The stairs slowly change in gradient from black and gray stone into red squishy flesh. He slowly exhausts himself, going on up in an infinite repeating pattern of 2 corner landings. How much further? I’ll just lean over the edge, look up.

  Arata could not see an end, glancing upwards, glancing back down. However, he spotted dark hands crawling their way up. Arata quickly pulls his head back when suddenly, from a flight of stairs above, a decapitated Celine head with hands like octopus tentacles latches onto Arata's face.

  With its mouth in a hole where its spine should be, it sinks its teeth into Arata's nose. Ah shit! I can't see, it is too hard to pry off-

  Celine pierces the creature with her holy sword as it detaches from Arata's face.

  Celine shouts, “A little further up, look for the door with a knob instead of a lever handle!”

  Arata and Celine had a major head start, yet it was as though that never mattered; every time they covered a flight of stairs, the black void devouring the facility would match that pace. Yet the darkness did not need stamina in it’s pursuit to pull Arata and Celine back down.

  Then finally, the door appears, Celine opening it as the two of them rush on through into the lobby, a wide open space lined with seating, reception desks and portraits of Selena. The room’s wallpaper here had by far the most amount of cracks showing, in places, the floorboards even opened up to see the red spongy interior of the place’s structure.

  However, that wasn’t what bothered him, rather a radiant light shining off five silhouettes guarding the rest of the way up, five Selenas rode atop stallions formed from a conglomerate of mutilated Selenas, lances of glimmering steel and one with a deep cut across their body sealed shut by molten metal interwoven with their scar.

  Five of them? Our time here is limited, though. Arata reaches for his sword when he notices how Celine dashes out ahead of him, unsheathing her sword. At least that was what one could only assume as a white bang consumed the whole space. Her sword, shining like a prism, connected to the air, hitting nothing. Despite that, one of the Selena was blinded, falling to the ground and singled out.

  Celine, in a sudden onrush, cleaves through the Selena. Her sword’s ability is basically a glorified flashbang? Is she really a hero…

  Arata ponders about what he learned in relation to regalia, the holy sword could have been a regalia. Thus, unsatisfied with Celine’s will wouldn’t respond fully to her.

  That didn’t mean Celine was weak, she was good enough with a sword. It was enough to put Arata to shame, being from another world, she was already so much better than he was. Arata didn’t even know if a decade of muscle memory being built into him would close the gap.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Yet despite that, the other knights were not worried, that was merely a sacrifice so that they could encircle Celine. With power like that, no doubt we could win… but we’ve only got through the weakest link and we're on a timer.

  The Selena with molten slag rigidly moves in an attempt to raise her weapon, charging towards Celine with her lance alongside the Selena knight, who had covered their backs.

  The Selena on their backs came in much faster which Celine chooses to handle, cutting open a tendon of the horse. Arata jumps in, parrying the sweeping lance when he realizes something.

  “Celine! Take out the horses, we’re on a timer.” Arata, for the first time, takes out his shears, Bloody Mary, for the first time in combat. He detaches one of the blades, returning the other to his pocket.

  Awaiting the next strike, Arata stands still, the enemies, while mirroring human,s tended to fight more animalistically. They had simple plans to attack they would repeat like clockwork.

  The second charge came, this time attempting to dislodge Arata's shoulder to stop him from using his weapon. Arata's blade glides along the side of the lance before being flung upwards, the weapon now out of the way, Arata slices through both the armor and into the flesh below the knight. Despite Ravenna's naming scheme, there was little blood beyond the initial slash, the metal had entered the open wound in the ribs. The knight was paralyzed as they were now fused to the stiff metal. Without the flexibility of their torso, they quickly fell off their horse.

  Celine quickly understood, as the knights closed in on Arata's back, her blade let out another flash bang. As the whole room was blinded, it took a few seconds for sight to return, in that time, Arata had tended open the shoulder of another Selena. Meanwhile, Celine carves out the leg of a horse, Selena. Only the one knight, still with a scar left on their body remains. Celine turns to fight. At a standstill, both of them have their swords drawn.

  The void is catching up! Killing them doesn't matter. Arata grabs Celine's arm, remarking, “Run, we still need to reach the top!” The last knight, having spent the whole fight trying to properly encircle the two, had now rotated right in front of the door Arata and Celine came from.

  Black, shapeless appendages crawl up behind her, pulling her into the void as Arata and Celine both continue to run further.

  *Crunch*

  Neither Celine nor Arata looks back, rushing past the reception, they now have just a short spiral staircase to the top, three flights before the exit door. Yet both of them were too tired, they didn't speak to conserve any breath in their lungs to devote to running.

  Running up, the carpet is replaced with interwoven cartilage threads, the stone pillars are replaced with frozen bodies of Selena, stitched together, made from the walls of the asylum. At the bottom of the stairs, the darkness closely followed.

  One step after another, round and round in circles, Arata slowly let the hands catch up. Celine ran past, torn on whether or not she should turn back. I can't let her worry… legs move!

  Arata’s eyes peel to the final landing at the top of the stairs as he uses his last bit of energy to jump onto it, collapsing to the floor. Agh shit, I can't keep running… too-

  The darkness climbs, only five steps from the top, then four, then three, then two and finally one before it stops. It fills everything below the final landing like a liquid, pure black water with tendrils, arms and other bits jutting out of it.