Chapter 1053 - The Crimson Dance (1)

The fragile illusion of hearth and home shattered violently around Arthur like fractured glass, dissolving not into gentle motes but into sharp, glittering fragments of light and shadow. The comforting warmth vanished instantly, replaced by the stark, cold, and fundamentally alien geometry of Alyssara's true inner sanctum. Non-Euclidean angles met smooth, featureless surfaces wrought from materials that seemed to drink the ambient light, creating an unsettling, almost lightless environment despite the lack of distinct shadows. The air was thin, carrying the faint, cloying perfume of roses underscored by something metallic, like ozone or old blood, and the low, dissonant thrum of immense, contained divine power.