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The treasure was arguably not what surprised him most, however. The sunlight was. And the grass. The temperature, too. Wherever this room was, Diego knew that he was suddenly much closer to the surface than he had been a second ago.

He searched the ceiling for the source of the sunlight and found many small ones. The rock above his head was porous, and he considered trying to break through it in order to get a better idea of his location, but the sight of Elise Garza standing there, looking confounded beyond belief, changed his mind.

“Diego!” she said upon noticing him as well. “What in the world is happening?!”

He scratched his brow, wondering how to--or even if he could--explain.

The room was clearly smaller than the last one, though it was still plenty large enough for a fight, which he supposed was the point, unless he’d misunderstood what Malast was saying.

Should he tell her that, though?

Eh, she could probably handle it. Servant or not, she was a Rainlord, same as him.

“I think we’re supposed to fight now,” he told her.

“Excuse me?!” She looked horrified.

“Didn’t you hear what Malast said? We’ve been drafted into a tournament.”

“Why?!”

“He wants us to compete for godhood, I guess. And that means fighting.”

“I can’t fight you!” she said. “You’re a monster!”

“A monster with feelings, thank you.”

“You know what I mean! I can’t possibly defeat you!”

“Ah, hmm.” He tilted his head at her. “Well, you could just surrender without actually fighting, I think.”

“Okay! I surrender! Now leave me alone and go fight somebody else!” She looked up at the ceiling. “You hear that?! I said I surrender!”

And it took a moment, but the distortion did indeed arrive another time, and Diego’s vision melted in on itself.

When it returned to him, he discovered another chamber, similar to the previous one but not identical, as the treasure here was different, and the temperature had risen again.

When he looked around for his new opponent, his eyes settled on the Hun’Sho man from earlier.

Seyos.

“I don’t suppose you’re going to surrender without a fight, are you?” said Diego.

Seyos had his swirling cloak drawn in front of his body.

There was no telling what other ridiculous artifacts of a magical nature the guy had at his disposal. And of course, Diego had never fought a Hun’Sho before. He had no idea what to expect, and neither did Yangéra, whom he couldn’t see but could sense clinging to his back, still.

“Before we get into this, I have an important question for you.” Diego’s mouth twisted, and he couldn’t stop his next words from becoming a snarl. “What did you do with Jasirok?”

Seyos didn’t answer him.

“It was you who took him, wasn’t it? Deny it, if you like, though I don’t think I’ll believe you.”

“Your concern for him surprises me,” said Seyos. “Is this, too, another one of your deceptions?”