Chapter 5809

The moment Jared crossed that threshold, a force one hundred times richer-and far wilder-than anything outside slammed into him. It smelled of primeval wilderness and felt like a colossus of fire rousing from sleep to swallow him whole.

A single, resonant hum rippled through space, then the dizziness of transition broke, and the world opened like a curtain yanked from a stage.

Even Jared-tempered by battlefields and heavens alike—caught his breath.

He was not inside some petty cave-dweller’s hideout. He stood within a self-contained realm, cut loose from level ten itself, forged entirely from living fire.

Overhead stretched a sky of perpetual combustion: no sun, no moon, no stars-only rivers of molten flame thick as syrup.

To the east flowed newborn dawn-gold fire, warm yet imperious.

In the west, sunset-orange currents drifted like embers, solemn and vast.