The voice curled around them like smoke. It didn't come from any direction, but all directions at once. It slithered into their ears like a whisper made of poison.
High above in the black sky where there should've been nothing... a shape began to descend.
Not falling. Not floating.
Descending.
With purpose.
Like a king at his coronation.
Its body was tall, inhumanly so. Its skin dark, not just black, but like a shadow made solid. Its eyes glowed white, faint and gentle, like candles flickering in windless air.
And it smiled.
A wide, glowing grin... soft and white. Not cruel.
But wrong.
So very wrong.
The three girls stood frozen.
Their breath caught.
Their shadows trembled beneath them as the figure landed, gently, as if the world had accepted it with reverence.
And in that moment...
The air shifted again.
And the system whispered once more:
[Warning: Game Difficulty Increase +19]
The silence that fell between the three was heavy.
Not the kind of silence born from peace.. but the kind that felt like standing at the edge of a cliff, knowing something waited to push you off.
The evolved Maze Crawler stood before them, its body glistening like obsidian dipped in ink, shifting and humanoid but… wrong. Its outline flickered at the edges, unstable, like a glitch trying to take form.
A low, gravel-like chuckle rumbled from its throat.
"Well… I think life isn't at your sides anyway," it said, its voice smooth but bitter, like oil slicking over steel.
Its smile widened.
That grin... it didn't belong on something that wasn't truly human.
And in the blink of a moment, it was gone.
No footsteps. No wind.
It simply vanished and appeared right in front of Tess.
The suddenness of it made Lizz's body tense, her lips parting in a small gasp.
Its long hand was already outstretched... dark fingers wrapping like iron around Tess's neck. The pressure was immediate. Hard. Cold. Her legs lifted just slightly off the ground, and her spine arched under the force.
There was no room to scream.
The creature's fingers flexed, ready to snap.
But....
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The explosions shattered through the silence like fireworks erupting inside a steel cage. The sound came from behind, each blast shaking the air, thumping against the empty illusionary world created by the maze crawler, the simulation like punches thrown at the seams of the world itself.
Smoke and light surged, rolling in waves that licked across the black floor.
The Maze Crawler's head jerked back.
Its eyes, those faint, white slits narrowed in irritation, not fear.
It glanced at Tess again.
And Tess…
Her lips curled.
Just a little.
A smirk.
"Gotcha," she whispered, voice strained under the grip but still clear.
The Maze Crawler didn't get the chance to speak.
VROOOM... !
The air around Tess fractured.
Like a hammer slamming through a mirror, the world shattered around her.
Her vision blurred. Her breath caught. The sensation was dizzying, like being yanked out of her own body.
Glass-like fragments of light spun around her, the pieces of the simulation crumbling into nothingness.
Silence.
Deep.
Empty.
Only her breathing echoed now, soft and alone in the void.
Then, all at once, reality snapped back.
Her feet hit solid ground with a dull click. The air shifted. No longer thick with virtual static.
Metal. She smelled metal, cold, sterile, and dry.
Tess slowly turned her head. Her white hair, shifted with her movement. Her deep orange eyes flicked across the new space.
They were inside a metallic chamber, walls stretching high, faint lights embedded in the corners. The room had a clinical feel to it, like a debriefing room in an underground lab. Panels lined the sides. There was no sound but the soft hum of electricity.
She heard another click.
Then two faint, distorted flashes of blue shimmered a few steps ahead.
The flickers solidified.. Berk and Lizz emerging through scattered particles, as if being loaded into existence.
Lizz stumbled forward, her red eyes wide and gleaming. She looked around once, then twice.
She lifted her arms, checked her chest, legs, arms, nothing burned, nothing broken. Her white t-shirt was still clean, same for her black knickers. Her skin had no bruises, no wounds.
Her expression lit up like a child given a new toy.
"Woah... what just happened?" she asked, voice light and almost too excited.
She twirled once for herself, checking the movement. "No holes, no blood, no broken bones… hell yeah."
Then her grin widened as she turned toward Tess, eyes gleaming crimson.
"That was fun and dangerous," she said in a sing-song voice, stepping closer with a light bounce in her gait. "Let's do it again sometime~"
Tess inhaled, ready to respond... but a calm voice cut across them both.
"The moment you said we were just a few steps from the safe zone…" Berk said slowly, her voice low but clear, "that was a lie, wasn't it?"
Tess turned her head.
Berk stood still, her hands by her sides. Her jet-black hair hung loose now, slightly disheveled, brushing the curve of her neck. Her dull green eyes stared straight into Tess's... flat, emotionless, but sharp as needles.
Tess didn't blink as she glanced at Berk...
For a moment, she said nothing.
Then, slowly… she nodded once.
"Yeah," she said quietly.