The sky was a heavy, oppressive black—not the deep darkness of night, but a lifeless, deathly black.
Yet flames burned across the land. They seemed to be rising from fissures in the lava, and by their light, the earth could be seen to be brownish-red, as though it had been dyed crimson with blood.
Upon this land steeped in oppressive gloom, a white-robed young man who had been laughing wildly suddenly transformed into a hideous, terrifying aberration. Shouting madly, he lunged at a dreadful black shadow.
Meanwhile, on the other side, a familiar figure was slowly rising to his feet...
Dodolo abruptly opened his eyes. His pale pupils contracted into slits, and sweat covered his forehead.
A chill ran down his spine, and an indescribable knot weighed upon his heart.
Just then, a tap-tap-tap of footsteps sounded by his ear. A hunched figure entered from outside. She first went to the fireplace and, with a snap of her fingers, extinguished more than half of the blazing fire within.
Then she slowly walked to the bedside. The woolen carpet spread across the floor softened her footsteps.
"Drenched in sweat—you don't look as though you slept. You look as though you spent the whole night exerting yourself," said the elderly voice of the newcomer.
Only then did Dodolo come back to himself. Looking at the old woman beside him, he said, "Mentor Maya, you're here."
"You knew I was coming?" The speaker was Maya, the prophecy wizard of Savage Cave, known as the 'Starry Sky Measurer.'
Dodolo nodded. "I saw some images before."
Maya gave Dodolo a deep look. She knew he was probably not lying. In other words, he had truly seen certain images, and those images involved her. Yet Maya had not felt the slightest sense of being watched.
That