She is Gone!

Ariel moved through the palace corridors with measured steps, each one careful, controlled.

To anyone watching, she was simply wandering. Exploring.

But in reality, her heart was racing, and her mind was carefully mapping every hallway, looking for every possible exit.

She needed to find a way out.

This Palace of Hell was both a masterpiece and a nightmare.

The floors beneath her feet were obsidian-black, polished to a glassy sheen, reflecting the flickering glow of torches mounted along the towering walls. Their eerie greenish flames crackled without warmth, casting shadows that seemed too alive, too watchful.

The ceiling stretched high above her, vanishing into endless darkness, its structure shifting as if it breathed.

She passed a row of massive arched windows, but outside, there was no sky—only swirling storms of red and black mist, shifting like liquid smoke.

Her stomach twisted.

This place wasn't meant for mortals.