Steve narrowed his eyes, taking in the eerie sight before him.
Monsters.
Dozens of them.
Twisted creatures, eyes glowing, muscles twitching like they were barely held together. Some were humanoid, others serpentine or crawling on bone-like limbs, each one radiating an unsettling pressure.
Steve stepped back, instincts screaming.
"Wait....what.... why are there so many monsters?" he asked under his breath.
Steve smirked faintly.
"Thanks for having me as a guest," he said, his voice low. "But I've got an urgent meeting to attend. I'll be taking my leave now."
He turned around casually.
But just as he took a step forward, the glowing portal behind him flickered then vanished into thin air.
Steve paused.
His expression darkened.
"…huh."
"So I'm stuck here, huh?" he muttered under his breath, eyes narrowing.
Nygeris's voice came low and grim.
"That's what I've been trying to tell you. You're not ready yet."
Steve looked around slowly, raised an eyebrow, and smirked.
"Great party, guys,he said aloud, walking a few steps forward. "Loved the vibe! but there is a problem where is the door or I hope there's cake."
The monsters growled. The man on the throne chuckled darkly.
Steve gave a smirk.
"Let's just hope I'm not the one on the menu."
Before Steve could say more the man on the throne finally stood. His cloak swept across the cracked floor as he raised a hand lazily and said, without emotion:
"Monsters... let the game begin."
Steve's eyes widened. "What?! Is this a joke?!"
"Nope," Nygeris replied calmly. "This is the part where you either survive… or become meat for the floor."
Steve didn't have time to respond.
One of the larger monsters lunged forward. Steve clenched his fist and swung hard aiming straight at its jaw.
But before his punch could land, the monster beat him to it.
A massive fist slammed into Steve's chest, lifting him clean off his feet. He flew backward and crashed against the cold palace wall with a sickening thud.
He slumped to the ground, coughing. "That… hurts," he muttered.
"Can't relate," Nygeris said flatly. "I've never felt pain. So I wouldn't know."
Steve groaned. "Please… for just a moment… don't talk."
"Alright," Nygeris replied simply. "Enjoy the silence."
Steve staggered back to his feet. Another punch hit him from the side. Then another. And another. He was tossed across the room like a toy, his body hitting walls, pillars, the ground, again and again.
His breathing grew heavy. Vision blurred.
Blood dripped from his mouth.
He could barely keep his knees from buckling.
"You have to stand, Steve…" Nygeris whispered, the sarcasm gone now. "Stand. You must stand."
Steve collapsed again, his fingers clawing at the cracked ground.
Footsteps echoed.
The one on the throne was no longer sitting.
He was walking.
Steve's body trembled, every muscle screaming in pain as he lay crumpled on the cold, broken ground. The entity approached, crouching to Steve's level with a twisted smirk.
"I saw it in your eyes," the entity said, his tone soft cruelly so. "That moment… when your friend died right in front of you. You couldn't move. You couldn't save him. Honestly…"
He leaned in closer.
"…maybe he deserved it. Just like you do."
Steve's hand dug into the dirt.
Tight. Shaking.
Then his fingers stilled.
"Now…" Steve said under his breath, voice raw but steady,
"I'll show you how being weak really looks like."
A sudden surge of power erupted from within him.
The entity stepped back instinctively.
Steve rose.
In a blink.
His body steady now, eyes glowing with a deep, blazing violet. His clothes shimmered, threads of shadow coiling around him, forming a sharp, fitted black outfit that moved with the wind even in stillness.
From the shifting energy at his side, a sleek black katana appeared, the blade faintly glowing with a violet hue. marked with a faint image of a dragon coiled around the hilt.
Inside his mind, Nygeris stirred shocked.
"What's happening…? That power he shouldn't be able to access this yet! His body no, wait… this isn't Steve. This… this is something else, it's Steve transformation."
Steve stepped forward, slowly, calmly.
His voice was cold now unshaken, resolved.
"You mocked the weak," he said.
He raised the katana in one hand, energy crackling around it.
"Now… Die."