Round 120

Jeane activated the Sybian just in time to save Silra's arm from being crushed between the closing pressure plates. The device's vibrations momentarily disrupt the walls' breathing pattern, but the fungal growths continue expanding across the stone surface with unsettling intelligence. Both women exchange tactical updates through gritted teeth—Silra reporting thirty seconds before complete nerve failure in her trapped limb, Jeane calculating adaptation speed exceeding predictions by almost fifty percent and warning that maintaining current strategy risks splitting their united front into separate vulnerable targets for the intelligent corruption downstairs to pick off individually. The low pulsing hum grows stronger, now clearly matching heartbeat rhythm as if counting down to something worse.