I exhaled sharply, my body humming with power as I focused all my mana into a single, overwhelming force.

The air around me crackled, charged with raw electricity.

Enough of this.

I raised both hands, fingers splayed wide, and let the energy surge through me.

Lightning erupted in every direction, branching out like a divine storm, illuminating the collapsing chamber in blinding arcs of destruction.

The falling rocks, big, small, it didn’t matter, disintegrated the moment they entered my storm.

Stone turned to dust, debris vaporized mid-air, leaving nothing but the scent of ozone and the remnants of my power crackling in the air.

Evelyn shielded her eyes from the dazzling spectacle, her expression caught between awe and disbelief.

The chamber, once a chaotic death trap, had transformed into an empty expanse with nothing left to fall on us.

I slowly lowered my hands, feeling the last tendrils of lightning dance along my skin before fading away.

The way to the portal was clear.

Now, nothing could stop us.

Without wasting another second, I grabbed Evelyn’s wrist and sprinted toward the portal again.

Our footsteps echoed against the trembling remains of the chamber, the ground beneath us unstable, cracks spreading like veins through the stone.

Evelyn struggled to keep up, her breaths ragged.

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“Allen—!” she gasped, but I didn’t slow down.

The portal shimmered in the distance, swirling with a strange mix of colors, our only way out.

The collapsing chamber roared behind us, as if furious at our defiance.

A sudden quake nearly threw us off balance, but I tightened my grip on Evelyn and pushed forward.

“We’re almost there!” I shouted over the chaos, my eyes locked onto the glowing gateway.

Each step brought us closer.

We just had to make it.

As I ran, I gritted my teeth and tried to channel my mana, willing lightning to surge through my body to increase my speed.

Sparks crackled around my legs, but the flow was unstable, flickering uncontrollably.

Damn it.

I knew the concept, how to enhance my movements with mana, but my father had only taught me the basics before… before he was gone.

Without the advanced control techniques, my lightning surged wildly, unrefined, refusing to fully integrate into my body.

The energy sputtered, slowing me down instead of accelerating me.

Frustration gnawed at me, but I had no time to dwell on it.

The portal was right there, just a little more...

The ground beneath us cracked again, another warning that time was running out.

I pushed forward, forcing my legs to move faster despite my imperfect control.

I would make it.

I had to.

As we neared the portal, the air vibrated with an ominous hum.

The chamber was moments away from complete collapse.

Then, from above, an enormous chunk of the ceiling, far larger than any before, broke free and plummeted toward us.

I could destroy it, but...

Would Evelyn survive the impact.

I instinctively reached for Evelyn, my fingers wrapping around her wrist.

In that instant, something surged within me, something wild, something incomprehensible.

A blinding surge of lightning erupted from my body, not just flowing around me but through me, as if I had become one with it.

The sensation was overwhelming, raw power coursing through my veins, crackling in my bones.

Before I could fully comprehend it, the world around us blurred into streaks of light.

Then—

We were no longer in the chamber.

The crushing weight of the collapsing ruins, the deafening sound of destruction, it was gone.

Instead, we stood outside, the cool air washing over us.

I exhaled sharply, my grip on Evelyn’s wrist tightening for a brief moment before I released her.

She was breathing heavily, her eyes bearly opened.

I looked down at my hands.

They still tingled with residual energy, but that energy and speed…

It had vanished as quickly as it had come.

But, i did it.

I controlled it for a split second...