The stone sealed behind them with a deafening grind, plunging them into stale dark. Dust floated thick in the air, glowing faintly in the cracks where phosphorescent fungi crawled along the walls.
Luke's grip tightened on his sword. His chest rose and fell too fast. "This isn't right. We need to turn back."
Naruto tipped his head back and laughed. "Turn back? We just found the secret dungeon, Luke! Who bails before they find the treasure chest?"
As if the maze heard him, the walls groaned. The corridor ahead narrowed, stone grinding in on itself.
Luke's eyes went wide. "It's moving!"
The floor lurched. A slab dropped away just in front of them, revealing a pit lined with jagged stone spikes.
Naruto whistled, peering over the edge. "Dang. That's one way to say 'no solicitors.'" He grinned and jumped it in a clean arc, landing with both arms spread wide like he was on a stage. "Ta-da!"
Luke cursed under his breath, backing up for a running leap. He barely cleared it, shoes scraping the far ledge. Naruto clapped like it was a performance.
The walls pressed tighter, the stone groaning like a predator's stomach.
Then the corridor tilted. The floor angled forward sharply, like a treadmill set to hurl them deeper into the dark. Dust and gravel skidded down first, then Luke. He slammed his sword into a crack in the floor, barely holding on.
Naruto, sliding with both feet, whooped like it was a carnival ride. "Yeah! Extreme sports, baby!"
"Are you insane, Naruto?!" Luke roared, teeth clenched.
Naruto laughed harder, riding the slide, then stabbed a wooden stake into the wall. Vines erupted from it, tangling into the stone and creating a handhold. He swung onto it casually and offered Luke a hand. "Relax. The maze just wants to play!"
Luke hesitated, every muscle screaming this was wrong, this was death. But the grin on Naruto's face was wild, certain, and unshakable, it pulled him forward. He grabbed his hand.
Together, they dragged themselves up onto a ledge as the corridor sealed behind them with a deep, final boom.
Silence.
Naruto shook the dust off, still grinning. "See? Told you. It's just an obstacle course."
Luke's heart hammered so hard it hurt. His knuckles were white around his sword hilt. "This isn't a game," he said hoarsely.
Naruto only smirked, eyes glinting in the gloom. "If there's anything I've learned in my long life; everything's a game if you're creative enough."
The ground gave way beneath them.
One heartbeat they were stumbling through stale dark. The next, Naruto and Luke were spat out into blinding sunlight, crashing down on hot and red sand. The roar hit them before they could breathe: thousands of voices howling for blood.
Luke pushed himself up, coughing, heart pounding. They were in a coliseum, stone seats towering on every side, packed with monsters. Dracaenae rattled spears, cyclopes stomped their feet, hellhounds snapped and barked until foam dripped from their jaws.
Naruto shook sand from his hair, squinting up at the stands. Then he grinned. "Well… this looks interesting."
At the far end of the pit, a giant rose from a throne of skulls and bones. His bronze skin gleamed in the sun, his muscles stacked like slabs of stone, his beard wild as a lion's mane. When he raised his spear, the crowd went silent.
"New blood," Antaeus thundered. His voice rolled like boulders in an avalanche. "The earth blesses me with sacrifice. Their blood will feed my mother, Gaea, and their bones will strengthen my father, Poseidon. Here, in my arena, every death honors my line."
The crowd exploded, chanting his name. Antaeus! Antaeus!
Luke staggered to his feet, sword shaking in his grip. His chest clenched. This wasn't a game. This was a slaughterhouse.
Naruto rolled his shoulders like he was warming up for sparring. "Relax, Lucky. Just think of it as training."
"Training?!" Luke snapped, panic in his voice. "He's talking about feeding our blood and bones to the earth!"
"Yeah," Naruto said, still grinning, "so don't spill any. Easy fix." He jabbed a thumb at the cages being dragged open across the arena. "Besides, nothing hones your skills like trial by monster."
The gates screeched open. Two dracaenae slithered forward, tongues flicking, javelins gleaming. Beside them, a lion-headed giant lumbered into the pit, bellowing so loud the sand trembled.
The crowd lost its mind.
Luke's throat went dry. He wanted to run. Every instinct screamed to run. But his blood boiled hotter, his grip tightening on the sword until his knuckles whitened.
Naruto's grin only sharpened. "Alright, round one: snakes for you, lion for me. The winner buys dinner."
Luke's eyes widened. "Dinner?! You're insane. We'll be lucky if we get to live."
"Insanely right," Naruto shot back. "Now c'mon let's give 'em a show."
The monsters charged.
The dracaenae hissed, forked tongues tasting the air as they slithered forward with their javelins raised. The lion-headed giant roared, steam blasting from its jaws, and pounded the sand with fists like stone mallets.
Luke braced, sword trembling in his hand. His mouth went dry. This is insane. I'm going to die.
Naruto stretched his arms out, cracking his knuckles like he was limbering up for gym class. "Alright, big guy. Let's dance."
The lion giant bellowed again and charged. Each step shook the ground, spraying sand in every direction. It swung a fist the size of a wagon wheel straight at Naruto.
Naruto didn't dodge, instead he stepped into it.
The punch connected with his palm and stopped dead. Dust exploded around them, the shockwave rattling the bones of the arena. For a second, the giant just stared, disbelieving, as Naruto grinned in its face.
"Wow. That tickled."
Then Naruto drove his knee into its gut. The impact folded the monster in half with a sound like a drum splitting. The crowd roared, half in delight, half in disbelief.
"See, Lucky? Training!" Naruto shouted, swinging the giant overhead and slamming it into the sand hard enough to make the arena tremble.
The dracaenae hissed, circling Luke. One lunged, javelin thrusting for his chest. Luke parried on instinct, steel scraping against bronze. The force rattled his arms, but his body remembered what his mind didn't: every desperate fight he'd had on the run, every moment surviving when he shouldn't have.
The second serpent-woman slashed from the side. Luke twisted, the blade whispering past his ribs. He countered with a wild swing. The edge clipped her scales, leaving a shallow gash. She hissed in pain and rage.
Luke's chest heaved, his heart slamming against his ribs. I can't win this. I can't!
The first dracaena lunged again, faster this time. Luke dropped low, sand spraying, and drove his sword up through her belly. She shrieked, body convulsing before she dissolved into golden dust.
The second one struck immediately, teeth bared, but Luke spun, blade catching her javelin mid-thrust. With a shout, he forced it aside and slashed across her chest. She went down hissing, then burst into dust.
The crowd erupted, stomping and chanting.
Naruto, meanwhile, had the lion giant by the mane. It clawed at him, snapping jaws inches from his face. Naruto laughed, headbutted it square on the nose, and sent it crashing back in a spray of sand.
"C'mon!" he shouted at it, bouncing on his heels. "I thought you were supposed to be scary!"
The giant roared, furious, and swung with both fists. Naruto ducked under one, pivoted, and hammered a hook across its jaw. The crack echoed like a gunshot. The beast spun, staggering, and Naruto launched after it, fists blurring. Blow after blow landed, each one cratering flesh and bone until the giant finally toppled in a heap.
Naruto stood over it, panting lightly, grinning wide. "Thanks for the workout, kitty." He nudged it with his foot, and it dissolved into dust.
Luke staggered to his side, chest heaving, his sword still slick with monster ichor. The sand was littered with golden motes fading into the air.
The crowd was on its feet, chanting louder than ever. Antaeus! Antaeus!
From his throne of bones, the giant raised his arms in triumph. "Yes! Bleed for me, little champions! Make the earth strong! Every drop honors my mother, Gaea, and my father, Poseidon!"
Naruto wiped his nose with the back of his hand, grinning like a maniac. "You hear that, Lucky? He's proud of us. We're naturals."
Luke's voice was raw, his face pale but his eyes burning. "You're insane."
Naruto clapped him on the back, nearly knocking him over. "And you're improving. See? Training."
The crowd roared louder, and the gates at the far end of the arena began to creak open again.
The golden dust was still settling when the far gates of the arena shuddered. Chains rattled, groaning under the weight of something colossal.
The crowd rose to its feet, voices thundering in anticipation. Antaeus! Antaeus!
Luke's stomach dropped. His arms ached from the dracaenae fight, and his lungs burned. He barely had anything left to give.
Naruto, on the other hand, was still bouncing on his heels, grinning wide. "Hear that, Lucky? Round two's on the house."
Luke turned on him, furious. "You don't get it! This isn't training, it's a fight to the death!"
"Technically every fight is a fight to the death." Naruto replied.
The gates slammed open.
Out lumbered not two or three opponents, but an entire phalanx of monsters. A dozen dracaenae, spears leveled. Four cyclopes with clubs the size of tree trunks. A pair of hellhounds snarling, foam dripping from their fangs. And behind them, towering over the lot, came a colossal Minotaur, twice the size of the one that had stalked Luke's nightmares.
The crowd's roar shook the sand.
Luke's blood turned to ice. His grip on his sword nearly slipped. We can't win this.
Naruto just cracked his neck, eyes lighting up like he'd been waiting for this moment. "Finally. A worthy challenge. Our battle will be legendary!"
"Challenge?!" Luke spat. "That's an army!"
Naruto laughed, feral and reckless. "Then we'll just train harder."
The monsters surged forward.
The cyclopes charged first, clubs raised high. Sand thundered under their feet. The dracaenae fanned out behind them, spears gleaming. The hellhounds darted low, black streaks across the pit.
Luke's instincts screamed at him to run, but there was nowhere to go. His back was against the wall. His sword felt like an extension of his arm now, hot and heavy. He raised it with shaking hands.
Naruto met the charge head-on. A cyclops swung its club, a blow that could shatter stone. Naruto caught the shaft mid-swing, muscles straining then twisted and ripped the weapon free. He swung the massive club in a wide arc, scattering dracaenae like bowling pins.
"See? Easy!" he shouted over the chaos.
Luke ducked under a spear thrust, slicing through the dracaena's chest. Sand sprayed with every movement. He parried another, sparks flying, and forced himself forward. His fear burned into raw momentum as if he stopped, he would die..
The hellhounds leapt for Naruto, black shadows with burning eyes. Naruto grabbed one mid-air by the throat, slammed it into the other, and pinned them both with the cyclops' stolen club. He grinned like he was wrestling puppies.
"Bad dogs! Stay."
The Minotaur bellowed, its roar shaking the coliseum. It charged, faster than something that size had any right to move.
Luke shouted, "Naruto!"
Naruto spun, grinning wide. "Yeah, I see him!"
He crouched low, bracing himself. At the last second, he launched upward, slamming into the beast's chest with a flying punch. The impact sent a shockwave ripping through the arena, the Minotaur toppling back into its own army.
The crowd went insane.
Antaeus rose from his throne, arms raised high. "Yes! More blood! More strength for my mother, Gaea, and honor for my father, Poseidon!" His voice rolled like thunder, shaking the earth itself.
Luke's chest heaved, sweat stinging his eyes, blood slick on his arms. He looked at Naruto, who stood in the middle of the chaos, laughing like he was invincible.
"This isn't training," Luke whispered hoarsely. "This is suicide."
Naruto cracked his knuckles again, grin feral. "Then let's die winning."
The monsters surged once more.
The pit was pure chaos.
Luke's blade was slick, his arms trembling with every swing. He ducked under a cyclops' club, slashing at its knee, then staggered when the recoil jolted up his arm. His lungs burned, his chest heaved. Every muscle screamed.
A dracaena jabbed from the side too fast. The spear cut into his shoulder, hot pain flooding down his arm. He cried out, nearly dropping his sword.
But he didn't stop. He couldn't. He spun, teeth bared, and rammed his blade through the serpent-woman's chest. She dissolved into dust with a hiss, leaving only her weapon clattering against the sand.
Luke swayed on his feet, blood dripping down his arm. I can't… I can't keep this up.
And then he looked across the pit.
Naruto was laughing.
The blond tore through monsters like it was a game, fists and feet blurring. He smashed a cyclops into the dirt, spun with the stolen club, and sent dracaenae flying like bowling pins. When the hellhounds leapt again, he caught one by the scruff, swung it into the other, and grinned as they both went skidding across the sand.
His chest rose and fell steady, his grin feral, wild. His eyes blazed with the joy of it. "Come on! Is this all you've got?!"
The crowd howled, stamping their feet, chanting louder.
Antaeus! Antaeus!
The ground shook as the giant rose from his throne. His voice rolled over the arena like thunder.
"Enough!" he bellowed. "My children amuse me, but I crave more. Their blood alone is not enough. Their bones will break under mine, and their deaths will honor the earth and the sea alike!"
The crowd exploded.
Antaeus stepped down into the pit, each stride shaking the sand. He loomed over them, bronze skin gleaming, muscles thick as tree trunks. His eyes burned with the mad joy of battle.
Luke's heart sank. He could barely stand, his sword heavy as stone in his hand. His blood dripped into the sand and he swore the earth itself pulsed in response.
Naruto just cracked his knuckles, grin widening. "Finally. The final boss shows up."
"Boss?!" Luke rasped, chest heaving. "That's… that's a giant!"
"Yeah." Naruto rolled his shoulders, eyes blazing with reckless confidence. "Lucky for us, I like a challenge."
Antaeus spread his arms wide, spear gleaming in the sunlight. "Fight me, little champions! Bleed for me! Make the earth sing with your pain!"
The sand quaked under their feet.
Luke raised his sword with a shaking arm, blood dripping down his side. His vision swam, but he steadied himself. He wouldn't run. Not now.
Naruto planted his feet, fists up, grin sharp enough to cut steel. "Alright, Lucky. Consider this… advanced training."
Then Antaeus roared, and the final fight began.
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