The air didn't just vibrate; it screamed. A new system notification tore through Lucian's field of vision, a violent, jarring intrusion of color he had never seen in all his time since his rebirth.
It wasn't the calm blue of a quest or the steady gold of a level up. It was a searing, bleeding crimson background with jagged, molten gold text, a visual alarm that signaled the system itself was in a state of high alert panic.
[ WARNING: CALAMITY TIER ENTITY EMERGING ]
[ MANIFESTATION PROGRESS: 15% ]
[TIME UNTIL FULL AWAKENING: 02:00:00]
[ IF COMPLETION REACHES 100%: WORLD ANNIHILATION PROBABILITY 97% ]
[PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: TERMINATE CORVUS BLACKTHORN BEFORE COMPLETION]
Lucian stared at the timer, the seconds already beginning to bleed away. There was no time for a tactical briefing, no time to explain the sheer, existential terror of a ninety-seven percent extinction rate.
