"I can't act rashly. I'll wait and see."
Ian sat at the edge of the crater for a while, confirming that no new Doomsdays emerged from its mouth and that no further movement came up from beneath the grayish-white layer of smoke.
The wind had stopped completely, and the air was still once more. Even the residual heat in the ground was slowly fading. He stood and brushed the dust from his pant legs.
He gave the crater one last look, then raised his head.
"In this world, neither God's divine power nor demonic power seems to work very well. Is that why Lucifer met his downfall here?"
His gaze traveled up along the grayish-white column of smoke, passing through the truncated haze and the pale gray sky. It looked like a thin, even barrier pressed tightly against the edge of the atmosphere, blocking the stars beyond from sight.
When Ian had flown up earlier, he had already approached that barrier. At the time, he had not examined its structure closely, only sensed its presence.
Now, he decided to fly beyond it.
"Interesting. I need to study this."
Ian took off again.
This time, he did not stop at a lower altitude, but climbed straight upward, moving somewhat faster than before.
The air rushed past his ears. The atmosphere thinned at higher altitudes, and the temperature fell, though not drastically. Soon, he saw where the barrier curved along the horizon. A few kilometers above him, the pale gray membrane stretched out in an almost imperceptible expanse.
Like a layer of air fixed at that altitude.
"This little obstacle can't stop me." He did not slow down and flew straight through the barrier. The resistance was slight. As he passed through the membrane, its edge trembled softly, like water disturbed by