The roar of the crowd hadn't even settled before the next challenge began. The arena floor darkened, and an eerie silence fell. A deep chime echoed—not from the arena master, but from the obsidian itself.
Rank 39.
The gate hissed open… and out stepped Vaer'Zhul, the Dreambane—a creature not born of the Ant Clans, but a sealed entity from the Nightmare Rift, once imprisoned for infecting floors with madness. The Obsidian Ants had long ago subdued it… and made it part of their trials.
Vaer'Zhul looked humanoid in shape, but he shimmered with translucent shadow layers. His face was hidden beneath an iron mask carved with weeping runes. Wisps of distorted memories floated around him—fragments of dreams, echoes of screams, false visions.
Leon immediately felt his head pulse. Reality bent slightly. His vision doubled… tripled… until he closed his eyes and activated Karmic Loop just to ground himself.
"Begin," the voice boomed.
Vaer'Zhul didn't move. He simply… stared.
