The moment the containment cell shattered, the world erupted into chaos.
Metal groaned as the iron bars twisted apart, bending outward like they had never been solid to begin with. A sickening crack echoed through the chamber as the figure inside lurched forward, its body jerking unnaturally. The torches flickered violently, the air thick with something unseen, something unnatural.
Kael barely had time to process what was happening before the thing—because it could no longer be called a man—moved.
It didn't charge. It didn't lunge.
It shifted.
One second, it was writhing within the broken cell, body half-crumpled as if in agony. The next, it was standing inches from Kael, its presence a sudden, suffocating weight pressing down on his chest.
