Aleks spun his daggers once, grin fading into something grim. "Lovely. A maze that fights back."
Arthur said nothing more. His gaze followed the drifting tendrils with wary focus, heart pounding slower now but no less heavy.
Somewhere deeper within the ruins, something else moved in the darkness, drawn by the ripple of broken mana and death.
Neramor's Shell had not yet shown its teeth.
And they had much further to go.
They moved with tighter formation now. No words wasted, no glances thrown without reason. Every breath was measured, every step placed with care across the broken veins of the ancient floor.
Above them, through the faint shimmer of the barrier, the ocean pressed in silently, darkening as the clouds gathered once more over the open sea. Even the light that filtered into the ruins seemed unwilling to remain, retreating little by little as if in fear.
