The stairs creaked beneath their boots, every step echoing like a drumbeat of dread. After the Forgotten King, silence clung to the three of them—Plamen, Kamen, Alex—like a suffocating fog. None spoke as they climbed, their bodies battered, their minds heavy.
At last, they reached the next chamber.
The air was… wrong.
The walls here were not bone, nor stone. They pulsed. Veins bulged across them, black ichor flowing through like corrupted blood. The ground squished underfoot, releasing a sickly stench. Drops of crimson fell from the ceiling, tapping against their shoulders like the ticking of a clock.
Kamen gagged. "What the hell is this place?"
Plamen's fists clenched. His instincts screamed that they were inside something alive.
Alex narrowed his eyes. "Keep moving. This is no arena. It's a stomach."
Before they could respond, the walls shuddered. A deep rumbling growl reverberated, rattling their bones. The floor split open, and from the chasm below, it emerged.
The beast was a horror of flesh.
Dozens of arms—human, animal, twisted beyond recognition—sprouted from its swollen torso. Its skin was stretched taut, splitting in places where new mouths gnashed with jagged teeth. Three massive jaws lined its headless upper body, snapping hungrily. From its back sprouted tendrils slick with blood, lashing like whips.
It didn't roar. It didn't need to. Its very presence was an assault on their sanity.
Plamen stepped forward, rage and determination rising to drown out fear. "Stay behind me."
The Maw lunged.
Its fist—five fused arms at once—smashed down like a meteor. Plamen braced, crossing his arms, but the impact blasted him across the chamber, crashing into the pulsating wall. Black ichor sprayed from the dent he left.
"Plamen!" Kamen shouted, summoning skeletal arms to intercept the next strike. Bony claws erupted from the floor, seizing the Maw's tendrils, but the beast flexed—and the arms shattered like brittle twigs.
Kamen fell to his knees, blood spurting from his nose. The backlash rattled his body every time his conjurations were destroyed.
The Maw's attention shifted toward him.
But before it could strike, Alex appeared, flickering from shadow to shadow, slashing the tendrils with a blade born of darkness.
"Eyes forward, freak."
The Maw swung again, but Alex blurred away, reappearing behind it. His strike cut deep, ichor spilling—but the flesh stitched itself back together instantly.
"Tch." Alex gritted his teeth. "It heals too fast."
From the wall's dent, Plamen staggered out, eyes blazing. His body ached, but his fury drowned out the pain. He slammed his fists together, pressure radiating.
"Then we don't give it time to heal!"
He charged. His fists glowed with Bone Breaker Aura, each strike carrying seismic force. He smashed into the Maw's torso, ribs cracking beneath the weight. He pummeled faster and faster—Pressure Fists, raining like a storm.
For a heartbeat, the Maw reeled.
But then it caught him.
Five arms wrapped around Plamen's torso, lifting him into the air. Another maw opened on its chest, teeth gnashing, ready to devour him whole.
"Dammit!" Plamen roared, struggling.
Kamen staggered up, fury in his eyes. He slammed his palms into the ground again, screaming with effort.
"HONE NO SHOKUZAI!"
From beneath the Maw, hundreds of skeletal arms erupted at once, a forest of bone wrapping around its legs, arms, and torso. They dragged, pulled, and clawed, straining to pin the abomination down.
For the first time, the Maw's movement slowed.
"NOW, PLAMEN!" Kamen shouted, blood dripping down his chin.
Alex blurred into the Maw's shadow. He reappeared atop its writhing mass, slashing deep into the cluster of tendrils connecting its torso to the wall. The flesh screeched as if alive, black ichor spraying across the chamber.
"Cut off its anchor!" Alex yelled.
The skeletal arms gave Plamen the opening he needed. He focused everything into his right fist—Bone Breaker Aura flaring brighter than ever.
Don't just smash harder.
Focus. Compress it all into one blow.
He drew back his fist, pressure condensing like a hurricane at his knuckles. His rage sharpened into clarity.
"BONE BREAKER—"
He slammed his fist into the Maw's chest.
"—METEOR PUNCH!"
The impact tore through the chamber. The Maw convulsed, its regenerating flesh unable to withstand the concentrated force. The pressure collapsed inward, imploding its core. Tendrils flailed, mouths screamed, arms ripped themselves apart—until all that remained was a collapsing heap of ichor and bone.
The chamber shook violently, then stilled.
The beast was gone.
From the steaming remains, something pulsed. A blood-red stone, glowing faintly like a beating heart, floated into the air.
Plamen reached for it. The moment his fingers touched, pain shot through his body—like fire flooding his veins. He dropped to one knee, gasping.
"Plamen!" Kamen and Alex rushed forward.
But then… he rose. His eyes burned brighter, his muscles surging with new power. He felt stronger—but fragile, as though each heartbeat carried a price.
Alex studied him carefully. "That stone gave you strength… but it'll eat you alive if you lean on it too much."
Plamen clenched his fists, sweat dripping down his brow. He didn't argue. He knew Alex was right.
Kamen fell onto the squishy ground, utterly drained. "Two more trials, huh?"
Plamen looked up at the next staircase, its steps vanishing into darkness. His fists tightened.
"Two more. And we're free."