When Stark woke up again, he was in his apartment.
The familiar smell of warm food and the soft light filtering through the windows welcomed him back to consciousness.
But before he could fully take in his surroundings, he felt something, or rather, someone, cling to him tightly.
"YOU'VE BEEN OUT FOR TWO WEEKS AGAIN!" Lana's voice rang in his ears as she practically tackled him into a hug.
Sora followed right behind, though not as bold as she just gently grabbed his arm, "It is nice to know you aren't... gone."
Stark blinked, trying to process the sudden rush of emotions, 'Oh yeah, I've been stuck in that void for a while, haven't I...'
"Two weeks, heh..."
Lana nodded, her expression a mix of relief and annoyance, "Yes! Two weeks, Stark! We've been taking turns watching over you every single day."
"That's... okay," Stark didn't need it, as his aura itself preserved him from dying of hunger or thirst, he had passed out for 3 months at one point after all!
Stark scratched the back of his head, trying to recall the dream he'd had.
The apostles, Godless... it all seemed so real.
But looking at Lana and Sora now, he couldn't help but feel a strange sense of peace, "I guess I should thank you both," he muttered awkwardly.
Lana smiled warmly, brushing her hair behind her ear, "Just... try not to scare us like that again, alright?"
Stark shrugged as he knew this wasn't possible, but inside, his mind was already racing.
The void... the chains that stopped him from kicking Godless's ass... the apostles... it wasn't over yet.
He could feel it in his bones. And now, there was something he had to do.
Something urgent.
Without a word, Stark reached into his inventory and pulled out the [Colosseum Token].
"H-Hey, what are you doing?!" Lana suddenly shouted while pulling out from the embrace, and even Sora seemed surprised.
"Need... to... do something..." he mumbled, more to himself than them as he stared at the token, a vortex of aura forming in his eyes.
The atmosphere of the room suddenly darkened as Stark woke up, his aura spreading everywhere.
After such a dream, after sensing the power of the Godless Demon, after knowing that he would soon descend, he couldn't stay idle.
The quicker he got rid of those things, the quicker he would be able to get rid of Godless, for in the end, only one of them can live.
The air shimmered around him as the token's magic began to work, pulling him back into the Colosseum's tower.
"You..." Sora's eyes widened slightly, "You're going to find 'him'?"
"HUH?!" Lana was terrified, "Where is Stark going?!"
Stark gave her a serious look, "I have to find the apostle," he said firmly and extremely fast, "If I don't kill him before the second trial ends, I'll never complete the ApostleDex."
And with that, he vanished, leaving behind a room filled with the faint glow of magic.
"What the fuck?" Lana was flabbergasted, "Kill the apostle? The ApostleDex? Did he finally go crazy??!"
"..." Sora didn't say anything, maybe she understood a bit of it with the information she got until then, but she still couldn't get the full picture yet.
Stark blinked, momentarily caught off guard by Lana's enthusiasm.
He opened his mouth to explain why he had returned so soon but quickly decided against it.
Instead, he gave a half-smile. "Yes, I missed you both."
Lana beamed, clearly pleased with his response, though Sora, who was sitting at the kitchen table sipping on a cup of coffee, wasn't so easily fooled, "It is great to see you think so highly of us."
Still, it didn't matter, Stark was back, and for the moment, that was enough.
"Of course, anything for my friends."
He hadn't found any clues for the secret zone, but this sight appeased him slightly.
'Yeah, be positive, Stark, still more than three months remain!'
For now, they had completed the second trial.
With more than three months remaining before the next one began, there was literally nothing for them to do except wait.
Not a single other group had managed to complete the trial yet, and so the trio had time to rest.
Time began to pass like that.
...
Every day, Stark returned to the Colosseum Tower, spending up to five hours searching for the elusive secret area.
Each day, he combed through different floors, testing every possible theory, every hint of a hidden passage.
But it was slow-going, and after each day of searching, he would return to the apartment empty-handed.
Lana would often ask him what he was doing, her curiosity piqued by his mysterious outings.
"Where do you go every day?" she asked one morning over breakfast, her eyes narrowing slightly, "You've been vanishing for hours everyday inside the tower!"
"Secret thing," Stark replied, his tone casual as he took a bite of his food.
And it wasn't even a lie, he was quite literally searching for something secret.
Meanwhile, Sora had started visiting more frequently, often staying overnight at Lana's apartment.
The two women had grown closer, becoming good friends, tt was a strange but comforting dynamic, and Stark appreciated the calm that came with it.
Every night, before sleeping, he would close his eyes and think of the floors, imagining anything he could have possibly missed.
Just like that, the trio had fallen into an easy rhythm.
Stark continued his daily searches, while Lana and Sora spent their time relaxing or doing their own hobbies.
Occasionally, Sora would help with cooking, though Stark or Lana usually took over, their culinary skills better suited to the task.
The days turned into weeks, the weeks into months.
And then, three months and a week passed in what felt like the blink of an eye.
There was now only one week before the trial ended.
"Holy shit..." and Stark hadn't found anything.