King heard the tank speak, but the words sounded muffled, distorted like he was underwater. His eyes burned with a sharp, chemical sting that made them water uncontrollably. His senses twisted and blurred, the world around him reduced to smeared shapes and indistinct colors.
He forced his concentration inward, reaching for his mana reserves. The effort felt like dragging weights through thick mud, but he managed to form a construct orb around himself and Maya. The translucent barrier materialized barely in time, its structure weak and riddled with imperfections. The usual multilayered reinforcement was absent, replaced by a single fragile shell.
The tank swung his axe.
The blade struck the construct dead center. The orb cracked immediately, jagged fissures spreading across its surface like spiderwebs. The barrier held, but barely.
