He would convulse, a scream tearing from his throat, a sound that echoed through the chamber with a heart-wrenching finality. Yet, each time, he would fight to regain his breath, the spark of defiance refusing to be extinguished.
This was the portal, not a grand archway or shimmering gateway, but a place of excruciating pain and relentless torment. This man, his identity lost to the ages, served as the unwilling anchor, his suffering the fuel that kept the portal open, a bridge between the demon realm of Asura and… something else.
What lay on the other side of this agonizing portal?
A flicker of defiance sparked in the tortured figure's eyes, momentarily cutting through the haze of pain that clouded his vision. His lips, cracked and bloodied, moved in a silent plea. Then, with a raspy whisper that echoed through the cavernous chamber, he spoke.
