Lucien expected the change to accelerate.
Thankfully, it did not.
The barrier continued withdrawing at a measured pace.
An hour passed.
Then another.
The world eventually stopped trembling, but the Black Mass did not stop moving.
Lucien watched long enough to realize that the darkness was not simply disappearing.
It was condensing.
The vast boundary seemed to be drawing itself inward, compressing toward the corrupted territory as though something deeper within it were gathering what had once been spread across an enormous area.
That bothered Lucien more than a simple collapse would have.
A barrier failing could be understood.
A barrier deliberately withdrawing implied purpose.
As more of it retreated, parts of the supercontinent that had remained hidden for years became visible.
Dead mountain ranges emerged first.
Then plains corrupted beyond recognition.
Ruined cities appeared along distant horizons.
