Chapter 96 - Overwhelming, Intoxicating Fear

--A transportation spell? Again? But what used it? The door?

It was a slightly different feeling than the magic used by Beatrice to send them to Primordia, it wasn't a gnawing, bright light that surrounded him, nor was there a gut-twisting amount of g-forces pulling onto him. He was surrounded by darkness, feeling as if the shapeless shadows were guiding him into an unknown destination.

"--"

Attempting to open his mouth to yell out, "Iris!", nothing came out. No air inhabited his lungs, but he didn't feel the need to breathe in this current of darkness.

"--Stranger. Foreigner. Otherworlder. Ren Nakamura."

A disembodied voice spoke to him, the mysterious voice carried through the darkness as if existing from all directions around him.

"You have entered the trial formed by the primordial gods, a temple of which will stand against you, carving you down both physically and mentally. You have willingly trespassed into the domain of the primordial gods--as such, you have forfeited your freedom and now will be subject to the Purgatory Trial."

"--"

He attempted to respond to the disembodied voice, sounding as if it belonged to a stoic woman, devoid of emotion.

"In the trial awaiting you, you must descend to the fifth and final floor of the temple. As a subject of Purgatory, you will be bestowed upon a "Pact of Undying"--granting you resurrection upon death at the nearest fountain of Origin. However, if your mind falls to despair, if you lose the will to continue fighting--this pact will be broken, and you will be assimilated into the temple to live out a fate worse than death."

As the explanation was sent directly to his eardrums, flooding into his mind as if being spoken directly to his essence--he could feel the moving tide of formless shadows slow down as if he were reaching his destination.

"Ren Nakamura, your trial begins now."

With those final words instructed to him, the swallowing darkness faded out as he dropped onto the rough, solid floor beneath him.

The odd sensation of the dark transportation took its toll on his body, coughing and gagging as spit fled from his lips. Looking up from the almost black, stained and cracked stone floor below him--he saw now in a dimly lit room that resembled a dungeon, formed of weathered stone.

"Iris? Iris! Iris!"

Standing up, he called out for his companion, turning to each direction--he was completely alone in this mysterious room, left only with the doorless entrance that led outside of the musty room of damp, still air and cobwebs.

Only one thing of real interest stood out upon first glance--a small body of crimson liquid that resembled a fountain was attached to the back of the room, giving off a stench of copper.

"Crap. I've really messed up this time, haven't I…? Still...How did it know my name? Creepy."

Looking around the small room once more, all he found was grime that coated the walls. There was nothing of use, leaving him only with a pocket full of enchanted gems, some rations, and his sword at his hip.

Slowly, time passed, gnawing away at him was a feeling of anxiousness washed over him as he waited for Iris to show up in the room as well. After giving it what felt like an hour--that never happened.

--There's no way she didn't enter right after me. I'm guessing the trial itself has something to do with this.

He finally forced himself to leave the room and venture forward into the unknown dungeon. It was hard to imagine the domain existing in the realm of Primordia, the quiet atmosphere held nothing in common with the raging winds of snow from before.

A single step outside of the room he first found himself in was as if he had entered a different world entirely. The smell flooded his nose--the unmistakable stench of rotting, fermenting flesh made itself present in the wide, dark dungeon. That smell brought a shiver over his skin as he remembered memories best kept buried.

Underneath his boot, he could feel the sticky, lukewarm sensation--looking down to confirm what he had feared.

Blood, puddles of it traveled through the creases of the ruined stone floors. Only a few torches attached to the stone pillars throughout the room gave a source of light. From the illumination granted to him, the only contents of the room he could make out were scattered bones and boxes coated with cobwebs.

"Shit."

He put his hand over his nose and mouth to mitigate the awful stench to prevent himself from gagging.

Hesitance dulled his movements as he slowly traversed the dim dungeon, staying cautious as he narrowly avoided cobwebs occupied by horrific spiders he could only imagine were pumped full of poison.

It was a hard feeling for him to place. Something about the atmosphere within the dungeon placed an intangible pressure over his rib cage, as if an abstract fear hindered his breathing--fearing that even his breath may attract a haunting evil.

The silence only filled with the sound of liquid slowly dripping from the ceiling was erased as a solid, encompassing thud rang through the vacant dungeon. Without a doubt, it was a footstep--that much was certain to him.

His instincts completely took over for that split second as he pressed himself against one of the pillars, feeling the cold, crimson-stained stone against his back as his breathing picked up.

Another footstep fell upon the ground. Ren was unable to accurately place where the source of the heavy steps came from, but he knew it was at least beyond the tall entrance that led to the next room.

--Please. Please. Please.

The next thud confirmed that the enigmatic entity had indeed entered the same room as him. It was a difficult choice in his head, whether or not he wished for the flames of the torches to stay lit to soothe his aching heart, or to dissipate to mask his presence.

He felt as if his own heartbeat would give him away as it slammed against his chest at the haunting presence in the room.

--It's a large room. It's dark. My scent is masked by the rotten stench here. I'm fine. It won't find me.

Heavy breathing became audible from the unknown creature, clearly snorting hot air from its nostrils before it sniffed the air--sending a painful ache through Ren's heart as that confirmed that it was indeed looking for him.

Now that the steps were within the same room, he could hear the distinct sound of solid hooves meeting the stone with each haunting step.

As scared as he was, trembling within the presence of the entity--the feeling of curiosity was almost as powerful within him. He had to know what the creature was, not to analyze it in an attempt to launch a counteract--it was pure curiosity, and an attempt to rid the fear of the unknown for himself.

Only one concept kept him from leaning to the side to catch a glimpse of the lumbering creature--if he glanced at the wrong moment and met eye to eye with the beast, it would spell the end of him.

Even so, he did it anyway.

Leaning to the side, running his hand over the jagged stone he kept himself glued to, he crept to the edge of the pillar until just his iris peaked over the sharp edge--feeling his heart freeze for a moment as his eyes met with the form of the entity.

Even hearing, feeling its dense footsteps echo against the ground, the size of the creature came as a despairful surprise. It stood three times his height from the looks of it, slightly hunched over as one hand carried with it a massive battle-axe, decorated with symbols in its fine-cobalt steel, dripping with crimson as it was dragged against the floor.

Its body was clad in a light coat of black fur over its dark skin of the same complexion, missing patches of fur replaced by horrendous scars that stretched over its muscular body, wrapped in chains.

It had the head of a bull, with large, ivory horns protruding from each side of its head that were covered with muk and flesh. Its beady crimson eyes scoured the room as its large nostrils sniffed the air once more before snorting.

--A minotaur…?

He was horrifically enamoured with the sight of the half-man half-bull creature, swiftly hiding himself behind the pillar once more as it was about to swing its gaze in his direction.

In all the training he had put himself through during his year in preparation for the trial, he had gained strength that eclipsed who he once was. Even so, what he felt from the beast was different than anything before.

--It's suffocating. It's mana, but it feels distinctly...off. This is a trial, right? I bet that this is a test or something--whether or not I cave into the fear. I doubt it really is as strong as it feels. I can do this.