Noah looked around cautiously, but once again, the room seemed empty.
"Another puzzle?" he thought, scanning up and down, searching for mirrors or reflections. But he found nothing.
The room was bright this time. No pillars, no obstacles—just an open space in the center. Noah raised an eyebrow. For some reason, it all felt strangely familiar.
Not that he had seen this room before, but the empty center space was almost like…
"An arena," he murmured, narrowing his eyes.
"But if this is an arena, where's my opponent? Do I win by default?"
He chuckled at the thought.
But as if the laugh had been a signal, a massive figure rose from the ground—its body carved of wood that gleamed like living crystal, wings of pure light unfolding with a thunderous crack. The entire ceiling shook with the force of their beat.
"This is going to be fun…"
The creature lunged, wings spread wide, its body solid light. Noah didn't wait. With a snap, a fiery whip appeared in his hand. One strike—clean, precise—and the monster split in half.
But the smile on his face vanished quickly.
Both halves shuddered, then rebuilt themselves into two whole bodies. Smaller, but alive.
"Hmm. I don't like this…" Noah muttered, stepping back. "If I'm right, I'm in trouble."
He knew this kind of trick well. And it was always a pain.
He lashed out again.
Snap, flame, whip.
The creature doubled again. Four. Then eight.
The buzzing echoed through the chamber, like swarms of insects, each copy a miniature version of the original.
Noah clicked his tongue. His left hand rose, and roots burst from the floor, encasing one of the creatures in a dome of wood. The monster slammed against the prison, cracking it bit by bit.
"Pointless… they'll break out sooner or later."
Maybe the way through wasn't to kill, but to contain. Yet after glancing around, he found no alternative.
All that remained was to fight. Maybe there was a way to stop the splitting—but if there was, he didn't know it.
The swarm advanced.
Noah drew a deep breath, snapping his fingers in succession. One, two, three fireballs, blasting forward in rapid bursts.
"Burn!"
The heat lit up the chamber, but the creatures… were faster. Noah flinched as one zipped past his cheek, slicing the air.
"Damn it…" he growled. "They're not faster. Just smaller. Harder to see."
He pulled his wand.
The world fell away. No room, no swarm, no sound. Just him, the wand, and the fire. His will.
With a swift motion, he raised a wall of flames, halting the charge of nearly a hundred enemies at once. But there was nowhere to run. The room ended behind him.
Cornered.
Confusion flickered in him for a single second. And that was enough.
The swarm engulfed him.
For an instant, Noah vanished.
Then came the explosion.
A crimson flash, as if hell itself had opened. Flames roared across the entire chamber, tearing the place apart, burning everything in sight. At the heart of the inferno, a lone figure rose, bloodied and stripped of all clothing.
Noah stood bare, save for a black mask clinging to his face.
He reached up, ripped it off, and tossed it aside.
"Weak." His voice rasped, raw.
His right eye glowed. A slow smile curved his lips.
"I won."
He stepped forward. His fire wasn't just flames—it dragged the creatures toward the center of the room, pulling them in like searing magnets.
Explosions and walls of fire herded the swarm together. It was terrifying to behold.
And the splitting didn't stop.
Thousands. Then tens of thousands. An endless cloud.
Noah gripped his wand with both hands.
"Infernal Prison."
From the floor, a colossal stone cage erupted, trapping the swarm inside. Noah stood outside, while within, the prison turned into an oven.
He didn't stop. His arms shook, blood dried across his skin, but still he swung the wand, pouring flame into the dome.
The stone cracked.
Just as it was about to give way, Noah slashed his wand downward, and a new cage rose to take its place.
Again.
And again.
Never stopping the fire. Never allowing escape.
Sweat drenched him, his muscles trembled, his body looked more demon than boy—but his face… was smiling.
Time warped. Minutes bled into hours.
Until, with his right eye, he saw it.
The swarm was gone.
Noah collapsed.
He fell to his knees, vomiting blood and bile, body quivering. For a moment, he nearly blacked out. But he forced himself to breathe. To rise.
"You always wanted this…"
The prisons crumbled. The fire receded.
At the center of the room lay only a small object. Square.
Noah staggered over and picked it up.
A card. Like one from a game—its image showed the first creature, before it had ever split.
At the bottom, silver letters gleamed:
"Magical Duplication Golem."
And just below, a line of authorship:
"Created by: &&%%#$%$#5"
A jumble of strange symbols. Unreadable. Corrupted. Erased.
Noah stood silent.
Whether it was the nature of the card itself, or the impossibility of reading the creator's name—both left him thoughtful.
So many questions. And not a single answer.
Oddly enough, his mood was good.
Only when a portal opened before him did he snap back.
There was no way back now.
With a sigh, he snapped his fingers, summoning clothes back onto his scorched skin. He retrieved the mask from the ground, stared at it for a moment, and tucked it away. No reason to hide his face here. Not when it had already been revealed. Not when this place was the work of someone far stronger than him.
Then he sat. Closed his eyes.
Two hours later, he rose—and stepped through the portal.