Aron froze completely. The fangs of the living snake were right in front of his face, hissing menacingly, while his arms refused to move. With the snake filling his entire vision, he stood there, completely paralyzed.
Zekai didn't waste even a second thinking. He slammed his shoulder hard into Aron's ribs, knocking him completely aside from the impact.
"Move!"
The two of them crashed to the ground side by side. In the very next instant, those stone jaws snapped shut on nothing but air—just an inch away from where Aron's head had been moments earlier.
Crash.
Zekai quickly got back to his feet. Beside him, Aron staggered upright. His face was as pale as a ghost.
"W-What was that?!"
"No time to talk," Zekai said, grabbing Aron's wrist. "Run!"
They sprinted toward the palace entrance. For a few steps, Aron ran alongside him at full speed. But then he made one mistake—he looked back.
The snake was already uncoiling its body from around the shoulders of the warrior statue. With a harsh grinding sound of stone scraping against stone, it turned toward them.
There wasn't even a single scratch on it. Its speed hadn't decreased either.
"Mr. Zekai!"
"I can see it too!"
The massive palace gates stood directly ahead of them.
Above them, another statue stood guard, a warrior holding a gigantic sword across his chest.
For half a second, Zekai thought they were actually going to make it out.
Then, the statue's head turned.
Aron knew it. They were going to die today. "No!"
The stone warrior began raising its sword. The gigantic blade came crashing down, sweeping across the entrance and completely blocking it.
Damn it.
Zekai's eyes darted around.
The snake was closing in from behind. The sword was blocking their path ahead.
Was this really the end for them? Panic began rising in his chest, but he forcibly suppressed it.
He shut off his emotions and forced himself to focus only on what was in front of him.
There was a small gap between the statue's legs. It was tight. But it was just wide enough for someone to crouch down and slide through.
In a single instant, Zekai calculated it all. The height. The gap. The snake's speed. The angle of the descending sword.
We can do this.
"Aron. Do exactly what I tell you."
Behind them, the snake's jaws opened. It was so close that Aron could barely breathe from fear. "Mr. Zekai, I can't do this."
"Aron. Hold on a little longer!"
Aron gasped and drew a deep breath.
"Don't stop running... I'm not going to leave you behind and do this alone!"
Zekai looked at the snake. Its full attention was fixed entirely on Aron. It didn't seem to consider Zekai a threat at all.
'Why is it targeting only him?'
The snake's fangs grazed the edge of Aron's shirt. Zekai couldn't delay any longer. He moved to save Aron.
"Now!"
Using the momentum of the snake charging toward them, Zekai grabbed Aron's arm, pulled him in, and with a slight turn, threw him toward the gap between the stone warrior's legs.
"W-Wait!"
Aron lowered his body and slid beneath the statue's legs. As he passed through the gap, his shoulder scraped against the hard floor.
Thud.
He rolled across the stone floor and fell inside the palace, several yards past the entrance.
"Ow... ow..."
He quickly felt over his body, checking himself. Nothing was broken. "I'm alive..."
Behind him, the stone snake crashed into the statue and coiled around its body. Its green eyes remained fixed on Aron through the entrance, but it did not enter. Instead, it withdrew and wrapped itself around the statue's shoulders once more.
Zekai noticed it immediately. The snake stopped at the threshold. Its body remained tense, its eyes fixed on them, yet it refused to cross.
It was as if something inside the palace itself was preventing it from crossing. But he had no time to think about it. Because the snake's attention suddenly shifted toward him.
"...Of course."
Before it could lunge, Zekai stepped half a foot backward. At the same moment, the statue holding the sword swung its blade wide across the entrance.
Snake on one side. Sword on the other.
Zekai was completely trapped. This time, there was no gap.
Aron had already used it. And the statue was adjusting its position, closing even the small space that remained.
Zekai looked at the snake's open jaws and the sword swinging toward him.
Two attacks. One narrow space. Both were about to hit him within the tiniest fraction of the same instant.
He couldn't dodge both. So he didn't try. Zekai planted his rear foot firmly into the ground. Instead of jumping backward, he stepped directly into the snake's attack path.
He cut the angle so closely that the stone fangs snapped shut against the fabric on his shoulder rather than his throat.
The snake couldn't stop its momentum.
It lunged straight forward. Into the path of the swinging sword.
Crack.
Stone collided with stone.
The gigantic sword struck the charging snake directly in the middle of its body. Its stone scales, which had remained unbroken for centuries, shattered.
Boom!
Chunks of stone and clouds of dust flew throughout the entrance.
I survived! Zekai rolled into the chaos.
After tumbling across the floor several times, he finally came to a stop beside Aron. For a few seconds, neither of them moved.
Then Zekai forced himself to his feet.
"Close the door!"
They didn't waste any time.
Both of them grabbed the handles of the ancient doors with both hands and pulled with all the strength they had.
Nothing happened. They leaned back and pulled even harder. The heavy doors didn't move even an inch.
"Come on, move!"
"It isn't moving at all!" Aron muttered through gritted teeth.
"I know it isn't moving!"
They tried one more time. But the doors didn't budge. Breathing heavily, they finally gave up and turned around.
Outside, the snake was back in its place. It was tightly coiled around the guardian statue, its green eyes staring at them through the entrance.
The second statue had already returned to its resting position. Its sword was back where it had been before.
Neither statue tried to enter. They simply watched them.
Aron swallowed hard. "...Why aren't they following us?"
"I don't know." Zekai kept watching them.
The snake's stone eyes narrowed slightly. Almost as if it were irritated.
He slowly exhaled. At least for now, they were still alive.
He turned toward the interior of the palace. "Now let's see if there's anyone here who can help us."
"Yeah. Hopefully there is someone," Aron immediately agreed.
"Someone who can tell us what this place really is."
Leaving the open entrance behind them, they ventured farther inside.
A massive throne hall stretched out around them. The scene inside was even worse than the ruins outside. Parts of the high ceiling had collapsed. Through the broken sections, thin rays of red light pierced the dusty air as they fell into the hall.
Torn red banners hung along the stone walls. Even though there wasn't the slightest breeze, they swayed gently. The air itself felt thick and heavy. Even breathing was difficult.
At the far end of the hall stood a massive throne. It had been split cleanly in two down the middle. Ancient carvings completely covered the wall behind it.
Rows of figures knelt before something. But whatever had stood before those figures had been deliberately erased.
Zekai slowed his pace in front of it. Someone had wanted to erase it completely.
As Zekai studied the deep scratches, he couldn't even tell whether they had been made hundreds of years ago or only yesterday.
Fragments of broken stained glass lay scattered across the floor. They reflected dark shades of red and purple.
Aron looked around nervously. "I have a feeling this place doesn't want us to find a way out."
Zekai didn't disagree. With every step they took, they were moving farther and farther away from the courtyard.
They were also moving farther and farther away from the only dangers they actually understood. At the same time, that familiar warmth appeared inside his coat again.
Zekai stopped.
His hand was already reaching for his pocket. The Tarot box was glowing again. It wasn't bright. Only a faint red light was leaking through the edges of the box.
At the same time, the cube inside Aron's pocket, or rather, the place where it had touched him earlier, seemed to remind him of its coldness again.
The Tarot box radiated warmth against his palm. The cube remained cold, completely unchanged by the world around them.
Zekai was irritated. '...What do you want from me?'
The faint red light pulsed once. It felt like an answer.
Zekai's brows furrowed. 'Fine. You keep pushing me forward.'
He took the box out and opened the lid. The cards were lying inside. As he lifted them out, he noticed a small compartment beneath the cards.
A small folded piece of paper had been hidden inside it. The moment his fingers touched the paper, that faint vibration from the cards sounded again.
'...Do you really want me to open this?'
He slowly unfolded the paper.
A few steps away, Aron's attention had shifted elsewhere. He had noticed a wooden chest half-buried beneath a fallen old banner. It was covered in a thick layer of dust. Strangely, though, it wasn't broken like everything else around it.
Aron glanced over his shoulder.
Zekai was staring intently at the paper in his hands. His entire attention was focused on it. "...Mr. Zekai?"
There was no response.
Aron hesitated for a moment. Then he reached out and opened the lid of the wooden chest.
Creak.
Inside lay a few dirty, old objects. But one of them immediately caught his attention.
A ring.
It looked extremely old. Yet it was as if time itself had never touched it. Its surface was clean. It looked as new as the day it had been made.
Aron reached out to pick up the ring.
✦ End of Chapter 3 — The Guardian's Threshold ✦