But the crack did not fade.
Instead, it slowly widened.
The space around it distorted slightly, as if reality itself had been scratched open.
Crk… crack…
The fracture expanded further, like glass under pressure.
Then—
SHATTER!
The air itself seemed to break apart.
The space within the crack collapsed inward, revealing something beyond it.
Something completely unnatural.
Behind the shattered space was darkness.
Not the natural darkness of night.
But a deep, endless pitch black void.
A hollow space that seemed to swallow the surrounding light.
For a moment, the dark opening simply floated there.
Then something moved inside it.
Slowly, a hand emerged.
It was long, unnaturally so.
Its surface was covered in dark red scales that glistened faintly in the dim forest light.
Each finger ended in a long, curved black claw, sharp enough to tear through flesh like paper.
The hand stretched outward from the pitch-black space.
Then it slowly lowered.
