The Seventh Gate cracked wider, pouring out crimson light like molten glass. The team shielded their eyes as glyphs crawled over their skin. Maya whispered, "Same frequency as my memories…" Lacolone's aura flickered between all five Pillars. Eden hesitated at the threshold, trembling. Beyond the door, time and identity dissolved.
They stepped into a corridor of floating cubes and inverted staircases. Gravity shifted; Jessica's hair flowed upward. Valgor planted a Riftquake spike to anchor space. Salah murmured, "This dimension was built to break minds." Maya's Whispercall sensed echoes of their own voices ahead. Each step a confession to the Gate.
Walls of liquid mirror reflected distorted versions of the team. Each reflection whispered their deepest doubts. Jessica's reflection showed her arm restored but dripping blood. Maya's reflection turned its back, fading into Scarlet glyphs. Lacolone crushed his reflection with Thunderbrand aura. The Gate tested them with their own ghosts.
Golden chains erupted from the ground, snaring ankles and wrists. The chains drained Pillar energy with each pulse. Valgor strained, sparks flying from his fists. Maya touched a chain; it burned with Elito's sigil. Salah's Veilward glowed, blocking energy loss for a second. Even the air here belonged to Scarlet.
Lacolone closed his eyes, syncing all five Pillars at once. Blue lightning arced, red shields formed, Riftquake pulsed. Chains shattered under the combined resonance. Jessica fired at her own chains with Whispercall-coded bullets. Eden watched, horrified at the power. Balance tore the trap apart.
A massive open space opened — an ocean of liquid light. Ghostly faces drifted beneath the surface. Maya gasped, "These are the sleepers." Valgor dipped his hand, nearly pulled under. Salah grabbed him back. Every prisoner a wave.
A voice echoed without source: "You cross a holy ocean…" The light above shaped into Elito's masked face. Jessica's gun barrels glowed from residual energy. Elito: "You wake those who begged to dream." Lacolone growled: "We end your nightmare." The Lord spoke as if the Gate was his tongue.
Floating platforms rose from the ocean, forming a path. They began crossing, Pillar energy stabilizing each step. Maya sensed pulse rhythms like a living heartbeat. Valgor: "This place is alive…" Salah: "It's feeding on us." Every step deeper into its stomach.
The Kid Saint appeared ahead on a floating platform, knives at his sides. Aura heavier than before, bending the platforms. Maya nearly collapsed. Lacolone steadied her with Veilward. Kid Saint: "Master waits beyond the tide." A guide and an executioner both.
He flicked a knife — a wave of energy cut a platform in half. Jessica fired but bullets evaporated midair. Salah's shield cracked. Valgor: "He's suppressing our Pillars." Lacolone's eyes flared all colors. They tasted the gap between them.
Maya extended both hands, healing fields wrapping everyone. Her power now threaded offense and healing simultaneously. Aura scarlet-gold, new sigils flickering. Kid Saint tilted his head, intrigued. Jessica reloaded with new Whispercall rounds. A healer became a blade.
Lacolone stepped forward, katana still sheathed. "Not now. Not like this. We're not ready." Kid Saint smirked: "Then die unready." Riftquake shock trembled underfoot. Salah and Valgor flanked Lacolone. Retreat and resolve warred inside his chest.
Maya opened a Driftform tunnel beneath the ocean. "Jump!" Jessica grabbed Eden and leapt. Salah pushed Valgor through the tunnel. Lacolone the last to jump, eyes locked with the Kid. A gamble under a saint's gaze.
They emerged into a labyrinth of crimson roots under the ocean. Air thick with whispers. Valgor: "We're not out yet…" Jessica: "At least he's not here." Salah sensed pursuit anyway. They fell deeper, not freer.
Maya discovered a glyph burned into her palm. It matched the map to the "Scarlet Throne." She muttered, "He wanted us to find this…" Lacolone: "Then we use it." Eden: "At what cost?" A gift from an enemy.
They huddled in a small cavern, dripping with scarlet light. Walid muttered weakly, "We're ants walking to a volcano." Jessica reloaded her guns with shaking hands. Maya tended his wounds. Lacolone stared at the glyph in her palm. Preparation turned to prayer.
Salah trained micro-pulses of his Pillars, anchoring the space. Valgor etched new disruptor spikes. Maya: "We'll reach him before we're ready. That's the point." Jessica: "Then we fake it till we kill it." Lacolone's aura burned brighter. Resolve tempered under pressure.
The labyrinth opened into a colossal crimson chamber, seven enormous doors surrounding a throne of living cables. The silhouettes of the 33 Saints were visible through translucent membranes. Above, the masked visage of Elito flickered like a dying star.
The Scarlet Lord's court awaited.
And the first blood had yet to fall.