As if summoned by my words, the landscape ahead opened into a vast crater carved from midnight-black stone.
At its center rose a structure that defied architectural logic—twisted spires that seemed to fold in on themselves, connected by bridges that shouldn't have been able to support them.
And throughout the impossible construction, veins of pure crimson energy pulsed like a heartbeat, casting everything in hellish light.
"The Fragment Nexus," Feng breathed, her scholarly instincts overriding her exhaustion. "The research notes mentioned it, but seeing it…"
The fragments were there, alright. Dozens of them, ranging from fist-sized shards to massive crystalline structures that hummed with concentrated demonic power.
They floated in slow orbits around the central spire, each one radiating enough energy to power a small sect's formations for decades.
But they weren't unguarded.
The silence ruptured.
