The pressure didn't double.
It crushed. Pressed on everyone and everything without exception.
The moment the captain stepped forward again, the air collapsed inward like an imploding lung.
The forest canopy above them shuddered violently as condensed demonic essence spiraled around its body in tight, controlled rings.
No explosive aura.
No wild flare.
Just density.
Pure, suffocating density.
Damien felt his muscles strain under it.
Good.
The captain vanished.
He was not fast. He was simply gone.
Damien twisted on instinct but he was too slow.
A fist drove into his ribs at an angle that bypassed his guard entirely.
Crack!
The sound came from not one but three ribs!
He felt them splinter inward.
The follow-up elbow smashed into his spine before he hit the ground, driving him face-first into the dirt with enough force to liquefy the soil beneath him.
The captain didn't let up.
A foot slammed down toward the back of his skull.
