Eternal Malediction (RE)

The chamber trembled.

At first, it was subtle. A faint vibration beneath their feet that almost blended into the aftermath of the fight. Then the cracks began spreading.

Golden pillars fractured one after another while the black stone walls surrounding the throne room started dissolving into drifting particles of light.

Daniel looked around immediately. "...Uh. Is this normal?"

"I don’t know," the woman answered flatly.

The floor beneath Marcus cracked sharply. Everyone moved back instinctively as entire sections of the chamber began evaporating into glowing dust. The throne itself split down the middle before collapsing inward silently.

The trial chambers were disappearing. Not collapsing but disappearing like the structure itself had completed its purpose.

The woman clicked her tongue softly before turning toward the others. "Brace yourselves."

Then the ground vanished, and for one brief moment, everyone dropped into empty space. Lily screamed immediately from the outside of the door that has now disappeared, and Victor swore loudly. Marcus nearly lost balance entirely because of his injured arm.

And then. THUD.

The fall lasted only a second before they slammed into solid ground. Roughly ten feet, enough to hurt but not enough to kill. Roy landed in a crouch before immediately pushing himself upright. Dirt crunched beneath his shoes while warm wind brushed against his face.

Sunlight.

Bright enough that it forced several people to shield their eyes instinctively. After the dim corridors and torchlit chambers, the open field felt almost unreal.

Grass stretched endlessly around them beneath a clear blue sky. The sun poured across the plains with blinding warmth while distant hills rolled across the horizon.

The moment it touched the dead man’s body, it burnt the body into ashes, while everyone watched around them. Approximately ten more bodies burnt brightly; it happened in mere seconds.

For several seconds nobody spoke, and now they were outside. Actually outside.

Daniel slowly looked upward. "...We made it out?"

Sophia sank down into the grass slightly, staring blankly ahead. "I thought we were dead."

Marcus exhaled heavily through his nose before lowering himself carefully onto a nearby rock. "Still might be."

Roy brushed dust from his sleeves while glancing around carefully. There was no sign of the Trial Chambers remaining. Just open plains and distant forests, as if the chambers had never existed at all.

Interesting.

The woman stood a short distance away from the group, relighting another cigarette calmly. Like surviving impossible death traps was mildly inconvenient at most.

Victor finally looked toward her. "...So, what now?"

She inhaled smoke slowly with a slightly confused attitude. "What do you mean? You go live your life."

"That’s your advice?" Daniel asked tiredly.

Fair; even I would say something bland like that so they won’t keep on bothering me with questions, as they would know they would get bullshit answers like that. The atmosphere remained tense despite escaping the chambers. Nobody truly relaxed because they still had no idea where they were.

Then... Rustling.

Several heads turned instantly toward a nearby grove of trees bordering the clearing. The sound wasn’t small; something was moving through the forest.

Victor immediately stepped forward protectively while Sophia tightened her grip around her blade.

The woman glanced toward the trees calmly. "...People."

"How do you know?" Marcus asked.

"They’re loud."

A fair point.

Before anyone could say more, the woman suddenly looked back toward the group. "...How were you all inside the Trial Chambers anyway?"

The question caused an immediate silence.

Lily spoke first. "We don’t know!"

Her voice cracked with lingering stress.

"One second, we were in the stadium, and then suddenly everything went insane! Then we were falling from the sky and then trapped inside that horrible place and..."

Her breathing became uneven again as she stared at the pile of ash. "I hate this! I hate all of this!"

Tears welled in her eyes while she gripped Ethan tightly. "I just want to go home!"

Ethan immediately pulled her closer. "Hey. Hey. Calm down."

"We could’ve died!"

"I know."

"No, you don’t!"

The woman watched silently while Ethan carefully steadied Lily’s breathing. Then Ethan looked toward the woman. "All we know is that we were teleported here."

Roy noticed it immediately; the wording was deliberately careful.

He wasn’t mentioning Earth. Wasn’t it mentioned that they possibly weren’t from this world, or could it have been a time period as if we were teleported back in time?

Interesting. The boy understood the danger of information. He is smart.

Roy stepped in casually before the silence could linger too long. "We’re from the north of here," Roy said calmly.

Several members of the group looked at him briefly. He continued naturally. "We were watching a fight in a stadium when everything happened."

Not technically true and not technically false since the tournament did take place near his town, which was to the north.

The woman narrowed her eyes slightly. "Watching a fight? Where?"

Roy shrugged. "Nowhere important."

Daniel nearly laughed from stress alone. The woman stared at Roy for another second before exhaling smoke away from the group. She didn’t press further. Either she believed them or she simply didn’t care enough to investigate.

"...Wait. Someone’s coming down."

Heads turned. Two figures were ascending the rocky incline, stepping carefully but confidently. Sunlight caught the edges of their silhouettes, with their heads popping out first.

Kieran was the first to become recognisable, his posture unmistakable even from a distance. Graham followed a few steps behind him, calm as ever, scanning the plains with that unnervingly observant gaze of his.

Victor exhaled sharply. "Finally, familiar faces."

Sophia lowered her blade slightly. "They were down the mountain?"

Daniel muttered, "They weren’t with us in the chamber... so how—"

Kieran reached the top of the slope, brushing dust from his hands. Graham stepped beside him, nodding once toward the group.

Roy stared. "...You two just walked up a mountain?"

Kieran shrugged. "We woke up at the base. Saw the plains. Climbed up to get a better view."

Graham added casually, "And then we saw all of you fall out of the sky."

Marcus groaned. "Of course you did."

Then the rustling from the trees grew louder. Branches shifted and footsteps followed. And several figures emerged from the forest clearing. The moment Kieran saw them, his eyes widened slightly.