The portal behind her shimmered once again.
The shimmering light of the portal enveloped Lyra, pulling her forward as though the universe itself sought to swallow her whole.
For a brief moment, she felt weightless, suspended in an endless void where time did not exist.
Then, with a sharp jolt, the world came back into focus, and she stumbled forward onto rough terrain.
The air around her was suffocatingly thick, reeking of sulfur and decay.
She stood in what appeared to be an ancient battleground.
The sky above was a swirling vortex of black and crimson, casting eerie shadows across the ruined landscape.
Jagged rocks jutted from the ground, and skeletal remains littered the battlefield…they looked monstrous.
Before she could fully take in her surroundings, the system's cold, mechanical voice shattered the silence:
[Welcome, User 198: Lyra.]
[Sub-quest initiated: Survive the Trial of the Abyssal Maw]
[Objective: Defeat all enemies and reach the exit before time runs out.]
[Failure condition: Death.]
[Timer: 15 minutes.]
[Reward: hidden ]
Lyra's eyes widened as the timer appeared in her peripheral vision, counting down mercilessly.
Fifteen minutes. Just fifteen minutes? That was all she had?!
Damn!
Can she manage it?
Maybe Elias was right, and they might die before even defeating anything in this damn place!
How the hell was she expected to survive a trial that she knew nothing about in just fifteen minutes?
[Additional Conditions Unlocked: Due to your combat rank, enemies will scale to your highest potential.]
The system's sarcastic voice came again: "Good luck, weakling."
Lyra clenched her fists, a wave of fear washing over her before she forced it down. "Weakling, huh?" she muttered under her breath. "We'll see about that. Just wait and see….I will shut you up forever."
[Is that a threat?] the system's voice came again.
"Whatever you take it as," Lyra replied, not intending to back down.
A low, guttural growl echoed through the air, and Lyra spun around to see the first wave of enemies emerging from behind her.
Three creatures stepped into view, their grotesque forms illuminated by the blood-red sky.
They were bipedal but hunched over, their bodies covered in matted fur and glistening with some kind of black ichor.
Their eyes glowed an eerie green, and jagged fangs jutted from their mouths.
Lyra instinctively reached for her weapon….a twin set of curved daggers strapped to her thighs.
The blades shimmered faintly; perhaps they had been enchanted.
Who knows what other patron blessings she'd gotten?
The creatures charged.
The first one lunged at her, claws extended, but Lyra ducked under its swipe, spinning on her heel to slice its abdomen with one dagger and drive the other into its side.
The creature let out a shrill screech, black blood spurting from its wounds, before collapsing to the ground.
The second and third creatures attacked in unison.
Lyra rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding a clawed hand aimed at her throat.
She came up in a crouch, slashing upward to sever the arm of the nearest beast.
It roared in pain, but before she could deliver a killing blow, the other creature tackled her, slamming her into the ground.
Her breath left her in a rush, but she twisted her body, using her momentum to throw the creature off.
It landed a few feet away, snarling as it prepared to charge again.
Lyra scrambled to her feet, her mind racing.
"Focus," she told herself. "Find the rhythm."
The creatures attacked again,
She sidestepped the first one's charge and sliced through its neck in one fluid motion, decapitating it.
Black blood sprayed across her face, but she didn't falter.
The last creature hesitated for a split second, and Lyra took advantage, lunging forward and plunging both daggers into its chest.
It let out a final, pitiful whimper before collapsing at her feet.
She barely had time to catch her breath before the system spoke again:
[Wave 1: Complete.]
[Wave 2: Initiating.]
What the heck?!
It looks like this thing is out for my blood!! Is it because of what I said?
If that then I don't regret it, she thought in her mind.
The ground beneath her rumbled, and cracks began to spread across the battlefield.
From the fissures emerged new horrors….these were larger, more humanoid but with twisted, elongated limbs and faces that were a grotesque amalgamation of human and beast.
Their movements were jerky and unnatural, as though their bodies were being controlled by unseen strings.
Lyra's heart pounded in her chest. "You've got to be kidding me," she muttered.
The creatures didn't even pause for a moment to think. They moved like wolves that had scented its prey…or a mate.
They moved faster than the last wave, perhaps even stronger, forcing Lyra to stay on the defensive.
She darted between them, her daggers a blur as she struck at weak points…..joints, throats, eyes. But for every creature she felled, two more seemed to take its place.
Her hands ached from exhaustion, but she kept going.
They just kept growing in number, and it looked like there was no end to them.
One of the beasts caught her off guard, its claw raking across her arm.
She cried out in pain, stumbling back as blood seeped through her armor. The wound burned, but she pushed the pain aside, gritting her teeth as she prepared to fight again.
As she fought, she began to notice a pattern in their movements.
They weren't attacking randomly; they were herding her, forcing her toward a massive stone archway at the edge of the battlefield.
The system's voice chimed in again:
[Observation skill unlocked: Enemy Behavior Analysis.]
[Path to exit identified. Survive to reach the archway.]
Lyra let out a bitter laugh. "Of course there's an exit. You just forgot to mention the army guarding it."
With no other choice, she fought her way toward the archway, her daggers slicing through flesh and bone as she went.
Her movements became more desperate, her breaths coming in ragged gasps. The timer in her vision continued its relentless countdown: 2 minutes, 45 seconds.
Her health kept deteriorating, but she didn't stop and kept going.
Blood trickled down her hands and legs, and she just might fall from exhaustion anytime soon.
Finally, she reached the archway. But as she stepped through, she felt a sudden, crushing weight on her chest. The world around her shifted, and she was no longer on the battlefield. Instead, she stood in a cavernous chamber, its walls covered in pulsating, flesh-like growths.
At the center of the room was a throne made of bones, and sitting atop it was a figure cloaked in darkness. Its eyes glowed the same sickly green as the creatures she had fought, and its voice was a low, guttural rasp:
"Welcome to the heart of the Abyssal Maw, Lyra. Your true trial begins now."
Lyra's grip tightened on her daggers as the figure rose from its throne, its form towering over her. She had no time to think, no time to strategize. She fumbled with the health potion strapped to her thigh, gulped it down in one go, and lunged forward, her daggers aimed at its heart.
....
Meanwhile, on the other side of another portal, Serena staggered as she landed in a dense, foggy forest. The trees loomed high above her, their twisted branches forming a canopy that blocked out the sky.
A notification appeared in her vision: