A vibration.
Deep enough that it came through the concrete instead of the air.
Another impact followed.
Closer.
The Umbral moved backward one step.
The entire stairwell shook violently.
Then the wall exploded inward.
Concrete detonated across the stairwell.
Something enormous tore through the opening at impossible speed.
Five massive tails whipped through the debris behind it.
Darkness rolled off its body in dense waves thick enough to swallow the emergency lighting around it.
White bone showed beneath parts of the black mass wrapped around its frame.
Six red eyes burned through the dust cloud.
The Umbral turned—
The creature hit it before it could react.
The impact folded the stairwell sideways.
One gigantic limb wrapped around the Umbral's torso and crushed it through the opposite wall in an eruption of concrete and twisted metal.
The Umbral fought immediately.
Dark energy burst violently from its body as it struggled in the creature's grip.
It did not matter.
