"Get up! We're setting off."
Seraphis's harsh tone cut through the air, snapping Nox out of his half-awake daze. Jolting upright, he quickly grabbed his sword, securing it at his side. The world around him felt strange, like every step was leading them deeper into a nightmare, but he had no choice. They set off.
As the edge of the forest loomed ahead, Nox's curiosity got the better of him. "Where are we going?"
Lilith smirked, her eyes glinting with amusement. "We're going to the Pits of Torment."
Nox's voice faltered slightly, still trying to make sense of this chaotic realm. "What is the Pits of Torment?"
Lilith's smile faded just enough to show the weight behind her words. "This is the demon realm. We have no choice but to get stronger if we want to survive. The best way to do that is by throwing yourself into life-or-death situations. You want to make it out alive? Follow suit."
A cold shiver ran down Nox's spine. He had barely had time to process his new reality since arriving here. This will be my life from now on. It's kill or be killed. I'll survive.
"How far is the Pit of Torment?" Nox asked reluctantly, already sensing the danger.
Lilith opened her mouth to answer, but it was Seraphis who spoke first, her voice sharp and unyielding. "At our current pace, we should be there in a few days. For now, I'll catch you up to speed on how to survive there." She glanced at Nox, her eyes narrowing with an intensity he couldn't ignore. "The Pit has no rules. It's not like anything you've ever seen. There are multiple layers, each designed to test you in different ways. Unfortunately, there's no way to predict what kind of trial you'll face. Each person's trial is unique. The difficulty varies from one individual to the next. We can't enter each other's trials—it's always a solitary experience. You'll be alone."
Her voice dropped to a cold, calculating tone. "If you don't think you can do it, you can stay behind with me. I'll protect you until Lilith returns."
Nox thought for a long moment, the weight of her words sinking in. He had no choice. His survival depended on his ability to get stronger. "I have no choice. If I want to survive, I have to get stronger than I currently am. So I'll go."
A faint smile tugged at the corners of Seraphis's lips, though it was brief and unreadable. "Good. I'll teach you some basic survival skills so you can make it through when you face your trial."
For the rest of the day, Seraphis shared what little she could teach him in the short time they had. She covered what to eat, what not to eat, the weaknesses and strengths of various demonic beasts, and survival techniques in this brutal, unforgiving realm. It wasn't much, but Nox absorbed everything with remarkable speed.
When she demonstrated the flaws in his swordsmanship, Nox immediately corrected himself, improving with each adjustment, not repeating the same mistakes. His progress impressed Seraphis, though she kept her praise minimal, always focused on the next lesson.
As they walked, Nox noticed something unsettling. Despite the hellscape around them, filled with countless demonic creatures, none had attacked so far. He couldn't help but wonder if Seraphis's presence kept them at bay—A demonic deterrent. She was powerful enough to scare them off, he realized. Probably more than capable of handling anything that came their way.
Finally, they arrived at the entrance to the Pit.
The earth around them seemed to tremble with anticipation, and the dark, jagged stone archway stood tall before them, a stark reminder of the trials that awaited. The air was thick with a palpable heaviness, as though the very atmosphere was charged with malevolent energy.
Nox couldn't shake the feeling that the Pit had been waiting for him, that it was more than just a test—it was a response to his presence.
Seraphis looked at the entrance, her expression hardening. "This is it," she said, her voice low. "The Pit of Torment. The trials will begin the moment you step inside."
Lilith moved beside Nox, a small smile tugging at her lips. "Ready for hell?"
Nox swallowed, his grip tightening around his sword. "Let's do this."
Without another word, they stepped into the archway together, their steps echoing as they crossed into the unknown.
The moment their feet crossed the threshold, the world twisted.
The light behind them vanished—cut off like a flame snuffed in the wind. In its place was darkness, thick and pulsing, like it was alive and breathing around them. The air changed, too—hot and dry, heavy with something ancient. Something watching.
Nox staggered slightly, catching himself. "What… just happened?"
Lilith didn't answer at first. She was looking around, her usual smirk gone, replaced with a rare flicker of uncertainty. "This… isn't how it's supposed to be."
The ground beneath them rumbled. Not a quake, not violent—but intentional. Like something deep below was shifting. Reacting.
Then came the voice.
Not one they could hear with their ears—but one that pressed into their minds.
"Unworthy blood. Worthless flesh. What breaks… must be reforged."
Nox's eyes widened. "Did you hear that?"
Lilith nodded slowly. "Yeah… but I've never heard the Pit speak before."
The walls around them—charred stone, smooth like obsidian—began to shimmer. Like heatwaves off scorched sand. Then they split, revealing a corridor of black flame and floating platforms suspended over a crimson void. The air buzzed with pressure, like gravity itself was unstable.
"I thought each person had to face their trial alone," Nox said, confused.
"They do," Lilith replied. "This isn't supposed to happen. I shouldn't be standing next to you right now."
Then the Pit spoke again, louder this time, echoing in the stone and in their bones.
"Anomalies detected. Adjusting trial parameters."
The ground shook again. The air rippled—and suddenly, the corridor ahead flickered, splitting in two.
One path pulsed with dark mist and shadowy shapes that whispered incomprehensible words. The other burned bright, lined with glowing sigils and shrieking winds that tore at the stone walls.
Nox looked to Lilith. "Do we… pick one?"
But before she could answer, the Pit answered for them.
"Both shall proceed. Together. But not unchanged."
Lilith's hand darted out to grab Nox's—just as the world fractured around them. The ground cracked, the light twisted, and everything fell—
Then—
Silence.
When Nox opened his eyes again, The floor beneath him looked like cracked glass, and the sky above swirled in impossible colors. But beside him—somehow—stood Lilith.
Still there. Still real. But… different.
Both of them were.
Their weapons were gone. Their bodies felt heavier. And something inside them had shifted, like a key had been turned in a lock they didn't know existed.
Lilith looked at him, wide-eyed. "It… fused our trials."
Nox stared ahead.
The first layer had begun.
The silence didn't last long.
A pulse rippled through the air like a heartbeat, slow and thunderous. The sky above them cracked with red lightning, and the cracked-glass floor beneath their feet began to glow with sigils older than language.
Then the voice returned—this time, it was speaking only to Nox.
"You do not belong. Yet you remain."
"You carry the scent of a forgotten flame… and the weight of sleeping power."
The sigils on the floor bled light, burning brighter, encircling Nox and Lilith in a twisting, shifting ring of symbols neither of them recognized. Lilith stepped closer, instinctively reaching for a weapon that wasn't there.
Then the voice deepened, as though the Pit itself had grown teeth.
"Blood shall spill. And from that pain—stronger blood shall rise."
The light flared. Nox staggered back, his chest tightening, a sharp heat building behind his ribs like something inside him was being forced awake.
"The Trial of the Nameless Depths will now begin."
Lilith gasped. "Wait—that trial name... it's not in the archives. That's not a normal one!"
Before Nox could respond, the ground beneath them shattered.
They plummeted into darkness—wind howling around them, screams echoing from nowhere and everywhere at once. Shapes twisted in the void: hands without bodies, wings made of bone and ash, mirrors that reflected nothing but Nox's fears.
And then—
They landed.
Hard.
Nox groaned, pushing himself up. The air was cold here—wet, like the breath of a cave that had never seen light. The ground was black stone, slick with something that looked like ink but smelled like blood.
Lilith landed beside him, rolling to her feet. "Still with me?"
He nodded, shaking off the daze. "What is this place?"
All around them, huge statues loomed—figures with hollow eyes and clawed hands raised high, like they were mid-prayer… or mid-judgment. At the far end of the room, an altar stood. Upon it—nothing. But the air buzzed, like something was supposed to be there.
Then the voice spoke again.
"One must offer. One must bleed."
"Only then shall the truth be revealed."
Lilith's eyes narrowed. "It's trying to force a choice."
Nox took a step forward, heart pounding. The stone beneath his foot sizzled where his blood had dripped earlier—just a scrape, but now it reacted. The symbols on the floor began to move, swirling into new shapes.
"Offer what?" Nox asked aloud.
"Your past. Your pain. Your truth. Or hers."
Lilith looked at him, not with fear—but resolve. "Whatever this is… we face it together."
But the voice came one final time.
"Only one heart can open the Depths. Choose."