A blinding pulse of bleached mana detonated from the central ridge, washing all color from the mountain pass.
The brown earth, green brush, and granite boulders drained of pigment in seconds, turning into a spectral ash-white wasteland.
Above the fractured road, thousands of shattered rocks and loose pebbles floated upward into the sky, hovering like suspended daggers.
Lord Dreth stood perched atop the jagged central promontory, his eyes burning with deranged, intoxicating triumph.
"Welcome to my Ash-White Zone, Contractor Hajin!" the warlord screamed, spreading his arms wide to embrace the domain.
"In this sovereign territory, all the earth, rocks, and howling wind belong entirely to my command!"
"Every strike you throw, and every spell your summons cast, merely feeds the circulation array with more ammunition!"
Hajin stood fifty paces below on the bleached highway, his silver celestial chain humming with faint starlight.
