Meanwhile, by now, Ethan had left the ridge behind. He moved through the thickening trees at a controlled pace, letting his footsteps land on solid ground, even though the earth felt soft and strange in places, as if it had swollen slightly from underneath.
He didn't ask the system for updates.
It wouldn't matter now.
The peace had passed.
And something big was coming.
He could feel it in the way the forest, which was supposed to be teeming with beasts and insects, now felt empty and quiet around him.
Then, in the far distance, a crack echoed out across the zone.
It wasn't thunder.
It wasn't a beast.
It was something else.
The sky above him shifted slightly—just a ripple, like someone had run their fingers across a still pond.
Ethan paused for a moment, his body still but alert, eyes tracking the sky even though the trees blocked most of it.
