Marcus ran.
He ran without knowing where to.
The scarlet slime lashed against his legs.
Each step was a violent effort, like running through raw flesh.
The landscape around him dissolved and rebuilt itself in an infernal cycle—walls made of bones, the sky a pulsating mass of flames and eyes weeping blood.
And the voices.
*"Father… why did you abandon me…?"*
*"Marcus… you promised me…"*
*"Where are you?"*
Zuphia.
His daughter.
His sister.
His wife.
All at once.
His heart pounded like a frenzied drum.
His throat was dry, his eyes trembling with tears that wouldn't fall.
The visions came one after another.
Twisted faces.
Shrill screams.
Mutilated bodies that walked.
Hands bleeding from their nails.
Marcus stumbled, fell to his knees…
But he rose with a scream:
*"SHUT UP!"*
And he drew his sword.
The steel blade gleamed for a moment—until the darkness of hell swallowed its shine.
The illusions surrounded him.
Zuphia, with half her face burned.
Lira, screaming with her chest torn open.
Jin as a child, crying blood.
Marcus charged with everything he had.
He slashed. Spun. Stabbed.
But he felt nothing.
The sound of the blade cutting through empty air.
The emptiness of a touch that wasn't there.
*"DIE!"* he roared, his throat raw.
Nothing. Just echoes.
Until *she* appeared.
Zuphia.
Perfect. Untouched. Beautiful as he remembered.
She looked at him with wet eyes.
Took two steps.
Her voice was a broken whisper.
*"Marcus…?"*
*"You really came for me…"*
*"I waited so long for you…"*
She fell to her knees, crying, her hands trembling.
*"For so long, I waited…"*
Marcus staggered back.
His heart plummeted into the abyss of his chest.
But his sword was already raised.
In an impulse. A reflex. A scream of despair.
And he struck.
This time… he *felt* it.
The blade sank into Zuphia's body.
She gasped.
Fell slowly to the ground, her eyes wide with pain and betrayal.
*"Again…"*
*"You're letting me die… again…"*
Her face twisted.
Her eyes vanished.
Her mouth stretched down to her chin.
Her skin rotted before his eyes.
Marcus fell to his knees.
His hands shook. The sword slipped from his grip.
*"No… no… Zuphia…"*
The laughter.
Lorn.
Floating above the blood.
His eyes two black caverns.
*"Tsk… tsk… You're truly pathetic, Marcus."*
*"You always were. Always will be."*
*"Even the dead would rather die again than look at you."*
Marcus squeezed his eyes shut, desperate.
He trembled like an abandoned child.
And then…
A presence.
A hand.
Firm. Warm. Human.
It held Marcus's face gently.
The other hand pushed the fallen sword aside.
*"Marcus…"*
*"Look at me."*
Kael.
Whole.
Steady.
His eyes full of pain… but also clarity.
*"This isn't real."*
*"It's not them. It's not her. It's all fake."*
Marcus wept like he was a boy again.
His eyes wide, filled with terror.
*"I… I… killed her… again…"*
*"No, Marcus. That's what they want you to think."*
*"Look into my eyes."*
And he did.
For a moment, the chaos stopped.
The voices faded.
The inferno fell silent—as if it were watching, waiting for the next move.
Kael kept his hand firm on Marcus's face.
*"They feed on your guilt. Your love. Your fear."*
*"But you know she's not here. Not like this. Not in this way."*
Marcus gasped.
He tried to breathe.
Tears streamed down his face.
And slowly, his mind began to return.
The spiral of madness paused, if only for a moment.
Because Kael was there.
And sometimes…
A single anchor is enough.
The silence Kael brought was broken.
Marcus slowly stood.
The ground beneath his feet pulsed, hot like living flesh. Everything smelled of sulfur and scorched metal. The air scraped his throat like shards of glass.
A growl came from the left. He turned slowly, eyes wide.
Two curved fangs pierced the fog—then claws.
The creature was too close… A fusion of a human skull and a serpent's snout, wrapped in black flames that illuminated nothing.
Marcus thought, *"It's not real."*
The creature's claw reached him.
Too painful… Too *real*…
In the next instant, a sharp sound filled the air—*shhk!*—and the creature was sliced in half by a blade of pale light.
Marcus froze.
His mind became a hurricane.
*Are they illusions?*
*Did I kill Zuphia?*
*With my own hands?*
*If they're illusions, how can they touch me?*
*"Marcus!"* Kael said, grabbing him by the shoulders. *"Stay with me. Breathe."*
Marcus panted. His hands trembled. There was blood at the corners of his mouth—maybe his, maybe not.
*"I-I saw… it was a monster, Kael. This place… is this real?"*
Kael pulled him close, shielding him with his own body as the environment still snarled around them. His voice was steady, deep.
*"It's real. And dangerous. But you're strong."*
*"You're not alone anymore."*
The moment didn't last.
A presence…
Too familiar.
Lorn.
That damned smile returned.
But there was something off… he was *studying* them.
Like someone observing a puppet that didn't move as expected.
*"Hmm… so this doesn't work on you?"*
Kael remained still. His gaze unwavering.
*"Strange…"* Lorn continued, tilting his head. *"You're not fun."*
The smile faded.
Turned to contempt.
*"Maybe… I should play with someone else."*
And his serpentine eyes turned to Marcus.
*"The boy, for example…"*
*"He seems so… alone."*
*"With issues,"* he said, almost whispering, as if savoring the word.
Marcus took a step back, still trembling.
*"Jin…?"* he murmured, his eyes widening suddenly. *"Where is he? I didn't even notice…"*
*"He's here too?"* Kael cut in, turning quickly.
Lorn smiled.
Slow.
Cruel.
A slash of shadow across his face.
*"Yes,"* he said simply.
*"But for how long will he survive?"*
Silence.
The air seemed to grow heavier.
More than usual.
Marcus squeezed his eyes shut, as if trying to tear the images apart by force…
But she returned.
Zuphia.
Smiling.
Then bleeding.
Then burning alive.
Then with her neck twisted, whispering, *"Save me again…"*
Marcus fell to his knees, clutching his own hair.
Kael knelt beside him, gripping his shoulders firmly:
*"Marcus. Look at me."*
*"It's not real."*
*"You know that now."*
*"Breathe. Damn it, breathe."*
Marcus's breathing came in sobs.
Kael pulled Marcus's face away and held his chin with a soot-stained hand.
*"Listen. We need to find Jin."*
*"If he's still whole… then he's fighting."*
Kael clenched his teeth.
*"Staying here is asking to die."*
Marcus lifted his eyes.
*"He's here. Alone. And I… didn't even notice… He was with me just moments ago."*
Kael stood, helping Marcus to his feet.
*"We have to believe he can survive this."*
*"But even so… no one should be alone in here."*
And so they began to walk.
But the inferno didn't stop.
At every turn… Jin.
Running, screaming.
Stabbed.
Burned.
Devoured.
Dragged.
Begging.
*"KAEL!"*
*"MARCUS!"*
*"HELP ME!"*
They tried to run to him.
But Jin always vanished at the last moment.
He appeared again. Died again.
Marcus trembled.
Kael forced his eyes to stay cold, his steps steady.
*"Don't believe anything you see,"* he repeated like a mantra. *"We only get out of here together."*
But the inferno smiled.
Because it knew: even together… some nightmares are born from what's most real.
---
Silence.
A silence that seemed to scream.
The ground still trembled faintly where the darkness had swallowed Jin and Marcus.
No one moved.
Lyn, eyes wide, kept pressing her bloodied hands against Saphira's chest, still unconscious. Her gaze was fixed on the void, words caught in her throat.
Kaellia was the first to fully stand. Her hands trembled.
*"They… disappeared…"*
Eira stood, but she seemed made of stone. Blood dripped from a cut on her arm, ignored.
*"Did it take them to hell?"* she asked, her voice cold, almost inaudible.
Lino's eyes widened as he turned to her:
*"Is that even possible?"*
Kaellia clenched her fists, her mind still wrestling with doubts, but she seemed to want to stay calm.
*"Possible or not… we need to find out."*
Ziek, silent until now, took a deep breath and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. His eyes were dark, heavy, as if they saw more than they should.
*"I know someone who can help with this."*
Eira turned to him instantly.
*"Who?"*
*"My brother. He studies this…"*
He was cut off before he could finish.
Kaellia crossed her arms slowly, her eyes narrowed in silent judgment.
*"Wait."* Her voice sliced through the air. *"Why, exactly, should we trust you?"*
Ziek raised his eyes, calm—but there was something pulsing behind the control, something almost wounded.
*"You showed up out of nowhere,"* Kaellia continued, *"and now you want us to run into hell for a brother we don't even know exists. We don't even know who *you* are."*
Allan and Lyn exchanged a tense glance, then fixed their hard eyes on Ziek.
Ziek sighed. A long, patient sound. He didn't look away.
*"My name is Ziek. And you're right to doubt me."*
*"But I'm not asking this for myself. I'm asking for Jin."*
Kaellia raised a skeptical eyebrow.
Ziek took a firm step forward. There was a slight tremor in his voice—not of weakness, but of something he'd been holding back for too long.
*"Jin saved my brother once. When no one else would."*
*"He risked everything, even without knowing who we were."*
*"Now it's my brother's turn to repay that debt. And if that means throwing myself into hell to find Jin… I will."*
The group fell silent. Kaellia's breathing faltered for a moment, almost imperceptibly.
Eira and Lino gave faint smiles.
*"I don't expect you to trust me,"* Ziek finished. *"But if Jin is there… he'll need help. And he would trust me."*
Lyn let out a muffled sob as the faint light of healing continued from her hands.
---
Hours passed.
The sky had darkened, as if the day itself refused to go on.
The cold wind of the region now felt too icy, and the smell of sulfur…
It wouldn't go away.
Saphira stirred.
Lino, who had been holding her in his arms the entire time, nearly dropped his sword when he saw her open her eyes.
*"Saphira!"* he called, emotional.
She blinked slowly. Her eyes seemed clouded, lost.
*"Lino…?"*
He smiled, but there was no warmth in his face.
*"You're safe… everything's okay now."*
Saphira brought a hand to her head and began to cry softly.
*"It was horrible… I had a nightmare…"*
*"Jin… he was in a place full of blood… and demons… and pain…"*
Everyone fell silent.
*"I tried to talk to him, but…"* she sobbed, *"…only horrible words came out of my mouth…"*
She curled up tighter, her eyes widening as if reliving the vision.
*"And Marcus… Marcus was dying in front of him… and the one killing him was… Jin."*
The silence grew heavy.
Lino looked at the others, then back at her.
He tried to force a smile.
*"You're just scared… it's been tough days…"*
But his own eyes were full of fear.
He set her down gently, and she leaned against a rock, still crying.
Allan broke the silence.
*"Ziek, right?"* His voice was deep, irritated, but focused. *"How exactly can your brother help with this?"*
Ziek crossed his arms, leaning against a rock.
*"He's a researcher. One of the good ones."*
*"Obsessed with forgotten magic, alternate planes… demons. He owes me one since the day we saved him from those shadowy bastards."*
*"So you've got a crazy demonologist brother?"* Lyn muttered, still trembling, but with unintentional sarcasm.
Ziek raised an eyebrow.
*"He prefers the term 'misunderstood visionary.'"*
Eira remained silent. Completely serious. Her hands crossed, her eyes fixed on the spot where Jin had vanished.
Allan walked a bit behind Ziek, his gloved hands slightly trembling—not from fear, but from uncertainty. His eyes studied Ziek cautiously, as if every movement might reveal a hidden intention.
*"You said Jin saved your brother,"* Allan broke the silence, his voice low but firm.
Ziek didn't look back, just answered:
*"Yes."*
*"But you didn't say how. Or when. Or why,"* Allan pressed, narrowing his eyes. *"That matters, you know? Especially now."*
Ziek paused for a second. Not enough to halt the group, but enough to make a point.
*"The 'how' doesn't matter,"* he said finally. *"What matters is what I'm going to do for him now."*
*"Yeah…"* Allan grumbled, crossing his arms. *"Except everyone says they're 'fighting for someone.' And we've seen how that ends, haven't we?"*
Ziek turned his head slightly, as if considering a sharper response. But then, he just kept walking.
*"You're right to doubt,"* he said, emotionless. *"I just hope it doesn't take you too long to believe. We might not have much time."*
Allan stayed silent for a few steps, his fingers lightly brushing the hilt of the sword on his back. His eyes remained fixed on Ziek's back.
Kaellia, a few meters ahead, merely watched—as if weighing the scene without interfering.
Lino tried to lighten the mood:
*"Well… he always had a smart-guy vibe,"* he said with a weak smirk, more to himself than anyone else.
But no one laughed.
Jin and Marcus were steps away from disappearing completely.
And everyone knew it.