The air changed again.

It was the first thing Arios noticed as soon as he and Liza emerged from the passage. The faint sterile light from the previous floor dimmed into a muted violet haze that pulsed across the walls like veins. The air smelled heavier here — wet stone, faint iron, and something acrid that lingered at the edge of breathing. It wasn't just a new floor. It was deeper, older… closer to the dungeon's heart.

Liza glanced around, her voice quiet. "I don't like this one bit."

"You're not supposed to," Arios replied. His tone was calm, but his eyes were sharp, scanning every shadow. The walls were carved into narrow curves that guided them forward — a funnel. "This place was designed to disorient invaders."

"You think Garron's behind this layer too?"

"Maybe. Or maybe the dungeon's reacting to him. Either way, the distortion's real."

They walked forward in silence for a while. The sound of dripping water echoed faintly, distorted by the echoing tunnel. Arios's steps were deliberate, controlled; Liza followed close, her sword unsheathed but held low, ready. The further they walked, the narrower the path grew — until it forced them to walk single file.

Halfway through, the glow from the walls faded completely. For several seconds, they were left in pitch black. Then, slowly, faint white motes began to shimmer into existence — floating particles that moved as though carried by a hidden breeze.

Liza raised a brow. "Fireflies?"

"No," Arios said. "Residual mana. The dungeon's leaking."

"Leaking?"

He nodded. "When the core is damaged or tampered with, it bleeds energy into nearby strata. The fragments condense into visible particles like these."

Liza exhaled softly, watching one drift past her face. "Then we're getting closer."

"Exactly."

The tunnel curved one final time — and then opened into another chamber. This one was unlike the others. The walls were smooth and black, covered in thin streaks of glowing symbols that looked hand-drawn. Strange circular glyphs hovered in midair, spinning slowly around a central pit that descended into darkness. A faint hum filled the air, steady and rhythmic.

Liza stopped at the edge. "This feels wrong."

"It's a control chamber," Arios said quietly. "Or what's left of one."

She crouched, tracing a finger over one of the glowing marks. "You think this is his work?"

"Garron's? No. These were part of the dungeon before he got here. But he's using them."

"Then why not erase them?"

"Because he can't. The core won't let him." Arios stepped closer to the pit, gazing down into it. "That's why he's redirecting energy instead. He's forcing the dungeon to behave according to his own parameters."

Liza frowned. "Then that means—"

"—he's trying to reprogram the dungeon," Arios finished for her. "Piece by piece."

The hum in the air deepened. For a moment, Arios thought it was just the dungeon reacting to their presence. Then a voice — faint, distorted, and mechanical — whispered through the air.

"…Unauthorized presence detected…"

Liza tensed immediately. "That came from—?"

"Everywhere," Arios said, scanning the walls. "It's the dungeon's defense response."

"…Verifying signatures…"

The glowing symbols on the walls began to move, rearranging themselves into new patterns. The air thickened with static.

"…One compatible. One foreign…"

Arios's eyes narrowed. "Foreign?"

The light flickered again — and then from the center of the pit, something began to emerge. It wasn't a creature this time. It was a structure — a sphere made of interlocking crystal plates, each glowing faintly blue. It hovered above the ground, humming softly.

Liza took a step back. "What is that?"

"The relay core," Arios said. "It's scanning us."

Before either could react, several shards of light shot from the sphere, forming a circular barrier around them. The walls blurred, replaced by a field of fractal light.

A voice — this time clearer, colder — spoke again.

"Authorization level insufficient. Intrusion protocol active."

The light condensed instantly, forming a solid figure in front of them. It was humanoid but featureless, made entirely of transparent crystal. Its hands shaped into blades, its head turning toward Arios.

"Initiating purge."

Arios moved first. His sword was already in his hand by the time the construct lunged. The clash rang like shattering glass — sparks of mana scattering with every impact. The construct's movements were too precise to be random; it fought like a perfect combat algorithm, adapting to each strike with machine efficiency.

Liza circled around, swinging from the flank. Her blade cut cleanly through the construct's arm — but the moment it severed, the crystal reformed, repairing itself mid-swing. "What the—?!"

"Self-restoring structure!" Arios called. "You have to overload it!"

"How?!"

"Force it to repair faster than it can stabilize!"

She gritted her teeth, channelling mana into her weapon until the steel glowed white-hot. The next strike hit like thunder, slicing clean through the torso. The construct staggered, its body flickering — but again, it began to heal.

Arios shifted stance. "Now!"

He drove his blade through the center crystal. His weapon pulsed once, flooding the construct with unstable mana. The combined surge of his and Liza's energy shattered it from within. Cracks spidered across its form, and with a final flicker, it exploded into shards of light that scattered and dissolved.

The chamber fell silent.

Liza exhaled sharply, lowering her sword. "Please tell me that was it."

Arios looked toward the hovering sphere. The glow had dimmed, but the hum persisted. "No. That was just the gatekeeper."

He stepped closer again. This time, the voice didn't react. The glyphs along the sphere's surface flickered intermittently, like a heartbeat trying to stabilize.

"What are you doing?" Liza asked, watching as he placed a hand against it.

"Trying to see how deep the tampering goes."

She frowned. "You're not seriously going to touch it again—"

But before she could finish, the surface of the sphere rippled — and Arios froze. For a moment, he wasn't standing in the chamber anymore. He was somewhere else.

A corridor of light stretched endlessly before him, with dozens of windows floating in the air like mirrors. Each window showed a different scene — students fighting monsters, teams navigating traps, others lying unconscious or injured. The academy's insignia flickered faintly across the edges.

And beyond them, faintly visible in the far distance, stood Garron.

He was surrounded by consoles of glowing crystal, each connected to black cables that disappeared into the void. His eyes — cold, sharp — turned briefly, as if sensing Arios's intrusion. Then his mouth moved. The words didn't carry sound, but Arios could read them.

"You shouldn't be here."

A pulse of energy surged through the link, and the vision shattered. Arios staggered back, breathing hard.

Liza caught his arm. "Arios! What happened?!"

He steadied himself, blinking once. "He saw me."

"Who?"

"Garron."

Her expression darkened. "Then he knows where we are?"

Arios shook his head. "Not exactly. But he'll adjust for it."

"Adjust?"

"He'll start accelerating the collapse."

She stared at him. "You mean—"

"The dungeon's going to destabilize," Arios said quietly. "And when it does, every floor between here and the surface will start folding in on itself."

Liza cursed under her breath. "So we don't have time."

"No," he said. "We don't."

The sphere flickered again, dimming further. Arios withdrew his hand. "Come on. We need to move before this floor locks down."

They turned back toward the exit. The passage they'd entered through was gone — replaced by a dark archway pulsing faintly with violet light. A new path. The dungeon was redirecting them.

Liza sighed. "It's leading us."

"Probably," Arios said. "Which means Garron wants us to go this way."

She eyed him warily. "And we're just… doing what he wants?"

"For now," he replied. "Sometimes, you walk into the trap to understand its shape."

"Spoken like someone who's done this too many times."

"Maybe I have."

They stepped into the archway together.

The air shifted again — colder, sharper. The corridor beyond was long, lined with black crystals that glowed faintly from within. The hum was gone, replaced by silence. Their reflections stretched unnaturally on the walls, distorted and stretched.

For the first time since the split, Arios felt the faint tug of mana — a distant presence that felt familiar.

Pokner.

And Lucy.

They were somewhere below.

He couldn't tell how far, but their mana signatures were faint, fluctuating between bursts of strength and moments of near stillness. They were fighting — or trapped.

Liza must have felt it too, because her voice softened. "You think they're okay?"

"They're alive," Arios said. "That's enough for now."

She nodded once, gripping her sword tighter. "Then let's make sure it stays that way."

The path ahead twisted again, but Arios didn't hesitate. His expression had hardened into something colder, sharper — a quiet determination that cut through the oppressive air like a blade.

He didn't know how deep the tampering went.

He didn't know what Garron's end goal truly was.

But he did know one thing:

This dungeon had become a battlefield of intent — and every step forward was a silent declaration of defiance.

As they vanished deeper into the violet-lit corridor, the walls pulsed once more. A faint, distorted echo followed them — a whisper too soft to be words.

And somewhere far below, Garron watched through the flickering projections, a faint smile ghosting across his face.

"Let's see how long you can keep up, Pureheart."

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