"What… what is this power? How did you… freeze…"
The voice from the portal, laced with a dawning horror, trailed off into frozen silence.
The Grand Maximus watched the half-closed, motionless portal, a look of supreme satisfaction on his face. "You sought to play with gods," he murmured, taking a single, deliberate step forward. "This is the consequence." He raised Rimeheart, preparing to shatter not just the portal, but the very fabric of space it occupied.
Just as he was about to strike, a chorus of sharp, cracking sounds echoed in the cavern. The Grand Maximus paused, a flicker of annoyance crossing his features. He looked down at his own hands. Fine, spiderweb cracks, glowing with a faint purple light, were spreading across his skin, like fissures in fine porcelain.
