Arthur and Mia kept walking.
The corridor had become narrower after the broken wall, but that wasn't what bothered them. It was the different silence of the Monte. It wasn't merely the absence of sound — it was the constant sensation that something was watching without moving.
The walls were now marked by long, deep fissures, like petrified veins running through the rock. In certain places, the air seemed to ripple slightly, distorting vision for a moment before returning to normal.
Mia still leaned on him.
— I don't like this — she murmured.
Arthur didn't either.
After what he had seen… the Monte felt less like a place and more like a presence.
They turned into another corridor.
That was when Arthur stopped again.
— Arthur? — Mia asked, already expecting something strange.
He pointed.
On the wall ahead there was another surface too smooth to be natural.
But this time it wasn't just a reflection.
It was movement.
The surface rippled slowly, like a lake trapped inside the stone.
— That… — Mia murmured.
She could see it too.
Arthur approached first.
The "mirror" reacted immediately.
The stone became translucent.
And what appeared on the other side was not a reflection.
It was a place.
A ruined corridor.
Broken stones.
Sparks of magic.
And in the center of it—
— Kidero… — Arthur whispered.
Mia's eyes widened.
— Them!
On the other side of the surface, the battle was still unfolding.
Kidero advanced with his flaming sword, Ayame hurled bursts of electricity at the skeleton, and Shirō manipulated shadows in an attempt to limit the creature's movements.
But the fight was worse.
Much worse.
The skeleton was still intact.
Its thick bones deflected blows as if they were made of ancient metal. The dark shadow still flowed across the skeletal structure like a living liquid clinging to the bones.
Kazuko circled, searching for an opening.
Arthur felt his stomach turn cold.
— No… — he murmured.
Because at that moment the skeleton moved.
The strike came too fast.
The sword descended in a brutal arc.
Kazuko tried to dodge.
He didn't fully succeed.
The blade pierced the space between his ribs and drove deep into his body.
— KAZUKO! — Ayame shouted from the other side.
The impact was brutal.
Kazuko fell to his knees, his body pitching forward, the sword still embedded in him.
Arthur lunged toward the mirror.
— No!
He punched the surface.
Nothing happened.
The stone rippled like water… and returned to stillness.
— Move! — Mia said, trying to pull him back.
Arthur ignored her.
He pressed both hands against the surface.
— KAZUKO! — he shouted.
On the other side, no one heard.
Arthur tried to force his way through again.
The surface merely vibrated.
Impenetrable.
— Damn it! — he snarled.
Mia pressed her hand against the mirror as well.
— It won't work… — she said desperately. — It's just a window!
And then something happened.
On the battlefield, the air twisted.
A blue light appeared in the middle of the corridor.
Small.
But intense.
The triangle.
The artifact Alexius had used.
It appeared in the air as if it had been hurled from an invisible point in space.
And then it launched forward.
Its speed was absurd.
The triangle crossed the corridor like a blue projectile.
The skeleton began to turn its skull.
Too late.
The artifact struck the creature's head directly.
CRACK.
The impact split the skull in two.
The bones shattered with a dry, heavy sound, and the skeleton's head was hurled backward as the body collapsed from the blow.
The shadow reacted.
Not in defense.
In escape.
The dark energy tore itself away from the destroyed skeletal structure and surged forward like a breath of living smoke.
Straight into Kazuko.
It entered his body.
Vanishing beneath his skin as if it had found a new place to exist.
Kazuko convulsed violently.
The sword was still embedded in him.
On the other side of the mirror, Arthur saw everything.
— No… — he whispered.
The triangle did not stop.
After the impact, it ricocheted through the air.
Spinning.
Glowing.
And then it began flying in another direction.
Toward the mirror.
Kidero followed its movement with his eyes.
The artifact cut through the air like a blue star.
And then he saw.
On the other side of the surface.
Arthur.
For a full second.
Kidero saw Arthur and Mia watching the battle.
His gaze narrowed.
— Arthur…?
The triangle struck the mirror.
CRASH.
The dimensional surface shattered into fragments of light.
The image of the battle splintered like broken glass.
And vanished.
The corridor became nothing but stone again.
Arthur remained standing there, his hand still pressed against the wall.
The silence returned.
Mia was breathing fast.
— He… saw you? — she asked.
Arthur didn't answer.
Because the last thing he had seen before the mirror broke… was Kidero's expression.
And in that look there was something Arthur knew very well.
Guilt.
And accusation.