The Forbidden Mist towered before them, and calling it a "mist" suddenly seemed like the gravest understatement Leon had ever encountered.

It wasn't a fog bank or a cloud formation or any natural phenomenon that the word "mist" might suggest. It was a wall – massive, absolute, and terrifyingly solid despite being composed of swirling white vapor. The barrier rose from the ground with perfect uniformity, stretching upward until Leon had to crane his neck back to follow its ascent.

But that wasn't the worst part.

As his gaze traveled upward, expecting to find where the mist eventually dissipated into the open sky, Leon's stomach dropped. The white wall didn't end. It curved inward, arcing over the entirety of the Lower Domain like a massive dome. The Forbidden Mist didn't just border them – they were entirely enclosed by it.

"It's terrifying, isn't it?" Seraphine said quietly beside him, her voice carrying a mix of awe and fear despite having seen this before. "Every time I come here, it still makes my soul tremble."

"Yes," Leon agreed, his voice barely above a whisper. The scale of it was beyond massive – it was absolute. "It's a cage."

The word hung between them, heavy with implication. They lived in a cage.

The mysterious white substance swirled and churned constantly, its surface alive with movement that suggested terrible things lurking just beyond visibility. It was completely opaque; nothing of what lay beyond could be seen, not even shadows or suggestions of shape. The mist might have been ten feet thick or ten thousand – there was no way to tell. It simply existed, a barrier between worlds that now revealed itself as something far more oppressive than he had imagined.

Leon had heard about the Forbidden Mist, but he didn't know it was this terrifying. He had learned about the Lower Domain and Middle Domain as abstract concepts, classifications of power and development. But seeing it with his own eyes, feeling the weight of that massive dome pressing down from above, understanding that every single person in the Lower Domain lived their entire lives inside this prison – it changed everything.

He had never even imagined that the Forbidden Mist enclosed them entirely, that the sky itself was just another wall of their prison.

Standing here at the edge, the scale of it was incomprehensible. The wall stretched to either side as far as he could see, curving slightly as it followed the perfect circle. But now he understood that description differently – it wasn't just a circle around them, but a sphere. This complete enclosure separated the Lower Domain from everything else.

How many people lived their entire lives never knowing they were caged? How many died believing the sky above them was free and open, never realizing it was just another surface of their prison? The thought made him feel small.

The white mist moved constantly but never seemed to thin or shift enough to offer even a glimpse of what lay beyond. It was beautiful in its own terrible way, the white vapor catching the afternoon light and seeming to glow from within. But that beauty was the same as bars made of gold – still a prison, no matter how it gleamed.

Leon took a step closer and immediately sensed something was amiss in the air. Not dangerous exactly, but unwelcoming, as if the space near the mist itself rejected his presence.

"The Lower Domain," he said slowly, tasting the words differently now, "isn't just lower in power or development. It's literally contained, separated completely from the rest of existence."

This wasn't just a border to be crossed – it was a cage to be escaped.

The Forbidden Mist stood before them, above them, around them – beautiful, terrible, and absolute. And for the first time in his life, Leon truly understood what it meant to be trapped.

Still, he wasn't discouraged even for a moment; with his strength, he was going to cross the fog no matter what.

But before entering the mist, Leon reached into his spatial storage. He withdrew two distinctive vials that gleamed with an inner crimson light. The Elixirs of Last Breath – capable of pulling someone back from the very brink of death. He had several remaining from his previous battles; he had bought too many of them.

"Here," he said, pressing two of the elixirs into Seraphine's hands. The vials were warm to the touch, their contents swirling with barely contained life force. "Keep these on you. If something happens in there – if you're wounded beyond normal healing – drink one immediately. Don't hesitate, don't try to tough it out. These can heal you from the edge of death itself."

Seraphine accepted them with the gravity they deserved, securing them in easily accessible pouches on her belt. She understood the value of what he was giving her – each elixir was worth a fortune, the kind of treasure kingdoms would go to war over. That he handed them over so readily spoke volumes about both his resources and his concern for her safety.

She couldn't help but feel warm inside.

With preparations complete, Leon drew his weapon. The Epic-ranked sword emerged from its sheath with a singing note that resonated in the air around them. The blade seemed to recognize the momentous occasion, buzzing with excitement in his grip. Energy coursed through the weapon, its edge gleaming with an inner light that had nothing to do with the afternoon sun.

"Stay close," Leon said, though he knew Seraphine was too experienced to need such basic instruction. "Whatever happens in there, we don't get separated."

She nodded, drawing her own weapon – not as impressive as his Epic-ranked blade, but a formidable sword nonetheless. Her purple hair was tied back tightly, her stance ready for whatever they might encounter.

Side by side, they approached the wall of mist. The temperature continued to drop with each step, their breath becoming visible in the suddenly frigid air. The buzzing excitement of Leon's sword intensified, the weapon practically vibrating with anticipation or perhaps warning.

At the very edge, where the last bit of standard ground met the beginning of the mist, they paused for just a heartbeat. This was the boundary that countless people had died trying to cross. This barrier separated their limited world from whatever lay beyond.

Then, with synchronized movement born of shared resolve, Leon and Seraphine stepped forward into the Forbidden Mist.

The white vapor swallowed them instantly, and the world they knew disappeared behind a wall of swirling nothingness.

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