Karteira’s feet sank into the thick layer of ash as she ran through the scorching forest.

  The deeper she moved, the denser it became.

  Her eyes swept across the surroundings—nothing but falling ash and warped silhouettes of burning trees.

  “… ”

  Only the sound of her steps crunching into cinders and the relentless crackling of fire echoed through the cavern.

  At intervals, a faint hum pulsed from the direction of the sphere.

  Between the towering trunks, she caught glimpses of it—white, immense, and oppressive.

  There doesn’t seem to be anything moving out here.

  Karteira slowed to a stop, her boots dragging through the ash before settling.

  Light flared softly around her body, mending the gradual damage the environment had begun to inflict.

  Just as I thought.

  She glanced over her shoulder, measuring the distance she had already covered.

  Treacherous terrain. Endless obstacles. Air that burns the lungs…

  Her gaze lifted again.

  And that.

  The closer she moved toward the sphere, the heavier her body felt.

  Looking down at her feet, she confirmed it.

  The ash wasn’t only resisting her steps.

  It was sliding.

  Pulling inward.

  It’s drawing everything toward it…

  She took several measured steps backward.

  The marks in the ash deepened, dragged subtly toward the center of the cavern.

  So it isn’t just heat.

  It’s gravity.

  Alright. I need more information.

  She inhaled once—carefully—then pushed off into a sprint, continuing her survey.

  “Nia. What do you think?”

  “We can’t go any closer.”

  The twins hovered near the cavern ceiling, absurdly high above the inferno below.

  From that vantage point, the scale was unmistakable.

  The white sphere loomed even higher in the distance, its lower edge melting stone as it rose—slowly, almost lazily—toward the cavern roof.

  “You’re right,” Mia said. “If we push any further, we may not make it back.”

  Her wings strained subtly against the inward pull.

  “Let’s widen the gap between us and that thing.”

  Nia nodded and adjusted her altitude, keeping pace with her sister.

  As they flew, they continued speaking.

  “Sis… what do you think is happening?” Sweat ran down Nia’s temple, evaporating almost instantly in the heat.

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  “We have a clear vantage point from here,” Mia replied, scanning the burning forest below. “If anything moves unnaturally, we’ll see it.”

  Her eyes narrowed.

  “But we should return soon. I’m done worrying her.”

  They slowed to a hover near the ceiling, wings beating steadily.

  Nia silently agreed.

  “This place is strange,” she said after a moment. “At first, I thought the sphere caused the cavern to become like this.”

  “I did too,” Mia answered, staring toward the crater at the center.

  “But now…”

  Her words trailed off.

  Both of them looked down.

  The crater floor shimmered faintly.

  “This is vitrified, isn’t it?” Nia asked quietly.

  “Yes.” Mia nodded. “Which means this was ground zero.”

  The epicenter radiated outward in waves of fused glass—frozen shock lines marking the moment of ignition.

  And above it, the sphere continued forming similar patterns where it touched the ceiling.

  “So what is it?” Nia murmured. “Is the cavern containing it? Or is it containing the cavern?”

  Mia didn’t answer immediately.

  “If it reaches the surface…” Nia continued softly.

  “I don’t know,” Mia admitted.

  They hovered in silence, watching the crimson world churn beneath them.

  Then—

  A flash of light.

  Sharp. Brief.

  “There.” Mia squinted.

  “That was Karteira.” Nia leaned forward, shielding her eyes from the miniature sun’s glare. “Did something happen?”

  Too high to see the minute details, they decided to descend.

  A bad feeling began to creep within them.

  Exchanging a glance, they nodded to one another and instantly leaned toward their companion’s position.

  In a blast of compressed air, they crossed a vast distance within two breaths.

  Careful not to pass the threshold of the sphere’s gravitational pull, they arced their descent accordingly.

  The heat began to make itself known again as their protection gradually faded.

  When they arrived roughly a kilometer above the forest, a dense cloud of ash blocked their path.

  Bracing themselves, the twins pushed forward, raising their arms to shield their faces.

  Pelted relentlessly by ash, they continued at high speed until Mia noticed something strange.

  Through her hindered vision, a single speck of ember drifted past.

  Her perception slowed, as though time itself were thinning around her.

  Then another ember moved toward her.

  It grazed her cheek, carving a deep burn across her skin that stung violently.

  "-!"

  In a split-second decision, she screamed.

  "Nia!"

  Red light flared across their faces as realization crashed down upon them.

  The ash around them ignited.

  Fire engulfed the twins as embers devoured the swirling ash in a spiraling wave of destruction.

  A vortex of hellfire dragged everything inward before consuming it entirely.

  "What happened?!" Nia's voice echoed at a distance from the blaze as charred remnants fell toward the forest below.

  A dome of earth, layered thickly around her, cracked and crumbled into dust.

  "Nia?" Mia screamed, her eyes frantically scanning the surroundings. "Where are you? Nia?!"

  Panic clawed at her chest as she lost sight of her twin.

  "I'm fine. Don't panic." She heard her younger sister’s voice above her, and she immediately turned toward it, hands trembling.

  Nia emerged from the collapsing earthen shell, protected by the same magic.

  They regrouped midair, Mia resisting the overwhelming urge to embrace her sister in relief.

  …

  In the fleeting moments before the fire had engulfed them,

  Nia’s eyes had fixed on Mia’s figure slowly disappearing within the ash.

  Yet the instant she heard her name, she knew exactly where her sister was.

  They spun simultaneously.

  Like mirrored reflections, they placed a foot against the other.

  Green magic enveloped Mia as winds spiraled violently around them.

  With a final impulse, they pushed off one another’s foot, launching themselves outward from the inferno in opposite arcs, wings flapping intensively.

  As a final precaution, Nia encased them both in reinforced layers of protection in anticipation of a possible explosion.

  …

  "That was close..." Mia breathed, tension pulling the corners of her mouth downward.

  "Say it again. If you had noticed a second later, we would be cooked by now." Nia furiously glanced back, her brows furrowed.

  "Was that an attack?" She asked, clenching her hands.

  "Most likely. Surveying is over, Nia. Let's meet up with Karteira quickl-"

  Before she could finish, a shadow burst from the trees below.

  They had failed to detect the movement beneath them.

  Karteira, who had just leaped backward into the air, positioned herself directly between the two sisters.

  Surprise flashed across their faces as their eyes met.

  But Karteira’s focus was already elsewhere.

  Her stinger glowed white, light magic gathering densely at its tip.

  While still airborne, she fired a concentrated beam into the forest, obliterating the section without hesitation.

  "We have to return to Mother!" She said as she descended toward the ground.

  That was when they understood.

  It had begun its attack.

  And its primary target was—

  None other than Titania.

  "Cough."

  Titania wiped the sweat from her cheek, her sword radiating powerful energy.

  She stood alone before the water curtain, enduring the suffocating heat and relentless flames.

  "I cannot believe how at odds I am with this place..."

  She smiled, her expression sharpened by unwavering focus.

  Before her, thousands of ash creatures advanced, their forms wreathed in unholy fire.

  Several leaves of her wings were scorched, and her body bore clear marks of battle.

  Lowering the tip of her blade to the ground, she steadied herself.

  "You are one shredded being, Viknod."

  Holding back the advancing tide of the Devourer’s minions, Titania tightened her grip around Avalon’s hilt.