Meanwhile, back in the cavernous inn room—
Chaos reigned quietly.
The shadows had spread so far they coated the walls like living veins, crawling along the floor and ceiling in tangled, root-like patterns. The infinity symbol burned above Zane's shadow, bright blue and unmoving, like a seal hammered into reality itself.
The gang stood frozen.
They didn't know what to do.
"Z-Zane…?" Luna whispered, panic trembling in her voice.
No response.
"Don't touch him," Asher said quickly, stepping in front of her. His usual playful tone was gone. Space warped faintly around his fingers, instinctive, defensive. "We don't know what'll happen."
Luna clenched her fists.
"I can help," she said shakily. "Light counters shadow—"
"No," Celeste snapped. "Luna, stop—"
Too late.
Light flared.
Luna released a pulse of mana, soft but desperate. Pure light washed over the room, trying to dispel the shadows.
The effect was immediate.
The infinity symbol shone brighter.
So bright it hurt to look at.
The shadows didn't retreat.
They pushed back.
Luna yelped as the pressure forced her magic apart like mist before a storm. She stumbled back, eyes wide.
"It didn't work…" she whispered.
Mira moved.
She had been circling the edge of the room, eyes sharp, watching the shadows instead of Zane. Calculating. Waiting for an opening that never came.
Then it happened.
Her heel slipped.
She stepped on one of the shadow-roots.
The reaction was instant.
Mira froze.
Her irises flared crimson.
At the same time, the infinity symbol above Zane's shadow pulsed—once—red.
Inside Mira, something ancient stirred.
Deep within her mana signature, a rune-like construct—old, dense, and unmistakably not human—flashed red above her core, spinning for a fraction of a second before snapping back into dormancy.
"—Oh no."
The words left her mouth before she could stop them.
The pressure vanished the moment she jerked her foot away.
Her eyes returned to normal.
The room didn't react.
No one noticed.
Except her.
"Wait—what?" Asher turned. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Mira said quickly.
Too quickly.
She turned away, pulling her hood up, one hand covering her eyes. Her breathing was steady—but controlled, like she was forcing it to be.
No one saw the red tinge now staining the very tips of her hair.
Seconds passed.
Then—
The shadows began to retract.
Like roots being pulled back into the earth, they slid across the floor, peeling away from the walls, sinking back into Zane's form. The pressure lifted. The air grew lighter.
The infinity symbol dimmed.
Faded.
Gone.
Before anyone could speak, Mira turned and walked out.
Fast.
"Mira—!" Luna called.
She didn't stop.
The door shut softly behind her.
And then—
Zane inhaled sharply.
His eyes fluttered open.
The world came back wrong.
Everything was grey.
Not darkness—absence. As if color itself had been drained away. He blinked, sitting up slightly, realizing with detached curiosity that he was seeing through something familiar.
Shadow Gaze.
Without the blindfold.
"…Huh," he muttered hoarsely.
He turned his head just in time to see Mira disappearing down the corridor.
But that wasn't what caught his attention.
A faint red trail lingered where she had passed.
Thin. Fractured. Wrong.
It clung to the air for half a second—
Then vanished.
Zane frowned.
"…That's new."