The fall felt endless.
Cold air whipped past them as they plunged into the abyss. Stones and shards of ice tumbled alongside them. Mizu wrapped an arm around Rika, his other hand gripping Lucy's fur tightly, while Sayos used bursts of wind to slow their descent.
Then—suddenly—they hit solid ground.
The impact rattled through Mizu's bones, but he forced himself to stand. Around them stretched an underground chamber so vast it felt like a city carved into the earth. Black crystal pillars jutted from the ground like broken teeth, glowing faintly with violet veins.
Sayos groaned, leaning on his knee. "I hate falling. Seriously."
Rika scanned the area warily. "Where is he?"
As if summoned by her words, the masked man stepped out from behind one of the crystal pillars. His presence was just as suffocating as before, his dark-blue cloak trailing across the ground like a shadow.
"Impressive," he said, his voice calm. "You survived the fall. Most don't."
"Who are you?" Mizu demanded, stepping forward.
The man tilted his head slightly. "Names are for those who need them. But if you insist… you may call me **Ryojin**."
Rika raised a brow. "And why exactly are you here, Ryojin?"
"To test you," he replied simply. "Ranshin wishes to erase you. I… prefer to know if you're worth erasing first."
Sayos groaned. "Great. Another psycho with a hobby."
Ryojin ignored him, his masked face turning to Mizu. "You hold the blue flame, yet you use it like a child holding a sword too big for his hands."
Mizu clenched his fists. "Then try me."
Ryojin nodded slightly. "Good answer."
---
The air shifted.
Before anyone could blink, Ryojin moved. He was on Mizu in an instant, his hand glowing with dark energy. Mizu blocked with a water shield, but the force sent him skidding back.
"Fast!" Sayos exclaimed, dodging as Ryojin's other hand slashed at him like a blade.
Rika hurled flames, but they dissolved inches from Ryojin's cloak. "What the—?"
"It feeds on elemental energy," Honkai realized. "Don't give him fuel!"
"Then how do we fight him?!" Rika shouted.
Mizu steadied himself, breathing hard. "We don't need to overpower him… we just need to read him."
Ryojin lunged again, and this time Mizu moved differently—flowing around the attack, redirecting it rather than blocking. Ryojin's masked head tilted, intrigued.
"You're learning," Ryojin said.
"Good," Mizu shot back, water forming around his arms. "Because I'm not losing."
---
The fight escalated. Sayos used wind to distract, Lucy darted in to bite at Ryojin's legs, and Rika threw non-elemental strikes, using sheer physical force. But Ryojin adapted to every move.
Finally, he slammed his palm into the ground, sending out a shockwave of dark energy that knocked them all off their feet.
"Enough," Ryojin said, standing perfectly still.
He looked directly at Mizu. "You have potential. But you're not ready for what's coming."
He raised his hand toward the ceiling.
The chamber trembled.
Black crystal spikes shot up from the ground, encircling them.
Then Ryojin's calm voice cut through the chaos:
> **"If you truly wish to reach the Forbidden Island… survive what I leave for you."**
Before anyone could move, the ground cracked open again, and something massive crawled from the depths.
A beast unlike any before—its body a swirling mass of shadows with multiple clawed arms and a jaw that unhinged unnaturally.
Ryojin stepped back into the shadows, vanishing as his final words echoed:
> **"If you fail… you'll die here."**
The beast roared.
Ryojin's masked face tilted slightly as the beast clawed its way out of the ground, its roar shaking the chamber. He didn't even look back at them.
"Survive… or prove you're just another failure."
Then, as he faded into the shadows, his voice grew colder.
"And if you die here, I'll know I was right about you, Mizu."
The beast slammed its massive claw into the ground, sending shards of black crystal flying toward them.
Mizu clenched his fists, his jaw tightening.
"No…" he whispered, stepping forward, blue flames igniting around his arms.
"I'll show him he's wrong."
The beast lunged—
**To be continued…**