This swamp was called the Black Mist Swamp, as marked clearly on the map Max had studied.
A dangerous place stretching thousands of miles in radius, it was littered with venomous creatures—snakes with barbed fangs, bloated toads the size of dogs, scorpions with crystalline tails, and centipedes as thick as a man's arm and longer than a sword.
But these creatures weren't the real danger.
According to the annotations left by the elders of the Great Ruler Empire, it was the black fog that truly earned this swamp its ominous name.
The notes warned with unusual emphasis: 'Do not engage the black fog. Do not get lost in it. Flee if it appears.'
This strange black mist, as they recorded, had a life of its own. It could form out of nowhere, seeping from the ground, rolling like a sentient tide. Creatures lurked within it—beings unseen and unnatural.
No one had ever made it out after being swallowed by the fog.
