A week passed in the vertical abyss, an eternity measured not in days but in the number of times Kane and Linia had to face certain death. Their routine had become a grim pilgrimage: locate a glowing light, enter the room, and survive the Nightmare Creature trapped within.
Kane, now almost constantly wearing his dark, horrifying new armor, unrolled a meticulously detailed map on a salvaged stone table. He and Linia had painstakingly mapped the entire, impossible city, marking each cleared room with a red 'X'.
Linia, leaning over the stone, pointed at the diagram. "So, we've cleared twenty-two rooms out of twenty-four glowing rooms. So far as the pattern goes, these rooms contain either an Awakened Terror, a Titan, or at worst, a Fallen Beast."
Their last battle—a grotesque, multi-limbed creature that fought with raw, telekinetic fury—had almost killed them both. Kane traced the remaining two 'X' marks with a gloved finger. "Whatever it is, it will be taxing at best."
After a brief, tense discussion, Kane summoned his [Shrink Chest], a Memory he'd gained from one of his earlier, desperate hunts. It was a simple, iron chest capable of storing non-living things, and it was now filled to the brim with Soul Shards.
"Linia, here are your Soul Shards," Kane said, pushing the chest toward her. "Your core is almost full, right? Fill it up, and Missy, take the rest from her."
Linia took a handful of the shimmering shards, then passed the remainder to Missy. It had been during one of their frantic hunts that Kane discovered a horrific truth: Missy's Fragment could be nourished by consuming the Soul Shards themselves. Since that discovery, Kane ensured Missy always received her share.
Missy, materializing briefly, devoured the raw soul fragments with unnerving speed. "Yummy," she chirped, her voice sounding far too innocent for the act she was performing. Linia watched with a soft, kind smile.
[Linia's POV]
Linia looked at both Kane and Missy, a rare feeling settling over her—she felt like she belonged somewhere, even if that place was a doomed, horrific maze.
Ever since her home, the Evernight nation, was destroyed, and she was forcibly turned into a Sealed Artifact, her life had been one of objectification. She was simply a tool, a weapon to be used. When she met people in this new, terrifying world, she found them to be just as chillingly emotionless, seeing others as pawns for their own purposes, mirroring the betrayal she had experienced in her past life. This constant, cold calculation prevented her from forming any attachments. Her only driving motivation was the search for her missing brother.
'When I met him,' she thought, looking at Kane, 'I thought he would use me too, but he never did. He saw me as a person.' She observed the heavy burden in his eyes. 'He seems to have gone through quite some hardship and doesn't trust easily. I mean, I know a betrayal or two; I had a lifetime to recover from it. When he spoke that I might betray him, I felt an odd sense of comfort that he even considered me a worthy accomplice, not just a tool.'
She checked her runes, a familiar ritual:
Soul fragments: [995/1000]
Linia frowned. 'This world seems less dangerous in its monsters than in its people. Human decency seems to wither here at a faster rate.' She crushed the remaining Soul Shards into her palm.
A moment later, the Spell delivered a chilling message:
[Your Soul is overflowing with Darkness]
Suddenly, an agonizing, visceral pain ripped through her body, seizing every muscle and nerve. Linia fell forward, barely catching herself, a silent scream caught in her throat. She felt an overwhelming surge of panic, terrified of losing control, of becoming the weapon others saw her as. Her muscles spasmed and convulsed, tearing themselves down and rebuilding in rapid, painful succession. It was a grotesque, internal war, a second, forced transformation. The agony was worse than any monster's blow, a pure biological horror of regeneration and reshaping.
Then, as suddenly as it began, the pain vanished.
Linia gasped, drenched in cold sweat, but feeling strangely powerful, profoundly different. She immediately summoned her runes again:
Name:Philanias
True Name:Mother of the Sky
Rank:Dreamer
Class:Monster
Soul Cores:[1/2000]
Linia was utterly shocked. She had never heard of an Awakened forming a Core and manifesting a Class normally reserved for Nightmare Creatures. 'Interesting,' she thought, a dangerous thrill overriding her fear.
Kane and Missy were instantly rushing toward her. She forced a smile and spoke quickly. "I am fine."
Kane knelt beside her, his masked face tilted in concern. "Are you sure? You were wriggling in pain."
Linia gave him a bright, false smile. "No problem at all." She reached out, trying to stand up, and Kane lent a hand. As their hands clasped, Kane instantly felt an unnaturally strong grip, like steel clamping down on his gauntlet.
'When did her grip become this strong?' Kane thought, a spike of caution hitting him.
"So, are you ready for the fight?" Kane asked, his voice steady.
Linia's smile widened, now genuine and dangerous. "Never better."
Kane released her and stood up, heading toward the exit to prepare for their final assault on the two remaining lights.
As Kane and Linia emerged, the vertical city still gave Kane the creeps—a constant, disorienting assault on the senses. They climbed to a vantage point to view the two remaining glowing rooms.
The problem was instantly clear. The two lights were not on the same plane. One room was at a lower altitude, built into a normal-looking wall. The other, however, was in a section of the city that was inverted—the stairs led down to a door that was facing up, defying all logic. Kane had recently learned that space was so twisted in this city that walking upside-down was now a possibility, but accessing a door like this was still a nightmare.
Kane reached the lower room first. He and Linia tried to unlock the massive, heavy door. Kane tried to force it open; Linia tried her raw strength. Neither worked.
"Why can't we open it?" Kane muttered in frustration.
Linia, her mind sharper now, offered a suggestion. "Is there a particular order we need to follow?"
Kane thought for a moment. "But we didn't clear the others in any specific order." He walked back to their vantage point, looking at both glowing rooms.
Then, he observed a subtle, horrific detail: a thin, shimmering silver line ran between the two rooms, pulsating faintly like a live, ethereal wire.
Kane pointed out the line. "Look at that line. It seems both of them are connected somehow."
Linia's mouth dropped open in realization, a terrible truth dawning on her. "That means... we need to clear them both at the same time."
Kane nodded, his jaw set. A simultaneous assault. Two of the most powerful remaining creatures in the entire maze had to be engaged instantly, with no time for support.
Linia looked at the inverted structure and the lower room, the dread of the task settling over them. "So, which one is it?" she asked, the question hanging heavy in the silent, swirling void.