A sudden, violent vibration shuddered through the deep bedrock beneath the Fleshcraft Tower. The heavy stone floor of the private laboratory buckled slightly, sending glass vials rattling against the wooden racks.
Beneath his grey headband, Kale Ardentis opened his eyes instantly. The soft orange glow of the Ignis Core flared inside its glass vat as the protective runic arrays along the stone walls screamed with a sharp, high-pitched alarm.
This was not the measured, holy resonance of High Inquisitor Luke's paladins. It was the raw, chaotic shockwave of a physical breach originating from the forgotten subterranean vaults deep beneath the Association.
The ancient containment seals in the lower levels, weakened by centuries of pressure, had finally ruptured. The air in the research sector grew thick with the heavy scent of ancient ozone and decaying blood.
