"RUMBLE!"
The tremors grew more and more powerful as the Heart of the Root continued its relentless advance, its vast tendrils already reaching into the upper atmosphere of the Abyssalcrown Empyrean World. The entire firmament shook under its approach, as though the cosmos itself recoiled from the malignant presence forcing its way downward.
Cain clenched his teeth as he pushed against the monstrous mass, refusing to yield even as every fiber of his body trembled. His mind and soul stretched thinner and thinner, drawn toward a breaking point he could almost feel taking shape behind his eyes.
Yet he refused to crumble. He couldn't. Every moment he endured meant tens of millions of lives saved—and tens of millions of souls that the Heart of the Root would not assimilate into its grotesque, ever-growing form.
"If only I could channel the strength of the Abyssalcrown Empyrean World…" Cain cursed inwardly, knowing even as the thought arose that it was impossible.
