The earth swallowed him whole.
"You will be buried alive," the man whispered, as the grave sealed with a cold, echoing slam.
Darkness.
No air.
No space.
Only the crushing silence of the earth pressing down on him.
Orimo struggled, gasping, choking, clawing at the dirt.
"Where am I?!" he screamed, voice cracking, panic clawing at his chest.
A giant figure emerged from the darkness, a hammer slung over his shoulder. "This… is the Trial of the Undead," the man intoned.
Orimo's lungs burned. He could barely whisper, "Oka…y."
Suddenly, the darkness fractured. A vision appeared—a test, a memory, a warning.
Ryuki. Bloodied and battered. Standing against Morgan Tarek on the cursed island of Emka. Her body cut, pierced, exhausted. She fell to her knees, gasping, her gaze fixed on the stormy sky above.
"Orimo… I'm coming… we failed," she whispered, tears mixing with the rain and her own blood.
A sword flashed.
Morgan's blade pierced her heart. She crumpled, lifeless, collapsing into the muddy ground.
"We couldn't save the world, Orimo…" Her final breath was a choked scream, fading as the rain poured mercilessly over her.
Orimo screamed, clawing at the unseen walls. "Ryuki! NO!!"
The vision shattered like glass, fragments floating in the darkness around him.
He fell to his knees, sobs shaking his body. "It's my fault… I'm useless… my friend… my friend died because of me!"
And just as the darkness seemed endless, another vision flickered before his eyes…