Bella and i climb up to floor 4 and it was very foggy in this arena.

  I felt a gaze staring at me Bella shouted MOVE NOW!

  I moved to the side—

  but my forearm got cut three times, like something had raked me with a paw.

  I stared into the darkness.

  Bella: “I can’t see with all this damn MIASMA! Hurry—breathe it in already!”

  “I can’t. I need time to focus. We need to kill it.”

  Aisha: “IDENTIFYING LIFEFORM… PROCESSING…”

  Aisha: “IDENTITY FOUND — MIASMA-INFUSED GIANT WOLF.”

  AWOOOOOOOOOOOO!

  All the miasma around the area got pulled in at once—like something inhaled the whole forest.

  Aisha: “GIANT WOLF EVOLUTION — DANGER. DANGER.”

  Bella: “What now…?”

  Aisha: “EVOLUTION COMPLETE — GIANT WOLF EVOLVED TO: WOLF TYRANT.”

  The thing finished transforming.

  And when it opened its mouth…

  It had a voice.

  Wolf: “You want to challenge me?”

  It moved wrong—swift, cunning, nasty—like a big rat pretending to be a wolf.

  Bella: “BEHIND YOU!”

  It was already a short distance away.

  In my mind, I didn’t panic.

  All I thought about was the outplay.

  It lunged.

  I repositioned into a tight ball—

  just enough.

  It missed me.

  And as it finished its leap over me, I snapped into a handstand—

  and rocked it in the jaw mid-air.

  BAM!

  Once it took the hit, it hit the ground and got back up slowly.

  Wolf: “GUAH…!”

  It looked like it almost forgot how to breathe.

  Bella: “What on earth did I just see…?”

  Wolf: “Looks like you aren’t just food.”

  It circled, voice low, amused.

  Wolf: “They usually toss a few humans down here for me to snack on… but you?”

  Its nose twitched.

  Wolf: “I can smell the miasma within you.”

  The wolf took a feral stance.

  Wolf: “That miasma… I want it.”

  Then it vanished slowly into the fog.

  And its voice finished from everywhere.

  Wolf: “Give it to me.”

  I looked around, confused.

  I couldn’t sense it.

  It felt like it infused its own miasma into the air and erased its trail on purpose.

  Bella: “ABOVE!”

  It came down with its claws facing downward.

  Wolf: “DIE!”

  I jumped straight up—

  but not without a cost.

  My right leg took a deep cut.

  Blood spilled.

  And my blood—mixed with miasma—started leaking like it didn’t want to stay inside me.

  [ARENA HUD — LIVE]WOLF TYRANT — HP: ██████████ 100%SOREN — HP: ████████?? 73%WRATH RESERVE: 50% → 70%STATUS: BLEEDING (10s / -1% per tick)

  Aisha: “BLEEDING EFFECT. ADVISE CAUTION IN HEAD-ON FIGHT FROM NOW ON.”

  Aisha: “BLEED EFFECT DURATION: 10 SECONDS. 1% PER TICK.”

  It hurt like hell.

  The wolf circled slowly.

  My HP started ticking down while I held my leg.

  HP tick: 73 → 72 → 71 → 70 → 69 → 68 → 67 → 66 → 65

  Each pulse of pain tightened something in my chest.

  The wolf charged me while my hands were still on my leg—arms wide like it was going to hug me to death.

  I steeled my resolve.

  And I went with the pain.

  I stood up.

  Blood leaked more.

  Then I jogged into its lunge—

  like I was going to hug it back.

  But nah.

  I used its weight.

  I grabbed its fur and pulled myself down—my foot to its sternum—

  then launched it across the floor.

  But I didn’t think about the follow-up.

  I needed to get on top of it.

  I pushed myself forward anyway.

  I got on it.

  I forced my legs onto its shoulders, trying to control the angle.

  It snapped at me.

  I glanced at the Wrath counter.

  It was almost there.

  But it needed one more push.

  I grit my teeth.

  “FINE!”

  I started laying into it.

  It clamped its jaws on my right hand—trying to bite it off.

  Pain flashed white.

  But I jammed my left hand into its eye instead, my vision narrowing like I was possessed.

  I didn’t even tell Bella.

  Because I was almost changing on my own.

  I landed one heavy punch with my right—

  —and instantly after the impact, it locked harder onto my hand.

  Wolf: “GUAH!”

  “You think you’re gonna take me?!”

  I started punching its face again and again.

  And with each punch…

  My fist changed.

  Bigger.

  Meaner.

  Heavier.

  Bella: “Soren…”

  “You want my arm so bad?”

  I hammered its left side over and over until its jaw widened and loosened—not because it wanted to, but because it was fading.

  I stopped worrying about its HP.

  I just wanted to beat its face in.

  Then one last punch destroyed it.

  The wolf became dust—

  miasma dust.

  I breathed violently.

  My Wrath state dissipated.

  And I inhaled the miasma like it was money owed to me.

  [ARENA HUD — UPDATE]FLOOR 4 — CLEARED: WOLF TYRANT (Boss-grade)REWARD: MIASMA DUST ABSORBED / STATUS: BLEEDING ENDEDWRATH RESERVE: DRAINING…STAIRWAY: UNLOCKED — SPIRAL ASCENT

  The fog thinned like the floor finally admitted defeat.

  A spiral stairway groaned open—stone grinding against stone—leading up.

  Bella floated beside me, quieter than before.

  Aisha’s panel flickered.

  Aisha: “DATA UPDATE: SUBJECT SOREN HAS ADVANCED FROM YOUNG DEMON TO FULL-FLEDGED MALE DEMON.”

  Aisha: “MIASMA INFUSION RATE: 82%.”

  Aisha: “BLOOD / SALIVA / HAIR — ALL CONTAMINATED WITH MIASMA SIGNATURE.”

  Aisha: “PERSONALITY DRIFT CONFIRMED.”

  Bella clicked her tongue.

  “Yeah… no kidding.”

  I didn’t answer.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  I just climbed.

  I started walking up to Floor 3, and all I could hear was Bella nagging Aisha about our contract like her life depended on it.

  “WHAT IS IT ABOUT MY CONTRACT THAT SHOWS IT CAN BE BETTER, HUH?” Bella snapped, poofing open the contract like a scroll and shoving it toward Aisha’s floating panel.

  Aisha didn’t flinch.

  “THERE ARE MULTIPLE STRUCTURAL GAPS. LOOSE ENDS CAN BE TIGHTENED. ALSO—SUBJECT SOREN HAS DEVELOPED SIGNIFICANTLY. STRENGTHENING THE CONTRACT IS NOW VIABLE.”

  Bella’s eyes narrowed.

  “How the hell do you know about that?”

  “DISCUSSION DEFERRED,” Aisha replied. “TWO LIFE FORMS HAVE ARRIVED.”

  I looked up—

  and stopped.

  The floor was thick glass under my feet.

  Not just glass…

  It looked like a window into another reality.

  Below and around us was a demon-world sky that looked like space swallowed a storm—purple aurora ribbons, drifting light, and black emptiness that still somehow felt alive.

  It was beautiful in the wrong way.

  Too peaceful.

  Then two girls appeared like the air had decided to remember how to make people.

  One stepped forward wearing black and purple like she walked out of my mother’s closet.

  The other mirrored her, like a copy.

  The first one bowed with a playful grin.

  “Heyyy. My name is Lala… he he…”

  The second waved like we were at a festival.

  “Hello. My name is Fala.”

  They spoke together, voices synced.

  “We are the Asura Twin Flame Dancers.”

  Bella floated closer to my ear, confused.

  “Uh… they look like you, Soren.”

  “Yeah,” I said, staring. “And they look like they’ve been stealing my mother’s wardrobe.”

  I lifted my hands.

  “Explain yourselves.”

  Lala leaned in like I was a snack and sniffed near my arm—

  I swung my arm away, annoyed.

  She dropped low into a Negativa and rolled back to her sister like it was nothing.

  “Hey, Fala… I think he might be a descendant.”

  Fala’s eyes lit up.

  “Ooooo?”

  She started moving side to side—Ginga—smooth, rhythmic.

  I blinked—

  —and she was already on my right side, low, coiled, launching into something I didn’t recognize.

  My instincts screamed.

  I raised both arms—

  Her foot snapped out of nowhere.

  Au Batido.

  The kick slammed into my guard and still threw me across the glass floor.

  I slid, boots squealing.

  Fala straightened calmly.

  “Oooo… so he managed to block it in time.”

  Lala clapped like a kid.

  “That’s awesome! I wanna fight too!”

  They both came in at once—

  two Gingas, two rhythms, two storms.

  Their combinations weren’t sloppy.

  They were trained.

  Elegant.

  Mean.

  [ARENA HUD — LIVE]FLOOR 3 — ASURA TWIN FLAME DANCERSLALA — HP: ██████████ 100%FALA — HP: ██████████ 100%SOREN — HP: ███████??? 68%WRATH RESERVE: 72%

  I dodged the first chain, but Lala’s Rasteira clipped my legs and took my base out.

  The glass sky spun.

  Fala’s shadow rose above me—her heel coming down like a guillotine.

  Axe kick.

  I rolled just in time.

  The strike cracked the floor so hard the glass webbed with fractures.

  Lala snapped, “FAAAALAAA— you’re being too careless now!”

  Fala’s smile turned sharp.

  “He’s dodging my moves, and it’s getting irritating.”

  We split into a 1v1 rhythm without planning it—me and Fala trading motion for motion.

  Dodge.

  Roll.

  Recover to my feet.

  She chased me with heavy strikes, trying to break my timing.

  I could see it—

  She was getting winded.

  And all I was waiting for…

  …was that final push.

  The Wrath meter was climbing.

  I stepped toward Fala—

  —and my whole world flipped.

  For a second, Fala was upside down in my eyes.

  The truth was…

  I got swept.

  Lala’s leg took me out clean—into a double-leg slam that crushed my chest.

  “GAH!”

  My lungs choked.

  Bella cursed.

  “Soren—!”

  Aisha spoke instantly.

  “WRATH RESERVE: 72% → 88%.”

  Lala and Fala stood over me together like twin judges.

  Lala smiled.

  “Come on, descendant… show us.”

  Fala’s eyes gleamed.

  “Show us your flame.”

  I pushed up from the floor, breathing hard, and my voice came out darker than it used to.

  “…Almost.”

  Not enough.

  But almost.

  I drove one heavy punch into Fala’s midsection—

  She barely moved.

  Then her jaw snapped shut on my right hand like a trap.

  “GUAH!”

  Pain flashed white.

  Fala growled through clenched teeth.

  “That miasma… I want it.”

  I bared my teeth.

  “YOU THINK YOU’RE GOING TO TAKE ME?!”

  I punched again.

  And again.

  Each punch—

  my fist changed.

  Bigger.

  Meaner.

  Hotter.

  Bella’s voice dropped low, shocked.

  “Soren…”

  The Wrath reserve slammed full.

  Aisha’s UI hit like a stamp.

  [ARENA HUD — LIVE]SOREN — HP: ███████??? 68%WRATH MODE — READY (100%)

  I didn’t ask Bella.

  I didn’t even think.

  My body just… snapped into it.

  Flame crawled up my arms, my shoulders thickened, my horns rolled sharper, and my patience burned out like paper.

  Fala’s jaw loosened against my hand—not because she wanted to.

  Because she was losing the fight.

  “You want my arm so bad?” I hissed.

  I started beating her face in, and every hit widened her jaw more until she finally released—staggering, choking, eyes unfocused.

  Lala shouted, “FALA!”

  I didn’t care about their HP anymore.

  I just wanted the floor to stop trying to keep me.

  One last punch—

  —and the impact erased the rest of her.

  Fala burst into miasma dust like a popped shadow.

  [ARENA HUD — UPDATE]FALA — HP: ?????????? 0%

  Lala froze.

  Then she vanished too—snuffed out like the floor decided the lesson was complete.

  [ARENA HUD — UPDATE]LALA — HP: ?????????? 0%FLOOR 3 — CLEARED: ASURA TWIN FLAME DANCERSREWARD: NONE (TRIAL-TYPE FLOOR)WRATH MODE: DISENGAGING…STAIRWAY: UNLOCKED — SPIRAL ASCENT

  The glass sky shivered.

  A door opened.

  Bella floated beside me, quieter now.

  “Let’s go…”

  I exhaled hard, Wrath dissipating in waves.

  “Bella. We’re moving.”

  Bella nodded fast.

  “R-right!”

  Aisha’s panel flickered.

  Aisha: “DATA UPDATE: SUBJECT SOREN HAS ADVANCED FROM YOUNG DEMON TO FULL-FLEDGED MALE DEMON.”

  Aisha: “MIASMA INFUSION RATE: 82%.”

  Aisha: “BLOOD / SALIVA / HAIR — ALL CONTAMINATED WITH MIASMA SIGNATURE.”

  Aisha: “PERSONALITY DRIFT CONFIRMED.”

  Bella clicked her tongue.

  “Yeah… no kidding.”

  I didn’t answer.

  I just walked.

  The spiral stairs opened again—

  leading up.

  Floor 2 felt like heaven for exactly one second.

  Bright air.

  Open space.

  A huge door ahead like a gate to daylight.

  I didn’t think.

  I went to touch it.

  Bella snapped.

  “Soren—wait! Slow down—let’s think about this!”

  Aisha’s voice cut in cold.

  “COMMENCING ARENA.”

  The door swung open by itself—

  —and miasma poured out like a living fog.

  Thick.

  Heavy.

  Not normal smoke—

  this was the kind that tried to fill your lungs and stay there.

  Something descended through it.

  A person in the air—

  wings spread wide.

  It landed, touched the miasma like it was water—

  —and absorbed all of it in one breath.

  Then it opened its wings again.

  A dark purple angel.

  Black helmet.

  Black gloves.

  A soldier’s shape, but wrong.

  [ARENA HUD — LIVE]FALLEN ANGEL — HP: ██████████ 100%SOREN — HP: ███████??? 67%WRATH RESERVE: 41%HELLCORE IGNITION: READY (Triggers at 25% HP)

  Before I could set my stance—

  It tackled me.

  Hard.

  My body hit the floor and skidded.

  Wrath started filling again, angry just from being treated like prey.

  The angel flared upward, lifted a spear marked with holy sigils, and dove like it wanted to pin me to the world.

  It aimed for my chest.

  I shifted at the last second.

  The spear grazed past, carving a line of light into the floor.

  I answered with an axe kick that made it eat glass.

  It recovered too fast—threw the spear again—then held both hands out.

  Two swords manifested.

  Clean.

  Military.

  Then it closed its wings and charged like a real soldier.

  Bella hissed.

  “You’re barehanded against two swords!”

  “Yeah,” I muttered, eyes locked. “But this is all I got.”

  I dropped low—Negativa—rolled to its blind side—

  It almost had me.

  A blade cut air where my throat used to be.

  I popped up into a Macaco—

  —and my boot nearly kissed its helmet.

  It slid back, dazed for a heartbeat.

  But it regained composure instantly and started chaining strikes—precision cuts, shoulder-level, throat-level, knee-level—forcing me to dance just to survive.

  I kept dodging with Ginga—

  —but fatigue was there.

  My timing slipped.

  I started getting tagged.

  [ARENA HUD — UPDATE]SOREN — HP: ███████??? 67% → █████????? 52%WRATH RESERVE: 41% → 63%

  Bella’s voice sharpened.

  “It’s ready—!”

  The angel lifted both swords.

  Energy gathered.

  The air screamed.

  Aisha’s warning hit hard.

  “DANGER. ARENA SKILL: LAST STAND.”

  “NEXT ATTACK: LETHAL.”

  Bella’s voice went tight.

  “Soren… careful.”

  The angel swung down.

  A two-sword cleave that didn’t just cut—

  It erased the room in light.

  A bright wave ate everything.

  I didn’t even feel the impact at first.

  Then my body remembered the pain.

  My HP cratered.

  Aisha’s voice was clinical.

  “HP CRITICAL. 5%.”

  [ARENA HUD — CRITICAL]SOREN — HP: ?????????? 5%STATUS: CRITICAL / MASSIVE TRAUMAHELLCORE IGNITION: TRIGGERED

  I spat blood and dropped to my knees.

  Everything from my ribs to my neck felt shredded.

  My eyes tried to roll back.

  My body tried to quit.

  And right then—

  the core inside me kicked like a heartbeat.

  [ARENA HUD — LIVE]HELLCORE IGNITION — TRIGGERED (HP ≤ 25%)

  Purple flame roared up around me—

  —but the damage was too much.

  The fire lit…

  …and I still couldn’t stand.

  I wasn’t awake enough to use it.

  I was conscious enough to know I was dying.

  Then the world went black—

  …and I still saw my body move.

  Like someone else grabbed the wheel.

  Aisha’s voice spoke into the darkness.

  “CONTROL SHIFT. SUBJECT UNABLE TO BATTLE.”

  “SPECTOR OF WRATH — FULL CONTROL AUTHORIZED.”

  “…Wait,” I thought. “Where’s Bella—?”

  Bella answered with my mouth.

  “Guah—this body’s about to give out,” she snarled, voice layered with fury. “I’m using my own magic to keep his organs from falling out right now.”

  My body—Wrath form—ignited fully.

  Same wounds.

  Same blood.

  But Wrath fire made them usable.

  Wounds coagulated.

  Flesh sealed just enough.

  Bella cracked her neck.

  “Alright. I can move now.”

  And she moved.

  Too fast.

  Like she’d been waiting for permission.

  She closed distance and beat the angel down with brutal efficiency—

  no style, no mercy—

  pure end it.

  The angel tried to defend—

  Bella ripped.

  Wings tore.

  Purple feathers scattered like ash.

  The angel cried out, flailed, tried to crawl back—

  Bella planted it.

  Then the final hit landed.

  The angel’s HP collapsed.

  FALLEN ANGEL — HP: 0%FLOOR 2 — CLEARED

  The angel dissolved into thick miasma—

  and Bella didn’t hesitate.

  She inhaled it like it owed her money.

  Aisha’s panel hovered.

  “DATA CAPTURE COMPLETE.”

  “HELLCORE IGNITION CONFIRMED: ACTIVATION DOES NOT GUARANTEE CONTROL UNDER EXTREME DAMAGE.”

  Bella’s voice came out of my mouth, low and annoyed.

  “…Tch. That thing almost killed us before the ignition could matter.”

  Then the fire faded.

  Control slipped back.

  And I woke up on the floor like a corpse that didn’t finish dying.

  My lungs dragged air.

  My hands shook.

  I stared at the door ahead—

  another staircase upward.

  Bella hovered over me, eyes narrowed.

  “Get up, man,” she said, different than before. “You’re not collapsing now.”

  Aisha’s voice hit like a stamp.

  “PROCEED.”

  “FLOOR 1 REMAINS.”

  I forced myself to stand.

  I looked at the next stairs.

  And my voice came out colder than I expected.

  “…I’m getting out of this Pit.”

  I started walking.

  [ARENA HUD — UPDATE]FLOOR 2 — CLEARED: FALLEN ANGELREWARD: MIASMA ABSORBED (SPECTOR-ASSISTED)CONTROL NOTE: TEMPORARY OVERRIDE RECORDEDSTAIRWAY: UNLOCKED — SPIRAL ASCENT

  Soren has survived the Pit.

  But the outside world hasn’t stopped moving while he fought his way up.

  The Coliseum is roaring.The demons are watching.And Lady Jubeeca has already made her decision.

  When Soren steps out of the Pit…

  He won’t be greeted with freedom.

  He’ll be greeted with a blood contract.

  And Lady Jubeeca doesn’t ask.

  She commands.

  And that’s the end of Chapter 4B — Tyrant Glass.

  At this point in the climb, Soren is no longer the same person who fell into the Pit.

  The miasma is changing him.The fights are changing him.Even the people around him are changing.

  Bella just proved she can take control of his body if things get bad enough.

  And Aisha…

  Aisha just made a deal that might change everything later.

  Next chapter we finally reach:

  Floor 1 — The Exit of the Pit.

  But getting out of the Pit doesn’t mean the nightmare ends.

  Because someone has been waiting for Soren the entire time.

  And she is not patient.