The Eighth Door and the Abyssal Tide

(...Tap... Tap... Tap...)

Descending step by step, slowly into the depths, amidst a dull pressure that devoured any attempt to breathe...

(S-SHHHHH-ZAP~)

At that moment Shija, held up by silk threads that creaked under the strain of keeping him upright, finally came to a halt.

"....."

His lungs burned, and his vision, tainted by sweat and blood, fixed upon what lay at the end of the abyss.

<"I suppose it’s about to begin~">

Before him loomed the eighth door.

(What... am I... doing...?)

Unlike the previous seven, this one had no vibrant color or recognizable reliefs.

(.... My body... isn't responding...)

It was a mass of dark matter, a solid vacuum that seemed to absorb the cave's light and the emerald glow of his own tattoos.

(Thump-thump... Thump-thump...!!)

There were no carved images, only a smooth, cold surface that vibrated with the frequency of a dying heart.

(... No... something is interfering... but... why...?)

Shija, his eyes glazed and lost in a trance of pain, gazed at the chains attempting to keep that final entrance sealed.

(CLANG... SHHH...!!!)

They were links of a translucent metal, like smoked glass, but most of them no longer fulfilled their purpose.

(... This is going badly)

Several of the main chains lay broken, hanging inertly like the dead limbs of a spider.

<"My, just as I expected from such a diligent disciple and protagonist, still conscious despite everything~!">

The ends of the links were splintered, not by external brute force, but by a corrosion that seemed to seep from within the room.

"!!?!"

A thick vapor, with the scent of wilted flowers and musk, escaped through the cracks of the door, swirling around Shija's feet; however...

(Melioris!!)

Shija's attention shifted, his consciousness awakening like a distant echo.

<"You probably have many questions... and to some extent, so do I... but that doesn't change what I am about to do...">

"Argh!!"

Noticing the seal was compromised, the snakes tattooed on his skin reacted with a violent spasm, tightening around his ribs until he gasped for air.

(CREEEEEEAK!!!)

And without Shija even having to touch it, the eighth door began to yield.

<"Enter... Shija Retsu... And 'see' how this story... truly began...">

The voice, now clearer and heavy with sadness, resonated within Shija's being as the door opened...

(CRACK-KRA-SHHH!!!)

Until finally, at the moment the last chains of the eighth door gave way, the surface of dark matter fractured.

"!!"

And what emerged from those fractures alarmed Shija, who tensed his body and resisted, trying to regain control.

(GLOOOOSH!)

But despite his attempts, his body refused to react as black water began to overflow from the fractures in the door...

(GLUB... GLUB-SHHHH!!!)

Shija, despite his blurred vision, felt a shiver of pure instinctive terror run down his spine as that substance increasingly filled the environment.

(Move, move, move, move!!)

The black water didn't just drip; it gushed with torrential force, flooding the corridor floor and rising rapidly past Shija's ankles.

(Ssssss~)

In response to the contact with his skin, the tattooed snakes emitted a defensive emerald glow, hissing at the toxicity of the liquid that sought to assimilate him.

<"... Do not resist.">

Shija tried to step back, but the silk threads holding him up became soaked in the dark fluid, turning heavy and losing their mystical strength.

(VROOOOOOOOM!!!)

Meanwhile, the door, unable to contain the flood any longer, finally burst inward, becoming the mouth of a broken dam.

(glup... slorp...!)

In that manner, the current of black water swept him away, shoving him into the interior of the eighth chamber.

(Something is... flowing...! Could these be... memories?!)

What surrounded Shija wasn't just water; within that torrent floated fragments of memories, echoes of distorted desires, and the trail of four faint colored essences that sparkled like weak, twinkling stars.

(I won't let this continue!!)

Submerged in that tide of liquid darkness, Shija felt the sweet, suffocating scent turn into a metallic taste in his mouth...

(Klang!!)

And in an act of will that defied the tearing of his own fibers, Shija reacted before the current could swallow him whole.

"RRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!"

With a guttural roar that tore at his throat, he forced his right arm —the one still clutching the compressed silk sword— and plunged it with blind violence into the marble floor.

(KRA-SHHHH!!!)

Thus, the reinforced fabric blade pierced the stone like a stake, serving as an anchor while his body was lashed by the strength of the torrent.

(VROOOOOOO-OOOOOM!!!)

Shija clung to the hilt with both hands, his muscles vibrating under a tension so extreme that the snake tattoos began to bleed emerald light, struggling not to be ripped from his skin by the friction of the water.

(VROOOOOOO-RRRRRR!!!)

Upon hitting the chamber walls, the liquid climbed unnaturally, defying gravity, covering every inch of the organic architecture with a layer of shimmering tar that throbbed as if it were alive.

"!!!"

Shija spat through clenched teeth, feeling the torrent trying to tear his arms from their sockets.

<"Still splashing around? You look so tired...">

At that moment, all around him, the room began to devour the corridor as Melioris’s voice shifted, adopting a warmth that contrasted cruelly with the viscous cold of the tar.

<"You strive so hard to keep your head above this sludge, like a child who fears stepping into the bathtub because he believes the water will steal his skin... But that is wrong, and there is nothing to fear!">

The water level rose at a terrifying speed, swallowing the steps and the doors of the sins, in stark contrast to the melancholy voice resonating calmly in his mind...

<"Do not fear the darkness, Shija... Stop fighting the current... Do not seek air; seek meaning...">

Despite the deafening sound, Shija could clearly hear every word Melioris uttered, as if nothing were happening around him.

(GLUB-GLUB... SHHHHHH!!!)

But at the same time, violent whirlpools formed in the center of the eighth chamber, sucking everything in with ever-increasing ferocity.

(What is she playing at?!)

Shija saw remnants of velvet shelves and shards of crystal passing by him, shimmering with a dying light before being swallowed by the abyssal blackness.

<"Only when you stop resisting and allow the tar to claim you, will your eyes see what truly matters.">

The water was already at his chest, striking him rhythmically, laden with that sweet, suffocating scent that was now seeping through his pores, trying to numb his muscles from the inside.

(RESIST... RESIST... RESIST... RESIST... RESIST...!!)

The liquid darkness churned in heavy waves that crashed against the ceiling, dislodging chunks of stone and organic flesh that fell into the foamy chaos.

<"Come... close your eyes.">

Each time the black water submerged him, Shija felt thousands of invisible needles stinging his skin, while the snakes of his tattoos writhed in an agonizing dance beneath the fluid...

(KRRRRRR-RRRRRR-ACK!!!)

Simultaneously, the floor beneath his sword began to crack.

<"Stop looking upward, where the sky is empty, and start looking inward, where the abyss is full.">

Shija, his eyes bloodshot and his face contorted with pain, gripped the silk hilt even tighter, as the black water began to form a giant hand out of the current that tugged at his torso, attempting to drag him into the center of the vortex.

<"... Let go... and come see~">

The roar of the black water became a white hum in Shija's ears.

(Is this as far as I go...?)

His fingers, numb and bleeding, clung to the silk hilt with a strength that was no longer physical, but the last vestige of his instinct for preservation.

(Escape. Resist. Move. You're going to die.)

The desperation was such that his mind and spirit, with no way out, sought every possible avenue of escape to survive, to keep going, to "escape"...

(Ba-dump... Ba-dump...)

However, amidst the hydraulic roar and the creaking of the organic architecture, an impossible sound cut through the frequency of the disaster.

(...hic... uuh...)

It was a sob.

"!!"

It was a faint voice, cracked by a sadness so vast it seemed to weigh more than all the black water of the abyss.

(This voice!!)

Shija, with the water lashing his face and the sweet scent invading his lungs, turned his head toward the epicenter of the whirlpool.

"....."

His eyes, previously glazed and clouded by the trance of pain, snapped wide open.

(Stop looking upward, where the sky is empty, and start looking inward, where the abyss is full...)

In that instant, time dilated.

(Only when you stop resisting and allow the tar to claim you... will your eyes see what truly matters...)

At that moment, understanding was a strike more accurate than any sword.

(... I understand now...)

The struggle left his shoulders.

(... Fine.)

The resistance that kept him bound to the rock vanished, replaced by a silent and tragic determination.

<"Good luck...">

In that manner, slowly, Shija opened his fingers, letting go of the hilt of his silk sword, allowing the only anchor tethering him to the safety of the corridor to be devoured by the current.

(VROOOOOOO-OOOOOM!!!)

And with no resistance, the tide of corruption claimed him instantly.

<"... You are about to see something... that you will not like...">

The centrifugal force of the whirlpool enveloped him like an obsidian shroud, tearing him from the ground and sucking him into the depths of the eighth chamber.

<"If this works... the awakening will begin...">

But Shija offered no resistance; closing his eyes, he let his muscles relax, surrendering completely to the torrent dragging him toward the epicenter of pain...

<"Neither of us can turn back now.">

In that way, the black water swallowed him, submerging him in a void where the sound of the cavern vanished, leaving only the echo of that sob vibrating in his own blood.

<"So, let's bet it all or nothing~!">

The greatest chaos the world of Ky'lar had ever experienced...

<"It's time to dance~">

...was about to begin.