The closer they came to the core, the less the world made sense.
Glass bent like fabric. Streets looped in impossible curves. Light shifted color mid-step. Reality itself felt out of sync, as if dragged between lines of corrupted code.
Caspian didn't flinch. He moved like he had been born for this place. Silent. Calculating. Dangerous.
Neris followed a step behind, eyes scanning the shifting skyline. Her wings had receded, but her presence still radiated hunger and heat.
"It's reacting to you," she said, watching a fire hydrant melt into a pool of red fog. "The node knows you're coming."
"I want it to."
[Warning. You are approaching a High-Instability Zone]
[Interface Integrity. 71%]
[Dungeon Node. Class Unknown. Permissions Unverified]
They turned the final corner.
The tower loomed before them, not made of steel or stone, but veins and bone. It pulsed like a living heart, each beat sending a ripple through the broken sky.
Caspian approached the entrance. There were no doors. Just a gaping, vertical maw of flesh-lined darkness.
[Enter Node? Y/N]
He stepped forward.
"Yes."
The moment he crossed the threshold, the world blinked.
Inside, everything was red. Not painted. Not glowing. Red like a memory of blood. Hallways twisted. The walls breathed. Something far above groaned like tectonic plates grinding against bone.
Caspian exhaled slowly.
Then the interface flickered.
[Node Challenge Activated]
[Survive the Trial. Time Limit. Ten Minutes]
[Blood Resonance at 12.6%. Sync with Parasite. Required for Exit]
The floor rippled.
From the shadows emerged four creatures. Skin like wire mesh, eyes full of static. Crawling. Clicking. Laughing.
Neris didn't move. "Your test, darling."
Caspian clenched his fist. The veins on his arm bulged.
[Blood Protocol. Skill Hemovore Extraction Ready]
He didn't run. He walked forward.
The first creature lunged.
He caught its face with his palm.
Then he fed.