Where am I?

*POV: Linfer*

"Where am I?" I thought. "Am I... dead? Just like that? Did that bitch kill me?"

I stood naked in a crimson world, an infernal landscape where desolation and fear seemed to breathe around me. The sky was veiled by thick, red clouds. Beneath my feet, the coppery earth stretched out, crisscrossed by rivers of blood that lazily snaked through, nourishing a world of morbid terror. Grotesque creatures slithered along these courses of horror, some even leaping into the sky, casting nightmarish shadows over this apocalyptic scene. Around me, dark-barked, cracked apple trees grew in this dead soil, bearing vivid red apples, shiny and tempting.

"Is this my inner world?" I wondered, plucking one of these radiant apples. Everything felt eerily familiar, as if I had trodden this infernal ground before. But when I brought the apple to my lips, I noticed with horror that my hand was cracked, like fragile ceramic ready to shatter at any moment.

"My spiritual body is disintegrating..." I thought, a chill of dread running through me. "How much time do I have left?"

I took a bite of the apple, which burst into a juicy, sweet nectar on my tongue. Looking down at my inner world from above, it stretched for hundreds of kilometers, reflecting the primal form of my soul: that of a thousand-headed serpentine being. Every moment in this place felt both real and unreal, a fragment of eternity stretched beyond time itself. I didn't know if years, decades, or centuries had passed. But I remember spending those endless days gazing at the crimson sky, bathing in the bloody rivers, and mingling with the gigantic serpentine creatures that populated this macabre kingdom. I knew them all, every form and movement. As if they were part of me, and they were.

Sitting on the red grass, staring at the horizon as usual, an unexpected sound echoed.

*Crack.*

I looked up. There, in the sky, a gaping fissure had opened, tearing through the very fabric of space-time. A portal hung in the sky, slowly widening. The other side of this breach wasn't just a cosmic void. It was a vision, no, a creature. A monstrous entity.

It emerged, colossal and nightmarish. Its dark tentacles floated in the air, each swaying like undead serpents, held by black thorns that dominated it. Its head was surrounded by smaller tentacles forming a crown around its multiple glowing eyes, each eye fixing on me with terrifying intensity. Gigantic wings stretched behind it, tattered membranes in dark hues on the outside and purple on the inside. These wings seemed to engulf much of the environment, making the atmosphere oppressive.

Its skin was thick, like a black carapace, embedded with patterns that pulsed with chaotic energy. Yet, this creature, despite its unimaginable power, was immobile, bound by the thorns that held it. But these vegetal chains were constantly disintegrating, eroded by a force I couldn't understand. They regrew quickly, tightening their grip, in a perpetual struggle, as if its own power was eroding the roots that held it.

A deep rumble shook my inner world, and the creature finally spoke. Its voice resonated like an earthquake, making the ground beneath me tremble.

"So, you're finally ready?"

I felt my entire body vibrate under the magnitude of its presence. My already weak soul contracted to resist this overwhelming force, keeping me from collapsing. I clenched my fists, struggling to stay standing.

*'This bastard!'*

"Who are you?" I shouted, my voice weak against this titanic entity.

The creature ignored my question, its attention momentarily elsewhere, as if it perceived something hidden. Its gaze lingered on a detail I couldn't comprehend.

"That symbol? So, she did it... as expected," it murmured, almost to itself, before returning to me, its piercing eyes plunging into mine. "I see you've already forged your inner world. But your soul is cracked."

It coldly analyzed my state, "This is far from enough if you want to avenge me."

*'Avenge you? I don't even know who you are! Is he mocking me?'* I thought, hiding my irritation behind an impassive facade as best I could.

"You know I can hear your thoughts?" it growled.

"Damn!"

"Never mind. I believe she's done good work. But the rest is up to you. Prove your worth, and only then..."

Before I could grasp the meaning of its final words, my vision blurred. Everything around me cracked, shattering like glass, reality exploding beneath my feet.

And in an instant... everything vanished.

***

*In one of the distant worlds of the lower plane.*

*ZiXiao Kingdom*

In a hall bathed in soft light, a man stood silently, seemingly deep in meditation. His face, finely chiseled, bore an ethereal and inhuman beauty. His skin, of an almost supernatural whiteness, seemed to shimmer under the cold glow of the lantern floating beside him.

He wore a sumptuous black robe, richly embroidered with floral patterns. Long silver hair, fluid and silky, framed his face, cascading over his shoulders and mingling with the subtle smoke swirling around him, suggesting the serenity of the atmosphere. His expression was impassive, cold, yet exuded a quiet inner strength, like a sleeping tiger.

The environment around him seemed to be a meditation chamber, marked by a palpable silence. Smoke rose delicately in the air, and the dim lighting from the lanterns created a mystical ambiance.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes, and instantly, there was a violent earthquake that lasted for several minutes. The man in question remained in a lotus position, completely unaffected.

His eyes, shining with a piercing and luminous glow, emitted a silvery aura. They fixed on an invisible point in space, his ethereal concentration unbroken. When the earthquake subsided, silence settled, disturbed only by a heavy, throbbing heartbeat. The aura surrounding him slowly dissipated, as if he were emerging from a state of enlightenment.

Linfer, disoriented, looked around, his face shifting from confusion to annoyance.

"Where am I, again?" he wondered, glancing at his hands, foreign yet familiar. He frowned and tried to stand, but stumbled, falling to the ground, face down.