The labyrinth screamed.
Not in whispers. Not in groans. It screamed like a living thing gutted from the inside out.
The cathedral of bone crumbled, its rib-like pillars splintering into dust, veins bursting in floods of crimson ichor. Skulls rained from above, shattering on the cracked floor. The chained giant's laughter rattled every fragment, its voice rising like thunder through the collapsing abyss.
And above it all, the fracture widened.
A jagged wound in reality itself split across the cathedral wall, spilling not crimson glow but golden light. Real sunlight. It bled into the abyss like a foreign disease, burning the flesh-walls wherever it touched. Through it, glimpses flickered—forests green with life, towers of steel and glass, skies unmarred by blood.
The world outside the Game.
Selene's Weak Plea
Argon stumbled to his knees beside Selene, pulling her into his arms. Her skin was cold, her breaths shallow, her shadows gone. Only her eyes, glassy but determined, clung stubbornly to him.
"Don't…" Her lips trembled as she spoke. "Don't leave me… Argon…"
Her blood soaked his chest, dripping into the cracked skulls beneath. The labyrinth drank greedily, even as it collapsed.
His crimson light pulsed violently, his warped blade twitching in hunger, but at her voice, his grip steadied.
"You're not dying here," he said, his voice low and burning. "I won't let you."
Vanessa's Obsession
Vanessa stood across the ruined chamber, her chains writhing, her body bloodied and torn. The crimson burns from Argon's strike still glowed across her pale skin, but her lips twisted into a smile sharp with madness.
"Do you see it, darling?" she said, voice trembling with awe. "The fracture… it's freedom. It's conquest. Beyond the labyrinth, we can rule a world that has never even heard our names."
Her chains slithered toward the golden light, hissing as they brushed against it. Smoke rose from the contact, but still they pushed.
She turned her gaze back to Argon, her smile widening. "Step through with me. Leave this corpse of a Game behind. Selene is a shadow clinging to death—but we can be gods."
The Will's Hunger
The chained giant roared with laughter, its voice cracking the walls of the collapsing cathedral.
"YES! Break it! Tear it open! Let me OUT!"
Another bond snapped, the iron chain exploding in sparks as the giant shifted, its masked face tilting toward the fracture. Its breath alone made the walls crumble, the air shuddering with its hunger.
"You are mine, Argon. That power—mine! With it, the Game dies. With it, the world beyond kneels."
The cathedral floor caved in, crimson ichor flooding the cracks, rushing toward the fracture like a tide.
The Pull
Argon staggered forward, Selene clutched to his chest, his crimson veins blazing. The fracture's golden light reached for him, burning his skin yet pulling at his soul. His blade pulsed violently, straining toward it as if hungry for more.
One step forward, and the labyrinth would be behind him forever.
But Vanessa's chains coiled near, ready to bind him.
The chained giant strained harder, ready to swallow him whole.
Selene's blood dripped faster, her heartbeat faint.
Every path pulled him. None promised salvation.
Vanessa's Gambit
Vanessa moved first.
Her chains lashed across the chamber, striking toward Selene. Not to kill—this time—but to rip her from Argon's arms.
"She weighs you down!" Vanessa shrieked, her voice sharp with desperation. "Let her die here! Come with me, and I'll give you everything!"
Argon swung his crimson blade, cleaving through the chains in a burst of light. The shockwave ripped the ground apart, sending Vanessa staggering back.
"Touch her," he growled, "and I'll tear you apart."
For the first time, Vanessa's smile faltered. Just for a breath. Then it returned, sharper, more unhinged.
"Then tear me apart, darling," she whispered. "But you'll never tear me out of you."
The Fracture Widens
The golden wound in reality split further, spilling sunlight across the collapsing cathedral. It grew wider, wider, until Argon could see clearer:
A field of green grass. Towers stretching into blue sky. A city bustling with life—unaware that the abyss clawed at its edge.
His crimson blade twitched violently, its hunger surging. The pull became unbearable, dragging his body toward the fracture whether he willed it or not.
Selene clung weakly to him, whispering again. "Don't… abandon me…"
Cliffhanger
And then—something reached in.
From beyond the fracture, a hand emerged. Human. Pale. Too real. Its fingers curled against the jagged edge of light, pulling through.
Not abyssal. Not Vanessa. Not the will.
Something outside had noticed.
And it was reaching for Argon.
The cathedral screamed louder, the chained giant roared, Vanessa lunged forward, Selene gasped his name—
And Argon stood at the center, crimson blade trembling, as reality itself reached for him.
Next Chapter Preview
A hand from outside pulls into the labyrinth, shattering the balance between abyss, will, and fracture. Vanessa sees new prey, Selene sees new hope, and the chained will rages at a rival it cannot bind. Argon must decide whether to take the hand—or cut it off.