>Unknown Labyrinth – Depths Unknown
The spiral stairs of obsidian and bone gave way to a slanted corridor carved from jagged crimson crystal. Noct's hand hovered just above the item they had found—the unreadable artifact, pulsing gently with an unnatural hum. The system had warned him:
[Warning: Item not recognized. Containment not advised. Recommendation: Do not use. Do not touch.]
But that only made Noct more curious.
"I've got a theory," he muttered, extending a hand. Ellen and Mia both tensed, weapons half-drawn. "I want to test something. Stand back."
He raised his palm and began manipulating his two core abilities.
[Gravity array]
[Division Blink]
A soft distortion snapped into place—space curling inward like paper folding into itself. He created a tiny sphere, a gravitational echo just above his hand, and anchored it with blink fractals. The unreadable item floated toward it. The instant it touched the field—
Gone.
The item vanished into the stabilized fold of space. The system hissed with glitching static.
[Storage subroutine active. Location: Null Axis Pocket.]
[Error. Unknown item integrity—monitor storage stability constantly.]
"...It worked," Noct whispered. "I created a custom pocket-space. If I can refine this... I can store unstable things without triggering them."
Ellen blinked. "You just made a void locker with theoretical space-math."
Mia crossed her arms. "Now I'm afraid to piss you off."
They moved on, deeper into the labyrinth's ascending floors—each floor twisting the laws of time, architecture, and perception. They fought past wraith-titans that wept backwards, puzzle beasts formed from impossible geometry, and mimic floors that tried to swallow them whole. But floor after floor, the bond between them only grew stronger.
And far above them, the surface was stirring.
[Elsewhere – Creed of Evolution's Outpost, Southern Exclusion Zone]
Rael moved like a wisp of static across shattered rooftops. Her veilstrings shimmered, whisper-thin, trailing from her wrists as she latched onto the outer guards of the Creed outpost.
Her mission was simple: infiltrate, assume, extract intel.
Her veilstrings lashed out. One guard dropped mid-step, strings tightening around his neck. She pulled the memories through contact, felt his heartbeat slow, and let her body shimmer into his form. Height, voice, even breath tempo—copied flawlessly.
[Persona Acquired: Creed Acolyte Rank-2. Disguise Viability: 92%. Proceed with caution.]
She walked past the perimeter as if she belonged.
Inside the makeshift temple, she glimpsed their cultish structure—spires of bone, flame-script etched into steel, and data terminals glowing with evolution sequences. At the center stood one of the Inner Spire.
Revya Tal – The Singularity Saint.
Veilstrings wrapped tight around Rael's fingers, trembling at the sight of her. Revya stood before a dozen kneeling initiates, speaking in a voice that echoed with hundreds of souls.
"You will not become gods," Revya whispered, her eyes flickering with stolen identities. "You will become one."
As Rael moved deeper, she could feel the spiritual pressure of every absorbed soul screaming behind Revya's voice. She had to keep her cover. Her mission was too important.
But the deeper she went... the more the strings began to tremble with resonance—not fear, but something worse:
Recognition.
[Unknown Labyrinth – Floor unknown ]
A soft pulse flickered from Noct's system.
[Null Axis Storage Stable.]
[Artifact dormant.]
He exhaled, relieved.
Ellen glanced at him. "You're changing."
"Maybe," Noct said quietly. "But I'm not the only one."
Their footsteps echoed ahead, toward the next floor—toward secrets the world above had long since buried. Neither Noct nor Rael knew it yet, but both were racing toward the same revelation.
One from the sky.
The other from the void below.