Round 6

As the dark shape steps further through the splintered window frame, its glowing eyes fixed on the trio, a palpable sense of malevolent anticipation hangs in the air. The hammering at the front doors intensifies, and the rumbling from behind them grows louder, as if whatever is inside is eager to join the confrontation. The air around them seems to thicken with an otherworldly energy, making it difficult to breathe.

Silra crouches low against the crumbling wall, her teal eyes scanning every angle of the street between ruins and the ominous church entrance. She notes the deliberate splintering of the boarded-up window, the strategic placement of the boards suggesting a calculated effort rather than decay. Her fingers trace the hilt of her knife absently as she catalogs details: the wrongness of the dark shape's movements beyond simple animation or hunger, the ritual formation of multiple entities inside.

Sister Hale steps closer to Jeane, where she maintains dual-channel energy between holy symbol and raised hand, creating a visible barrier of shimmering air that feels... wrong somehow against her skin. The unholy symbol pulses with blue-white light more intensely now than when they were outside - either the space here amplifies divine magic or whatever is inside responds to it specifically. "Yes," she says softly, watching cracks spread across the church doors under sustained pressure.

Jeane channels arcane energy into visible crimson light around her hand, multiple glowing eyes now visible beyond the splintered window frame in ritual formation according to minute shifts suggesting deliberate arrangement rather than random grouping or panic response. Whatever sleeps here isn't mindless undead or simple demonic presence waiting for them out of hunger desperation. This is something that has been preparing specifically for their arrival, its malevolent presence seeping into every pore like a cold, dark mist.