Torture, pain, suffering, and every horror that this place had thrown at him. Every cruel lesson that fate had taught him. Every enemy far stronger than him.
He had overcome everything and everyone. He was the last one standing...
Almost.
"Mmm..."
He woke up from a sharp tingling sensation in his chest. It was as if something was calling him.
His head and whole body ached terribly. A feeling of nausea and disorientation overcame him. His face and ash-colored hair were sticky with blood. Most likely, he had suffered some kind of concussion, as well as a couple of broken ribs.
In addition, something resembling a red, torn-off mechanical claw protruded from his right cheek...
However, in this situation, a certain detachment from reality and his own feelings was a salvation.
"..." He looked around distractedly.
His body was lying on a tiny ledge on a rock. It was impossible to fit completely here. Part of his left leg and his head hung down uncontrollably.
There was no other way to describe his survival.
"Damn luck..." he thought wearily.
His entire trial in the Pit had been soaked in absurd luck and miracles. It seemed so strange that one might think that higher powers had intervened...
But, of course, his bad luck and the horrors he encountered were just as absurd.
Truly, when you're favored by God, you're also favored by the devil.
...
He had a perfect view of the cliff from which he had jumped. The edge of the cliff was about 7 meters above him. Of course, if he were a rock climber or at least had a grappling hook, climbing back up would not have been a problem...
But instead, he had something else.
"..." He stared at his own hands.
The left one was in terrible condition. The palm was twisted and clearly broken in several places. Each finger was bent out of shape, and a heavy revolver dangled from one twisted finger.
But the right hand... It looked like raw meat, torn and soaked in blood.
"Pff..."
Such a cruel injury to his own body made him smile. Most likely, after what he had been through, laughing at another joke of fate was not so strange.
With his hands in that condition, it was impossible for him to climb anywhere, so he could lie there peacefully for an eternity.
A strange calm settled over him.
It was warm.
"Huh?"
Then his hanging head caught sight of something floundering in the sea.
The water's surface was much closer than before. Now it was almost thirty meters away from him.
And right now, that very mechanical monster was floundering in it. It was Ryskar.
The predator was clearly desperate and struggling on its last reserves of power. It is barely strong enough to keep its massive body afloat.
Ryskar tried to redirect energy from its torn heart to its limbs and push off. However, it failed every time.
The damage caused by the revolver shot was fatal.
"Rrwaay...!" he howled in pain.
One even felt sorry for this vicious cat.
"Phahaha!" He couldn't help laughing at the moans of the formidable predator. "What an idio..."
But once again, the world would not hear the end of his comment.
"..." Without a sound, the water surface opened up right under Ryskar's body.
A giant mouth emerged from it, against which Ryskar looked like a tiny kitten.
In an instant, the dark mouth swallowed the predatory cat, and the rest of the new monster's body shot upward.
A massive predatory whale. That was the only way to describe it.
The mechanical whale soared 20 meters into the air, but even then, the end of its body was not visible.
"...?!!!" The man met the blue predatory eyes and simply froze.
Compared to this monster, Ryskar, who had almost driven him to death, really seemed like nothing more than a kitten with sharp teeth.
The whale swallowed the struggling monster and plunged back into the sea. The waves and splashes from the monster's fall alone were truly terrifying.
As the water gradually calmed down, the man on the rock was still trying to comprehend the reality of what had happened.
It seemed that this place — the Pit — was a real world of monsters. It was unlikely that in such a short stay, he had encountered even a tenth of the horrors lurking here. Even though he had been on the verge of death almost every second.
And yet...
Even after facing true hell, he had survived.
He was alive.
"Hahahaha!"
The more it sank in, the more he wanted to laugh.
He had overcome every threat, and even this huge whale couldn't take his life.
And for some reason, this life itself suddenly felt more precious.
In a world of real monsters, he looked up at the sky, laughed, and smiled foolishly. Simply because he had survived and was alive.
In his current state, his thoughts and emotions drifted without form, which is why it did not seem this wonderful moment would ever end.
'When was the last time the stars looked this beautiful?'
He would have gladly reached out his hand toward the glimmer of distant stars, but that would have caused too much pain.
Breaking that fragile harmony felt wrong.
Minutes flew by, hours flew by, and he just kept looking at the sky. Even the water below him had now almost reached the level of the rock.
It would probably bring danger... But now it didn't seem important.
"Haah..." he exhaled slowly, without taking his eyes off the starry sky. "How happy it is to be alive..." he whispered with a smile.
Whether it was happiness or freedom... It didn't matter.
'But wouldn't it be wonderful to be among those stars?' A childish thought flashed through his mind.
His eyes grew heavy and almost closed.
Of course, such a thought was silly.
Completely ordinary...
A silly, dreamy thought crept into his head just before falling asleep.
A completely ordinary and at the same time extraordinary dream.
"..." his eyes closed just before the water reached his hair.
The smile remained…
And the stars didn't fade.
Instead, with every passing second, the stars drew closer.... Until he found himself right in the starry sky.
He was among the stars.
"Your dream is over. It's time to wake up, my... Champion."
They met again.