The portal that had taken 006 and 008 reopened—this time in an area filled with gray and white pillars, most of them shattered in various ways. Not far off stood an enormous, palace-like structure already in a state of decay.
The golden hands hurled the two boys toward the pillars, slamming them against the stone and sending them tumbling through before landing at meters the feet of a man dressed in the same white cloak as theirs. The difference, however, was the thick black stripe coiled around the fabric of his right arm like a serpent.
But what stood out most about the man was the book he held in front of his face. It was a hardcover tome, golden in color with white accents, and a symbol of a large sideways mouth etched at its center.
"Absorption," the man said calmly.
A sound like tearing paper echoed as the book opened and rapidly flipped through its pages. Golden energy began to rise from the bodies of 006 and 008, drawn upward toward the book in radiant streams of light.
