The air outside the Grave of the Forgotten was thick and suffocating, carrying the distinct, metallic scent of ozone and rotting earth.
Located on the outskirts of the Ares Domain's sector forty-two, the C-Rank Fracture Zone had materialized in the middle of an abandoned, centuries-old cemetery.
Twisted iron gates loomed under the pale moonlight, overgrown with black, thorny vines that pulsed faintly with corrupted mana.
Zen stood in the shadows just outside the perimeter, pulling the collar of his dark tactical jacket up against the biting wind.
The ambient mana in this sector was foul. It wasn't the standard magical residue left behind by typical undead dungeons; it was a dense, heavy energy that dragged at the lungs.
It was unrefined Void energy, a lingering infection from the Abyssal Trench that had seeped into the local ley-lines and started mutating the lower-tier rifts.
