It wasn’t supposed to be so soon.

The ground opened up beneath you out of nowhere, a strum of a biwa the only signal before you were swallowed whole. Immediately, you found yourself falling through an endless maze of doors and walls. Each time you felt you might land, another door opened up and you kept descending. At this rate, you would die before you even reached the bottom. You quickly unsheathed your blade, dashing into an empty room before the door closed. You take a deep breath, looking around.

What was this place?

Your eyes widened as a sudden revelation hit you. Could this be… the infinity castle? Had the final battle really come this soon? The one your allies; the other hashira, had prepared so long for?

================================== The wooden walls seem to narrow in on you as you stepped quietly down one of the many halls, not wanting to attract unwanted attention. Suddenly, you reached a dead end, slowly opening the paper Japanese styled door with shaky hands.

Is that smell… could it be, blood?

The stench hit you like a train wreck, and your focus shifted to the middle of the room. It was covered in vines, wooden bridges over almost menacingly clear water with lily pads. But that wasn’t what you were worried about. No, it was the dead piled up bodies, the guts, and the demon perched in the midst of it.

It must’ve heard you, because it turned its head, only slightly. You realized it was chewing on a severed arm, its clothing bloody.

“Hm? Someone’s here? How interesting, I don’t think we’ve met before… say, are you a new hashira?”

His tone was so playful, yet so cold at the same time as those hauntingly rainbow eyes stared at you with pure menace.