It was a desolate darkness inside the cave, with deep, terrifying shadows nesting within it… and so too were Kalm's thoughts.
His mind ignited, his heart raced, calculating every possible action he could take to escape the dire predicament he was in.
The monster disguised as a delicate woman before him was absurdly powerful. Escape was meaningless. The Shadow Garments she wore were a weapon in her hands—and a noose around his neck.
They were all tools she could wield. With just a thought, she could kill him and turn his body into a lifeless, bloodied puppet of flesh and gore.
*What do I do…? Is there even a way to survive this…?*
Kalm raised his eyes to her, his face adopting a neutral expression, devoid of any readable intent.
But before he could speak, a loud growl erupted—so intense that it made the cave tremble violently beneath his feet.
He raised his hands to cover his ears and dropped to his knees from the sheer horror of the sound.
A shiver devoured his body, every hair on his skin standing on end from terror and dread.
The tremor lasted ten seconds before slowly fading again, leaving the cave in a heavy silence once more—a silence more dreadful than the sounds of monsters.
Even the enchanting hum stopped for a moment.
Kalm turned toward the direction the sound had come from, every fiber of his being still trembling.
*W-what… what was that...?* he wondered, then looked toward the woman standing before him.
Her smile remained unchanged—soft, delicate—as if she were simply out for a stroll.
She gazed into his eyes with a deep, meaningful look, then said lightly,
"The first condition has been fulfilled. But it seems you're still affected by the vile abomination above. Hmmm... Let's go kill it. Under normal circumstances, you'd have remained here for a few more minutes before that creature devoured your body."
She leaned down and placed her hand on his head, playfully ruffling his hair.
"But don't worry. I'm here to help you get through this alive. Nothing will touch you while I'm around."
Kalm didn't understand what was happening.
His thoughts raced, his mind engulfed by a thick fog. His reasoning and logic seemed veiled—as if some external force had disrupted them.
Slowly, as the melody grew distant and distorted—as if the musician had broken their instrument—he began to wonder again:
Which of them should he trust?
The gentle and beautiful queen who promised to protect him…
Or the enigmatic player who had granted him a strange sense of peace?
Kalm stood with a dazed look, taking a step back from the woman, trying to clear his mind and make a decision—his life depended on it.
"You're a bit confused, little one," she said. "Your name is Kalm. You should be calm and composed… like me. No—wait, actually, don't be like me. Still… I can't blame you. Everyone hates pain. Everyone longs for warmth and the refreshing touch of peace."
She raised her hand, letting her fingers glide through her silky hair, causing it to cascade like a waterfall over her shoulders—a breathtaking sight.
Then she raised her gaze toward the ceiling with a somber expression.
The water droplets still fell, but the rhythm of the musician had broken—distorted—as if struggling to continue the performance.
"Kalm… those drops, as I told you before, are infused with the power of one of the beasts. They act as conductors for its psychic influence.
The vile creature is directly above us…"
Kalm's eyes narrowed. With a hint of dread, he lifted his head to look up.
His gaze scanned the ceiling, but he saw nothing. There were only hanging fangs formed by red and black stones, and strange droplets falling intermittently.
He kept staring, squinting his eyes in an attempt to spot anything unnatural—but it was in vain.
No matter how hard he tried, the space was empty.
As if all the monsters and horrors had moved elsewhere.
The queen stepped closer, her eyes glowing with a faint black light, and then spoke with clarity:
"You possess the Voice of a World. Perhaps it will offer you something valuable… if you kill that thing.
Wait a moment. I'll send someone to bring it down…"
As she spoke, a terrifying creature rose from her shadow, making dread and fear creep over Kalm's body.
It was enormous—coated in black feathers that resembled armored plates.
It had two massive wings with talons as long as a grown man's arm at their tips, and powerful hind legs equipped with four long, razor-sharp claws.
Its face was a grotesque hybrid between a crow and an eagle, with a massive beak filled with giant fangs and eyes that were sharp and fearsome.
It spread its wings, making it appear even more colossal and terrifying.
*W-what kind of monster is that…? No, how did she even summon it...?*
Kalm thought, but his fear of the woman—and of the mental distortion plaguing him—only deepened.
"Go and bring it down. Do not kill it," the queen ordered simply, as if playing a game.
The beast opened its mouth and let out a low growl that echoed across the cavern.
With a flap of its wings, it stirred a whirlwind beneath itself and soared into the air, heading toward the ceiling.
Only a few seconds passed before Kalm's heart skipped a beat from the sound of something massive—unlike anything he had ever heard before.
The clash of claws and air, the crashing of stones falling from the ceiling and smashing into the ground—
Dust rose in swirling clouds, and the entire cave began to tremble and shake violently.
Kalm opened his eyes just in time to see something descending toward him.
His instincts kicked in—he stepped swiftly to the side and leapt away to avoid whatever it was that had come crashing down…
Something dropped into the spot where he had just stood, splashing out a foul, green liquid that stained the ground around it.
A disgusting stench rose and touched Kalm's nose, making him grimace in disgust.
It was a large, rotten chunk of flesh—violently and grotesquely torn from the body of the horror above.
Its size was nearly equal to Kalm's own…
*What's happening up there…? No—what's happening to me…?*
Nothing made sense in this cursed trial.
According to what Kalm had understood, the test wasn't meant to kill children, but to push them forward…
Even in the harshest circumstances or during wartime, all a teenager was required to do was identify their inner obstacle and overcome it. That would end the cursed trial, and the challenger would emerge as an Awakened.
That… was supposed to be how it worked.
But what about Kalm himself…?
None of it made sense.
A teenager sent into a cave considered a death zone—wasn't that outrageously unfair?
Shouldn't he be granted a regular trial like everyone else…?
Even if he bore the title of heir to that lost being, he was still just an ordinary human from the mundane world.
*Was I a fool to believe I might get even a sliver of fairness here…?*
Kalm clenched his teeth in frustration, then stood and looked at the queen with a complicated expression in his eyes.
He lifted his gaze toward the ceiling, where the clash of giants played out between the queen's beast and the grotesque, colossal monster he still hadn't clearly seen.
Silently, he stepped back—
And made the decision to run. It didn't matter where or how.
He just had to get away from these abominations.
"I wouldn't recommend doing anything foolish, my dear Kalm,"
The gentle woman looked at him, her hands folded across her chest, the hilt of her white sword gleaming at her waist.
"You're still under the effects of the psychic influence. If you run or stray from me… you'll simply die."
Kalm shook his head several times and grabbed it with both hands, the pain of a splitting headache rising inside him.
The psychic influence the queen had mentioned…
It was beginning to recede, slowly lifting the fog that had clouded his mind—
And with it came pain.
Kalm was no stranger to pain, of course…
But this headache—it hurt like hell.
And with the pain, the beautiful music he had heard vanished.
Its rhythm had fractured at first—then fell completely silent.
And that's when Kalm remembered who the musician really was.
As the threads of thought and reason returned to him…
Rotten green blood began to rain from the ceiling like a vile downpour.
Terrifying growls echoed, shaking the cave violently.
Stones fell and scraped along the cavern walls. Some places had cracked, bearing signs of something trying to burst through.
The musician who had once brought him peace—
Who had made this dark cave feel like a warm, beautiful paradise—
Was up there now…
Grotesque and loathsome, struggling with all its might… just to survive.