The transition through the gate was disorienting, a sudden shift from the crisp, artificially lit streets into a suffocating, humid nightmare.
Hide's boots hit solid ground. He blinked against the sudden glare of harsh, greenish sunlight.
The interior of the Three-Star loop gate was a sprawling, apocalyptic reflection of the city they had just left. It was a mess of broken, shattered buildings and completely fractured streets.
Super-thick, vibrant green moss covered everything—from the rusted husks of abandoned cars to the sides of the collapsing skyscrapers.
The ground was entirely overgrown with waist-high, razor-sharp grass, and massive, ancient-looking trees had burst through the asphalt, their roots wrapping around the ruins like giant fingers. It looked like an abandoned world left to rot for hundreds of years.
"Well," Elara said, adjusting her glasses as she looked around at the overgrown ruins. "This is delightfully depressing."
