The return trip to the Third Floor began with laughter. Or rather: with Sienna's cackling echoing like cursed bells along the path, and Jay's mortified silence as he marched like a man on his way to a public execution.
After crossing the portal, they followed the eastern road. The first hour became a private show by the summoner, who seemed to have received some invisible buff of infinite energy.
— So, Jay? — Sienna sang, walking backward in front of him. — Does the new shield come with an instruction manual, or just a seduction manual?
Jay practically hid behind the Aegis of Retaliation.
— Sienna… for everything that's sacred in this system… forget that.
— Forget? — she laughed. — Never. I'm telling my grandkids. I'm telling the final boss.
"Hey, my lord, did you know our tank kissed the blacksmith?"
Marcus, sword resting on his shoulder, let out a contained chuckle.
— To be fair… that was brave. I wouldn't have the guts to kiss someone who swings a hammer that big.
— Don't help, Marcus! — Jay grumbled.
Farther back, Ethan and Elenya watched with the calm of people who had seen this circus before.
— At least the mood is light — Elenya commented, still a little red with embarrassment when she remembered what happened.
Ethan kept his eyes fixed on the strange horizon ahead.
— Enjoy it. I've got a feeling it won't last.
The landscape began to change almost imperceptibly. The dark trees thinned out. The dry grass turned to dust. The dust became packed earth, red and thick, like clay mixed with dried blood.
The sky changed too. From melancholy gray to the shade of burning rust.
Two hours later, a sound started vibrating beneath the road.
TUM.
TUM.
TUM.
It wasn't loud. Or fast.
It was constant.
Like a gigantic heart beating under the earth.
Emanueru stopped suddenly, pressing a hand to his chest.
— You guys… do you feel that?
Ethan stepped closer.
— Feel what?
— Anger — he answered, almost whispering. — The air… it's angry.
At first, it was subtle.
Then it stopped being subtle.
The heat rose without any sun. Sweat began to run cold, like the body reacting to an invisible threat. And patience… evaporated.
Sienna kicked a rock with absurd force, like it had personally insulted her existence.
— What kind of damn heat is this?! And that noise?! It feels like someone's pounding inside my skull!
Marcus, who normally ignored her complaints, turned abruptly, his gaze loaded.
— Can you stop whining? Your voice is giving me a headache.
Sienna froze.
Mockery turned into pure fire.
— What was that, you walking lamppost? Want me to make you stop hearing?!
A spark of mana snapped in her hand.
Marcus's hand went to his sword hilt.
— Try it. I've been dying to test my new edge on something that talks too much.
The air grew heavy, dense like molten lead.
Jay stepped between them immediately, shield up. But even his voice came out hard, tense.
— Stop. Now. You two sound like a pair of bratty kids.
— Move, Jay! — Sienna shouted.
— Yeah. Move — Marcus growled. — Let her come.
— STOP!
Ethan's shout came with a pulse of mana, like a slap of icy air across everyone's face.
They stopped.
Panting.
Startled.
Shocked by what they'd almost done.
— Look at you — Ethan said, breathing deep. — You're friends. You were laughing ten minutes ago.
He pointed at the blood-red sky.
— This isn't you. It's the floor. It's Wrath.
Elenya pressed a hand to her forehead.
— I… I feel like shooting someone for no reason. This is a mental aura.
Emanueru nodded, pale.
— It's pushing aggression into us. If we don't focus, we'll kill each other before we even reach the city.
Sienna lowered her hand slowly.
Marcus released the sword hilt.
— Damn… — he muttered. — Sorry.
— Me too — Sienna exhaled. — What a horrible place.
The road made its final bend.
And they saw it.
It wasn't a city.
It was a scar.
Torn tents, smoking firepits, twisted metal scattered in brutal chaos. Everything looked improvised, savage, feral.
And at the center…
The Coliseum.
A circular monstrosity of black stone and iron, with massive spikes jutting out like the broken ribs of a buried titan. Tattered red banners fluttered in the hot wind.
The sound of metal on metal echoed like rhythmic thunder. Screams of pain, fury, and victory completed the chorus.
Jay stopped.
Something in him aligned.
All the shame from the kiss vanished.
All insecurity dissolved.
The Aegis of Retaliation pulsed with orange light, as if it had found its natural habitat.
— It's there — Jay said firmly. — The next fragment is inside.
Ethan adjusted his cloak.
— Remember: control your anger. Use it to fight, not to fight each other.
Marcus drew a deep breath, eyes sharp.
— Then let's see who runs this pigsty.
They went down the slope.
Entered the direct influence zone of the Sin of Wrath.
Where every look was a threat.
Where every step was an invitation to violence.
Where sanity was as fragile as exposed flesh.
They tried to pry information from the locals. Ethan approached a man sitting beside an improvised fire, sharpening a warped blade.
— Can you tell us who rules this place?
The man lifted his gaze.
And something in him snapped.
His eyes went red. His breathing sped up.
— YOU DARE SPEAK OF LORD VALDRED?! THE SIN OF WRATH!
The scream made the blade vibrate. People nearby stopped what they were doing and snapped their heads around, like animals scenting blood.
Marcus raised his eyebrows.
— Okay… that escalated fast.
Elenya took a step back.
— They're not just angry. They're extensions of Wrath. He uses the city like it's his own body.
The ground trembled.
A deep, primitive vibration ran through the earth.
The wind turned hot.
The air burned.
And then…
He appeared.