"So this is Purgatory, the land of fire and destruction! Even the creatures that live in it represent that."
Hanami's voice carried just enough disbelief to cut through the thick, sulfuric air.
Her eyes swept across the horizon—an endless sprawl of burning valleys and shattered stone, where the ground cracked like old skin and lava bled from deep wounds beneath the earth.
The heat made everything shimmer.
The witches and Zayne had seen this before. They walked forward with that same steady pace—confident but cautious. This place didn't frighten them anymore.
But for the witches of the West and the three humans, this was something else.
Their first time stepping into a place where death didn't feel like a possibility—it felt like a guarantee. The kind of place that pressed against your chest with every breath.
Vayro tried to look unbothered, arms crossed, eyes half-lidded. RaelThorn did the same, his face locked into that warrior calm he always defaulted to.
