The stairway spiraled endlessly upward, carved from ivory stone and lined with faintly glowing glyphs.
Seth’s breathing was steady, but his body bore the signs of war—shredded sleeves, gashes across his torso, the faint trail of blood drying against his skin.
Each floor had taken more from him, not just his strength, but his focus, his instincts. The Tower wasn’t designed to be generous; it was a crucible, a grinder that tested every inch of a challenger’s being.
The sixth floor had greeted him with a swamp thick with miasma, serpents of poison coiling through the water. Seth had adapted, learning to coat his body with Hellfire to burn away the toxins clinging to the air. He moved through the mire like a phantom, fists striking faster than the serpents could lunge.
The seventh had sh
