Chapter 158: The Fused Threat

The ground beneath us buckled, shifting as if it were alive, writhing under the influence of the fused entity.

I barely kept my footing as tendrils of darkness snaked across the landscape, choking the life from the trees and splitting the earth open like a ravenous beast.

The combined force of the entity and the mastermind was more powerful than anything I’d ever faced, a swirling mass of chaos and malice that threatened to consume everything in its path.

“Everyone, fall back!” I shouted, my voice barely audible over the cacophony of destruction. “Get to the inner circle! We need to regroup!”

My allies scrambled, obeying the command without hesitation, but there was panic in their eyes.

They’d seen what I’d seen: the realization that this fight was beyond any of us. We were outmatched and out of options.

I clenched the artifact in my hand, feeling the cracks pulse beneath my fingers, the fragile balance within it holding by a thread.

It was barely holding together after the last b