The chamber beneath the temple was a cathedral of suffering.
Gravity hit them the moment they crossed the threshold, a pressure that started at twice normal and kept building with every step toward the center. Dante felt his spine compress, his knees strain, his breath come shorter as the weight of invisible force tried to drive him into the stone floor.
Around him, his team was struggling. Ren moved with the measured determination of a man walking through waist-deep water, his Iron Will manifesting as a visible shimmer around his body as he fought to stay upright. Astrid had dropped into a crouch, using her core strength to keep from being driven to her knees, her face set in the particular expression of someone who'd decided the universe itself was a personal insult. Leon was breathing hard, his buffer abilities doing nothing against physics that didn't care about magical resistance.
