A vast scorched wasteland stretched as far as the eye could see, filled with crimson and dusky yellow. Lava flowed freely across the land like streams, while the pungent stench of burning sulfur permeated the entire world.
This was not a place where humans could survive normally. Perhaps only demons would find it delightful—but for some, this was the only place they could live.
Upon land where the collapse of the world and the tearing of space had thrown gravity into chaos, the ruins of a temple, with almost nothing but its foundation left, drifted weakly through the poison-filled air.
The powerful figures who had once lived within it had either been utterly annihilated or willingly bent their knees.
In the sky, a mass of black mist suddenly churned. Looking closer, one could see that something monstrous seemed to be struggling to crawl out from within.
In the end, an enormous, horrifying mouth emerged. Its pitch-black tongue licked through the poisonous air several times.
The creature seemed to be searching for something, but after finding nothing, it returned to the black mist and vanished into the air alongside rolling sulfurous smoke.
Long after it had left, the remaining rubble atop the foundation trembled. A broken stone slab, tilted at a forty-five-degree angle by the irregular gravity, shifted slightly.
A moment later, the slab was carefully moved aside, and a gaunt figure whose gender and age could no longer be discerned crawled out.
"The searches have been getting more frequent lately. It seems Herpo doesn't even intend to leave us a chance to cling to life..." The man's voice, long corroded by poisonous gas, was hoarse and dry as he spoke toward the opening beneath the slab.
Another person crawled out with great difficulty, her long hair resembling a headful of