Lin staggered forward through the collapsing void, the afterimage of his shattered double still burning in his mind. His chains crackled erratically, unstable, sparking against the darkness. The hall of mirrors was gone, but the abyss hadn't died with it.
All around him, crimson light ripped jagged fissures through the ground. The void groaned like a wounded beast, pulling itself apart. Fragments of ruined streets, broken laboratories, and twisted corridors—the memories the abyss had stolen—floated past him, colliding violently before crumbling to ash.
Lin clenched his jaw, forcing his breath steady. His body felt hollow, his veins searing as if molten lead flowed through them. Defeating the double hadn't freed him. It had only angered the abyss.
And beneath it all, Jin's voice lingered.
"You've only delayed the inevitable."
Lin's fists tightened. "Shut up."
