.
Every guard standing in the courtyard felt their chest tighten.
The towering column of wind remained perfectly motionless for a single, drawn out breath, as though it had finally discovered the opening it had been searching for.
Then the entire funnel shifted.
The spinning currents compressed into a single roaring column before plunging straight down into the open laboratory.