A massive shadow surged outward from Clarice's feet, growing like ink spilled across the floor.
In an instant, it lunged upward and wrapped around me.
The cold touch of the shadow swallowed me whole, and the world disappeared in a single heartbeat.
My vision went completely black.
The shadow that had risen to my face suddenly surged forward—
and in an instant, it swallowed everything.
My vision turned pitch black.
"—!"
I couldn't breathe.
A cold, suffocating pressure wrapped around my body as if I had been dropped into deep water. No matter how desperately I swung my arms or kicked my legs, nothing changed. My hands sliced through the darkness like it was thick tar, offering no resistance—no hope.
Panic hit me hard.
A crushing helplessness spread through my chest, something so heavy and absolute that for a moment I truly felt—
Ah… I might die here.
My senses blurred.
The world grew distant.
All that remained was the suffocating dark.
And then—
"Louis!!"
