Chapter 76: The Tasks – The Ruin Will Break Her 1

THE NEXT MORNING

The carriage rolled to a slow, deliberate stop, the horses' breath misting in the cold, stale air. The silence was unnatural—no wind, no insects, just an eerie stillness that settled into Rose's bones.

Lucifer stepped down first, his movements slow, deliberate. He didn't look around; he didn't need to.

His crimson eyes flickered once toward the ruin ahead—a towering mass of cracked stone and decayed pillars, its entrance nothing more than a jagged maw of darkness.

Rose hesitated at the carriage steps, gripping the frame before reluctantly hopping down. The ground felt... off. Too firm, yet too soft, like it wasn't completely real. A shiver ran up her spine.

She turned to the coachmen. They were stiff, their gazes averted, shoulders tight. Normally, they would've jumped down to unload supplies, but neither moved.

Something was wrong.

Rose swallowed. "Where... are we?"