The portal shimmered like burning glass, its crimson light pulsing with barely restrained heat. Each ripple twisted the space ahead, radiating heat like a forge's breath. I stepped through, exhaling slowly as the world reassembled around me.
In my past life, I had only cleared the first challenge. I remembered the fear. The confusion. The helplessness.
Now, six trials down—and still moving forward.
But this one felt different.
The moment I landed, an oppressive wave of heat hit me like a furnace. The ground was cracked obsidian, glowing with molten veins that pulsed like a living creature's heartbeat. The sky above twisted with red-black clouds, churning in unnatural patterns. Static filled the air. Something ancient stirred beneath the surface.
Then I saw it.
Standing still, as though it had been waiting, was a nightmare carved from hellfire.
A demon.
