The air shimmered. Then tore open.
Jack Mystery appeared in the strange forest. A spectral silhouette against the alien light. The masked stage-magician's specter. A blend of ethereal mist and sharp form.
No audible sound accompanied his arrival. Not even a quiet hum of displaced reality. Only visual existence.
Next to him, a shimmering wisp coalesced. Bobbing gently. It was Rune, his silent, sentient mechanical fairy. Now an ethereal orb of light. Seamlessly adapting to the dimensional shift.
This was the place. The destination that the masked woman had teleported him to. A fleeting detour from his pummeling of the Calamity Stars. He had marked it. Anchored it. And now he returned with purpose. Exploration.
Jack realized exploration demanded a specific approach. While Judge Jack handled brute force and Racer Jack speed, Jack Mystery was the incarnation for stealth. For investigation. For uncovering secrets. Without announcing his presence.
He was already largely intangible. But a thought solidified his intent. His entire form disappeared. Becoming truly invisible.
Rune, always linked, followed suit. Its wisp-like glow dimming to imperceptibility.
The forest was a riot of unfamiliar biology. Nothing like the forest on his own Earth. The one at present or in his previous life.
Trees twisted skyward like skeletal hands. Their bark was a deep, pulsating violet. It felt alive. A slow, rhythmic throb beneath the surface.
Their leaves, if they could be called that, were vast, phosphorous amber-colored fronds. They were catching the faint, ambient light. And scattering it in shimmering patterns.
The ground below was carpeted in a spongy, red moss. It looked oddly resilient. Springy. Like a vast, organic sponge.
Dotted within this crimson carpet were strange fungi. Not like terrestrial mushrooms. But bulbous growths that pulsed with a soft, internal blue glow. Casting eerie shadows that danced with his invisible passage.
Above, the sky was a canvas of purple shades. Streaked with veins of emerald green. As if a cosmic artist had poured his weird inspiration there. There was no sun. No moon. Just this perpetual glow.
Pink fireflies drifted lazily through the air. Their luminescence adding to the surreal panorama. And everywhere, strange bioluminescent insects, resembling floating jellyfish, also drifted with the currents of the air.
The air itself held a faint scent of damp, unidentifiable flora. It was beautiful in a primal, dangerous way. A place where nature had been given free rein to experiment.
Jack moved through the surreal landscape. A silent, invisible observer. His mind noted the bizarre flora. The way the light played. The strange insects.
Soon, he encountered other creatures. Small, chittering things with multiple limbs and iridescent carapaces. They were scuttling through the glowing moss. They had too many eyes and moved with an unnerving, jerky speed.
Then, larger, plant-like entities. Rooted to the ground. They snapped open petal-like mouths. Revealing rows of crystalline teeth when another creature passed too close.
They didn't sense him. But their instinctual reactions were clear. This place was not benign.
He continued deeper. The ground slowly sloping downwards. The trees grew even more gnarled. Their violet bark seeming to pulse with a greater intensity. The air grew heavier. Warmer.
Then, he saw it. A colossal form. Partially obscured by the ugly trees. A mountain of flesh and scales.
It was enormous. Easily dwarfing the largest terrestrial creatures he knew. This was the sleeping, gigantic creature. It looked like a hydra. But far more monstrous than any myth had depicted.
A dozen heads rested on massive, serpentine necks. Each head was armored with copper-like scales.
Its wicked, horn-like protrusions were completely visible. And even in sleep, the aura of devastation could be felt. Emanating from the creature.
A low, rumbling snore vibrated through the ground. A sound that implied immense power held barely in check. Its breath was like a hot, sulfurous sigh.
This thing could level a small town if it woke up in a bad mood. Jack kept his distance. Making a wide circle. Observing. Noting the powerful, slow rise and fall of its colossal body.
'Definitely not something to poke with a stick.' Jack mused. A phantom smirk on his spectral lips. 'Unless I wanted to start a regional extinction event.'
He continued his exploration. His curiosity piqued by the sheer unreality of it all.
Several hours later. Quite far away from the Hydra...
Jack heard something different. A guttural roar. Echoing through the strange flora. He paused. Before immediately drifting towards the noise.
He found a clearing. Or what passed for one in this chaotic forest. Here, the ground was churned up. The red moss was torn and splattered with something dark and viscous. Two creatures were locked in a brutal battle. Both were monstrous in size.
One was a black-scaled behemoth. Resembling a spiky Komodo dragon. But on a scale that put a heavy truck to shame.
Its hide was plated with jagged, bone-like protuberances. And its tail, thick as a tree trunk, ended in a spiked club.
It moved with surprising agility for its size. Its powerful legs were churning the ground as it lunged. Its jaws, lined with dagger-like teeth, snapped with terrifying force.
The other creature was a blue-scaled serpent. Impossibly long and coiled. But with a head that resembled a Triceratops. Three massive horns adorned its brow. And its neck frill was a shield of iridescent blue bone.
It moved with a fluid, coiling grace. Its head was weaving and striking like a battering ram.
The black-scaled beast lunged. Its jaws were clamping onto the serpent's mid-section. A sickening crunch echoed.
But the serpent merely shrieked. And slammed its triceratops head into the behemoth's flank. The impact sent ripples through the black creature's armor.
It roared in pain. Momentarily loosening its grip.
The serpent writhed free. Leaving behind torn scales and a gout of dark, oily fluid. It retaliated. Whipping its powerful tail. Which connected with the dragon's leg. Momentarily staggering it.
The two combatants were a whirlwind of scales, teeth, horns, and raw, untamed power. Jack watched. Invisible. Fascinated. This wasn't a petty territorial dispute. This was a fight to the death. A primal struggle for dominance.
Their roars shook the violet trees. And the air was filled with the stench of blood.
'Just another day in this place, huh?' Jack thought dryly.
He noted their fighting styles. Their vulnerabilities. Their ferocity... It was an important lesson. Who would know if he would have to face such kind of creature? Who would know if one day, he had an incarnation from such species?
The battle raged on. And Jack kept observing. While moving. He was trying to see the fight from many different perspectives.
But, Jack suddenly felt a shift in the air. A subtle energy fluctuation. Beside him, Rune, which had remained invisible, suddenly flared. It reappeared. As a wisp. But one that glowed with golden light.
It hovered for a moment. Then it began to drift. Not towards the battling beasts. But deeper into the forest. Away from the chaos.
It wasn't a random drift. It was deliberate. An almost insistent movement. The wisp's golden glow brightened. Urging him to follow.
Jack was always attuned to Rune's subtle cues. So, he didn't hesitate. He knew Rune wasn't just decorative. It was a highly sensitive construct with multiple detection methods. If it was leading him, it was for a reason.
He followed. Maintaining his invisibility. Leaving the bloody spectacle of the monster fight behind.
Rune led him downward. The slope of the land was becoming steeper. The light from the sky dimming as the canopy thickened. The pulsating violet trees grew denser. Their roots coiled like giant snakes.
Finally, Rune hovered before a small jagged opening in the ground. Almost swallowed by the overgrowth. It was a cave entrance. Narrow and dark. Breathing out an air that was cooler and damper than the forest above.
Rune's golden light pulsed more rapidly. A beacon in the gloom. Jack slipped through the opening. His human form wouldn't fit in there. But his specter form had no problem with it.
The passage quickly widened. Leading into a vast cavern system. The walls here were not rock. But looked like solidified, petrified root systems. Glistening with moisture.
Strange, glowing red moss coated patches of the cavern walls. Providing a faint crimson illumination.
Rune darted ahead. Its golden glow illuminated the path. Jack followed. His spectral form gliding effortlessly over the uneven floor. The air grew still. And then, he saw them. Gemstones.
They weren't merely around. They were embedded into the very structure of the cavern. Thousands of them. Clear orange gemstones. Varying in size from a baby's thumb to a man's fist.
They protruded from the cave walls, the ceiling, and even the floor. Each one was perfectly translucent. Like polished amber.
But within their depths, intricate red line patterns glowed with a soft, internal luminescence. It was like miniature, pulsating circulatory systems.
Rune circled one of the larger gemstones. Its golden light playing over the surface. Confirming its significance.
Jack reached out a spectral hand. Passing it through one of the smaller stones. He felt no heat. No cold. Just a faint, resonant vibration.
He withdrew his hand. And activated his [Eyes of Judgement]...