Mount Arf remained silent.
But it was not a neutral silence.
It was the kind of silence that emerges when something has already been decided — and merely waits for those involved to realize it.
Alexius's group moved forward with caution.
The corridor had widened abruptly, opening into an irregular chamber supported by warped columns and walls marked by ancient grooves. The air there felt heavier, laden with a pressure that was not exactly magical — but not merely physical either.
Alexius stopped at the center of the space.
Ahead of them, six tunnels opened in the rock, forming an imperfect semicircle.
Six paths.
None of them emitted heat.
None of them reacted to touch.
None of them seemed… more right than the others.
— Six — Ichika murmured. — That's not random.
— No — Alexius agreed. — It's excess.
He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to feel the Mountain.
Nothing answered.
No warning.
No rejection.
No guidance.
— The seal is no longer filtering possibilities — he said, opening his eyes. — Before, the Mountain pushed us toward a single viable route. Now… all of them are open.
— Which is worse — Shirō commented quietly.
Sora watched the tunnels, uneasy.
— So any one of them can go wrong.
— All of them can — Alexius corrected. — The difference is how.
He examined the entrances one by one. Some were narrower. Others descended at harsher angles. One of them seemed… too smooth, as if it had been carved recently.
— We go that way — he said, pointing to the fourth tunnel from the left. — Not because it's safe. But because it's the only one that still bears signs of passage.
— Passage by whom? — Kensha asked.
Alexius did not answer.
They moved on.
A few meters later, the air changed.
Not abruptly — but gradually, as if the space itself were being filled with something invisible. The shadows on the walls began to stretch, warping beyond what the light should allow.
— Did you feel that? — Yumiko whispered.
The attack came without warning.
The shadows tore themselves free from the walls like shredded veils, forming irregular silhouettes that surged forward as a mass. They were not defined creatures — they were absences trying to take shape.
— Defensive formation! — Alexius ordered.
Sora raised ice in front of the group, but the impact of the shadows cracked the barrier almost instantly. Ichika hurled roots from the ground, trying to restrain the advance, while Kensha fired enchanted arrows that passed through the enemies — slowing them, but not destroying them.
— They're not attacking like before — Shirō observed. — They're testing.
— Measuring resistance — Alexius replied, the crystal already aflame. — Don't spread out!
Fire flooded the tunnel with light, and for a few seconds the shadows recoiled, reforming themselves along the walls.
In that instant, Alexius understood something clearly:
This was not a blockade.
It was a delayed warning.
— We keep going — he said firmly. — The Mountain isn't trying to stop us. It's watching us make mistakes… to learn from them.
And the group advanced, knowing that every step now was a choice without return.
The corridor behind Kidero cracked again.
Clac.
Closer.
Kidero stopped completely.
— That's enough — he said, turning around.
Ayame, Kazuko, and Shirō moved instinctively, forming a semicircle. Flames flared along Kidero's sword, unstable, reacting to whatever lay ahead.
From the darkness, something advanced.
It was not fast.
It was not stealthy.
It was… heavy.
The silhouette came first — tall, rigid, advancing with steps far too firm for a narrow corridor. When the firelight touched it, the group could see.
A skeleton.
But not like the others.
The bones were thick, compact, almost polished by time. Every joint looked reinforced, as if rebuilt to withstand constant impact. Over the skeletal structure, a faint shadow clung — like dark smoke adhered to matter, not controlling it, merely accompanying it.
In its right hand, a long, ancient sword, utterly devoid of shine.
— …that's not normal — Ayame murmured.
— No — Shirō confirmed. — That's… persistence.
The skeleton stopped a few meters away.
The shadow around it shifted slowly, as if breathing.
Then it attacked.
The strike came straight on, heavy, without refined technique — just brute force. Kidero blocked with his flaming sword.
The impact was violent.
The fire spread… and did nothing.
Kidero was thrown backward, his feet scraping against the stone floor.
— What the hell… — he growled.
Kazuko attempted a lateral strike, his poisoned blade hitting the skeleton's ribs.
The blow bounced off.
— Not even a scratch! — Kazuko shouted.
Ayame released electricity, discharging it through the bones.
The energy coursed through the enemy's body… and dissipated.
The shadow fluttered, almost as if reacting — but the skeleton kept advancing.
— It's not being sustained by the shadow — Shirō realized. — The shadow is bound to it.
The skeleton raised its sword again.
This time, with both hands.
— This is going to take a while — Ayame said, tense.
— Good — Kidero replied, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth and reigniting the flames. — I was starting to miss something that doesn't break easily.
The next blow fell.
And the entire corridor trembled.
The battle had begun — and it was far from over.
The path ahead of Arthur and Mia narrowed, then widened.
Arthur felt the change in the air before he saw it.
— Wait — he said, raising a hand.
Ahead, between two fractured walls, there was an opening.
It was not a door.
It was not a tunnel.
It was… light.
An intense brightness spilled through the cracks, far too white to be mere external reflection. As they drew closer, the glow intensified, pulsing irregularly, as if responding to their presence.
Mia shielded her eyes.
— This… this looks like an exit.
Arthur did not answer immediately.
His heart was beating too fast.
— It looks like one — he finally agreed. — But the Mountain doesn't usually give things away like this.
When he took another step, the light reacted.
The brightness flared suddenly, filling the entire corridor. The air vibrated, hot and cold at the same time, and Arthur felt a chill run down his spine — not of fear, but of recognition.
— Arthur… — Mia whispered. — Something's happening.
He extended his hand.
The light responded.
The space ahead of them opened a little more, as if preparing to let them pass.
Or to test them.
Arthur swallowed.
— Whatever this is… — he said — it's not the end of the Mountain.
Mia nodded, resolute despite her exhaustion.
— Then we go together.
They stepped forward.
And the glow swallowed the corridor.
Mount Arf remained motionless.
But within its newly formed paths, something had begun to move in different directions at the same time.
And, for the first time since the descent began, no one could say whether they were approaching an exit…
or a point of no return.