Round 157

Jeane maintained her barrier radius with visible strain as the walls ground closer, the pulsing hum now a constant thrumming pressure in her skull. Her wings trembled from the sustained arcane effort, the magic resistance spell flickering at the edges of her control like candle flame in wind. She couldn't sustain this much longer—not with whatever was downstairs pulling at her power like tidal forces trying to drag her under.

Halie watched the walls' synchronized breathing resume, each heavy mechanical gasp sending fresh tendrils writhing across the stone surfaces. This wasn't mere environmental decay anymore; it was intelligence made manifest in architecture, learning from their every move and adapting faster than any corrupt entity she'd documented in her career. The tactical calculation was brutally simple: forward movement split their defensive capabilities between rooms, creating multiple vulnerable chokepoints where the enemy could pick them off separately. Staying put trapped them together but also contained Silra's corruption within Jeane's radius—though that containment depended entirely on a succubus pushing beyond her magical limits and probably dying of strain in the process.

The grinding noise intensified, metal scraping against stone as the walls began their final closure sequence. Two minutes? Maybe less. The low pulsing hum had reached a crescendo now, each beat like a monstrous heart counting down seconds until whatever came next arrived.