Alan's frustration mounted, matching the increasing volume of the ominous words that filled the air. When a large boulder dared to block his path, his raging emotions surged through his arms.
He clenched his fist, and with a swirl of crimson mist and black smoke, the ring on his finger transformed into a sword. With a powerful swing, he shattered the boulder, vaulting forward with momentum.
Alan cried out, plunging his sword into the ground to halt his speed. Urgency pulsed through his veins as he stood and turned his eyes toward the source of the commotion. Dread gripped him, his eyes widening in shock. He saw Lyco, shielded behind a thick layer of rock, his pupil-less eyes blazing with anger. Lyco's clothes were tattered and stained with bruises and blood. He used the rocky shield to leap at an immovable stone gate, each collision producing a deafening clash.
As Alan's dread deepened, his confusion turned to concern. He realized the significance of the door Lyco was assaulting. Inscribed with ancient language and glowing crimson, the door's unyielding surface began to crack, but not from Lyco's attacks alone. Alan's concern turned to shocked horror when he saw Armis. Encased in his armor, Armis bore the hurling debris and the aftermath of Lyco's relentless assaults on the door.
"LYCO!!!" Alan's desperate shout echoed through the chamber, but Lyco didn't respond. His voice was drowned out by yet another collision. Armis, however, sensed Alan's presence. Taking another hit of debris on his armor, he turned with a menacing, eerie grin on his bruised face. His eyes locked onto Alan, and his lips moved, releasing another line of the ancient language from his screaming lungs:
"Death itself thrusts upon us!!!"
———BHDHHHAAMMMMM!!!———
With the next collision, Lyco's assault on the giant slab of stone culminated in an explosion. The resounding clash sent shockwaves, dirt, and debris hurling everywhere.
Alan braced himself, shielding his head with his arm against the impact. As the dust settled, frustration contorted his face. Wasting no time, he dashed into the chamber, leaping over Armis, who had taken the brunt of the explosion. Armis staggered but quickly followed Alan inside.
A blinding light greeted them, slowly revealing a giant table towering at least twenty feet high. Upon it lay a feast fit for kings—giant kings. Each plate, dish, and utensil was sized for someone at least fifty feet tall. The chamber was illuminated by enormous chandeliers, and its pristine white walls held enlarged portraits of individuals from ancient times. Unlike the eerie darkness in the passageway, these painted visages seemed almost benign.
The ground shook and shivered as a grumbling roar, a voice divided into thousands yet ringing as one, filled the chamber.
Alan, Lyco, and Armis's eyes widened in horror. Behind the feast table stood a giant, towering more than fifty feet high. Its grotesque appearance sent chills down their spines: a bloated belly riddled with sores and pimples on its pale green skin, mountain-like heavy arms and legs pulsing with raw strength, and a head the size of a small building's dome.
Its face was dominated by two pointy giant ears and a large eye covering most of its visage, except for a teething maw opened wide. A loincloth draped over its waist, and a giant mace was gripped in one hand. The giant roared at a deafening volume, sending shivers and shockwaves toward Alan, Lyco, and Armis.
Taking calculated and heavy breaths, Alan glanced at Armis, who was clutching his shoulder, his grin and eyes still brimming with eerie malevolence. With a pained thrust, Armis straightened his shoulder, then stepped forward, his gaze locked on the giant ahead.
Alan turned towards Lyco, whose battered form stood motionless on the floor. Lyco's eyes were devoid of any emotion except rage. Alan, filled with dread and concern, quickly moved towards him. Desperation and fear growing, Alan grabbed Lyco, whose body was limp yet somehow standing straight. The absence of pupils in Lyco's bloodshot eyes deepened Alan's concern. He yelled out:
"LYCO! LYCO! What the hell happened? What happened to you and P—" Alan's voice choked with pain, tears falling from his eyes. His words trailed off, but Lyco's sealed lips gave no response. His body remained limp, his eyes tightened with rage, filling Alan with more despair.
Suddenly, a clash reverberated through the air, debris of wood and rock hurtling toward them. The giant had begun its charge, its mace smashing through the feast laid before it.
Alan's rising apprehension snapped his eyes wide open. He lost his grip on Lyco's shoulders, and as his instinct took over, readying him for the giant confrontation ahead, his focus broke.
In response to the giant's roar, Lyco's scream of fury and agony filled the air. The ground beneath him tore apart, a giant pillar of rock propelling him upward. Words of his despair finally tore through Lyco's lungs:
"IT ATE HER!!! AAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
A horrific whirlwind, the dreadful hellhole, had played its sadistic game upon their emotions once again. It had started with suffering, which turned into conflict, filling them with dread. Then it unleashed its chaos, giving birth to the next horror that brought forth devastation.
Merging with despair, it introduced new chaos, and Alan could only watch as Lyco slammed into the giant with numerous pillars of rock. A clash rang out, debris hurled around, and even Armis followed behind Lyco, jumping at the monster with a battle cry.
Despite his devastating strike that sent the giant tumbling to the ground with a thundering crash, all of it felt numbing inside Alan's body. He was frozen, immobile, his breaths slow, his heart beating to almost nothing.
Standing still while chaos and destruction reigned around him, Alan's pain and despair clouded his vision. Memories of joy and fun with his friends flashed before him—the academy, the outings, the wedding. But his emotions, joining in the play of this wretched place, then showed him lifeless eyes, blood, wounds, maimed bodies, and bones of those he had just begun to know and bond with.
Rage and fury, birthed from the storm of emotions inside Alan, traveled into his sword. His wrath ignited the blade, flaring with crimson flames. The embers rose with his scream of despair, his battle cry filling the chamber, momentarily drowning the chaos around him.
Alan leaped at blinding speed, closing the distance between him and the monster in an instant. The giant's pupil reflected Alan's furious visage, the flaring sword held above his head, surging with his emotions, ready to deliver vengeance. The monster could only watch as Alan, teeth gritted, brought the sword down with force, stabbing right into its red pupil. Blood splurged, showering him in scarlet. Alan kept stabbing and stabbing, the cries of agony and writhing pain from the giant increasing with each thrust.
Its giant single eye, once white, now reflected nothing but the blood it began drowning in. The chamber shambled, shaking and shivering from the agonizing thrashing of the giant. It swung its mace wildly until it landed on Alan. With his sword still embedded in the monster's eye, Alan bore the direct hit of its giant mace, sending him hurtling to the ground amidst a resounding explosion of debris.
The monster, blinded by agony, swung its mace again, desperately trying to pick out Alan's burning sword with its massive fingers, charring its eye bit by bit. The constant roars of pain echoed through the chamber.
Armis saw the monster nearly grabbing the sword with its giant fingers. Something flared up in his mind, guiding his limbs as he charged towards the beast. With a mighty heave, Armis vaulted into the air, delivering a devastating kick to the side of the monster's knee. Though Armis felt the bone-crushing force of his own strike, it did nothing more than make the giant stumble slightly. No gash, no bruise, not even a scratch appeared on the giant's skin, eliciting wide-eyed shock from Armis as a sudden realization dawned upon him.
There was no time for contemplation. With a roaring cry of pain, the giant rained its mace down upon Armis. He moved to jump, but the monster's slimy skin slipped under his footing, nearly plunging him into a crushing death. At that moment, Lyco, with numerous pillars of rock, lunged at the beast's mace. A reverberating clash thundered through the chamber as Lyco's assault pushed the monster's hand and mace away, creating cracks upon the mace from the collision, while Lyco was thrashed in through ground with destructive and resounding clash.
Amid the crater created by the impact, Lyco staggered up, drenched in his own blood but with rage undiminished. Blood wretched out with his cry as he reverberated the chamber with his voice:
"PODURIAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Armis seized the opportunity, his mind racing with thoughts as he leaped up straight. With a mighty heave, he jumped near the monster's loincloth while it writhed in agony, thrashing around with its mace. Armis scaled its body, running toward its swinging weapon. His steps slipped, almost causing him to fall off, but he jumped with all his might right at the monster's mace. Using it as a platform, he deepened the cracks in the weapon even more before making another leap toward the giant's eye.
Clenching his fist mid-air, Armis bellowed out as he plunged his hand into its crimson pupil, eliciting a splurge of blood that showered him in scarlet. Armis clutched Alan's sword, and with a yank that amplified the giant's roaring screams and writhing, he pulled out the sword along with its punctured, bloody, giant eyeball.
Armis jumped down, tossing the monster's eye to the ground. Every inch of the creature's skin, every piece of meat inside its body tightened in a sudden shock. The gorging sensation of pain from its eye being plucked out numbed its entire form with such shock that it caused it to threw itself into the wall, creating a giant crater the size of its body with a thundering clash and explosions of rock and dirt.
"LYCO!!!" Armis, landing on the ground, wasted no time calling out to the stunned Lyco, who was drenched in his own blood. Armis's shout snapped Lyco's rage-filled, pupil-less eyes open, and he turned to face Armis, who continued urgently, "YOU HAVE TO KILL IT FROM THE INSIDE!" The desperation in Armis's voice cleared Lyco's mind.
He looked at the writhing monster, now planted in the wall, its crash leaving no scratch on its body. The beast thrashed around, swinging its mace wildly, its other hand smothering its bleeding face, its grotesque mouth screaming in agony.
Lyco gritted his teeth, his nails digging into his palms. His clenched fists bled together with his head, but none of it halted his steps. Lyco knew what needed to be done, knew what he wanted. His steps announced his intentions. The ground beneath his feet manipulated by his will spoke of his despair.
Pillars of rock burst from the ground, taking him flying toward the writhing beast, screaming of Lyco's fury. With strength and reckless power, Lyco stayed upright even after colliding with the swinging mace, bursting through it in an explosion of debris and blood, all of it speaking of Lyco's pain.
In a movement that seemed to last only a moment, Lyco broke through the creature's giant teeth with pillars of rock, taking whatever he could inside as he entered the beast.
"Lyco!…"
"Honey?…"
"Oh…my darling!"
"My love…" Nothing else, only her voice. All that Lyco could hear, all that echoed in his numbing ears, was Poduria's sweet voice calling out to him.
Her face, her smile, the dimples, the freckles on her face, her earlier tan, then her brightening complexion, her big brown eyes, her flowing locks of hair—all of it appeared before Lyco's fading vision. For a moment, he felt himself falling, falling through a warm, wet place at a dizzying speed for what seemed an eternity. He smelled something burning, but his nose soon numbed, filled with the soothing scent of Poduria's hair, her fragrance of roses.
Lyco felt her touch, the warmth of her body, the softness of her skin, the plushness of her plump form, just before he lost all sensation.
He saw the proud face of his father, watching as Lyco drew his first breath. He saw his mother's loving visage, a tear in her eye but pride in her smile, on the day she sent him off to the academy. He saw his brothers, teasing him, but their smiles and laughter brought him no pain—only fulfillment, only happiness. He saw Armis, Aurelia, Alan, and Relecta, all waving and smiling at him, calling him, their joy filling him with joy.
But his heartbeat grew faint, his breathing shallow. As he opened his eyes, he saw her, draped in a beautiful white dress, her face more radiant than the heavens, her smile more crimson than the glow of dawn, her eyes deeper than the deepest ocean. Her hands held his, her touch so soothing it dispelled the stress of years from his mind. Lyco's ears rang, filled with happiness, melting from the warmth that entered them. A murmur, "I love you, Lyco."
Lyco took his final breath, his lips forming the biggest smile he ever had. These were the most fulfilling, most beautiful, most special words he had ever spoken. Lyco uttered back, "I love you… Poduria…" With that, Lyco's fist clenched. As he reached the monster's heart, guided by the resolve of his last breath, Lyco manipulated the debris falling alongside him. The rocks honored Lyco's final command, morphing into shrapnel. In a sudden movement, the numerous shards of rock impaled the beast's beating heart, silencing it instantly. They tore out of its body, halting its writhing in a heartbeat.
Armis, waiting outside for this very moment, closed his eyes and gathered all his strength. With a forceful leap, the sound of his launch followed the explosive crater that appeared on the ground where he stood.
Vanishing in mid-air and reappearing feet before the stunned giant, Armis landed like a sharp projectile, channeling the strength of hundreds of men. He tore through the monster's head in a straight line, ripping its body in half until he reached its impaled heart. Before the blood could even start to splatter, Armis gorged inside the torn-open body and pulled Lyco out. He leaped away just as an explosion of blood burst from the monster's lifeless form, painting the walls, the floor, and the debris.
For a few moments, even the very air in the chamber appeared dark crimson.
His body lay numb for a moment before a piercing sensation of pain jolted Alan awake. He gritted his teeth as if the weight of the whole world had fallen upon his back. The pain was real, the despair and grief still alive in his heart.
Alan thought of giving up, but then he remembered Lyco's despaired visage, his soulless eyes. He knew that his pain was nothing compared to what Lyco was feeling. For his friend, for Lyco, Alan fought through his agony. He knew Lyco needed his help and would die if it meant getting his revenge on the giant. Alan understood Lyco's blinding rage.
Determined, Alan pushed through the earth, his staggering arms pulsing with pain and blood. Inch by inch, he began crawling out, straining with each movement. Suddenly, his body felt tremors; the earth beneath him and the debris above him shivered.
The weight on his back cleared. Seizing the opportunity, Alan quickly crawled out, his blood racing through his veins, his muscles tightening for the upcoming confrontation. He clenched his fist, gritting his teeth, and let out a scream as he emerged from the debris:
"Lyco! Wait, I am com——"
Alan's veins went cold, his muscles lost their tension, his clenched fist hung open, his mouth agape, and his eyes stilled in shock.
The chaos had ended, making way for suffering—the pain, the despair, the piercing sadness creeping into Alan's heart. This wretched place had bested him again, taking what it wanted and giving back nothing but suffering.
Alan felt the full weight of it as he saw the monster's massive body, now only half intact and dissipating into a crimson glow. His gaze then fell on Armis, kneeling with his head down, and before him, lying in a pool of his own blood, was Lyco's lifeless body, drenched in blood and riddled with broken shrapnels of stone.
Disbelief controlled Alan's steps as he moved forward. With every step, the bloodied visage of Lyco became clearer—the bruises, the gashes, the wounds on his face and head.
One eye was pierced open with a piece of rock shrapnel, while the other was wide open, colored in crimson. His mouth agape spoke of a painful departure. Lyco's hand was open, holding the only spot not stained by blood, yet marked by his nails' desperate grip.
The bloody ring within his palm spoke of his anguish. Grief finally took over Alan, and his expression of disbelief dissipated into nothingness. His lips shut tight, and only the stream of tears revealed the unbearable pain in his heart.
As the last of the monster's body dissipated, its essence flowed into Armis's glowing armor, and with a flash of green light, it returned to his mark. Armis stood up, his eyes dry but his face flushed with sorrow. Without looking at Alan, he remarked in a low, stern tone, "He took his revenge… just like his brother… damn fool!" Frustration tinged his last words as Armis walked away from Lyco's body.
Alan looked around, seeing nothing but debris of rocks and stones. It was as if the very earth had wept for Lyco's death, and Alan wept too. He cried without stopping, looking at his friend one last time before he began to move again.
"We have to hurry. Those clashes, those ominous sounds—I fear something horrible is happening," Longiseus remarked, sitting on the water platform conjured by Relecta, who walked ahead, carefully navigating through the debris and destruction strewn across the hallway.
Her heart heavy with dread, Relecta's mind conjured ominous anticipations after she had witnessed, heard, and felt the spine-shivering cries, clashes, and thunderous thuds. Longiseus's words only heightened her concern.
"Don't," Relecta said, frustration filling her voice as she continued walking. "I'm sure everything will be fine. We still don't know if it was—"
Her words halted as Lady Roartad, with her mace, broke through a giant boulder blocking their path. Even from afar, Relecta's eyes shined when she saw no more debris or destruction but a chamber ahead. The brightly illuminated chamber was filled with even more destruction, but Relecta paid no heed to it as her desperate gaze caught the moving body of Alan.
Without wasting any time, her worry guided her steps as she moved ahead, pulling Longiseus along with her, moving past Lady Roartad, who followed behind. They entered the chamber, but even the devastation didn't halt her steps. She gently lowered Longiseus to the ground before dashing towards Alan, embracing him from behind. Relief replaced with concern filled her as she felt Alan's form, drenched in blood, battered and bruised, but still warm and breathing. Her voice trembled as she spoke, "Oh, my love, I am so relieved that you are a—"
Once again her words halted when she opened her eyes and saw a structure of rocks and debris standing in the middle of the destroyed chamber.
Her puzzled gaze discerned a body within the structure. Squinting, the relief faded from her heart, replaced by horror and dread. Sudden sensations of despair and grief enveloped her body. Her grip loosened as Relecta backed away, letting go of Alan's quiet form. Alan began walking again, carrying a piece of boulder in his hands. He approached the structure, gently placed the rock atop the others, then turned back to gather another piece of debris.
Relecta's lips began to tremble, but before she could voice her realization, Longiseus and Lady Roartad stepped forward. Lady Roartad asked in a stern, puzzled tone, "What happened?"
"You were proved wrong, Commander," Alan suddenly spoke, stopping in his tracks. His face showed no emotion apart from the relentless stream of tears from his eyes. He turned towards the puzzled faces of Longiseus and Lady Roartad, his tone stern as he continued, resuming his pace, followed by Relecta who also moved towards the structure.
"You were very wrong, Commander. It's not our choice. It was never our choice. We lost it the moment we stepped foot inside this place. You thought you could avoid all this by not engaging in any conflict? That you could stop our despair, stay out of the chaos, avoid the pain, the suffering, the deaths? No. It doesn't work that way. We still felt dread, we were still pulled into chaos. The pain still came, and our friends still died!"
Alan yelled, his visage finally reflecting the emotions of his raging despair. Relecta came closer, her suspicions solidifying, her pain growing even deeper. Streams of tears fell from her sunken eyes, quivers escaping her shivering lips.
She cried out, her pain and grief echoing in the now silent chamber. She broke when she saw Lyco's blood-drenched, battered, and bruised body inside the grave made from rocks and stones being built by Alan. Her crying eyes remained fixed on Lyco until Alan placed the last piece of rock above Lyco's face, finally covering his entire body.
Alan looked at Relecta in anguish as she quickly jumped into his embrace. Both of them collapsed on the floor, Alan rubbing Relecta's back, attempting to give her any solace he could. He spoke with a heavy tone, "Don't cry, my love. They are together now."
Alan's words had the opposite effect, making Relecta's crying even louder and thickening the tears in his own eyes. He raised his teary gaze, seeing Longiseus's stern face and Lady Roartad's tear-filled eyes. Longiseus remained stoic, his eyes dry, offering only silent support. Alan spoke again, the sternness returning to his heavy tone.
"So whether alone or together, it doesn't matter. We have to play its game. We don't have any other choice, and if we're lucky, we might…we have to come out as winners. Even if only one of us survives. So please, prepare yourself."
Alan stood up, gently pulling Relecta from his embrace. Her sobs echoed in the chamber, each one a knife to his heart. He wiped his tears with his fist and placed it, along with the ring Lyco had clutched in his hand, on Lyco's grave. The sight of the ring, a token of love now marking a place of death, made his heart clench.
In the distance, Armis raised the Lord Orb before the newly revealed gate to the next floor. Like the gates before it, it glowed, then cracked, and finally collapsed into debris, revealing the path forward. Armis entered without a backward glance, a silent sentinel moving towards the next challenge.
Alan grabbed Relecta's trembling hand, turning to Longiseus, and remarked, "And now it begins again…"
He guided Relecta through the gate, her body shaking with sobs. Each step was heavy, filled with the weight of grief and the burden of what lay ahead. As the debris behind Longiseus and Lady Roartad began to shake and move, resembling the unyielding gate piece by piece, the gravity of Alan's words settled in Longiseus's heart. The reality of their endless battle against despair hit him hard. Supported by his wife, he whispered a soft prayer, his voice breaking, as they crossed through the gate ahead, following behind others.