Floor Zero — Exit Gates of the Palace

  “Do not act out of place. Just walk.” Flame Lord’s voice was barely above a whisper.

  Floor Zero was a place of pure chaos, existing outside time and space—beyond any law of the realms. The ground beneath their feet was a path of bone, flesh, and staring eyes lodged in scattered skulls. Creatures as large as countries dreamed in fitful slumber on the horizon, each slight movement shaking the floor beneath them. Stones hovered in the air, suspended by no visible force. Rivers cascaded down from the floating rocks, hitting the superheated ground and boiling lava as if colliding with ordinary water. Flowers bloomed along the edges, and rabbits, birds, and gray squirrels played atop grassy patches near midnight lilies growing on the levitating stones. Magic sparkles drifted from them like glowing pollen.

  In the distance, hot springs steamed beneath Sakura trees whose petals fell softly onto the water's surface. Nearby, mountains hung upside-down, waterfalls flowing upward toward their peaks. Trees dangled from the sky, leaves lifting without wind. Griffins with demonic horns stalked rooftops, their forms subtly corrupted. Cubic buildings loomed ahead, their stairs twisting into one another from all sides—above, below, even from within—a maze of impossible geometry. Screaming faces were carved along the edges of each cube. Some of them seemed to turn, their stone gazes following Sarah as she walked beside Flame Lord and Fojima.

  Sarah: Flame Lord?... What happens if... If they wake up?

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  Fojima: Simple... We die.

  Flame Lord: Practical. And precise. Yeah, we die because they are as ancient as time. They sneeze? We cease.

  Fojima: Nice rhyming.

  Sarah: Why are we so calm about our inevitable demise!?

  Flame Lord: Hey, shut up! Don't pitch your voice high!

  Sarah instantly clapped a hand over her mouth, her eyes widening in panic as she glanced around to make sure she hadn’t woken a creature. In the distance, one ancient beast shifted its arm slightly, scratching the ground with its claws and causing a massive earthquake beneath their feet. Bones cracked, eyes exploded under the pressure, and blood erupted from the ground as flesh tore open beneath them.

  Flame Lord: See? One movement. One. Small. Damn. Movement.

  Fojima: I believe we should move toward the Tower of Blood... as fast as we can...

  Flame Lord: Just up ahead... We’re almost there.

  The Tower of Blood was now slightly visible in the distance, its darkened horns carved from obsidian at the peak. Its crimson ambers glowed without any light to reflect, a dreadful aura lingering around and above the tower. Blood dripped like a waterfall from the edges of moonstone hands shaped into prayer gestures in four directions.

  As they stepped closer, more and more lava-stone statues appeared—arms raised as if clutching something in the air, all oriented toward the Tower of Blood. Some prayed; others held their palms to their faces. Spears held countless skulls, blood dripping from their eye sockets onto the ground. Rivers of cold blood flowed toward the ceiling of Floor Zero, mingling with the dripping blood from the skulls.

  The tower now stood fully before them, shining even brighter despite the absence of any nearby light. Crimson ambers, moonstone, opal, corrupted rubies, obsidian, dark sapphire, and bones all flawlessly shaped the structure to its peak. The alabaster praying hands blocked the view of the top, blood perpetually falling from them. The gates stood fully open beneath the bowed jaw of a dragon skull, as if in greeting. Its right horn was broken, and several teeth were shattered within its mouth.

  Fojima inhaled slowly, stepping closer toward the open gates of the Tower of Blood.

  "Time for a reckoning..." he whispered, entering the tower with Flame Lord and Sarah close behind.