The air exploded in waves of raw energy.

The forest was no longer a forest—it was a field of echoes. The ground vibrated like a living drum, and the purple seal beneath Kael's feet pulsed with a rhythm that did not belong to this world.

Umbra floated nearby, her form oscillating between matter and shadow, almost undone by the weight of the energy emanating from the rift.

Ahri, who had appeared among the trees—the previous portal had brought her there—watched the distortion with sparkling eyes, the air around her trembling with heat and fear.

Kael, still kneeling, raised his face, feeling the wind carry leaves and fragments of mana.

The pulsation of the seal accelerated, like a heart about to tear the seams of reality.

"Umbra," he murmured, his voice hoarse but full of command, "is this a portal?"

Umbra looked at the pulsating circle and then at him. "I'm not sure. It's something... between planes. It could be a point of passage—or a devouring abyss."

Kael slowly turned to Ahri, who was observing the seal with a grave expression.

The bluish fire of her tails crackled, as if reacting to the call of that energy.

"Ahri," he said, "is it a portal?"

She took a deep breath, her eyes shining in amber and gold tones.

"Yes. But not an ordinary portal. This seal was designed to break the veil... not between worlds, but between existences. It connects the material plane to Hell."

Umbra recoiled. "Hell?! Are you sure?!"

Ahri nodded. "Absolutely. I smell the sulfur and the taste of burnt blood. The currents of the underworld are moving—someone is trying to open a passage from there."

Kael was silent for a moment. The wind ceased.

The purple glow turned white, almost translucent.

The seal trembled, waiting. Calling. Umbra floated towards him, desperate. "Kael, no! If you cross that, there's no guarantee of return! Not even the Umbrals dare to tread in Hell!"

But Kael simply stood up, his face calm—too calm.

His shadow shifted behind him, as if understanding what was to come.

"If there are answers there," he said, "that's where I'll find them."

Ahri tried to intervene, her voice trembling. "You don't understand what you're saying. Hell isn't a place, it's a will. A prison of consciousness. A… devouring."

Kael turned his gaze to her. A look full of determination and melancholy.

"Then perhaps it's time to ask the prison why it still breathes."

Umbra grabbed him by the arm. "Kael!"

He looked at her and, for an instant, the golden light of before returned to his eyes—a glimpse of who he was before the ruin.

"Trust me, Umbra."

And then, without hesitation, he stepped forward.

The seal swallowed him.

Light exploded, and the sound ceased.

Umbra and Ahri were thrown back, the impact reverberating through the forest like thunder.

When the dust settled, the seal had disappeared—only a black scar marked the ground.

Silence.

A profound emptiness.

Kael felt his body grow heavy, the air he breathed denser, colder.

He opened his eyes—and the world around him was colorless.

The ground was made of hardened ashes, cracked like burnt skin.

The sky… didn't exist. Only a scarlet vastness, where streams of flaming energy rose and fell like serpents of light.

Around him, mountains floated, inverted—their bases pointing upwards, while rivers of lava flowed through the suspended valleys.

The sound was a mixture of lament and wind. And the air... it smelled of iron.

Kael took a step forward. The ground moved beneath his feet, alive.

From afar, something was dragging itself along—a twisted silhouette, screaming without a mouth, crying without eyes.

He raised his sword instinctively, but the metal itself seemed to tremble.

The blade reflected the surroundings... and in it, his reflection had no face.

"So this is it..." he murmured, his voice echoing more than it should. "Hell."

A laugh echoed.

Not loud, but close—inside his mind.

Old, broken, familiar.

"You've always been stubborn, Kael."

He spun around quickly, but there was no one there.

The voice continued: "Do you really think you can cross the Veil and come out unscathed?"

Kael clenched his fists. "Show yourself."

The air vibrated.

Not like wind—but like a soundless scream, a tremor in the very structure of the world.

The ashes beneath Kael's feet began to move, drawing symbols in glowing embers.

From the emptiness before him, the space tore open. First a line, then a crack, and from it escaped a sweet and rotten smell at the same time, like perfume mixed with warm blood.

Two hands emerged, pale and long, adorned with black claws that clinked like metal.

A pair of translucent wings rose from behind the crevice, fluttering in dark flames.

And then she stepped out—sinuous, ethereal, enveloped in veils that moved like living smoke.

Each step she took left crimson trails on the ash-covered ground.

Her skin seemed made of polished ivory, her eyes—two abysses of pure scarlet.

Her hair, long and black as pitch, danced with the fire that did not burn.

Kael instinctively raised his sword.

The blade trembled.

The very shadow beneath his feet recoiled.

The woman smiled—a smile of fine, perfect teeth.

Her voice was low, melodic, and carried a strange sweetness, dangerous and irresistible.

"Interesting…" she said, observing him from head to toe. "A living being… down here."

Kael maintained his stance. "Who are you?"

She took a step forward. The ashes parted beneath her feet, and black flowers—made of smoke and fire—sprouted wherever she passed.

"A name… so small for what I am." The tip of her finger touched the air, tracing a symbol that sparked with demonic energy. "But if you need a name…"

She stopped before him, so close that Kael felt the heat—and the poison—emanating from her body.

"I am the Demon Queen, Lilith."

The name seemed to vibrate in the air, like a note echoing in his very soul.

Kael felt the pressure increase—an invisible weight settling on his shoulders.

Lilith tilted her head slightly, her eyes scanning every detail of him, like someone observing a curious object. "It has been a long time since a mortal has set foot here with body and soul intact. Those who fall… fall only in spirit. But you…" She smiled, touching her chin with a finger, "…you came whole."

Kael kept his gaze steady, but felt her power infiltrating him like smoke.

"I came for answers."

"Answers?" — she laughed, a crystalline laugh that echoed throughout the valley of fire. "Ah, my dear… Hell is made of questions. The answers were devoured ages ago."

She began to walk in circles around him, like a predator studying its prey.

"But tell me… what brings you to my home? A man who carries the scent of ruin, the touch of shadow, and the look of a condemned man. You don't belong in heaven… nor in the abyss. What exactly are you?"

Lilith watched him in silence.

Her red eyes gleamed, reflecting the fire of the underworld like mirrors of liquid blood.

Kael, motionless, kept his sword lowered, but the tip still trembled—not from fear, but from the weight of that presence.

When he finally spoke, his voice came out harsh, deep, like iron scraping stone:

"Why did you attack Azalith?"

The sound of the name echoed like muffled thunder, swallowed by the emptiness of Hell.

Lilith blinked slowly, her expression overflowing with surprise and a touch of amusement.

"Azalith…" she repeated, tasting the name on her tongue, like someone savoring a distant memory. "A mortal city, isn't it? Lights, towers, fresh blood and hurried hearts… ah, it's been so long since I've heard that name."

"Answer me." — Kael took a step forward.

Lilith raised an eyebrow. The ground beneath her feet cracked in circles, but she did not move.

"And what exactly do you think I have to do with it, little intruder?"

Kael tightened his grip on the sword. "It was a coordinated attack. Corruption, beasts with negative mana, rituals of desecration."

Lilith let out a low, melodious laugh, but without humor.

"The same pattern, yes. But not the same command." She took a slow step towards him, and the air around them seemed to become liquid, dense, hot.

"Tell me, mortal: why do you all assume that anything that breathes darkness belongs to me?"

Kael didn't answer. He just stared at her—his eyes hard, focused.

Lilith sighed and continued:

"Do you think Hell sends armies to play with your fragile worlds? That I waste my time invading human cities?"

She raised her hands, and the horizon opened up—revealing the vast desert of ashes, where legions of demonic forms moved like shadows in the wind.

"Look… if I wanted to invade, nothing would remain to tell the tale."

Kael didn't look away. "Then who is behind this?"

Lilith narrowed her eyes.

"Good question. But perhaps you should start in the right place: I wasn't the one who broke the veil."

She circled him slowly, like a storm taking shape.

"You did."

The sentence fell like a blade.

Kael turned sharply to her.

"A lie."

"A lie?" Lilith tilted her head, her long hair flowing like living mist. "You crossed the seal, didn't you? You felt the call, the pulse. And you answered it. Who do you think opened the way?"

Kael took a deep breath. "I just entered."

"And in doing so, you tore the fabric that separates our worlds." Lilith smiled, showing a glimpse of fine fangs. "You don't understand, do you? This place… Hell… isn't a prison of bodies, it's a prison of wills. Everything that enters here, enters because Hell itself desires it."

Umbra.

The memory of her face flashed in Kael's mind.

The seal. The call. The feeling of being pushed—and pulled—at the same time.

Lilith watched him, sensing his hesitation.

"Ah… so now you're beginning to understand." She moved even closer, until the distance between them was only a breath. "You weren't brought here by me, mortal. You were brought by him."

Kael frowned. "Him?"

Lilith laughed, but there was something dark in that laughter.

"Hell has a heart. A center. A throne that has pulsed since the first sin. And sometimes, that throne calls."

She turned away, looking at the distorted horizon. "Perhaps what attacked your city didn't come from outside… but from within. A reflection, a rift, an escape from the very corrupted essence of the world."

Kael remained silent, his gaze lost for a moment.

"So… the demons I saw, the ones who fought in Azalith—"

"They weren't mine." Lilith cut in, dryly. "None of them bore my seal. If they were mine, you wouldn't be standing here asking questions." She turned back to him, now with a more serious expression.

"You made a mistake, mortal. You entered where you shouldn't have, by mistake or arrogance. And now you are in my domain."

Kael maintained a calm tone, but the tension in his voice was evident. "And what do you intend to do with me, then?"

Lilith smiled again—a smile that mixed pleasure and curiosity.

"That depends."

She approached, the heat around her burning the air. "You are different. I can feel it. Your soul is not completely alive… but it is not dead either. There is something in you… something that Hell wants."

Kael watched her, steadily. "And you want it too?"

Lilith laughed, slightly turning her face, her gaze sparkling.

"Wanting is a weak word. I want to understand."

She touched his chest with the tip of her finger—and where the touch occurred, red sparks spread like embers.

"You are an anomaly. An echo between worlds. If you didn't come here to kill me…"—she tilted her head, her red eyes shining intensely—"…then perhaps you came to free something. Or someone."

Kael took a step back, his breathing heavy.

"I didn't come to free anyone."

"No?"—Lilith laughed, her ivory teeth gleaming.—"Tell that to the seal that now bleeds on the ground of your world. Tell that to the shadows that began to move when you crossed the veil."

Kael closed his eyes for an instant. The seal, the voices, the purple energy—it all made sense in a terrible way.

Perhaps it wasn't an infernal attack.

Perhaps it was a calling.

When he opened his eyes, Lilith was watching him intently, as if she could see inside him.

"Do you still think you came looking for answers?" she asked. "No, Kael. You are the answer."

Silence fell like a burden. The entire Hell seemed to hold its breath.

Kael, motionless, felt the weight of those words accumulating in his chest.

Lilith smiled—a sad, almost human smile.

"Welcome to the heart of error, mortal. Here… nothing is what it seems."

[You have been affected by Manipulation of Reason, origin: Lilith]