Nightfall.
The bridge, once a blood-slick battlefield, had grown still again. The air hung heavy with iron and blood. Stars shimmered faintly above the Tower's artificial sky, casting cold light across the carnage.
Leo sat with his back to the wall of the cliff, spear across his lap, muscles aching with every breath. Around him, scattered groups tended to the wounded, burned bodies, or simply stared into space—eyes hollow, minds too tired to process what they had lived through.
They'd survived the first day.
Barely.
Mira leaned against a broken stone column nearby, her arms crossed over a bloodstained tunic, watching the survivors with an unreadable expression. Aric knelt by a small pool of water he'd condensed, cleaning a deep cut along his ribs, face pale but calm.
No one spoke much.
There wasn't anything left to say.
When Leo finally broke the silence, it was only a murmur. "They were so fast."
Mira didn't look over. "And they will only get faster"
Aric added, voice low, "So lets just make sure they aren't the only one growing."
None of them slept that night. Not really. Just short bursts of rest in shifts—always one of the three awake, always one eye on the mist.
Dawn broke.
Or what passed for dawn in the Tower—a pale gray light filtering through the fog, painting the bridge in ghostly hues.
The second day began like the first: with monsters.
More of the four-armed duelists emerged, moving like shadow and steel. But something had changed—not in them.
In Leo.
He no longer waited for the paths.
He moved with them.
Each step was placed before he consciously knew why. Each strike flowed into the next. Even as sweat poured from his brow and his limbs grew heavy, the battle never spiraled into chaos the way it had on the first day.
He didn't dominate the field—but he held it.
And that was enough.
Together, the trio formed the spine of the defense. Mira anchoring the center with raw force. Aric carving precision through the left. Leo weaving between foes, cutting down enemies with deadly timing on the right.
Hours passed.
Wave after wave.
And then—nothing.
A sudden, eerie stillness fell over the bridge. The kind of quiet that felt wrong.
No footsteps. No shrieks. No weapons clashing.
Only silence.
Everyone stood on edge, weapons raised.
Then someone shouted—sharp and terrified. "There—look!"
Through the thinning mist, a shape emerged.
Just one.
It walked slowly, deliberately, as if giving them time to see it. Humanoid—but massive. At least seven feet tall, with dark armor fused to muscle, its face hidden beneath a featureless helm. And in its chest—
Five glowing qi points.
Visible. Deliberate. Mocking.
It stopped halfway across the bridge.
Then, without a sound—
It moved.
Faster than anyone had time to process.
It tore through the front ranks like paper, blades flashing in elegant, horrifying patterns. One man tried to block—it shattered his weapon and drove a fist through his chest. Another unleashed a burst of qi—but the creature blinked behind him and severed his spine in a single stroke.
Panic erupted.
Leo didn't hesitate.
"Mira—Aric—on me!"
The three charged.
They struck in unison—Leo's spear sweeping low while Aric blasted compressed jets of water and Mira launched into a brutal flying strike.
The creature met them and held.
Leo's spear clashed with its twin blades, vibrating violently on contact. Each time he struck, the monster deflected with a movement so smooth, so efficient, it felt more like inevitability than reaction.
But Leo adapted.
His steps flowed tighter, sharper. The paths flickered—fewer, but clearer now.
Aric fought with surgical bursts, trying to lock the creature's limbs. Mira landed blow after blow—but for every strike they landed, the creature returned three. Blood spattered the stone. Cries echoed behind them as others tried to join the fight—and were cut down before reaching them.
They were being pushed back.
Inch by inch.
Leo panted, wounds reopening. Mira's left arm was hanging low. Aric was running dry—his water slower, thinner.
It felt hopeless.
And then—just as the monster lunged for Leo's heart—
It vanished.
Gone in an instant. No sound. No light.
Just empty space.
A heartbeat later, a voice echoed in the air. Tower-deep. Final.
"Trial complete."
Silence again.
Then, the bodies around them began to shimmer and fade.
One by one, the survivors were pulled away—upward, into light.
Leo stood frozen, chest heaving, blood dripping from his fingers.
They had survived.