The chamber shook violently.
Stone cracked beneath their feet.
Dust poured from the ceiling as the massive ritual circle spiraled out of control.
Above them, the portal continued expanding.
It no longer looked like a simple tear in space.
It looked like the sky itself had been ripped open.
On the other side—
Rive could see flashes.
A road.
Streetlights.
Rain.
Cars.
The living world.
His world.
The ritualists stepped back in fear as the unstable energy around Rive grew stronger.
His body flickered strangely.
One moment he stood in the chamber.
The next—
Parts of him became transparent.
Like he was slipping between realities.
The leader of the ritualists stared at him.
"…Impossible."
Rive's glowing eyes locked onto him.
"Yeah," he said quietly. "People keep saying that about me."
The ritualist raised both hands.
Dark chains shot toward Rive from every direction.
Rive reacted instinctively.
The moment the chains reached him—
His body flickered.
And he vanished.
The chains struck empty air.
A second later, Rive reappeared several feet away.
He looked down at himself in shock.
"…Okay."
He blinked.
"…That was awesome."
Vikram immediately stepped in front of him.
"Focus."
"Right. Serious life-or-death situation."
"Technically death-after-death situation."
Rive paused.
"…That sounds worse."
The ritualists attacked again.
This time, three of them moved at once.
Their dark markings glowed as they rushed forward.
Vikram's eyes narrowed.
"Stay behind me."
He raised one arm.
"Nature Authority."
The ground erupted upward in jagged stone pillars.
Two ritualists were thrown backward.
The third leaped over the attack and came directly toward Rive.
Rive's body reacted before his mind did.
He twisted sideways.
Grabbed the attacker's arm.
And threw him across the room.
The ritualist crashed into a wall.
Rive blinked.
"…I definitely could not do that before."
"Your soul is evolving," Lysara shouted from the far side of the chamber.
"And that is not always a good thing!"
The portal above them pulsed again.
Suddenly—
Rive disappeared.
For a split second—
He was somewhere else.
He stood in the middle of a wet road.
Rain fell from the sky.
Streetlights glowed above him.
Cars moved in the distance.
Rive froze.
"…What?"
Then he saw it.
His house.
Not far away.
His chest tightened.
The road.
The small stores nearby.
The familiar neighborhood.
It was real.
He had returned.
For a moment, everything became quiet.
Then—
A car passed directly through him.
Rive jumped backward.
"Okay!"
He looked down at his hands.
They were fading.
His body flickered again.
He reached toward the gate of his house—
But before he could touch it—
The world shattered around him.
And suddenly he was back in the chamber.
He stumbled forward, breathing heavily even though he didn't need to breathe.
Vikram grabbed his shoulder.
"Rive!"
Rive stared at him.
"I saw it."
"What?"
"My home."
The room went silent for a second.
"You crossed into the living world," Lysara said softly.
Rive looked back up at the portal.
His expression had changed.
For the first time since arriving in the In-Between—
He knew it was possible to return.
The ritualists noticed it too.
The leader smiled.
"Do you understand now?"
"With our ritual, you can remain there permanently."
Rive looked at him coldly.
"And become your puppet?"
"You would have your life back."
Rive hesitated.
The offer hit harder than he expected.
To go home.
To see his family.
To see his room again.
To live again.
For a moment—
He wanted it.
Then he remembered the chains.
The sacrifice.
The way they looked at him.
Not like a person.
Like a tool.
His expression hardened.
"No."
Dark energy exploded from the ritualists.
The leader pointed toward him.
"Then we take him by force!"
All the remaining ritualists attacked together.
The chamber became chaos.
Vikram moved first.
"Stamina Destruction!"
A shockwave burst outward.
Several ritualists were thrown into the walls.
Lysara raised one hand and glowing purple knives formed around her.
She snapped her fingers.
The blades shot forward like arrows of light.
Rive stepped back as two ritualists rushed him.
One attacked high.
The other low.
Rive blocked the first strike.
Turned.
And kicked the second one into a broken pillar.
The chamber shook harder.
The portal above them widened again.
Something moved inside it.
A shape.
Large.
Wrong.
Rive looked up.
"…Please tell me that's normal."
"It isn't," Vikram said immediately.
The shape inside the portal pushed against the opening.
A massive black hand emerged.
Long fingers.
Sharp claws.
The air turned cold.
The ritualists froze.
Even they looked afraid.
"What is that?" Rive whispered.
Lysara's face had gone pale.
"That…"
Her voice lowered.
"…is something from deeper beyond."
The hand clawed its way farther through the portal.
The ceiling began collapsing around it.
The chamber trembled harder.
Then suddenly—
A new voice echoed through the room.
"Enough."
Everything stopped.
The air itself felt heavier.
Cold silver light appeared near the entrance of the chamber.
Three figures stood there.
Tall.
Wearing long black coats covered in glowing white symbols.
Their faces were hidden behind smooth masks.
Each carried a long weapon that looked like a mixture of a spear and a scythe.
The ritualists stepped back immediately.
One of them whispered in fear.
"Reapers…"
The silver light around the new arrivals intensified.
The figure in the center slowly looked toward the portal.
Then toward Rive.
Even behind the mask—
He could feel those eyes.
Studying him.
Judging him.
The lead Reaper spoke again.
"Unauthorized ritual."
"Reality breach."
"Tri-Vessel involvement."
Its voice sounded unnatural.
Like several people speaking at once.
The ritualists immediately panicked.
"We can explain—"
"You have already broken the Laws of the Dead."
The Reaper raised its weapon.
Silver energy spread across the chamber floor.
"You will now be erased."
The ritualists screamed.
The battle changed instantly.
The Reapers moved faster than anything Rive had ever seen.
One vanished and reappeared behind a ritualist.
A single slash—
And the ritualist dissolved into silver dust.
Another Reaper threw its weapon through the air.
The spear pierced two enemies at once.
The remaining ritualists tried to escape—
But the silver light trapped them.
Rive stared in disbelief.
"…Okay."
Vikram crossed his arms.
"Those are Reapers."
"I can see why people don't like them."
Within seconds—
The ritualists were gone.
Only the portal remained.
And the giant hand still forcing its way through.
The lead Reaper turned toward Rive.
The mask reflected his face.
"You."
Rive immediately pointed at himself.
"Me?"
"You are not supposed to exist."
Rive blinked.
"…That is an extremely rude thing to say."
The Reaper ignored the comment.
"Tri-Vessel souls are forbidden."
"Your existence threatens balance."
Vikram stepped in front of Rive.
"He's not your enemy."
"That has not yet been decided."
The silver light around the Reaper grew brighter.
Behind them—
The portal cracked wider.
And from deep within the darkness—
Something enormous began to crawl through.