We continued rushing toward the distant palace, neither of us speaking as the darkness of the dead zone stretched endlessly around us. I kept my perception fully expanded, watching every fluctuation in the surrounding void while my Time Origin remained active, ready to respond to anything that appeared.
For several minutes, nothing happened.
Then I felt it.
My body suddenly stiffened.
The sensation was faint at first, but there was no mistaking it. The same temporal force that had previously descended upon Lyrate had appeared again, except this time its target was different.
Me.
My eyes widened.
"Fuck... this is bad."
Lyrate immediately turned toward me.
"What happened?"
I didn't answer.
I focused on the incoming temporal force and activated my own Time Origin, forcing it forward to collide with the strange power before it could reach me.
The instant the two forces touched, my consciousness was ripped away.
