In a dark wasteland devoid of life.
"Am I … Dead?" Kenji said upon recollecting his memory of suffocating inside the stomach of a magma catfish.
"NoT YeT!" The red knight replied in a coalescence of voices.
"Huh?"
Kenji had mostly uttered the question in disbelief, not expecting an answer.
"Do YoU TrUly KnOw So LiTtLe Of DeAtH To MiStAkE YoUr OwN EnD!"
"What do you mean? Do you know something? Actually, who are you? You don't sound like the guy from before!"
"YoU ArE CoRrEcT! I Am NoT ThE OnE WhOm InVaDeD YoUr MiNd!" The flaming night spoke, turning his head ever so slightly as he gazed off to the side.
"I Am ThE SoUrCe FrOm WhIcH ThE SpArK WiThIn YoUr SoUl OrIgInAtEs, AnD I Am ThE OnE WhOm BrOuGhT YoU OuT FrOm ThE BeLlY Of ThE BeAsT!"
Just then, another fragment appeared, before Kenji, showing what had occurred after he blacked out.
As Kenji had been suffocating, the blade on his back had started glowing red, and in his final moments of consciousness, he had reached for it and the moment his hand touched the handle of his blade.
*Swish**Swish*
In an instant, the catfish as well as the entire body of molten rock it swam in had been parted, as Kenji, now in his aura form, stood in the air, flanked by walls of magma as he gripping his blade, red gauntlets similar to the knight's covering his hands. Shortly thereafter, he flew up, halting over the structure at the center of the lake and in a single thrust of his blade, and there was a sound of an invisible barrier shattering to pieces as there was now a giant hole beneath him.
"What was that?"
"It WoUlD SeEm OuR TiMe Is Up! If YoU DeSiRe To SpEaK AgAiN, I SuGgEsT YoU ReTuRn HeRe ThRoUgH YoUr OwN MeAnS! TiL We MeEt AgAiN, ChIlD Of RaGnArOk!"
*Gasp**Cough**Cough**Huff**Puff*
Waking up with a jolt next to a very murky and long flight of stairs, Kenji sat up as he began coughing and panting while cold sweat ran down his neck. Confused and bewildered, Kenji spoke.
"What was that? AND WHAT HAPPENED TO MY CLOTHES?!" he shouted as he looked down at his body.
Much of his clothing had been damaged by the stomach acid of the catfish that swallowed him, and most of what remained afterwards had been torn off during the battle on the 3rd floor. Hence, currently, there was only a single scrap of cloth left on his body, barely covering his crotch.
Flustered at the revelation that he was just one piece of fabric away from being nude, Kenji inspected his surroundings looking for anything he might be able to use to cover himself up. Fortunately for him, unlike the dark floor above, the location he found himself in was illuminated by the glowing of enchantments engraved on to the large gate in front of him, hence he had no trouble perceiving his surroundings, or at least, his right eye did not, his left eye on the other hand.
"*Sigh* Let's hope the boss can fix eyes too, or I'll have to get an eyepatch! Hm?" Kenji said, covering his left eye with his hand.
After his time inside the stomach of the giant lava fish, Kenji's body had been burned by digestive fluids, some of which had managed to get in his left eye, causing it to go blind.
Unfortunately, much to Kenji's disappointment, there was no clothing available in his surroundings.
"*Sigh* Oh well! At least there is nobody around to see, so I guess it doesn't matter!"
Were the words Kenji immediately had to eat as someone suddenly walked down the stairway.
"THERE HE IS! I FOUND HIM!"
"AH! NO! LOOK AWAY!" Kenji screamed, hugging his chest as he felt a overexposed as a group of people came rushing down the stairs to see his almost naked body.
…
A few moments earlier, further underground, a spectral figure was shaking in terror after having delved into the dream of a certain lightly dressed man.
"What in the world was that creature!"
After losing his control over the dreamscape, it should have awakened the target of his illusion immediately, but that wasn't the case. Another entity, aside from the young man under his influence, had emerged from somewhere, prolonging the dream and seizing control instantly. He had only got a glimpse, but at a single glance, he had been completely overwhelmed by the savage presence this unknown possessed. The force it had used to push him out of Kenji's mind had been so strong, the aftershocks of the encounter had managed to injure his soul, causing cracks to form in his spirit.
"Whatever that monster was, it is not something to be trifled with!"