One month had passed since the three survivors first arrived at the central chamber.
The thatched hut area that had been nearly empty was now swarming with activity.
More and more participants stumbled through the various cave openings, some crawling on hands and knees, others limping with grievous wounds.
There were a few fortunate ones who managed to stay relatively unscathed even though they were exhausted.
But one thing remained constant across all arrivals: the numbers had dwindled catastrophically.
Of the original six hundred participants who had entered the second trial a year ago, fewer than one hundred remained.
Some had fallen to the dangers of the cave or the lack of resources to survive, while the rest have fallen prey to the greed and malice of their own kind.
The Demonic Cult's trial had done exactly what it was designed to do: separate the wheat from the chaff through blood and death.
