Inside the Dark Hut.
Raphael looked at the ground beneath his feet. It was a little soft, but not hot.
He asked the White Jade Orb, "Why does the Dark Hut look like this?"
The White Jade Orb said, "During the First Epoch, God Almighty once accommodated this characteristic. He believed that Devils and mutants who enjoyed cursing others ought to live in an environment like this."
Raphael glanced at the pool and asked, "Can we change how this place looks?"
The White Jade Orb replied, "I can establish a connection between you and the Dark Hut right now, but you must at least become a Demigod before you can become half its master. Once that happens, you can change it however you like."
Raphael took another look at the lava flowing through the valley. He couldn't help feeling that God Almighty's aesthetic sense left much to be desired, and that his understanding of Devils and mutants was far too shallow.
Fortunately, the remnant of God Almighty's psyche within him was in a self-sealed state. Otherwise, he would surely have demanded, "What's shallow about it? Tell me, what's shallow about it?"
Instead, Raphael said, "There's no hurry to establish a connection with the Dark Hut. Before that-"
Raphael looked toward the pool again. He had already noticed four people sitting in the wooden corridor beside it.
The first lay slumped on the ground, half his body seemingly melted and fused with the floor.
The second looked like a dried corpse, his utterly withered body seated in a meditative pose.
The third was nothing but a skeleton.
The fourth had become a large tree, with a face contorted in pain growing on its trunk. Its branches and leaves writhed incessantly. It looked less like a plant than an animal!
So Raphael