He stepped through the door.
A wrenching force dragged him forward, twisting his body like water around a drain. He stumbled onto a floating platform suspended in an endless scarlet sky.
Clouds bled. Islands drifted like bones in an ocean of blood.
In the distance, screams echoed.
> [Trial Initiated: Realm One — BLEEDING SKIES]
[Objective: Survive for 900 Seconds.]
He barely had time to think before the mist moved.
Shapes formed within it. Tall. Gaunt. Eyes glowing like dying stars.
The Shades.
The first came at him fast—unnatural, jittering. Liam barely raised his saber in time. Sparks flew. Pain shot through his side as a claw tore into his coat.
He rolled, came up on one knee, slashed.
The creature screeched as it dissolved into mist.
> [1/∞ Eliminated.]
"Of course," Liam panted. "They don't end."
But something inside him—something ancient—stirred. He didn't run.
He fought.
---