Round 150

The walls' breathing accelerated frantically—every pulse louder than the last like a heartbeat counting down to total system shift. A new tendril erupted from the wall behind Jeane, wrapping around her ankle and pulling her toward the descending staircase while she maintained the twenty-meter barrier radius around Silra's corpse despite visible strain. Halie's right arm throbbed ominously—the tendril wrapped around her ankle pulsed visibly with corruption already spreading beyond any point of reversal according to documented infection patterns which meant total coverage in seventy-two hours if she was lucky and forty-eight if not. She severed the tendril with a sharp motion despite the pain, but could feel the corruption already spreading through her system—calculations showed complete transmission in minutes unless treated immediately or isolated completely from contact.

She stepped back quickly, trying to maintain distance from the walls while assessing options for containment or treatment. Jeane dropped the containment radius around Silra's body—the dead couldn't spread infection—and redirected every ounce of arcane focus into maintaining her own positioning exactly twelve meters from Halie as she fought that tendril. Her friend's right arm was already 98% covered, visible corruption spreading under skin according to documented patterns which meant every second counted before complete transmission occurred. The walls' synchronized breathing accelerated frantically now like living things preparing for the next phase.