A dead sea stretched before him, its pitch-black surface thick as sludge. Countless monstrous shadows writhed and twisted, their eerie claws reaching toward the sky before falling and crumbling away.
Other dark shapes, like people in a daze, emerged from the woods and waded into the dead sea, dragging themselves forward, then collapsing, crawling out again, and collapsing once more, until they, too, became part of that dead sea.
Black rocks and peaks surrounded him on every side. Farther in, colorless, grotesque trees were visible, some bearing vividly scarlet fruit that looked luscious and ripe.
Gray-white flames rose soundlessly from a black goat's head. Afrit awoke from confusion and discovered that he was lying at the edge of the dead sea's mudflats.
Thick clouds obscured the sky, and a drizzle fell endlessly, yet it could not extinguish the flames on the duke's body.
The duke's head ached a little. He felt as though he had dreamed a long dream, chasing something with all his might in a world filled with color.
Deep within the dead sea, arms stretching upward resembled a grotesque giant tree, holding something aloft.
Directly above it, a strand of white light could be found among the gloomy clouds, yet at the center of that white light lay bottomless darkness, dripping downward like thick ink.
The sight sent shivers through anyone who looked at it. It brought nothing to mind; terror simply arose in their hearts of its own accord.
Suddenly, a tear opened in the sky, and magnificent light shone down. Immediately afterward, an enormous, clean silver-white arm reached through, heading straight for Afrit.
Even Duke Inferno was startled at that moment. It looked as though someone had torn the world open from outside. In his haste, he frantically tried to flee, but how could he