In that single, explosive instant, the world around Ethan twisted violently out of shape.
His Mindscape collapsed without warning. The islands of his soul vanished as if erased, and everything he knew was crushed into one overwhelming sensation, one burning vision that swallowed all else.
Red.
Not the red of blood, but the red of a world consumed by fire.
Scarlet flames crawled across the ground and surged through the sky, roaring endlessly, filling every direction with heat and fury. The air itself seemed to burn. It felt less like a place and more like a punishment, as if Hell had been given form.
"The Heart-Devil Realm?" Ethan muttered, grasping at the specter's earlier words.
He had already sensed something deeply wrong the moment he arrived here. That unease was why he had instinctively expanded his soul-form, trying to tear free from this unfamiliar confinement and force his way back into his own Mindscape.
Only now did he understand how pointless that struggle had been.
