The stale air of the labyrinth pressed heavily around Noct and his team as they trudged deeper through the winding corridors. Ellen walked slightly ahead, her sharp gaze scanning the shadows for any signs of movement. Mia, with her typical calm aloofness, kept pace beside Noct, checking the worn-down edge of her blade.
Their rations had run low, but a small stash of dried fruit and purified water found in an old, dust-covered cache two days ago had sustained them. Since then, Noct had been testing the bounds of his ability, Numbers. The ather cost of maintaining it grew more apparent the deeper their descent, but the newfound ather-regeneration ring had become a lifeline.
Every skirmish brought new opportunities to sharpen his control. With a flicker of glowing equations spinning around his fingers, Noct adjusted the Vector Strike angles mid-combat, surprising a leaping beast with a downward slash from an impossible angle. Each successful use brought a moment of clarity—and a crash of exhaustion.
"Stay sharp," Ellen said, halting near a bend where a strange smell seeped from the wall. "That's rot. Something's been nesting nearby."
Mia crouched, placing her hand on the stone. "Tremors," she whispered. "A burrower, probably. We should keep moving before it circles back."
Noct nodded, silently weaving a low-level Sequence Dash to propel them quickly forward. The trio vanished into the corridor, their steps quiet, their presence sharper than before.
>Far above the labyrinth
Selene stood bloodied but unshaken. Corpses of corrupted beasts lay scattered in a ruined battlefield. Her breathing was ragged, aether sparking from her shoulders as her blade shimmered.
As she faces a new opponent.
The Creed of Evolution had arrived.