Syras stirred at the sound of a voice cutting through the fog of sleep.
"Wake up," Edward said quietly.
Syras blinked, the world coming into focus. He was lying on a rough bed, the kind he barely remembered collapsing into not long ago. His limbs still ached with exhaustion.
"Is it time already?" he murmured.
Edward gave a curt nod. "Yeah. In five minutes, the ocean goes back to its place. After that, we've got exactly twelve hours to move."
Syras sat up, rubbing his eyes. The air felt heavier now, charged with urgency. "Twelve hours to run," he echoed. Then his brow furrowed. "But why? Why can't we just make a barrier inside the labyrinth while we're there?"
Edward raised an eyebrow, almost impressed. "Good question. But of course, it can't be that easy."
He crouched near the edge of the bed, voice low and grim. "The barrier blocks out everything, except Hollows. Anything with green Neba can pass right through it. So if we're inside the barrier while also being surrounded by an army of those things…" He trailed off, letting the image speak for itself. "We wouldn't last a minute."
Syras's mouth tightened. "So we run."
"Exactly. We make contact with Dune, if he's still there, and come back fast. No detours."
Syras nodded once, then rose to his feet with new resolve. "Alright, then. Let's go."
The barrier around the house shattered with a sharp crack, fragments of light dissolving into the morning haze.
Syras and Edward bolted into the open street of Hollowshade, feet pounding against the stone. Alarms hadn't started yet, but shouts rose behind them, guards, catching on too late.
"Keep going!" Edward barked, not looking back.
They didn't stop. They couldn't afford to. Twisting through alleys and leaping over debris, they ran until the looming structure of the labyrinth appeared ahead like the open jaws of something ancient and hungry.
Without hesitation, they slipped inside, swallowed by the shadows.
High above them, at the top of the watchtower near the entrance, a figure sat still as stone.
Ember Rose.
Perched in silence, she peered down as the two figures vanished into the labyrinth's depths. The flicker of her eyes inside the mask was the only movement, cool and unreadable.
Dune jolted awake, breath sharp, heart pounding. He'd dozed off, on the wall, of all places.
His words caught in his throat as his eyes adjusted. Just ahead, clinging to the labyrinth wall, a grotesque Hollow was already crawling toward him. Its slick, bug-like body shifted unnaturally, and its jaws. lined with sharp, chittering teeth the size of Dune's head clicked hungrily.
"Idiot… I almost became monster food…"
Dune reacted on instinct. He leapt back, landing hard against a tree trunk. His pulse thundered.
But the Hollow didn't follow. It paused, clinging to the wall for a moment longer. Then, without a sound, it tilted its head at him, almost curiously, before vanishing into the abyss below.
Dune froze. His thoughts spun.
Why didn't it chase me?
Why isn't it leaving the labyrinth?
The silence around him deepened as a chilling possibility crept into his mind. Maybe… the Hollows weren't hunting aimlessly.
Maybe they were guarding something.
His eyes narrowed, memory flickering like lightning, back to Rendely. A conversation with Azrael.
"The Black Mist wasn't just used to protect the continents, It was also used to make sure no one could get out."
A cold realization settled over Dune.
What if the Hollows… aren't just there to kill you but to also trap people inside the labyrinth?
What if they're protecting the labyrinth, to make sure no one escapes?
He swallowed hard, focusing on his neba, his eyes scanning the stats.
[ Survive destruction and reach Memories Of The Future ]
[ Defeat the Dragonslayer ]
[ You can only leave the trial after you complete your missions ]
[ Restriction: Neba can't be used outside of your own body. No power is able to leave you. If they do, they will disintegrate and be absorbed by the trial instantly. ]
[ Gather fragments for survival. ]
[ Fragments can be found in any type of beast.
Fragments will be used to form a protective barrier. ]
[ Name: Dune ]
[ Title: ??? ]
[ Artefacts: BloodRose Academy Official Attire ]
[ Green Neba Core - Bulby - Nebastep: 11% ]
[ Green Zeten Core - 2% ]
I wonder what will my title be? I hope it's not something dangerous so it won't be removed by officials in Rendely.
He frowned, eyes scanning the shifting shadows far beneath.
It's already been a day… Should I leave?
Syras might already be dead.
The thought sat heavy in his chest. Every hour he waited, the risk grew. He couldn't afford to lose himself here, not for ghosts, not for maybes.
And yet…
He looked down once more into the depths, jaw clenched.
Just then, a sudden flutter of wings broke the silence. A small weight landed beside him on the stone.
Dune flinched, turning sharply.
"Whoa—" His eyes widened. "What are you doing here?"
It stood still, gazing calmly down into the labyrinth with the same grim focus as Dune.
Dune let out a breath and smiled faintly. "Scary, right?" he said, following the bird's gaze. "Even from up here, it looks like it's alive. Like it's breathing."
The bird didn't respond. Of course it didn't.
Dune glanced sideways at it again, this time with curiosity. "I always wondered… How do you even survive the oceanfall?" he asked softly. "Where do you hide when the sea comes crashing down from the sky?"
The bird tilted its head slightly but said nothing, offering only its quiet company.
Dune gave a tired chuckle. "Yeah… you can't really talk."
The bird tilted its head again, but this time, the motion wasn't calm or curious, it twitched strangely, shaking from side to side in an erratic rhythm that made Dune narrow his eyes.
Something about it felt off, deliberate, almost like it was trying to say something without a voice.
He leaned forward slightly, watching it with cautious curiosity. The bird hadn't moved much since landing, but now it wouldn't stop shifting, its body tense, eyes fixed on the depths of the labyrinth below.
Dune followed its gaze, expecting to find movement, a glint of light, something. But there was only darkness, endless and thick, swallowing all detail.
"What are you doing?" he asked, voice low, uncertain.
The bird didn't so much as glance at him.
Then, without warning, it lunged and bit his ear.
Dune yelped, stumbling back with a sharp wince as he clutched the side of his head.
"Ouch, what the hell was that for?"
But the bird was already still again, as if nothing had happened. It sat in the exact same spot, eyes still locked on the chasm below, feathers ruffled, its body eerily tense.
Rubbing his ear, Dune stared at it. It wasn't acting like it normally would.
His stomach tightened as realization struck. With a quick breath, he focused, letting the green Neba flare softly inside his ears. The world around him sharpened as his hearing expanded, stretching into the silence.
Leaning over the edge, he aimed his focus downward, letting the stillness of the labyrinth settle into his ears.
At first, there was nothing. Just wind. Stone. The low hum of distance too far to define.
Then, like a whisper breaking through a dream, he heard it.
"Dune…!"
Faint and far, but real. He stiffened, breath held, listening harder as the voice echoed again, this time clearer, strained, exhausted, but unmistakable.
"Dune!"
It was Syras.
Not a memory or a ghost. A voice carried from the depths, fighting to reach him.
He turned to the bird, but it didn't need acknowledgment. It remained still, staring into the same abyss as if it, too, had been waiting for that voice.