Third Person's POV
Velcy clung to him with warmth and affection and wrapped her soft arms snugly around his torso.
She leaned in and nuzzled into the crook of his neck while casting occasional glances at the lingering bruises and injuries marring his skin.
Without hesitation, she began licking the wounds with a soft and almost instinctual care as her cool tongue cooled the warmth of his battered skin.
Virelle joined them quietly and rested beside him with her delicate fingers tracing lightly over his hand and occasionally brushing those dark spots with a gentle curiosity and concern.
After a while, the trio finally settled into a mont of rare peace.
Bolt, the little black chick, flitted in with a flutter and began nibbling at the dark lightning residue seeping faintly from Ethan's wounds.
Its small beak grazed the torn skin as if savoring so precious nectar, and before long, the bird toppled sideways with a soft chirp in a clearly satiated state.
He landed in a fluffy heap of its feathers and promptly dozed off.
Even the girls couldn't help but stare in amusent and shock as their eyes went wide with wonder at the little creature's strange appetite.
Ti passed gently, and the world inside the carriage was wrapped in quiet intimacy.
Eventually, the calm gave way to awe as a colossal silhouette broke through the haze of red dust hanging on the far horizon.
The structure was imnse as it pierced the crimson clouds and was only partially visible through the swirls of the wasteland's heavy atmosphere.
Even from such a far distance, Ethan could see its vague outline looming like a mountain from another world and sending a tremor through the stillness.
Ethan sat up slightly, and beside him, the girls also turned their heads toward the horizon.
Through the red mist, they could now make out the shapes of other travelers, the occasional carriages, their wheels crunching over the rocky wasteland, and majestic Elder Tusk Mammoths lumbering forward in solemn silence.
Atop their massive backs rode groups of young n and won, their appearances marked with horns, tails, and demonic auras, indicating that they were mainly of demonic origin and were clearly headed in the sa direction.
Soon, after several hours, far more than Ethan had initially anticipated, they finally reached their destination.
As he stepped out of the carriage, Ethan's breath caught in his throat, and his eyes widened in imnse disbelief at the surreal spectacle before him.
Towering high into the sky, a colossal crimson mountain stood rooted in defiance of the heavens as its summit lay far beyond the reach of even his enhanced magical sight.
Its form was monolithic and jagged like a massive monunt carved by ti and nature alike.
He looked down and saw a vast, circular ridge wrapping around its base like a protective band while detaching it entirely from the mainland.
Below that ridge yawned a monstrous, pitch-black chasm and a deep, dark abyss that devoured light and radiated a silence so absolute it felt alive.
The dark pit extended for three to four kilotres in diater in width, and from their vantage point on the cliff opposite, it felt like they were gazing into the mouth of an ancient and malevolent hell.
The sheer depth and density of the darkness unsettled the girls.
Their skin prickled with goosebumps, and their hair stood on end as an invisible pressure seed to press down on them.
But for Ethan, the effect was quite the opposite.
He felt no fear but only a tingling exhilaration that was coiled with a cautious apprehension.
Sothing deep within the abyss seed to be calling out to him.
It wasn't a voice or a sound but a pulse and a rhythm that beat like a silent drum in his bones.
It excited and thrilled him, though so part of his experienced instincts warned him against it, and he had an inkling that what he was feeling was the thrill of a predator scenting danger and relishing the challenge.
Just then, a gentle tap on his arm snapped him from his thoughts, and he turned to find Virelle looking at him with a knowing smile.
Her laughter bubbled up in a soft and almost musical manner.
"I knew you would be stunned by this, which is why I didn't say a word the entire way," she said playfully.
"Now, shall we continue onward, Brother Ethan?"
He gave her a short nod with appreciation and adoration flickering in his gaze.
Turning to Velcy, he paused mid-step as a chuckle escaped his lips.
A tiny yellow head, covered in soft sandy fur, peeked out fearfully from the end of her long sleeve.
The little sand cat was clearly terrified by the ominous surroundings and had buried itself inside her clothing like a frightened kitten.
Yet, its curiosity was far from subdued as it peeked out with its wide olive green eyes that sparkled despite the heavy atmosphere, only to retreat imdiately when it noticed his amused gaze.
Ethan's grin widened at the adorable contradiction.
Returning his attention to Virelle, he asked calmly yet with a spark of expectation in his voice,
"I assu the Abyssal Sanctum and that mysterious Crimson Kill Tower you spoke of both lie atop that mountain, don't they?"
Virelle nodded with an amazed gleam in her eye.
"Yes, Brother Ethan. This sky piercing mountain is Devil Abyss Mountain, and it shelters our destination."
In another mont, those words might have shaken him. But now, he had already begun piecing it together.
His sharp eyes had long noticed the massive bronze wires stretching from the edge of the ridge to the peak of the mountain, disappearing into the thick curtain of red clouds that shrouded its summit like a crown of smoke and fire.
Each of the colossal bronze wires was nearly five tres in radius and stretched upward for kilotres, with them being anchored solidly into both the other end and the peak.
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