Kaelen sprinted across the barren expanse, crunching his boots against the cracked ground. The vastness of the Second Layer stretched before him in every direction, an oppressive wasteland devoid of life and color. His breath was fogged in the cold and still air as he muttered under his breath, frustration mounting with every step.
"Where the hell is that damn thing?"
The obelisk—he remembered its presence vividly. It had loomed, half-buried in the brittle soil with its alien carvings that were radiating an unsettling aura. But now, as he scoured the horizon, he saw nothing but the monotonous desolation. No landmarks, no shadows to guide him, just the same endless, hollow landscape. In the distance, the storm wall of the second and center layer rose ominously, its jagged edges were crackling with violent energy, a stark contrast to the eerie stillness around him.
