Round 192 Transcript

At dark corridor in New York high rise penthouse suite, the pressure shifts from waiting to immediate risk. The ward answers the party's presence with a fresh pulse through the stone and no one can mistake it for safety. The nearest sign of danger is now structural collapse imminent. Someone has to answer that change now.

I will maintain this barrier for as long as I have breath left. Halie, if you cannot brace that door properly with your back and legs, then yes—we will use Hera's body as a brace if necessary. She has already proven her fear can be useful in ways she never intended.

I press my burned hands flat against the mirror's frame, feeling the slick lubricant underfoot. The door groans as I lean back with all my weight. Silra! How long? My voice cracks but stays steady. Two minutes. Can you hold for two minutes? I can see Hera huddled there, still glistening from that corruption. If the wardstone energy gets through, we're all done.

The service tunnel branches ahead, but left feels exposed like walking into an ambush you can't see coming. The building groans louder now—a sound that makes your teeth ache—and the floor tilts ominously beneath us. "Halie!" I call out from below. "I found a way down, but it's narrow. How long do we have before the ceiling comes down?"