Chapter 68: The Shift of Doom (2)

The space trembled, a violent shudder that felt alive, as if the world itself recoiled from what had just emerged. My breath seized in my throat, trapped as if by invisible hands, my lungs burning for release. My veins bulged, tightening like chains across my body, my mind numbing under the weight of a suffocating presence. My detection screamed... shrieked, each pulse of warning like shards of broken glass piercing my consciousness.

I clasped my hands over my head, the edges of my vision darkening. A scream clawed its way up my throat, desperate for freedom, but I bit it back. Not out of bravery. No, this wasn't courage. This was something raw, something broken.

The grief... it was unbearable. A thick, consuming fog of sorrow that pressed against my very soul, threatening to drown me in its depths. It wasn't just sadness; it was a force, a living, breathing thing that clawed its way into my mind and hollowed me out from the inside.