The Nether, also known as the Lower Realm, was a world of crimson as far as the eye could see.
Yet within this scarlet world, a single forest retained a different color. The patch of green, surrounded by the ambient red, looked particularly eerie.
"There it is again, that feeling of constantly being watched..."
Within a cavern carved into a cliffside in this strange forest, Phantylia resided. She frowned, peering out toward the cave's entrance, but found no one there.
The cave was small, only a few square meters, and contained not a single piece of furniture. The only thing that could be considered a decoration was a scroll Phantylia had conjured with her own power. The image on the scroll was of Fu Zhu.
Looking at the cave she now called home, Phantylia couldn't help but sigh.
When had she, a Lord of the Annihilation, been reduced to huddling in a tiny cave like some uncivilized primitive?
"Fu Zhu, oh, Fu Zhu," she fumed. "Tell me, what good did sacrificing your own life to seal me in this wretched world do for you? All I wanted was to overturn the Luofu. What does that have to do with your Astral Express? When did the Luofu become so important that a stranger like you would die for it..."
Phantylia glared at the portrait hanging on the wall, her teeth clenched in anger. But after the intense rage faded, all that remained was an empty void, and she sighed once more.
Her mind couldn't help but flash back to the various encounters she had experienced after being sealed by Fu Zhu in this crimson world.
At first, she had scoffed at Fu Zhu's talk of a "seal," assuming this world was merely a planet very, very far from the Luofu.
But in the time that followed, no matter which direction she flew, every attempt to leave this world ended in failure.
Flying upward, she broke through layer after layer of netherrack, only to be stopped by a gray "ceiling." She had no idea what this gray "ceiling" was made of, but even with all her strength, she couldn't leave the slightest scratch on its surface, let alone break through it.
Flying downward, she passed through scorching lava, but what lay beneath was the same bedrock she had encountered above, equally impassable.
Fortunately, while the sky and the depths were blocked by that strange material, she didn't encounter the bizarre blocks in any other direction.
However, when she continuously traveled in a single direction, covering a distance that in the outside world would have been enough to fly from one planet to another, this world still seemed to have no end.
If Phantylia wasn't certain that the environment around her was constantly changing, she would have thought she had encountered one of those "ghost walls" from a children's storybook.
Eventually, she gave up.
She finally understood what Fu Zhu had meant by a "seal." This infinite, hostile world was indeed a perfect place to imprison a Lord of the Annihilation.
In the end, Phantylia simply carved out a cave in this quiet, albeit eerie, forest and settled down, even though she would occasionally spot shadowy black figures secretly watching her.
Still, it was far safer here than in other regions.
After that, her only pastime became endlessly cursing the portrait of Fu Zhu. It was the only way to slightly alleviate the resentment in her heart.
"Fu Zhu, those black figures secretly watching me... they couldn't be your soul after you died, could they? Given your disgusting personality, I wouldn't put it past you..."
Phantylia suddenly sneered at the portrait. "Then again, I'm probably overthinking it. You're dead. You were nothing but a foolish mortal. Still, this feeling of being watched is truly unpleasant. I suppose I'll go and clean them up a bit."
Phantylia stood and walked out of the cave, preparing to eliminate all the Endermen lurking outside who were spying on her. This wasn't the first time she had done so.
She had encountered this situation many times before. Although these Endermen were troublesome, they were not impossible to kill.
As Phantylia emerged from the cave, she used her senses to locate the Endermen wandering nearby. Just as she was about to strike, she was startled to discover a familiar sensation emanating from their bodies.
"This is... the aura of the Path of [Finality]?! Since when..."
Phantylia stared in astonishment at a lone Enderman wandering in the distance. Its body was radiating an incredibly dense aura of a Path, something no Enderman she had encountered before possessed.
Just then, several more Endermen approached from the surroundings. They, too, carried the aura of the Path of [Finality], and it was just as strong!
"When did these monsters collectively become Pathstriders?!"
This bizarre phenomenon left Phantylia utterly shocked. One was strange enough, perhaps a coincidence. But for an entire group of Endermen to emit the same level of Path aura, the matter was far from simple.
It meant that this world was undergoing some kind of anomaly she had not yet discovered!
"What on earth happened? Why would the aura of a Path, which never existed here before, suddenly appear on these creatures?"
Phantylia was baffled. After a long moment of contemplation, she decided to investigate elsewhere.
She immediately flew off in another direction. She remembered passing through a vast expanse of netherrack, where countless Zombie Pigmen roamed. If they also showed a Path reaction... then this world had surely connected with the original world!
Otherwise, it would be impossible for a Path that was non-existent in this world to appear.
Phantylia quickly arrived over a patch of nether wasteland, her sharp gaze fixed on the Zombie Pigmen wandering below. After a careful inspection, she confirmed that the Zombie Pigmen below also possessed the aura of a Path!
"[The Hunt]... Has this world gone mad? Even these commonplace monsters are Pathstriders..."
Just as Phantylia was pondering what strange event had befallen this world, a Nether Portal, one she recognized all too well, materialized out of thin air on the wasteland not far away.
"Is that?!"
Phantylia's eyes widened in shock at the sudden appearance of the Nether Portal, and she immediately flew towards it.
---o---
On the other side, Silver Wolf squinted as she stepped out of the Nether Portal. She pressed a hand to her forehead, fighting off a wave of dizziness as she tried to get a good look at what the so-called Nether was like. Suddenly, a slender hand shot out and clamped around her throat, followed by her being slammed violently against the frame of the Nether Portal.
The immense force of the impact sent a jolt of pain through her back, causing her to let out a muffled grunt.
Before Silver Wolf could even figure out what was happening, Phantylia's icy voice echoed in her ear.
"Who are you? What is your relationship with Fu Zhu?!"
Silver Wolf turned her head to see who had grabbed her by the throat. When she saw it was Phantylia, her eyes widened in disbelief, and she couldn't stop a curse from escaping her lips.
"Holy shit, Phantylia, the Lord of Annihilation?!"