The labyrinth was alive.
That was the only explanation Haruki's mind could cling to as the stone floor rumbled underfoot and the walls groaned with a sound like ancient bones grinding against each other.
He stumbled slightly, catching himself against the wall, the cold surface slick with condensation. His gauntlets buzzed faintly, as though even the System-forged armor felt the unnatural shift.
The tunnel they had just walked through sealed shut with a thunderous crash of stone on stone. Dust sifted down from the ceiling, stinging his eyes. Ahead, new walls slid into place with cruel deliberation, opening a fresh passage that disappeared into suffocating darkness.
Every shift felt like the maze was chewing them forward.
Haruki's throat was dry. He swallowed hard and muttered, "This place feels… wrong."
Kana didn't so much as glance back. Her stride was light, deliberate, her bow already half drawn with an arrow glowing faint green at the tip. She moved like she belonged in this chaos, as if every shifting wall was nothing more than another battlefield. "It is wrong," she said flatly. "That's the point."
Rai trailed just behind her, his twin daggers unsheathed. The faint sparks of lightning that danced along their edges briefly lit his face, sharp and tense. "This place is designed to strip you bare," he said quietly. His tone wasn't speculation it was certainty. "Not just of your strength. Of your trust."
The words sent a cold ache through Haruki's chest. He tightened his fists inside the gauntlets. Trust…
The memory of Kuro's cruel smirk flashed in his mind, as clear as if the rival stood in front of him.
Only three will make it out. What happens when there are more survivors than the labyrinth allows?
He didn't want the answer. But the System gave it anyway, its voice as clinical and merciless as ever:
[Analysis: Probability of betrayal rises with each additional survivor. Trust stability fragile. Mortality curve exponential.]
Haruki shivered. Not from the cold, but from the truth.
The twisting corridors funneled them forward, every turn feeling less like a choice and more like a trap. Haruki counted his breaths just to keep the silence from swallowing him whole. Ten steps. Exhale. Ten steps. Exhale.
Then, voices.
He froze, gauntlets tightening at his sides. It wasn't the guttural growl of Bantings or the echo of monsters. These were human voices ragged, frantic, unmistakably desperate.
A trio stumbled into view from the opposite end of the corridor.
Two boys in dented armor, their faces smeared with grime and streaks of dried blood. Between them, a girl in a torn robe clutched a crooked staff to her chest. Her skin was pale, lips cracked, eyes wide with the hollow terror of someone who had seen too much death already.
"Wait!" the taller of the armored boys shouted. His hands shot up, palms empty, voice trembling. "We're not enemies! Please don't shoot!"
Kana's reaction was immediate. Her bowstring pulled taut in a single, fluid motion, the green glow of her arrow tip casting harsh shadows across her face. "Or maybe you're bait." Her tone was calm, but the arrowhead never wavered from the boy's heart.
The girl shook her head violently. "No no, please!" she gasped, her voice raw as if she'd been screaming earlier. "We swear it! We've been running for hours. The maze… it's eating us alive."
Her desperation scraped at Haruki's heart. He took a small step forward, searching their faces. They looked so fragile pale skin stretched tight over sharp cheekbones, shoulders hunched with exhaustion.
He remembered children in hospital beds back home, clutching stuffed animals with the same pleading eyes. Weak. Helpless. Begging for a chance.
"…Maybe we should" The words left Haruki before he could stop them.
"No." Rai's voice cut like a blade. He stepped up beside Kana, daggers flashing in the torchlight. Sparks hissed faintly, caged power just waiting for release. "Trusting strangers here is suicide."
Haruki flinched at the steel in his tone.
Kana didn't lower her bow, but her lips quirked in a small, cynical smirk. "Still, cannon fodder isn't the worst idea. Better them between us and the maze than nothing."
Haruki's gut twisted. "They're not fodder. They're people." His voice cracked slightly, softer than he intended.
The System chimed in coldly:
[Correction: In this environment, they are both. Human life expectancy minimal.]
Haruki clenched his jaw, whispering through his teeth, "Shut up."
But he didn't get to argue further.
Because in the blink of an eye, the girl's trembling hands steadied. Her wide, pleading eyes hardened. And with a cruel smile, she thrust her staff forward.
Light exploded.
A blinding flash seared the air, turning the world white. Haruki staggered back with a cry, throwing up his gauntlets as his vision burned.
The flash burned across Haruki's eyes, leaving only a wash of white. His ears rang, his footing faltered. For a terrifying moment, it felt like he'd been dropped back into the hospital weak, blind, helpless.
But the ringing quickly gave way to chaos.
Steel clashed on steel, sparks shrieking against stone. Kana's sharp curse cut through the haze, followed by the hiss of arrows slicing the air. Rai's voice barked orders Haruki couldn't make out.
When Haruki's vision returned in broken fragments, the truth carved itself into him.
The trio who had begged for help no longer looked like victims. Their faces, once hollow and pitiful, were lit with predatory hunger. The girl's trembling hands were steady now, her staff glowing at the tip as if mocking his compassion. The armored boys grinned cruelly, their blades poised to cut.
"Take their tokens!" one roared, charging at Rai with reckless force.
Rai met him head-on. His daggers sparked with electricity, arcs of light dancing as they clashed. His movements were precise, controlled, like he'd rehearsed every strike a thousand times.
Kana loosed an arrow without hesitation, the projectile whistling past Haruki's ear. It grazed the cheek of the second armored boy, burning a sizzling line into his skin. He howled in rage and barreled straight toward her.
Haruki's pulse thundered in his ears. His chest tightened, guilt and dread warring inside him. I wanted to trust them… and now
[Correction: They betrayed you. Betrayal probability was 84%. User ignored advisory warning.]
"I KNOW!" Haruki shouted aloud, his voice raw. He didn't care if Kana and Rai heard him talking to the System. He needed something anything to drown out that clinical tone.
The second armored boy lunged at him instead, blade arcing downward. Haruki barely had time to react. His gauntlets shifted with a metallic groan, hardening into a wide shield.
The sword struck with bone-jarring force. Sparks skittered across the stone floor as the impact rattled up Haruki's arms. His teeth clenched as his knees buckled, the weight of the blow threatening to crush him.
The attacker leaned in, snarling. "Give it up, rookie! You don't belong here!"
Haruki's breath came ragged, heart hammering. He thought of his body back on Earth frail, immobile, waiting to wither in bed. He thought of all the doctors who said he'd never stand, never run, never fight.
And something inside him rebelled.
"Get… away… from my team!" he roared, shoving forward with every ounce of strength he had left.
The shield surged with light as if answering him. The boy staggered backward, surprised, boots scraping against the tiles.
But Haruki knew it wasn't over. Not even close.
The corridor had become a battlefield, and the maze wasn't letting anyone out unscathed.
The corridor was no longer a passage it was a war zone.
Arrows clattered against stone, lightning cracked across the walls, and the smell of scorched air mingled with the coppery tang of blood. The labyrinth seemed to drink it all in, the glowing runes pulsing faster, as if the maze itself delighted in the violence.
Kana fought like she was born for it. Her bowstring thrummed in rapid rhythm, arrows flying so fast that Haruki could barely track them. Each shot left a trail of greenish light, slamming into the staff girl's defenses. The girl shrieked as her shield cracked under the relentless barrage, sparks exploding with every hit.
Rai was a blur of motion quick steps, sharp turns, blades spinning arcs of electricity. His daggers clashed against the armored boy's sword again and again, lightning snapping at every strike. Each movement of his body was clean, efficient, deadly.
Haruki tried to mimic them, tried to stay in the fight. He ducked a swing, swung his gauntleted fist, blocked another strike with a shield that appeared too slowly. Every move felt clumsy, desperate. His lungs burned. His arms screamed.
And then one attacker slipped past him.
The boy slammed Haruki against the wall with brutal force, knocking the wind from his chest. Pain lanced through his ribs. A cold blade pressed hard against his throat.
"Struggle, and I'll cut you open," the boy hissed, his breath sour, hot against Haruki's ear. His eyes gleamed not with fear, but with the cruel satisfaction of someone who thought he had already won.
Haruki's mind raced. His gauntlets twitched but refused to transform quickly enough. His body shook, useless. His breath came short and sharp. No. Not like this. Not again.
His vision tunneled. The cold bite of steel inched closer to his skin. His pulse pounded so hard he thought it would burst through his chest.
And then
Something inside him shattered.
Heat flooded his veins, scorching cold and blazing hot all at once. The gauntlets pulsed violently, symbols Haruki didn't recognize etching themselves in black and crimson across the metal. The glow spread to his arms, searing into his skin.
The gauntlets warped. The shield dissolved into jagged, vicious claws. The sound was like tearing metal, hungry and alive.
Haruki gasped as his body moved before his mind caught up. His hand lashed forward, the claws slashing across his attacker's chest.
A scream tore through the corridor high, ragged, choked with disbelief. Blood splattered against the wall in a dark arc. The boy staggered back, wide-eyed, clutching at the wound.
And then he dissolved. His body disintegrated into ash, scattering across the floor just like the Bantings.
Haruki froze. His chest heaved. His claws dripped, the phantom heat of blood still clinging to them.
"I… I didn't…" His voice cracked, the words strangled in his throat.
The System's voice cut sharp and clinical into his mind, louder than ever.
[Warning: Z-Rank anomaly detected. Restricted potential accessed. Stability compromised.]
Haruki's stomach twisted. "Z-Rank…?"
There was no time to process.
The staff girl's eyes went wide with terror. The last armored boy faltered, his confidence crumbling. They turned to run, panic making their movements sloppy.
But there was no escape.
Kana's arrow pierced through the girl's back, dropping her mid-stride. Rai's lightning-infused dagger carved through the last boy's chest. Both collapsed into ash, their screams echoing until silence swallowed them whole.
Silence, except for Haruki's ragged breathing.
The fight was over.
But the real war had only just begun inside him.
The silence was unbearable.
The echoes of screams still lingered faintly in Haruki's ears, clinging like cobwebs. His chest heaved as he stood frozen, staring at his hands. The jagged claws had vanished, retreating back into the shape of ordinary gauntlets. But his skin still burned with the memory of them those black-crimson runes seared into his arms like a curse that hadn't faded.
He flexed his fingers, and for a heartbeat, he swore he still felt them the tearing, the rending, the spray of blood hot against his face. His stomach lurched.
"That wasn't me," Haruki whispered, his voice hoarse, broken.
Kana was the first to move. She lowered her bow slowly, her sharp eyes narrowing on him. Her breathing was steady controlled but her expression was unreadable. Suspicion lingered there, but also something else. Wariness.
"Whatever it was," she said finally, her tone firm but quieter than usual, "it saved your life."
Her words should have brought relief. They didn't. They only deepened the knot in Haruki's gut.
Rai didn't sheathe his daggers. He stood off to the side, his blades still glowing faintly with residual lightning, his gaze locked on Haruki like he was studying a dangerous animal. The silence between them was heavier than the air in the labyrinth.
Haruki couldn't meet his eyes.
[Observation: User accessed latent Z-Rank potential. Control level: negligible. Risk factor: severe.]
The System's cold voice drilled into Haruki's skull. He wanted to scream, to claw at his own head until it shut up. Z-Rank…? That's impossible. That's not… me.
But he couldn't deny what had just happened.
The ash of his attacker still scattered across the floor. His claws had done that not Rai, not Kana. Him.
"I didn't want this," Haruki whispered again, his voice shaking. His knuckles trembled against the gauntlets. "I didn't want to… kill like that."
Kana's sharp tone cut through his panic. "Then control it. Because if you don't, the labyrinth will."
Her words struck like an arrow straight through his chest. Control? How could he control something he didn't even understand?
Rai finally spoke. His voice was low, calm, but edged with danger. "That power… it wasn't normal. It didn't feel like magic, or skill, or even relic work." He tilted his head slightly, eyes never leaving Haruki. "What the hell are you hiding from us?"
Haruki's mouth went dry. He opened it, but no words came out. He wasn't hiding anything at least, not willingly. But how could he explain something he barely understood himself?
The labyrinth groaned faintly, walls shifting in the distance. The runes pulsed brighter, as if mocking his hesitation. Or maybe feeding on it.
Kana slung her bow across her back, turning away with a frustrated sigh. "Keep your secrets if you want. Just don't let that thing inside you turn on us."
Haruki flinched. Thing inside you. The words cut deeper than he expected.
Rai still didn't lower his blades. His eyes burned with unspoken doubt, with silent calculation. If this gets dangerous… if you lose control again… do I kill you?
Haruki saw the question in his gaze, even if Rai didn't speak it. And it terrified him more than the fight itself.
The claws might have vanished, but their weight still pressed on his soul.
For the first time since the labyrinth began, Haruki wasn't just afraid of dying.
He was afraid of himself.
The silence didn't last.
It began with a low rumble, almost too soft to notice. Haruki thought at first it was just his heartbeat hammering in his ears. But then the walls trembled, dust raining down from the ceiling like falling ash. The floor groaned beneath their boots, stone grinding against stone.
Kana spun instantly, bow half-raised. "The maze is moving again."
"No…" Rai's eyes narrowed, the lightning along his blades sparking in agitation. "It's not just moving. It's reacting."
The runes carved along the walls pulsed violently, no longer the steady glow they'd seen before. They flickered erratically green, orange, then a sudden flash of deep crimson, the same shade that had burned across Haruki's arms moments earlier.
Haruki's breath caught. The light seemed to follow him, throbbing in rhythm with his racing pulse. Every beat of his heart, the runes pulsed back, as if echoing him.
[Warning: Anomaly detected. The labyrinth has registered user's unstable potential. Probability of adaptive hostility: 92%.]
The System's voice made his skin crawl. "Adaptive… what does that mean?"
He didn't have time for an answer.
The corridor in front of them split apart with a deafening crack. Stone peeled away like jagged teeth, forming an open chamber where there had been none before. From the depths of that darkness, shapes began to emerge shadows that moved without light, crawling free from the glowing runes themselves.
Figures.
They weren't like the bandits or rivals. These were twisted mockeries of human shape, their bodies carved from jagged stone and fire, faces blank but for hollow mouths that stretched open in silent screams. The air grew hotter with each one that stepped forward, heatwaves distorting the very air.
Kana's knuckles whitened around her bowstring. "Constructs. The labyrinth's guardians."
Rai grimaced, sparks dancing across his blades. "No. They're too many for this floor. It's skipping protocol."
Haruki staggered back a step, his gauntlets buzzing faintly as if agitated. The hollow faces turned toward him in unison, crimson light burning where their eyes should have been.
"No…" he whispered, his throat tight. "They're not after you two. They're after me."
The closest construct screeched, a piercing, inhuman sound that shook the walls. The others joined in, dozens of warped voices rising in a chorus of rage rage directed entirely at him.
The labyrinth wasn't just changing anymore.
It was hunting.