The countdown reached zero, and the world folded.
The endless beach, the restless ocean, the layered hills, all of it compressed into a single point before tearing apart. For a brief instant, there was nothing but silence and pressure, like being held inside a closed fist.
Then the mountain formed around them.
It was not natural terrain. The ground was a jagged expanse of black stone veined with dim crimson light that pulsed at uneven intervals, as if something beneath the surface was breathing. The air felt dense and dry at the same time, each inhale carrying a faint metallic taste. Above them, the peak rose sharply into a rotating band of cloud that circled the summit like a barrier.
There was no visible descent.
Only a heavy mist that swallowed everything below their feet.
The reaction came quickly.
