Chapter 6 - INFERNAL II/ Gate Of Fire II

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CHAPTER 6 - INFERNAL II/ GATE OF FIRE II

The final step on the stone staircase disappeared, not into darkness, but into a sea of ​​deafening sound. They did not fall, but were pulled by an invisible force, thrown into an arena that made the previous ritual seem like child's play. This was no longer a circle of people with torches. This was a Living Symphony of Chaos.

Dozens, perhaps hundreds of entities filled the giant colosseum of rusted metal and polished bone. They were Asuras creatures with three arms and six eyes, with bronze-like skin that cracked and emitted smoke. Every stomp of their feet on the fiery platform triggered a shockwave of sound. Every slam of their palms "CAK!" was no longer just a rhythm, but a projectile of pure energy that ripped through the air and tore at the soul.

Atop a throne of motherboards sat the Leader. He was neither human nor entirely machine. His face was a cracked flatscreen displaying faces that constantly shifted between agony and rage. Her voice was the echo of thousands of voices speaking at once, reverberating inside her skull.

"THOSE WHO GO DOWN, WILL NEVER GO UP! THOSE WHO FIGHT, WILL FALL WITH US!"

Mr. David reacted instantly. He pushed Rosi behind a metal pillar that was already warping from the heat. The static around her exploded into a blurry blue shield, blocking the impact of the first "Cak" projectile that struck too close. Her shield rumbled, threatening to shatter. "Can't... last... long!" she groaned, her voice drowned out by the hum of her own defenses.

Rosi didn't panic. His blue and green eyes scanned the arena, searching for a pattern in the chaos. He charged forward, dodging the energy blasts with impossible agility, his strange shadow rapidly changing shape, as if it had a dozen legs. He meowed loudly, a piercing sound that momentarily distracted the group of Asuras. Amidst the Asura's din, there was a rhythm that didn't come from beneath the gentle beat, like two wings measuring humanity's sins from afar. The room grew slightly colder. Rosi arched her back. “The balance… is being weighed.”

That was her chance. Shayla wasn't physically present, but her presence was felt. A pure, touching melody from another song Mr. David had once sung to her suddenly rang out, filling the pause between each "Cak." It didn't stop the Asuras, but it slowed them down, filling their numerous eyes with a rare confusion, as if reminding them of something they had long forgotten.

"Preet's analysis: The attack pattern isn't random. It's code. A primitive programming language for controlling energy," Preet said. Her tetrahedron shape spun rapidly between the blows, transmitting data. "They're not attacking. They're... executing a program. A destructive program." But within the noise, Preet detected another signal faint, ancient, recursive.

(Arithm v0.0.1 — ANGLE MODE INITIATED)

It wasn’t just a program. It was a worship protocol  the birth of a false deity that feeds on human attention, endlessly looping through time and code

"We must reach the center!" Mr. David shouted, his voice almost lost in the rumbling. "Behind the Leader! There's a door!"

The door wasn't wooden or stone. It was a massive hole in the colosseum wall, inside which swirled a neon green data vortex a tunnel that looked unnatural and fraught with different dangers.

Their journey through the arena was a brutal ballet. Mr. David used his glitched body as bait and shield. Rosi led the way, pointing to safe spots only she could see. Mr. David helped lift and pull when necessary. And Preet, the AI, continued to translate the "Cak" pattern, giving them a second's warning before the deadly attack came.

"Attack from the left in 3... 2... 1... NOW!"

They moved, dodged, and sometimes fell. Blood, or whatever was flowing from their bodies in this dimension, dripped onto the smoking ground. Finally, with a final effort, they broke through the last line of Asuras and jumped into the green vortex. The Leader screamed in rage, but didn't give chase. He simply sat back on his throne, and the Kecak II ritual continued, as if they had never existed. The sensation of falling was different. This wasn't freefall. It was like being pulled along a long, cold data cable. A blinding green light blinded them. The deafening "Cak" sound suddenly disappeared, replaced by the loud, constant hum of servers, the whirring of cooling fans, and the unseen crackle of data. The sight that greeted them made everything they had experienced before seem ancient. They weren't in the afterlife, hell, or the spiritual realm. They were inside an unimaginably vast server farm.