Minutes stretched into what felt like hours as they traversed the ashen landscape. Then, as if nature itself had drawn back a curtain, the trees thinned, revealing a vista that seared itself into their memories.
Before them sprawled a mountain range unlike any other - a nightmarish tableau of stone and fire. Geysers of molten rock burst forth from jagged peaks, rivers of lava carved crimson veins down the mountainsides, painting the world in hues of orange and red.
Gladius inhaled sharply, the acrid air burning his lungs. "By the sword," he whispered, his voice barely audible over the distant rumble of the earth. "I've never seen anything like this."
Arianna nodded, her face a mask of awe and trepidation. "The raw power here... it's intoxicating. Can you feel it, Gladius? The way the mana saturates everything?"
He could. The sword energy within him surged in response to the primal forces at play, begging to be unleashed.
