Grim

In the middle of the crater sat a purple Soul Gem...

Still upset, Leezy just glared at Reyes.

"Lucky bastard. I ate a knuckle sandwich and you get a power up."

He couldn't help but mutter under his breath since the fact he was knocked out cold was still weighing on his mind.

His helmet which had fully regenerated hid the angry glare he gave his brother.

Rather than bothering to reply back, Reyes stepped into the crater and retrieved it in silence.

As his fingers made contact with the gem, he expected it to be absorbed but what happened next surprised him. It separated itself into energy shards that were absorbed by his katanas instead.

'Well, that's new…'

Warmth washed over his body as he felt his aura become slightly heavier than it was before. That wasn't the only change that occurred though…

Both of his katanas suddenly started vibrating and pulsating for a brief moment.

After a quick examination, he noticed that the blades had become sharper and now had a blue glint to them that simply wasn't there previously.

With a test swing, a thin blue wave of light flew from the edge of the blades and struck a row of tree branches that littered the crater.

He couldn't help but grin as he watched then all fall into 3 pieces, but as he tried it again on a different group of branches, nothing happened.

A follow up inspection of the blades revealed that they no longer had that blue glint from before.

"So you can slice things from a distance now? Don't think that will stop me from beating your ass Reyes."

"I literally give no fucks about what you're talking about."

Upon hearing that, Leezy tried hit him square in the ribs. As soon as his fist made contact with Reyes's aura though, he noticed that his hand felt heavier and moved slower.

Reyes just took a step to the side and dodged it easily.

"What the hell? Thats some ole bullshit."

"What are you talking about Leezy?"

"Just now, my fist felt heavier as it got closer to you. It felt like I was trying to swing at you whilr underwater or some shit. I will definitely get my payback!"

Reyes shrugged off most of what his brother had said, his mind stuck on what he had said first. Deep down he felt excited, but also worried. A lot had happened within the past few days and majority of it was weird, simply put.

Shoving the thoughts from his mind, he pointed to the distant mountain range and looked back at his brother.

"Let's move."

…

Back in the canyon, the bone heap from earlier had nearly doubled in size. The shadow of the middle aged man stretched down into the darkness below as he sat perched atop a cliff looking up at the starry night sky.

Arms folded, he tore his gaze away from the stars and looked down.

'Hunter's Gaze'

His grey eyes cut through the darkness as ki flowed into them, revealing what hid within the shadow of the canyon.

Thousands of rotten corpses were shambling back and forth, bumping into each other occasionally.

This sight was nothing new to him as he had been dealing with them in droves since his arrival. As the moon moved throughout the sky, light eventually spilled over into canyon and onto the backs of the corpses. As the darkness was chased away by the moonlight, the man noticed something strange.

Within the middle of the sea of bodies was a single hooded figure that stood facing his direction.

Noticing this, he took hold of his weapon. Before he could fully draw it, a deep voice spoke to him, originating from the very air around him.

"Ye who seeks ascension. Is one such as yourself truly worthy of what will be faced once ye achieve that which is desired?"

Quickly checking the immediate vicinity, he noticed that nobody was within speaking distance. Turning his gaze back to the figure facing him, the voice that spoke to him repeated itself.

'Is this some sort of test?'

The grip on his weapon tightened whilst his white aura began to wrap around his body. Expecting the figure to come at him, he was slightly taken aback when the voice replied instead.

"A Test? No. A Trial? Yes. If one truly desires to ascend, survive until daybreak. Only then shall the moon bathe with blood."

Once that was said, all the heads within the valley snapped toward him in at the same time. Their empty eye sockets lighting up with a red glow one by one, resembling something out of a horror film.

A cold chill swept through the entire valley as he stared at the countless heads before him.

Again, the voice spoke out to him. This time coming directly from the figure and resonating throughout the entire canyon with a much darker ethereal tone.

"Good luck…Grim."

In unison, the sea of bodies surged toward him with unnatural speed. Grim didn't even have enough time to draw his weapon before the first wave of enemies reached his position.

'What the fuck?!'

Nothing about what was happening made any sense to him. How the figure even read his mind bothered him deeply. His eyes darted back and forth in search for it, but not a single trace was left behind. With his enemies within arms reach now, his legs tensed as he prepared himself to move.

Without warning, skeletal hands erupted from the dirt underneath of his feet. Sharp claws grabbed his ankles, digging into his flesh and preventing him from moving.

…

Miles away from the canyon, a gold and black metal door began to slowly appear above a volcano.

Once fully developed, it's doors flung open, allowing the figure Grim had faced earlier to exit. In the blink of an eye, the door completely faded away, leaving behind it's master.

Standing directly above the volcano on the air itself, the figure laughed. Their laugh was cut short as a dimensional rift opened up directly above them.

Multiple hooked chains shot out from it's center and stabbed deeply into the limbs if it's intended target.

"Wai-"

Unable to even finish, the chains immediately pulled the figure into the rift and closed in a flash.

The rift opened up and dumped its victim into a grand chamber of unknown origin.

Tall golden pillars shone bright in the subtle glow of the gigantic black crystal that served as it's ceiling. Light danced around the inside of it, giving it an appearance identical to that of a galaxy. Black marble tiles engraved with infinity symbols made up its floor. A row of massive obsidian thrones formed an outer ring around it.

In the center of the floor, the bloodied chained form of the hooded figure could be seen trembling among the tiles. An immense spiritual pressure filled the room, forcing the figure's body to slam into the tile so hard that the entire chamber shook.

Upon the throne directly across from him sat a stunningly beautiful Indian woman.

A silk robe that appeared to be of greek origin clung loosely to her body. Her long black hair curled out from underneath a crown made of purple flame.

She stared at the hooded figure, distain and anger clearly visible in her crimson eyes.

Holding out her hand in it's direction, the figure began floating upward until the chains were the only thing touching the tile below. An unseen force began choking the figure, stopping just before it's life force was extinguished.

"What have you to say for yourself? There is no good enough reason to break the laws of divinity. Choose your next your next words carefully Abbedon, for they may very well be your last…"