Descent of a God

Relictombs

Jude POV:

The giant shadow sentinel dissolved back into the black platform. I withdrew the violet flames after a great deal of effort, with my body seeming to reject the rune. 

My white mana core seemed to be changing as well. The white colour became tinted light purple. I couldn't help but think about the connection of this with the Asuras who seemed to be capable of somewhat controlling the purple particle. Not only that, the rune seemed to have given me knowledge about destruction and life. 

I could feel the emotions, the cravings for chaos and destruction, fusing into my brain. I sat in the lotus position as I tried to calm my brain down and hold back the powerful emotions.

After what felt like an eternity, the destructive thoughts seemed to have been pushed back for now. 

Time continued to pass by unabated as  I ascended higher through the glowing platforms. The expanse of purple shone overhead, ever-steady, making it impossible to track how many hours had passed.

There were a few patterns I had noticed as I ventured higher through this almost game-like expanse.

The colour of the platforms remained the same: white, red, orange, blue, then black. This order never deviated and each colour corresponded to a specific 'challenge.'

As far as I could deduce, the white platform was the only safe platform. The red platforms were meant to be some sort of test for either your mental or physical fortitude. These platforms imbued all sorts of interesting curses onto the people standing on the platform. From insatiable hunger that could drive humans to eat one another, to lust, depression, and so on.

The orange platforms were rather straightforward as well. Each one conjured up enemies that I needed to kill in order to move on. The numbers and types of beasts varied and grew a bit stronger with each ascending set.

The blue platforms were by far the most time-consuming. Each one was a puzzle of some sort, some with deadly traps and others meant to keep you for days to die of thirst and starvation. 

While the blue platforms took the most time, the black platforms were the most deadly and challenging. Well, they weren't really difficult or life-threatening for me as I took the beast as target practice for my newfound powers.

The three-headed serpent began to dissolve back into the ground as well, the same as usual.

I expected to see the customary set of stairs leading to the next platform, but instead of a platform, what awaited me at the top of the translucent stairs was a portal.

Looking at the shimmering gate of iridescent light felt like falling upon an oasis in an endless desert.

My eyes were drawn to what I first thought was a red sun. Looking carefully though, the 'sun' seemed to be sitting on top of a towering column quite a distance away.

A monstrous screech pulled my gaze back to the scene just ahead.

With the vast field of uneven dirt being trampled by hundreds of monsters and the blood-red sky matching the pools of blood and fire strewn across the battlefield, I couldn't help but wonder if this was what h.e.l.l would be like.

During my journey through this dungeon, I had faced skeletal chimeras, giant millipedes, deadly shrews and shadowy beasts of all shapes and sizes. However, none of them could quite compare to the sheer grotesqueness that was these monsters.

Each one of these bipedal creatures had sickly white skin and an oversized head resting between narrow shoulders that could only be described as a ghoulish infant. Their clawed hands and large mouths were dyed in red and sharp fang-like spikes protruded out of their gangly bodies.