Chapter 65: The Artificial Rift
Draven led the squad through the charred, skeletal remains of the industrial sector.
The heavy mist clung to the shattered concrete, completely muffling their footsteps.
They navigated the debris until they reached a short, jagged cliff of broken pavement overlooking a sunken basin.
Draven held up a closed fist, signaling the squad to drop low to the ground.
Down in the crater, the air shimmered with an unnatural, sickly dense energy.
In the absolute center of the basin sat a massive, pulsing mana stone covered in complex, glowing runic circles.
Surrounding the stone were over twenty grotesque, lumbering figures.
They were the heavily mutated acolytes of the Church, mindless, castrated monsters stripped of their humanity and manhood, bred entirely for violence and servitude.
Near the array core stood a Priest of the Eternal Eclipse. His eyes were closed in a manic, euphoric trance.
