The group of shackled humans marched slowly through the dense forest, their chains clinking with every step. The air was thick with the stench of exhaustion and despair. The demons leading them walked ahead with long strides, their weapons gleaming faintly under the dull light that filtered through the canopy.

As the group advanced, more prisoners began to appear along the way. Other demon patrols joined them, each bringing their own lines of chained humans. The once small procession swelled into a long, winding column of misery stretching across the forest path.

Max walked quietly among them, his eyes scanning everything around him. The humans beside him barely had the strength to speak. Their faces were pale and hollow, their steps dragging, their hope long gone.

Max kept his disguise intact, pretending to be just another frightened captive, but inside his mind was sharp and alert. The more humans joined their group, the heavier his curiosity became. What exactly were the demons gathering them for?

As he pondered, his Three Dimensional Body began to hum faintly, catching faint vibrations from a few demons talking ahead. Their words were soft, but to Max's heightened senses, they were as clear as if spoken right beside him.

"Now that we've gathered at least a hundred humans, it should be satisfied, right?" one of the demons asked, his voice uncertain.

"I don't know," replied another demon, his tone low and uneasy. "This thing's hunger grows worse every day. Last time it devoured over eighty and still wasn't satisfied. I doubt a hundred will be enough now." His expression darkened as he spoke, and even the faint glow of his eyes dimmed slightly.

"What? Even a hundred humans aren't enough?" the first demon asked, genuine shock coloring his voice.

The other demon shook his head slowly. "It's your first time seeing it, so you don't understand. The hunger of that creature is endless. You will understand soon enough when we reach the pit."

After that, both demons fell silent, their conversation cut short by the heavy tension that hung in the air. The only sounds left were the rattling of chains and the dragging footsteps of the humans.

Max narrowed his eyes slightly, thinking about what he had just heard. So the demons were not taking the humans to be eaten by themselves but to feed something else—some creature whose hunger demanded constant offerings.

The thought unsettled him. He had seen demons consume humans before, but the idea that they were now feeding humans to another being suggested something far worse.

'What kind of monster could be so powerful that even demons would fear it?' Max thought. 'If it truly exists, why would they feed it instead of destroying it? Are they serving it? Or are they bound to it somehow?'

The more he considered it, the deeper his confusion grew. The demons were not acting like conquerors enjoying the spoils of victory. Their behavior seemed closer to that of caretakers following strict orders or fearful servants carrying out a ritual.

Max kept these thoughts to himself and remained silent. He lowered his head, blending once again with the line of captives. Whatever was waiting at the end of this march, he needed to see it with his own eyes before deciding what to do.

The group continued their slow, weary march as the hours passed. The sound of clinking chains never ceased, blending with the hoarse breathing of the captives and the occasional whip crack from the demons.

The forest that had surrounded them began to thin, and the green of the trees gradually faded into barren land. The soil beneath their feet turned dry and cracked, and a faint heat began to rise from the ground.

Max lifted his head slightly and looked ahead. The dense canopy was gone, replaced by an open stretch of desolation. The air grew heavier with each step they took, carrying with it the metallic scent of ash and burnt earth. The horizon ahead shimmered faintly as if the land itself were breathing in pain.

As the group moved farther, the sky began to change. The once dull gray hue deepened slowly into crimson. The red shade thickened with every passing moment until it spread like a stain across the heavens.

It was not the warm red of sunset but a dark, suffocating red that felt unnatural. The atmosphere trembled faintly, and the light dimmed, casting an eerie glow across the wasteland.

The wind carried with it a low humming sound, almost like distant growls buried beneath the soil. The captives shivered, sensing that they were approaching something terrible. Even the demons at the front grew tense, their movements less relaxed than before.

When they reached the edge of a vast valley, the land opened before them like a wound. It stretched endlessly, covered in scorched rocks and blackened sand. No vegetation could be seen, only the lifeless terrain stretching far into the distance.

Max narrowed his eyes and gazed at the far end of the valley. Through the haze of heat and dust, he could faintly make out the silhouette of something strange. A thick, dark red mist seemed to cling to the ground, rolling and shifting like living smoke.

It wasn't fog—it was denser, almost tangible, and it pulsated faintly with light from within as though something alive was breathing beneath it.

Above it, the sky was completely crimson, the color deepening into an almost blood-like tone that swallowed the horizon. The ground trembled slightly, and the humans in chains instinctively drew closer to one another, their fear rising with every step.

The demons barked orders, forcing the group to move again, their voices sounding strained now. Even they did not seem eager to approach the heart of that wasteland.

Max continued walking in silence, his chains dragging softly against the rocky ground. His gaze remained fixed on the horizon where the faint outline of dark red clouds clung to the surface of the valley like a living mist.

The clouds pulsed slowly, their color deepening and fading in rhythm, almost as if they were breathing. A strange unease settled over him, one that came not from the demons or the desolate land but from the unnatural stillness that surrounded the distant red haze.

"Max, that dark red cloud…" Blob's voice echoed suddenly in his mind, calm yet tinged with unease. "I am sensing life within it. A life that carries the essence of a spirit."

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