They didn’t notice it.

Perhaps it was because they were more focused on each other. Perhaps it was because Odile was still groaning softly in pain. Perhaps it was none of those things. But regardless, neither of them realized what had happened before it did.

In that moment, an old scar was reopened, the world cracking at its edges once more. The sound of reality breaking, of glass shattering, sounded through the soft mist, as another pulse of arcane energy rushed through the entire forest. The pine trees swayed and the earth rumbled, as the stone pillars almost seemed to resonate with the sound, tuning forks vibrating to the world’s cries. And then…

…it all fell apart.

It wasn’t a rift in the sky. It wasn’t black ooze that reformed once it struck the ground. It was the scenery before their eyes falling apart, revealing a black abyss where the idyllic ruins once were. And from that abyss, two massive hands reached out, six claws latching onto the very fabric of reality. A howl heralded its heroic efforts as it forced the gate to widen further. Its head emerged next, goat-like head with an open, circular mouth. Dozens of teeth ringed it, each appearing to wriggle on its own as its six emerald eyes flickered about, pupils scrambling in different directions, as more of its massive body emerged.

Nine meters tall, its height just made it all the more wiry, its limbs much too thin to support its hammerhead and its muscled torso. Red lines traced up and down its form, glowing like magma, and its gray tongue, long and hard, extended until it reached the center of its chest, before swaying back and forth.

As if it was tasting the foreign air.

The six eyes settled upon where Natala, Liza, and Odile rested, before another banshee cry rushed out of its maw, a roar that blew away the mist and bent the trees.