"RUN!" the foxkin girl screamed with all the breath in her lungs, her voice cracking. Her red eyes burned with animal terror as she bolted into the forest, her tail streaming behind her like a banner of desperation.
Her group didn't hesitate. They scattered into the trees, sprinting without direction, without plan—only the instinct to live. Branches tore at their skin, roots clawed their legs, but they didn't stop.
And yet… Endless did not follow.
For the first time since his awakening, his body trembled. A sharp lance of agony stabbed through his skull, his very existence spasming as fractures of unstable energy rippled through him. His glowing eyes dimmed and flared violently, unable to maintain balance.
"Tch… so soon?" Endless muttered, his voice strained. He staggered mid-air, one hand clutching his temple as blood-red cracks of power flashed across his skin before sealing again.
A low, guttural rumble escaped him—not from pain, but from fury at his own imperfection.
