Round 160

The passageways walls pulsed with a sickening rhythm, every surface covered in writhing fungal growth that seemed to feed on the very air. Halie stumbled forward, her right arm flailing as if possessed by some unseen force—corruption had reached 98%, leaving her fingers barely able to grip the sacred text she clutched against her chest. The stone itself seemed alive now, grinding and groaning like a beast preparing to devour them all.

Jeane stood frozen twelve meters away, arcane flames dancing uselessly around her fists as she watched Halie's descent into madness. They'd come so far, faced horrors beyond imagining... but this? This was different. The walls breathed in unison now, each expansion drawing more of that sickly grayish-pink growth across the ancient carvings. And beneath it all, a low pulsing hum grew stronger with every passing second—a heartbeat counting down until whatever waited downstairs finished adapting to their divine magic.

Halie's voice cut through the oppressive silence, clinical and detached despite her obvious terror: "Maintaining tactical positioning... 98% consumed by Silra's corruption... two seconds from total system failure..." She stumbled again, coordination failing even as she forced herself to calculate angles and distance rather than scream. The smart move would be to split up—let each handle one threat separately instead of feeding them both targets at once. But that played into the enemy's hands completely. Split them now and whatever waited downstairs could pick them off one by one like prey.

The grinding noise intensified, stone sliding against stone with horrifying certainty. They had minutes before the walls finished closing together, crushing anyone trapped between them. And Halie? She was already halfway gone, right arm jerking spasmodically as corruption crawled across her skin. Jeane watched helplessly from across the twelve-meter barrier she'd maintained through sheer force of will—maintaining distance was their only defense against whatever transmitted this horror between victims.

The walls' synchronized breathing stopped completely then, everything except that low pulsing hum growing stronger like a heartbeat counting down seconds until next adaptation phase began. Halie's voice came again, strained but controlled: "Walls' coordinated breathing pattern surging forward... aggressive attack rhythm... living things starving for arcane energy..." She took another step forward despite her failing coordination, mind racing through calculations even as body betrayed her.

They were out of time. The walls began to move, stone grinding against stone with horrifying certainty. Jeane summoned what remained of her arcane fire, knowing it would do nothing but needing some gesture toward resistance anyway. Halie stumbled again, right arm flailing wildly now as she fought to maintain balance and tactical positioning simultaneously—98% consumed by Silra's corruption according to her clinical assessment, two seconds from total system failure but still forcing herself to calculate angles and distance rather than scream.

The smart move would be to split up—let each handle one threat separately instead of feeding them both targets at once. But that played into the enemy's hands completely. Split them now and whatever waited downstairs could pick them off one by one like prey. The grinding noise intensified, stone sliding against stone with horrifying certainty. They had minutes before the walls finished closing together, crushing anyone trapped between them. And Halie? She was already halfway gone, right arm jerking spasmodically as corruption crawled across her skin.

Jeane watched helplessly from across the twelve-meter barrier she'd maintained through sheer force of will—maintaining distance was their only defense against whatever transmitted this horror between victims. The walls' synchronized breathing stopped completely then, everything except that low pulsing hum growing stronger like a heartbeat counting down seconds until next adaptation phase began. Halie's voice came again, strained but controlled: "Walls' coordinated breathing pattern surging forward... aggressive attack rhythm... living things starving for arcane energy..." She took another step forward despite her failing coordination, mind racing through calculations even as body betrayed her.

The smart move would be to split up—let each handle one threat separately instead of feeding them both targets at once. But that played into the enemy's hands completely. Split them now and whatever waited downstairs could pick them off one by...