We ran.
The metallic sand crunched beneath my boots as I kept pace with Bell, my breath ragged from the chase. The storm raged behind us, its neon-green lightning still flashing in the distance. But we weren't focused on that anymore—no, something ahead had stopped us dead in our tracks.
Bell skidded to a halt so fast that I nearly slammed into her.
I stumbled, regaining my footing. "Why did you stop?" I asked between breaths.
Bell hovered just above the ground, her tiny glowing form flickering erratically. "We just crossed the threshold," she muttered. "From here on out… things are going to get freaky."
I blinked at her. "Freaky?"
"Yeah. Weird. Bizarre. Reality isn't going to make sense anymore."
That was… concerning.
I took a moment to catch my breath, glancing around. The landscape had changed. The sky above wasn't just stormy anymore—it was wrong. The clouds had taken on an unnatural brown hue, swirling in slow-motion spirals that looked almost artificial. The air itself felt heavier, like I was suddenly wearing invisible armor that weighed me down.
The ground beneath us had shifted from metallic sand to something even stranger. Thedirthadhardenedintoanuneven,crackedsurfacethatshimmeredliketarnishedcopper. Large patches of it pulsed faintly, almost as if… breathing.
Then, wesawthefirstgear.
It jutted from the ground, half-buried like a fossilized relic of some long-dead machine. The thing was massive—easily the size of a house—and it was rusted beyond recognition. Smaller gears and broken cogs littered the area, scattered like debris from some ancient battlefield.
Bell exhaled, crossing her arms. "I was afraid of this."
I glanced at her. "Afraid of what?"
She turned to me, wings flickering erratically. "Lyric, I think I know where we are. This isn't just some shard domain—this is the broken remains of the GodofInvention'srealm."
That took a second to register. A god's realm? I frowned, looking around again, and suddenly everything clicked. The metallicsand,theabandonedmachinery,thewarpingofrealityitself—this wasn't just some strange dimension. This was the decayed husk of a divine creation.
"What happened here?" I asked.
Bell's expression darkened. "The God of Invention loved making things. New weapons, machines, tools—he wanted to build more than any other god. But when the Void God shattered the divine realm, the invention god's domain… broke. Half of it collapsed into itself, warping into this unstable mess. Now, all that's left are the remnants of his creations, running on whatever lingering energy they can scavenge."
A chill ran down my spine.
Bell glanced up at me. "And just so we're clear… hismachinesdon'tlikevisitors."
Great. Just great.
As we continued forward, theruinedmachinerybecamemorefrequent. At first, it was just scattered gears and metal plates embedded in the ground, but soon we saw toweringrustedwalls—massive, interconnectedplatesshiftingeversoslightly,asifstillalive.
Then, we found the entrance to a maze.
The walls weren't natural formations—they were solidsheetsofmetal,shiftingandgrindingagainsteachotherwith alow, mechanicalgroan. Gears and pistons still churned in certain spots, the mechanisms running in endless, meaningless cycles.
Bell hovered beside me. "This is it. The heart of the realm."
I eyed the entrance warily. "And we have to go through that?"
She gave me a flat look. "Unless you've got wings, yeah. We have to go through it."
I sighed. "Fine. Just… let's move carefully."
We stepped inside, and themomentwedid,thewallsgroanedandshifted.
It was like stepping into the belly of some ancient mechanical beast. The pathways twisted at random intervals, entire sections of the maze closing and opening withoutwarning, The metal beneath my feet vibrated slightly, as if responding to our movements.
Then, the first trap triggered.
Without warning, amassiveslab of metalcameslammingdownfromabove.
I barely had time to react. IgrabbedBellanddoveforward. The impact shook the ground behind us as the wall slammed shut with a deafening BOOM.
Bell squirmed in my grip. "You can put me down now."
I released her, staring at the heavy wall behind us. "That would've crushed us."
"Yeah," she said. "And that's probably just the beginning."
She was right. As we continued deeper, thetrapsbecamemoreelaborate. At one point, hiddenfloorpanelsgaveway, revealing spikes below. Another time, the walls themselves came alive, shifting to funnelustowardrotatingsawblades that nearly took my arm off.
We ran, dodged, and evaded pitfalls, rollingboulders, andevenarrowsthatfiredfromhiddencompartments.
I was breathing hard, my pulse hammering. "This isn't a maze," I muttered. "It's a damn gauntlet."
Bell smirked. "Told you. Freaky."
We turned another corner—
And twotoweringmechanicalgolems stepped out from the shadows.
The golems were massive, standing at least ten feet tall. Their bodies were made of ironandbronze, gears whirring in their joints as they took lumbering steps forward. Their glowing red eyes locked onto us instantly.
And then, they charged.
"RUN!" Bell shouted.
I didn't need to be told twice.
We bolted down the corridor, the golems smashingthroughwalls to keep up with us. Every step they took shooktheentiremaze, sending dust and debris raining from above.
We turned a sharp corner, nearly colliding with a set of shifting walls—butbeforewecouldadjust, thegroundbeneathusvanished.
Reality warped.
The sensation of fallingthroughspace overtook me, and for a split second, I thought we were dead.
Then—
We were vomitedoutinto anewchamber.
I hit the ground hard, rolling to a stop. Bell tumbled beside me, groaning. "Ugh. I hate when that happens."
I pushed myself up, shaking off the dizziness. "Where… are we?"
Then, I saw it.
At the center of the chamber, analtarstoodbathedingoldenlight. Atop it, floating justwithinreach, was theCelestialShard.
My breath caught.
Bell stared, eyes wide. "That was… fast."
She looked at me. "It usually takes days before someone finds the shard."
I swallowed hard, stepping toward it. "If that was easy, I'd hate to see a hard one."
Reaching out, Itouchedtheshard.
The moment my fingers made contact, painexplodedthroughmybody.
I collapsed, convulsing as if my entire body had been set on fire.
My musclestorethemselvesapart before stitchingbacktogether, stronger. My bonescracked, broke,thenreforged. My vision blurred, my breath caught, and for a brief moment—I wasn't sure if I was going to survive.
Then, it ended.
I gasped, my entire body burningwithnewfoundenergy.
Something had changed.
My eyesglowed afaintblue, and when I looked around—certainobjectsintheroomlitup, asifhighlightingtheirpurpose.
Bell hovered nearby, watching me warily. "…Well," she muttered, "that's new."
I exhaled slowly.
And in the distance, the entire realm begantotremble.