Baran Tower City.
The heat vanished as they crossed the threshold.
It didn't fade nor weaken.
It died.
One step past the colossal stone archway of the tower city and the crushing furnace of the Red Desert was filtered into something mild and breathable.
The rotten sulfur-stench dissolved into clean air.
Even the light shifted… no longer blinding red, but a muted copper glow that reflected off polished stone roads and ivory-white towers stacked endlessly upward like a ladder to the sky.
Nero blinked.
Once. Twice.
"Huh…?"
Merlin lifted her hat slightly in surprise.
"It's… cool?"
Lancelot stretched both arms overhead.
"Oh, finally— I thought my skin was about to peel."
Thorin stomped the ground with his boot.
"Aye. Proper city barrier. Expensive craft."
Vivianne spoke calmly.
"[Barrier Magic]. It filters heat, toxins, mana radiation, and foreign contaminants. All tower cities in the Red Desert are protected by layered ancient arrays."
Nero slowly exhaled.
