Rage surged, raw and consuming, fueling his resistance beyond normal limits.
The pressure crushing his consciousness faltered, just for a heartbeat. The invading presence wavered as those memories sharpened, no longer fragments dragged up in desperation, but living truths carved into his soul.
Pain, grief, and fury braided together, forming an anchor the demon could not easily tear free.
As memories of his wife surfaced. Her smile burned brighter than the darkness around him.
For a fleeting instant, it cut through the invasion like a blade of light.
Bane felt it clearly. Not as memory alone, but as weight. As anchor. The warmth of her hand in his. The calm confidence in her eyes even as reality fractured around her. The way she had smiled at him in the end, knowing exactly what she was walking into.
'Live, Bane.'
That single unspoken word thundered through his soul.
His resistance surged.
