Smoke and debris filled the industrial complex as Kael and his team prepared to retreat. The Null operatives' remnants had vanished into shadows, but the facility itself began to react violently. Walls warped unnaturally, floors sagged, and the distant hum of dimensional energy pulsed like a heartbeat—ominous, irregular, and terrifying.
"This place is collapsing," Aria shouted over the growing roar. "The Nexus is unstable here. We need to move, now!"
Kael's chest burned as his mark flared in response to the chaotic energy. He could feel reality itself bending, whispering warnings: Every step matters. Every life counts. Shadows shifted around them like predators, testing, probing.
Ryken grabbed Kael's arm. "No hesitation," he barked. "We go fast. Watch the walls. Watch the ceilings. Don't look back."
As they navigated the crumbling corridors, Kael sensed something more sinister than the Null operatives: the corruption within the Nexus itself. Pulsing energy leaked from cracks in the facility's structure, twisting and mutating with every heartbeat. His mark reacted violently, and a sudden surge of power lifted him from the ground, propelling him forward.
"Kael! Be careful!" Aria yelled.
Ahead, a group of shadow-wraiths emerged from the warped walls—creatures born of Nexus corruption, far more dangerous than the Null operatives they had faced earlier. They moved with intent, striking with uncanny precision, almost sentient in their attacks. Kael felt the whispers urging him to act, guiding his movements as he unleashed arcs of energy, repelling the creatures with every strike.
Yet one wraith broke through, rushing toward a trapped Aria. Kael hesitated for the first time, his mind torn between survival and instinct. The whispers screamed: Save her. Or survive.
Time slowed. His hand moved on its own, striking the wraith and sending it collapsing into black mist. Aria stared at him, eyes wide. "That was… risky," she said.
Kael exhaled, trembling slightly. The mark dimmed, leaving a faint glow across his chest. The first taste of moral consequence weighed heavily on him. Survival was no longer enough; choices carried cost.