Far away, in the depths of another zone of the dungeon.
The room was wide and expansive, its floors made of pristine white marble and its walls a dark silver, rising high and curving inward, converging to form lofty frescoed ceilings covered in angelic depictions.
It was so vast it might as well have been a hall.
Upon a huge sofa filling the center of the space, a duo could be seen, laying comfortably within each other's embrace.
One was a young man, on the shorter side, slender and almost petite, with a head of luscious dark blue hair and deep, abyssal pupils.
He was handsome in a way so exaggerated that it was without a doubt the result of an evolution, one that made him unfathomably superior to any mortal human.
He wore large, layered robes of black, dark azure doves embroidered across them, elegant and majestic.
In his embrace lay a woman, only slightly smaller and shorter than he was, with long dark red hair and abyssal eyes as dark as his own.
Their complexions were the same, a pale jade white, and she too bore beauty born from a ridiculous evolution.
Her robes were a reflection of his own, layered and flowing white fabric embroidered with crimson crows, elegant and majestic.
They were the perfect pair.
Salazar, the young man, smiled and gently caressed her face.
"It seems it's about to start."
In front of them, a screen appeared, projecting the trial that was about to unfold, the one all those within the dungeon were staring at, confused.
Unlike them, though, they weren't confused in the least.
"He'll be angry, you know," the young woman, Celeste, uttered, leaning into Salazar's soft, slender hands.
"It's hard to calm him down when he gets going. And I don't want to give him my rings this time." She pouted.
Salazar rolled his eyes.
"Ah, who cares. I'll deal with it when the time comes."
She chuckled teasingly.
"You don't have a plan, hm?"
Salazar didn't answer. Instead, he pulled her in closer and kissed her, tenderly and with a passion that would leave many blushing, the meaning clear.
Of course he didn't.
WHOOOOSH!
Tholyr suddenly appeared in the room, breaking the duo's tender moment as he threw a bloodied body at their feet.
Salazar pulled back, a thin line of spit still connecting the two. It promptly burned to nothing in a blink, and he looked away, much to Celeste's chagrin.
He eyed Tholyr, who was cold and stoic, then panned down to the body trembling below.
Lirik.
His body was in a horrible state, beaten and broken, his core mostly gone, his spark halfway toward collapsing on itself. But he was alive.
Barely so, but alive nonetheless.
"Well," Salazar drawled, "what's this gift you bring here for me, little Tho?"
Tholyr's gaze imperceptibly narrowed, but he didn't lash out. In fact, he smiled.
"Huh. How curious," he murmured. "It seems even you don't know where he comes from. Curious, truly."
Tholyr summoned his usual chair and sat, turning to watch the screen.
Salazar's eyes narrowed, but it was Celeste who spoke.
"Enoch gave you your memories back."
It sounded as much like a question as it did a fact.
Salazar's eyes widened in shock and realization, just as Tholyr's hummed in genuine surprise.
"No," Tholyr answered.
Salazar paused, then laughed, leaning back into the comfort of the wide sofa.
"It doesn't change anything."
Celeste shook her head, arms wrapping around his torso as she softly whispered, "It really doesn't."
"You already lost."
Tholyr eyed them, inwardly shaking his head, then refocused on the trial.
"Who knows," he chuckled. "Time is a flat circle, is it not? Things are bound to repeat in endless cycles."
"All that changes is the tide and the spin of the circle."
…
Enoch sat cross-legged in his death trial, looking at the advent that was about to begin.
It was empty and quiet, the old man gone and his body already mostly, if not fully, back to health.
He was calm, his breath deep and steady, his eyes at peace.
A slight smile hung at the corner of his lips, his heart utterly serene and his mind at complete rest.
He wasn't worried in the least.
'How predictable.'
From the moment he had come back from the cloud trial and seen Uriel, as well as the ridiculous scene that surrounded him at the time, he'd known.
He knew their plans would be useless.
And he knew that his own would succeed.
In what world would killing a man once revered as the light bearer of the arcane and alchemical arts ever be this easy?
In what world would killing the Heart of God ever be so simple?
'I do wonder, though, what makes them so confident?'
He wondered, but once again, he wasn't worried in the least. The worst-case scenario, death, was already something he had factored in.
And even then, he knew it would never come to that.
If the Godless Arcana, Godly Arcana, and Great Sculpture Pills, pills of ridiculous effects and worth, likely invaluable treasures in the greater universe could be digested and fully absorbed by Uriel in an hour, then what about the pill he had given him?
What about a pill that demanded an entire week of unconsciousness from Uriel, not even to fully take effect, but merely to be initially absorbed?
This was a pill Enoch had worked on for years.
And it wasn't simple, not in the least.
Its true effects hadn't kicked in yet, and even Enoch himself didn't know what boons it would reap for Uriel.
He just knew it would be enough…
'…hopefully.'
[Soulless Cauldron Sky Death Advent has begun!]
Enoch grimaced as the notification appeared.
'…Terrible luck.'
His confidence waned for a brief moment, his brows furrowing as a dozen thoughts, old memories, surfaced in his mind.
He frowned.
[Clear your Cauldron's challenge to gain three diamond-grade rewards the world deems you need most!]