The air in the labyrinth turned heavier after the guardian's attack, the mirrors now reflecting only distorted shadows that moved when no one was looking. Lira's breath came in ragged gasps as she pushed herself up from the ground, her sword still clutched in a white-knuckled grip.
Ray didn't offer her a hand. Instead, he tilted his head, listening.
A low, grinding noise echoed through the maze—like stone dragging against stone.
It's still following us.
Lira's voice was hoarse. "What the hell was that thing?"
"A problem," Ray said simply. He turned, already walking. "Stay if you want to die."
She hesitated only a second before following.
The labyrinth had changed. The once-clear paths now branched into spiraling dead-ends, the mirrors warping reality at the edges. Ray's fingers twitched, frost forming and melting in his palm as he calculated their route.
Then—footsteps. Heavy, metallic, and close.
Lira spun, flames licking up her blade. "It's—"
Ray clamped a hand over her mouth, yanking her behind a fractured mirror. The glass distorted their reflections into grotesque shapes, but it also hid them.
The Warden emerged from a corridor ahead, its obsidian armor scraping against the walls. Its hollow visor turned slowly, scanning.
Ray's grip tightened.
Don't move.
The guardian lingered, the air around it warping like heat haze. Then, with a sound like grinding bones, it turned and stalked away.
Lira tore free the moment Ray released her. "We can't fight that."
"Obviously," Ray said. "But we don't have to."
He pressed his palm against the nearest mirror. Frost spiderwebbed across its surface before the glass *melted*, revealing a hidden passage.
Lira's eyes widened. "How did you—?"
"The maze wants us lost," Ray said, stepping through. "But it's still just a puzzle."
The passage led to a circular chamber, its walls lined with mirrors showing different reflections—not of them, but of other climbers, trapped in their own nightmares. Some screamed. Some wept. One had already begun clawing out his own eyes.
At the center stood a single, ordinary door.
Lira lunged for it.
Ray's hand snapped out, catching her wrist. "Wait."
She snarled. "It's the exit!"
"Or another trap." His gaze flicked to the mirrors. The reflections of the other climbers had all turned to stare at them.
Then the door creaked open on its own.
Beyond it stretched not the next floor, but a void—and within that void, a massive eye, slit-pupiled and glowing.
[Warning: Anomalous Entity Detected]
[Designation: Overseer]
The eye blinked.
And the labyrinth screamed.