Almost as soon as they went in, folk started getting spat right back out.

  “Ho!” said Old Rao, the bookie. “And there goes the first exits—at point-five seconds!”

  The great majority of them couldn't even last the full minute. Clumps were ejected at the ten-second mark, and still more at the twenty, all with the same shell-shocked look.

  “How’s any man meant to get through that?!”

  By the minute mark, the demon swarms had thickened to Peak Foundation. Experts were dropping like flies. A great deal of down-on-their-luck contestants headed off to Old Rao’s, looking to nurse their disappointments with a good bet or two.

  “Three silver marks on the Wandering Monk for 2nd place!”

  Not much was known about the Monk. He very much kept to himself. But whenever he made a move, he shook the world. He quickly became the connoisseur’s choice.

  “Six on Cloudless! That man’s outlived empires. They say he’s got more techniques in his head than all the Imperial Libraries combined…”

  Many bettors agreed. They’d all grown up on tales of the wise and terrible Cloudless.

  “For first? No way. It’s got to be Skyhammer Kang.”

  Kang drew almost as many bets as Cloudless. The brash Skyhammer Kang was one of the Kingdom’s most popular heroes, known even in its most remote towns.

  “My money’s on Li Zhang. He took down the Eastern Horde outgunned ten-to-one! If anyone can do it, it’s him.”

  Another tranche of bets poured in, skewing younger. Li Zhang was the up-and-comer, the romantic hero of the youth—easy to root for.

  “It’s got to be that angry foreigner guy; he looked crazy enough…”

  Few could get a read on them. But those in the know put their money on the mysterious foreigners.

  Three minutes in, and only the strongest of the Core fighters were still in the running. After that, even they started dropping out in droves.

  By the ten-minute mark, most Outer Sect disciples and loose cultivators had been churned right out. Not long after, the Inner Sect disciples tumbled out panting and disheveled, looking like they’d just been through the ordeal of their lives.

  In that time, all their hopes had been crushed. It took a different kind of mind to withstand being hounded like that. In that moment, swathes of experts had their confidence shattered forever—looked into that abyss and saw what they were made of. Knew, then and there, they weren’t built for that pressure.

  They dragged themselves off to the bookies, broken.

  Fifteen minutes, and only the Nascent Souls were left.

  The betting was growing uproarious now. The experts had turned to fans—folk really started to believe they could make their fortune here instead. Old Rao’s assistants had their hands full sorting it all out.

  Twenty, and it was only masters left in the running.

  The bulk of the contestants were still there, waiting to see who won out—even those who didn’t partake in the side-betting.

  It’d become more than just a battle of martial might.

  They’d all been thrust into that hell. They all knew what it was like to be chased by devils.

  They knew they were betting as much on the spirit as they were on the body. If they didn’t have what it took in there, even the mightiest master could lose composure and succumb.

  Who would crack first?

  ***

  “Our next contestant’s coming through!” roared Old Rao, standing on his announcement box.

  At 24 minutes, Skyhammer Kang came tumbling out.

  Roaring, he slammed his hammer on the ground.

  “That’s Skyhammer Kang, hitting the under—a heartbreaking result!”

  “Blasted Hydra got me,” he growled. “Mudslide got me from behind… damn!”

  He grumbled on a little longer, but at least he made it past twenty. He’d get to see the inside of the Temple.

  Now all that was left was to see how good his spoils would be.

  Not long after him, Fairy Shi stumbled out, gasping, her once-perfect hair in a tangled mess. She turned back and pursed her lips when she saw it was still going.

  “How many remain?” she demanded. But the official didn’t know.

  “By our count, just under twenty!” said Old Rao.

  Now they were in the realm of legends.

  Li Zhang was ejected at 27 minutes. It was something of a shock. Some folks thought he’d be beaten much earlier; he was only mid-Nascent. Some folks thought he was blessed—that he’d never lose at all.

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  He looked around, breathing heavily, and shrugged. “Ah. Well. S’pose luck runs out for everyone, eh?”

  For a man who suffered his first loss in decades, he didn’t seem too bothered. He put his hands behind his head and grinned. “Who’s left?”

  A few minutes later, the Wandering Monk stumbled out, shaking.

  “What got you?” said Li. “The gryphons? Nasty business, those bastards.”

  The monk only shook his head.

  Emperor Cloudless came next.

  In the minds of most experts, he was an immortal figure—unshakeable, unflappable. Above it all. But he seemed mortal enough as he stumbled back through, eyes bloodshot.

  He looked up at the notification and saw he’d made it to 28 minutes.

  He shook his head.

  “I cannot fathom what kind of man it’d take to make it past that.”

  The flood dragon-prince came stumbling out, still slashing at the skies. 31 minutes.

  By then, as far as anyone could tell, there were only two remaining.

  The foreign prince and princess.

  The minutes went by. 30… 33… 35—

  Then a man came tumbling out. Very pale, with jet-black hair—he would’ve been handsome, except for a scar running through his mouth.

  Prince Tatsuo collapsed as soon as he stepped foot outside, breathing so heavily he was nearly convulsing. Gasps rang out. His soul was flickering, like he’d done some forbidden technique—he’d sacrificed something to force himself on. An attendant rushed in and fed him a milky liquid; he regained some color.

  He shoved his attendant aside and looked to the portals.

  “It… isn’t over,” he said dumbly.

  Then he let out a heartbroken roar.

  He was trembling when Princess Saori stepped out of the portals.

  She was pale at first—but when she heard Old Rao roar the result, she flushed again and grinned.

  39 minutes. First place.

  “Poor Tatsuo,” she said. “How many sleepless nights did you work for this? I’ll bet you agonized over beating me. I’ll bet you were thinking of me every waking hour. Yet here we are again.”

  She smirked. “How does it feel?”

  “You—!”

  “When will you learn?” she sighed. “Fate plays favorites. Maybe in any other world, you would’ve won… but too bad you’re here with me. So be a good boy, sit there, and watch me.”

  “Must you needle him so?” sighed his attendant.

  “But isn’t it funny how red his little cheeks get?” she laughed.

  Then she turned to collect her prize.

  The portals were still gray.

  “…It’s still going.”

  The bookies started scrambling, searching through their records—

  “I’m quite certain we got every known fighter over Nascent—”

  The crowd grew restless.

  “Could it be…?”

  “There’s still someone left?!”

  “Bullshit!”

  Unrest was building in the crowd—Old Rao gave a nervous chuckle. “Now, now, folks—that’s quite impossible. My men were very thorough. It’s a clerical error, that’s all. Give the System a few minutes to update, and I’m sure it’ll all be sorted!”

  That was what most folks were inclined to believe. Especially those who’d made it past 20 minutes.

  That place broke men in body, sure—but it broke them in spirit too. Even Saori felt it; she might’ve played it carefree, but she was on the verge of breaking. She just did a good job covering it up.

  She refused to believe any man could make it any longer than she had.

  And yet—

  At 45 minutes, the clock was still running.

  Skyhammer Kang roared what they were all thinking.

  “What in the six hells is going on?!”

  ***

  Zane strolled around, wondering what all the fuss was about.

  ***

  44 minutes earlier…

  He was transported in, and demons filled his vision. Gargoyles of tar. Giant worms dripping black ooze. Creatures with no eyes and too many eyes.

  He was actually pretty happy about this setup. He’d been itching to test out his new domain, bolstered by Magnetic Hotspot—now he finally got a chance.

  He started it up just as the Monsters closed in.

  BANG.

  ***

  “Human named ‘Zane,’ it says,” muttered the gargoyle. “Can’t get a read on the power level.”

  The Demon King Osmodius scratched his chin, squinting at the portal glass. “Doesn’t look like much, does he?” he snorted. “The first Lord he meets ought to do him in.”

  The big human glanced around, unaware. He didn’t even have his guard up.

  The gargoyles chortled.

  “It’s over,” hissed one.

  “He’s not making it out of the Desert.”

  “He’s not making it past the spawn-point!”

  Hissing laughter filled the cavern.

  Then they saw a strange light erupt out of the man, and all that laughter choked off at once.

  Every Monster within a hundred li vaporized in an instant.

  “…What,” croaked the gargoyle.

  “WHAT?!” roared Osmodius.

  Then the cavern began to tremble.

  He shot to his feet—looked up.

  Six layers of blood magic shattered at once.

  Osmodius barely had a chance to scream.

  Then the Lord of the Underworld roasted to a pillar of ash.

  ***

  After wandering about for a bit, Zane was starting to come to the conclusion that that was really it.

  He’d gotten about a half-second to test his new Solar Flare.

  …It was turning out to be a rather disappointing run.

  ***

  “I suspect,” said Cloudless, narrowing his eyes. “That foul play is at hand.”

  The Wandering Monk nodded. “If there’s still a man inside…”

  “That Trial is a test of the will, as much as it is of the body,” said Fairy Shi.

  “Impossible,” growled Prince Tatsuo. “I saw thirty-three minutes. No man’s making it to forty-five. His mind would shatter far before his body!”

  ***

  By the forty-five-minute mark, Zane had gotten rather bored of the place.

  All that drab nothing was starting to weigh on him. He was excited to find a Monster around the thirty-minute mark, only to realize it was a tumbleweed.

  He closed his eyes and felt things out with Great Sage Mind.

  …This place was definitely empty. It seemed he was in some kind of temporary holding box, a simulation set to close.

  Just next door, though, across a dimensional gap, he felt the Temple of the Sealed Demon.

  Only that door was closed. There was some kind of condition he hadn’t met.

  He got the odd feeling he was meant to die at some point. Like whoever had made this thing hadn’t accounted for the possibility that it was possible to clear out all the demons in the underworld.

  Pretty glaring design flaw, to his mind.

  “…Screw this.”

  He took two fistfuls of Stormfire, loaded it with Radiation, and supercharged it with Magnetic Hotspot.

  Then he punched a hole through the interdimensional wall.

  Gold and black shone on the other side.

  He stepped on through and was pleased to find himself in the Temple of the Sealed God.

  He was kind of surprised it worked, actually. He wasn’t complaining.

  He set off to collect his prize.

  ***

  Outside—

  Contestant #2884 has entered the Temple.

  “What?!—”

  An instant after—

  Error! The Trial of the Sealed Demon has been tampered with.

  The portals went gray and winked out.

  The challenge is now closed.

  Shocked silence.

  And then, chaos.