In an instant.
It was as if a bolt of lightning had flashed through, illuminating the once-dim space as bright as day.
There.
The boy's eyes were unlike a normal person's, lacking the clear contrast of black and white.
They seemed to be covered by a thick, gray film.
Like a pool of stagnant water, utterly without ripples.
Furthermore.
What was eerie was that this boy should have been at an age of vibrant energy, yet he possessed none of the vitality of youth.
Instead, he was shrouded in a thick aura of death, like an old man with one foot in the grave.
At this moment, he turned his head to the side.
There,
within this enclosed space,
a young man in white had appeared at some unknown time, hovering in the air above the lava.
The Young Man stood suspended in mid-air.
And he was looking right at him.
"You..."
The boy spoke, his voice a hoarse rasp, like stones grinding together in his throat.
"Who are you? Why are you here?"
His voice was ancient.
