A roar.
It was not a sound carried through the air, but a deep tremor that struck directly at the soul, laden with endless ages and icy fury. It came from deep within the glacier, instantly drowning out Lena's electronic voice, the crashing ice spikes, and even, for a moment, the frenzied shrieking the Death Note stirred inside my mind!
The entire cavern twisted and warped violently under that roar! Light shattered, as though seen through a broken prism! The metal platform gave a teeth-grating groan, threatening to fall apart at any moment! Even the omnipresent cold took on an ancient malice that froze the mind!
[Anchor... destabilized...] Lena's electronic voice broke into fragments, filled with unprecedented panic. The blue "wounds" shedding particles of light across her body rapidly widened, and her form flickered like a hologram with a failing signal. She stopped trying to attack me and struggled, futilely, to stabilize her own existence.
The crazed force from the notebook in my arm, which had been trying to control me and deliver the final blow, also faltered for an instant under the impact of that terrifying roar, showing... fear?
The notebook was afraid?
Afraid of this... thing that had just awakened?
Seizing that opening, I bit down hard on the tip of my tongue. The fierce pain brought a sliver of clarity to a mind almost assimilated by the notebook! I forced myself to regain a little control over my body and tried to fling away the notebook that had almost fused with my arm!
But like a drowning person clutching at a last straw, the notebook "stuck" even more tightly to my hand! That cold, ravenous suction intensified again, but this time, its target no longer seemed to be Lena. Instead... it turned toward the source of the