The cathedral of bone no longer whispered—it screamed.
The chained giant stirred on its throne, the sound of cracking iron echoing through the abyss as its masked head tilted toward Argon. The veins pulsing through the rib-like pillars throbbed faster, spilling crimson light across the fractured floor.
And at the center of it all stood Argon.
His body was no longer his own. The black veins of corruption that once threatened to claim him now burned crimson, twisting into jagged lines of light that crawled across his arms, chest, and face. His hacksaw had warped grotesquely, expanding into a weapon that pulsed as though alive—half blade, half limb, jagged teeth of steel grinding against one another in hunger.
The labyrinth recoiled from him. The cathedral's walls cracked wider. The whispers that once sought to smother his will now fell silent, as if holding their breath.
Vanessa's Fear and Hunger
Vanessa froze mid-step, her chains dangling limply by her sides.
Her eyes widened, her lips trembling. For the first time since Argon had met her, there was no control in her expression. Only awe. And fear.
But then, slowly, her lips curled into a trembling smile, hunger lacing her voice.
"Oh, darling… this is what you were meant to be. Not her toy. Not the abyss's puppet. Mine. All mine."
Her chains twitched forward, hesitant, like serpents afraid of fire.
But even as she said it, her body shivered, torn between lust and terror. She wanted to own him—but part of her knew she couldn't.
Selene's Whisper
Selene lay broken against the cracked floor, her blood pooling into the mosaic of skulls. Her shadows had all but vanished, her strength drained.
Yet her eyes, glassy and fading, locked onto Argon.
She saw the crimson glow wrapping him like armor, saw the warped blade that no longer resembled steel, and she didn't flinch.
Her lips parted, and a faint whisper escaped.
"Argon…"
That single word—weak, broken, but unafraid—cut through the suffocating roar of power that wrapped around him.
For a fleeting moment, it tethered him. Reminded him that he was not only a beast.
The Will's Excitement
The chained giant laughed.
Not a thunderous laugh. Not a booming roar. But a low, eager, hungry sound that echoed from every bone in the cathedral.
"Yes… YES! Show me. Tear it apart. You are not vessel—you are truth. You are my chosen. Strike, Argon. Strike, and the Game ends!"
The chains rattled violently, fragments of bone raining from the ceiling as the giant strained against its bindings. Each movement shook the abyss, splintering the pillars of rib and vein.
The cathedral could not withstand what was coming.
The First Step
Argon staggered forward. His warped blade pulsed in rhythm with his heart, crimson light spilling across the cracked floor.
Vanessa stepped back instinctively, though her trembling smile never faltered. "Yes… yes, show it to me. Show me our power, darling."
Selene's weak hand lifted slightly, as if trying to reach him despite her broken body. "Don't… lose yourself…"
The crimson light surged, coiling around his legs, his chest, his arms. His skin seared, but he didn't scream. The labyrinth shook. Even the abyss itself seemed afraid.
And then, with a guttural roar, Argon swung his blade.
The First Strike
The world shattered.
The crimson blade carved through the cathedral, cleaving pillars of rib and shattering veins of glowing blood. The ground split apart, skulls tumbling into bottomless fissures. The ceiling ruptured, spilling rivers of bone and ichor.
Vanessa's chains snapped as she threw them up to block—but the crimson wave tore through them like paper, sending her sprawling backward, her dress shredded, her pale skin marked with crimson burns.
The chained giant's throne cracked, one of its colossal bonds snapping with a deafening clang. It shuddered in ecstasy, its voice trembling with delight.
"YES! Break it all! Tear it down! YOU ARE MINE!"
The Cost
Argon staggered, his chest heaving. The crimson veins along his skin pulsed violently, threatening to split him apart from within. His blade twitched, hungry, as though it wanted more—demanded more.
He could feel it. This wasn't just power. It was devouring him.
Selene coughed blood, her voice ragged but desperate. "Don't… let it… take you."
Vanessa rose slowly, her chains reforging from the shadows. Her lips bled, her body shook, but her eyes burned with obsession.
"You think she'll save you?" she hissed. "She's weak! She'll drag you down. But with me—look at what you've become. No one can stop us."
The Fracture
The crimson light spread farther, not stopping with the cathedral.
The cracks in the floor widened, not into void but into something else. Behind the fractures was not bone, not abyss, not labyrinth—but another place.
Glimpses of forests. Towers. A sky that burned with real sunlight, not crimson glow.
Reality itself had split.
The chained giant roared in delight, its voice echoing across dimensions.
"YES! BREAK THE GAME! LET THE OUTSIDE IN!"
The labyrinth screamed, every wall collapsing, every skull cracking, as if the world itself was in agony.
Cliffhanger
Argon staggered forward, crimson blade twitching in his hand, his body shaking between collapse and eruption.
Vanessa stood bloodied but smiling, obsessed. Selene lay broken, her hand reaching for him one last time.
And through the fractures in the world, the impossible sunlight of another reality poured in.
Argon realized, with cold clarity—his strike hadn't just broken the labyrinth.
It had broken the Game.
Next Chapter Preview
The labyrinth crumbles as Argon's strike tears reality itself. Vanessa schemes to bind his newfound power, Selene clings to him with her last strength, and the chained will prepares to rise. But what waits beyond the fracture may not be salvation—it may be worse than the Game itself.