Early upload, unedited chapter, might contain a few mistakes, will be edited.
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In the inner zone, before the gate, Cael stood with a helpless expression.
The air around him was still and cold, carrying the faint metallic scent of the blood realm beyond the gate. The silence pressed against his ears, broken only by the slow, rhythmic pulse of crimson light bleeding through the gate's surface. Shadows stretched long across the stone floor, flickering like dying embers.
It had been a few hours since he had swapped with the Frostflame Clone and arrived back in the inner zone. The memory of the serpent's glowing eyes and the vortex of red energy still lingered in his mind, a constant reminder of how close he had come to death. He had barely escaped with his life, and the weight of that near-failure pressed against his chest like a physical burden.
