Kaelix's eyes locked onto the rapidly approaching wall, its darkish outline materializing from the encroaching darkness. His thoughts raced, torn between frustration and urgency as the XenoArch's voice rang in his mind like a war drum.

"Get out of its mouth in the next thirty seconds, or you're dead."

"Thirty seconds?!" he barked back internally. "What's supposed to happen in—?"

"MOVE!" The XenoArch cut him off, its tone sharper than ever.

Without hesitation, Kaelix shifted his focus, his survival instincts roaring to life. His adrenaline spiked as he dug his hands into the slick, fleshy interior of the creature's mouth, tearing and scraping at its inner walls with a brutal strength he barely understood. The creature howled, its massive body twitching in pain, and for a brief moment, its jaw slackened.

Kaelix capitalized on the opportunity, twisting his body violently and grabbing onto one of its jagged teeth. With a guttural growl of exertion, he began prying its maw open.

"Twenty seconds!" the XenoArch warned, its voice pressing against his mind like a vice.

The beast thrashed wildly, twisting its bulk in an attempt to regain control, but it seemed that crashing its mouth into the basically indestructible walls would weaken its strength. The sharp wind from their plummeting descent stung his exposed wounds as the wall loomed closer and closer, now a massive structure stretching infinitely in both directions.

"Fifteen seconds!"

Kaelix's heart thundered. The creature angled its body so its mouth now faced the approaching wall, ready to crush him between its jagged jaws and the unyielding surface.

"Not happening," Kaelix hissed. With a surge of desperate strength, he wrenched the creature's mouth open just enough to twist his body free. At the last possible moment, he shifted out of the way, slamming into the side of the beast's jaw as its open mouth collided with the wall.

A sickening grinding sound echoed through the abyss as the creature's teeth scraped against the wall at an agonizingly sharp angle, sending sparks and black ichor flying. Kaelix winced as his body was flung violently against the wall, bouncing and slamming several times like a ragdoll as they continued their downward descent. His battered limbs screamed in protest, but he held on to the beast's flesh with a death grip, his mind laser-focused.

"Ten seconds!"

Blood smeared across the wall in streaks, black and red mingling into grotesque patterns. The creature's snarls of pain grew louder as its face ground mercilessly against the unyielding surface, yet the wall remained pristine, untouched by the carnage.

Kaelix gritted his teeth, each second feeling like an eternity. "You better have a damn plan, X!" he growled through the chaos.

"Five seconds! When I reach one second, you push with everything you've got! Trust me if you want to live!"

"The fuck you mean push—"

"FOUR!"

Kaelix clenched his fists.

"THREE!"

The beast began wriggling violently, dislodging from the wall.

"TWO!"

Kaelix coiled his legs, his muscles burning.

"ONE!"

With a feral roar, Kaelix slammed his feet into the wall—now the ground—with everything he had. The XenoArch flared to life, glowing with a vivid, blinding crimson light. The resulting force he unleashed launched both him and the beast away from the wall, sending them hurtling with monstrous speed sideways—or what should have been sideways.

In an instant, the world shifted. The walls around them turned a pale gray, the oppressive darkness retreating as gravity itself seemed to twist and flip. Their sideways plunge transformed into a downward fall, disorienting Kaelix as the air roared past him. His mind struggled to comprehend the phenomenon, but the XenoArch gave him no time to process. it

"Focus!" it barked. "You're falling straight into the new ground! Brace yourself!"

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Kaelix turned mid-air, his eyes widening as the beast was flung with him, still writhing from its injuries. The wall—or what was now the ground—rushed up at a terrifying speed. The sheer force of Kaelix's earlier push combined with the abrupt gravitational shift sent them both hurtling with devastating momentum.

Kaelix hit first. The impact was catastrophic. His body slammed into the ground with enough force to send shockwaves rippling outward, but the surface beneath him remained unscathed, not a single scratch to mar its flawless appearance. Pain erupted through his back as his already ravaged muscles shredded further and his already weak bones cracked and shattered. His breath hitched, his vision blurring as his exposed bones scraped against the rocky surface.

The beast crashed down a moment later, its massive body crumpling from the impact with a thunderous cataclysmic roar. Yet even the monstrous force of its landing left not even a scratch on the ground.

For a moment, silence reigned, broken only by the ragged sound of Kaelix's breathing. Blood pooled beneath him, mingling with the ichor dripping from the beast's shattered form. His entire body screamed in agony, but his mind was sharp and focused despite the pain.

"Congratulations," the XenoArch's voice murmured, a dark amusement coloring its tone. "You survived... barely."

Kaelix groaned, forcing himself to move. "What... the hell... was that?"

"Daytime," the XenoArch replied cryptically. "And the real fun begins now."

Kaelix's ears perked up at the XenoArch's cryptic remark. "Fun, huh?" he muttered, forcing a sharp exhale as he tried to push himself upright. His barely functional muscles screamed in protest, his body riddled with holes and devastating wounds, yet he managed to stagger to his feet. His legs wobbled, threatening to give out, but he stayed upright, swaying like a flame in the wind.

His eyes fell on the creature, its massive form shifting as it began to rise. The damage was undeniable. Many of its once-lethal spikes were shattered, their jagged remnants embedded in its flesh from the violent crashes it had forced on itself and Kaelix had forced upon it. Its tail was shredded, stripped of most of its spines, and twisted at unnatural angles. But the worst of the injuries were in its maw.

The creature's lower jaw hung limp, its hinge broken, with several teeth missing entirely. The upper jaw was no better, its serrated edges chipped and cracked, and the insides of its mouth oozing with thick, dark blood from Kaelix's relentless assault.

Kaelix couldn't help but feel a flicker of pride. "Not bad for a guy who should be a smear on the wall by now," he muttered under his breath, though he didn't dare relax. His sharp eyes locked with the creature's glowing ones as they stared each other down.

The tension was palpable, crackling like a live wire. Kaelix clenched his fists, though his limbs trembled from sheer exhaustion. If it charges again, I'm done for, he thought grimly. Without the constant momentum of their fall, his already slim chances of surviving another round against this beast had dropped to nearly zero.

But then, to his surprise, the creature didn't lunge. Instead, it slowly turned away, limping into the distance with heavy, uneven steps. Kaelix watched in stunned silence as it dragged its mangled body further into the shadows. He didn't dare move, waiting until it was completely out of sight until he could no longer hear the grating sound of its claws on the unyielding surface.

When he was finally convinced it wasn't a trick, his legs gave out. He collapsed onto his back, instantly wincing as the shredded muscles and exposed bones of his back pressed against the ground. A ragged gasp escaped his lips, and he let himself lie there, staring up into the infinite gray wall or sky above.

The XenoArch's voice broke the silence, its tone tinged with something bordering on admiration. "I must admit, Kaelix, I'm impressed. I didn't think you'd make it."

Kaelix barked out a laugh, though it came more as a weak rasp. "Yeah, well… join the club. I barely feel alive, to be honest. Can't feel much of anything. I think I left all my nerves somewhere back there."

The XenoArch didn't respond immediately, letting his sarcasm hang in the air. After a moment, it spoke again. "You should probably move soon."

Kaelix groaned, his head lolling to the side. "Don't bother. I'm not going anywhere for a while. I need… I don't know… five minutes. Or five years. Take your pick. I can't even feel my damn limbs."

Time seemed to stretch, his ragged breaths filling the void. Eventually, Kaelix managed to lift his head, gritting his teeth against the pain. His eyes traced the gruesome state of his body. Blood leaked from countless punctures, pooling beneath him. His arms were riddled with holes and gashes, the muscles twitching erratically, and he was certain at least the majority of his bones were shattered. The sharp pain he felt all over confirmed it every time he drew a breath.

His back was another story entirely, and he grimaced at the thought. If the front looks like this, the back must look worse. He felt raw like every nerve was exposed to the open air. The faint scent of burned flesh mingled with blood hung in the air, a nauseating reminder of his condition.

His gaze flicked to the remains of his clothing—or what was left of it. Almost nothing but scraps clung to his body, save for the fraying fabric that mercifully preserved some modesty. He let out a bitter chuckle. "Well, that's considerate. At least I'm not running around buck naked."

His laugh deepened into a grim chuckle as he rested his head back down. "Funny, isn't it? The moment I get your rainbow ass, heal all my wounds, and cheat death, I go through another execution. Feels like Alievor is taking a piss on me."

He tried to rub his face out of habit, only to realize his arms wouldn't move. "Hell, for all I know, I'm already dead. Maybe I'm lying at the bottom of the ocean and hallucinating all this because the fire finally got to me."

The XenoArch chimed in dryly. "Then blame it on your luck. Clearly, you've got it in spades."

Kaelix snorted weakly, though the motion sent pain flaring through his chest. "Oh, don't worry. I blame my luck for everything. I couldn't agree more on adding another thing to my list."

The two lapsed into silence, Kaelix letting exhaustion pull him further into the abyss of unconsciousness. He didn't trust the XenoArch much, but for now, it was the only thing keeping him tethered to life. And maybe, just maybe, the fun was only beginning.