I decided to check the open door first.

With my destination set, I walked straight toward it, the faint glow seeping through the crack pulling me in like a beacon.

The moment I stepped inside, I froze.

"…A control room?"

That was the only way to describe it.

The walls were completely covered in magic circuits—intricate patterns twisting around one another like an enormous spider web. Lines of mana etched into stone, glowing faintly, interlinked in ways so complex it felt like I was staring at the veins of some ancient, slumbering creature.

Despite a hundred years having passed, everything was almost perfectly intact.

That was the beauty of magic circuits—durable, stable, resilient.

Time eroded buildings, rusted metal, and crumbled stone… but magic circuits?

They barely changed at all.

Unlike the ancient mechanism by the entrance, this place still had the potential to function.

I remembered something Viola had explained to me recently—

Magic circuits always have a starting point.

A place where power gathers and flows out to the rest.

So I traced the lines carefully, following the main branch of mana flow until my hand hovered over a blunt, switch-like device at the end of the circuit.

"This should be it…"

I placed my hand on it.

Whoooom—

A low hum filled the room, and the ceiling lights flickered once before bursting to life.

Magic thrummed through the walls as dormant devices jolted awake, gears grinding, crystals humming, mechanisms whirring.

For something abandoned for decades, it came back to life almost too easily.

"Still works… amazing."

I couldn't help but marvel at it.

Magic circuits really were on another level.

If this room was working again, then the sealed doors outside…

Yeah.

I could probably open them now.

Feeling unexpectedly accomplished—and maybe even a little proud—I turned around and made my way back into the hall.

But..

"…Huh?"

The moment I stepped back into the hall, I froze.

Something was… off.

The hall, now fully lit with a warm glow from the activated magic circuits, looked completely different from the dim space I had just left. But that wasn't what caught my attention.

The bear-shaped doll—the one that had been sitting right in the center of the room, staring blankly into nothingness—

Was gone.

Completely.

Not toppled over.

Not moved slightly.

Not dragged away.

Just… gone.

"I'm sure it was right there…" I muttered.

A chill crawled up my spine.

I slowly scanned the hall, my footsteps echoing sharply in the silence. The room was too clean, too undisturbed. Nothing was out of place—except for the missing doll.

There was no way it had just… gotten up and walked off.

Right?

"…No. That'd be ridiculous."

But the uncertainty in my own voice wasn't convincing.

If the magic circuit had activated successfully, maybe it triggered some kind of mechanism. A hidden compartment, teleportation magic, or even a summoning effect… anything was possible in an ancient facility like this.

I took a slow breath and surveyed the room again, this time with more caution.

Something had definitely changed.

As I was running through a dozen possibilities in my head…

a massive shadow suddenly swallowed the light around me.

"Huh…?"

A chill crept up my spine.

Something was behind me—something big.

Very slowly, I turned my head.

And then—

"GRAAAAAARGH!!"

"—What the hell?!"

The giant bear doll—the one that had mysteriously vanished earlier—was now towering over me, arms raised high like it was about to crush me into paste.

Its button eyes glowed with an eerie crimson light.

Its stitched mouth twisted open in a grotesque roar.

"Why are you alive now?!"

I barely had time to react.

BOOM!!

I rolled just as a massive paw smashed into the floor where I'd been standing a heartbeat earlier.

Stone shattered like brittle ice, the impact leaving a crater wide enough to bury a person.

"Okay. Okay! Message received!"

I scrambled to my feet, summoning the orb of illusion into my hand.

Whatever made this toy move, I didn't know.

Ghost? Curse? Dream residue?

There were way too many possibilities—and none of them mattered right now.

What mattered was that the oversized plush monster was trying to kill me.

And judging by how its head twisted toward me again,

stitches stretching unnaturally as it let out another guttural growl—

Yeah.

It was very hostile toward me.

From experience, I knew one thing for sure—

attacking first is always better than letting the enemy learn what you can do.

So without hesitation, I formed a sword of pure light and swung it at the bear's forearm.

CLANG!

"GRRRR!"

"…What the hell?"

That sound wasn't right.

Instead of the wet, slicing noise of flesh being cut, it rang out like a blade striking iron.

And for a split second, as the fur parted from the impact, something metallic glinted underneath.

Not skin.

Metal.

So this thing in front of me—

Whatever it was—

It wasn't a living bear.

But I didn't have time to think deeply about it, because the creature was already swinging its massive arm down at me.

"Woah—!"

I barely ducked, feeling the air whistle past where my head had been.

Even a glancing hit from those steel claws would've torn my shoulder clean off.

Thankfully, its size worked against it. It was powerful, but slow.

If I avoided everything, I'd be fine… in theory.

I weaved between its strikes, raising my sword again and looking for any opening.

Lightning Slash crossed my mind—but using that at such close range would fry me along with it.

I wasn't interested in becoming a roasted human-shaped snack.

Instead, I planted one foot firmly, twisted my body, and unleashed a spinning kick right into the bear's jaw.

"Lightning Strike!"

CRACKLE—ZZZZAP!!

A violent burst of lightning surged from my foot, crackling like a storm compressed into a single spark.

"GRRRRRAAAAH!!"

The bear—or whatever it was—screamed furiously as electricity wrapped around its body like writhing white-blue serpents.

The impact sent it flying backward, crashing into the ground with a heavy thud.

I landed on my feet, breathing hard but steady.

That attack was more than enough to take down a real animal.

But this—

"Grrrk…!"

The bear twitched… then pushed itself upright.

Slowly.

Deliberately.

Its eyes locked onto me, burning with a mechanical fury.

It shook off the remaining sparks like they were nothing more than raindrops.

"…You've gotta be kidding me."

It withstood that?

Lightning Strike at full force?

What kind of monster had defense this absurd?

My grip on my sword tightened as a chill ran down my spine.

This wasn't going to be easy.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.