Nibiru's body was racked with pain and his mind was a blur from the lack of food and water. He lay on the cold stone floor, shivering and whimpering in agony. He was sure he was about to die, that he was about to slip away into oblivion. But then, as if from nowhere, he saw a tray being slid into the food latch on his cell door.
At the sight of food, Nibiru became animalistic and feral. He crawled to the door, dragging his weak body with nothing but sheer willpower. He tore into the bread and soup, barely tasting it, but not caring. It was sustenance, and he needed it to survive.
As he ate, he couldn't help but wonder who had left him the food. Was it one of the Demonic Masters, or one of the henchmen? Or was it someone else entirely? Nibiru knew that it didn't really matter who had given him the food. What mattered was that he was alive, and he had something in his stomach.
After he finished eating, Nibiru lay back down on the stone floor, his body still wracked with pain. But for the first time in days, he felt a glimmer of hope. He had survived the first week in the Cave of Demon Ascension, and maybe he could survive the rest.
But that hope was short-lived, as the demonic masters returned soon after and the henchmen chained up the remaining children. They were moving to phase 2, and Nibiru knew that whatever lay ahead would be even worse than what he had already experienced.