[Step forward, child~]
Sam stared at the swirling portal in front of him, the white light pulsing gently as cards floated around it in slow, lazy orbits.
Each card shimmered with arcane symbols and that same strange mask he kept seeing.
He took a deep breath and exhaled.
This was it.
Just like every time before, entering a new layer meant facing something stronger, stranger, and deadlier than before.
A new test. A new battlefield. And more than likely… a new [Forsaken Lord].
The one ruling this layer had already spoken to Sam back in the real world.
That fact alone was enough to make him cautious. The others didn't reach across space to speak to him like this.
Still… Sam's eyes narrowed. His determination didn't falter.
[Only two left.]
He nodded once, then stepped forward.
The portal flared the moment his foot passed through, the light wrapping around him and pulling him in.
The [Fifth Layer].
No human had entered it before.
