The "walls" of the Labyrinth were not stone or metal they were massive, kilometer-wide pistons that slammed together with the force of a tectonic shift every sixty seconds. The air was thick with the scent of ozone and the screech of grinding gears.
[LOCATION: THE COMPACTOR-LABYRINTH - SECTOR 1]
[HAZARD: CYCLICAL COMPRESSION]
[INTERVAL: 58 SECONDS UNTIL CRUSH]
"We have less than a minute between cycles," Mateo shouted, his voice nearly drowned out by the rhythmic thrum of the moon's core. "If we're caught between the pistons when they fire, no amount of 'Density' will save us. We'll be turned into a localized singularity."
"Then don't be there when they fire," Kenji said.
He wasn't running. He was watching the walls. His white eyes were tracking the flow of "Heat-Data" through the pistons. He could see the hydraulic fluid a high-pressure Syndicate lubricant pulsing through the veins of the machine.
"Bjorn, Elara—stay close. When I say move, you move."
[30 SECONDS TO CRUSH]
A group of Labyrinth-Sentries detached from the ceiling. These were spindly, multi-limbed constructs made of "Hard-Light Steel," their fingers shaped into high-speed drills.
[TARGET: LABYRINTH-SENTRY (RANK 115)]
"They're trying to pin us down until the walls close!" Elara realized, summoning a [Frost-Silk Barrier].
The drills hit the ice and shattered it instantly. The level difference was too high Rank 80 ice couldn't stop a Rank 115 drill.
"Don't block them!" Kenji yelled. "Recycle their momentum!"
Kenji lunged forward, but he didn't draw his sword. He grabbed the leading Sentry by its drill-arm. Using [Kinetic Redirect], he spun the construct around and slammed its drill into the floor.
[15 SECONDS TO CRUSH]
"Now! Into the piston-housing!"
Kenji led them into a narrow gap inside the massive machinery, a place where the gears meshed together. It looked suicidal, but Kenji had identified a "Dead-Zone" in the machine's logic.
BOOM.
The Labyrinth shook. The massive walls slammed together just behind them, obliterating the Sentries that had been chasing them. The shockwave was so powerful it threw Bjorn against a rotating gear, but his new Void-Shielded armor held.
[0 SECONDS - COMPRESSION COMPLETE]
[INTERVAL RESET: 60 SECONDS UNTIL NEXT CRUSH]
"That... was too close," Bjorn panted, his World-Root Splitter sparking against the floor. "Kenji, we can't do that fifty more times. We'll slip up eventually."
"We aren't going to do it fifty times," Kenji said. He was kneeling by a massive pipe that fed "Logic-Steam" into the pistons. "We're going to hijack the rhythm."
Kenji pulled out a handful of Recursive Iron shavings and a piece of the Star of the Void-Smith. He didn't build a weapon; he forged a Tuning Fork.
[SKILL ACTIVATED: HARMONIC OVERRIDE (RANK 1)]
He slammed the fork into the pipe. The vibration didn't break the metal; it synchronized with it. Suddenly, the rhythmic thrum of the Labyrinth changed. The next piston didn't slam shut it stuttered, its internal valves confused by Kenji's "Injected Rhythm."
[SYSTEM ERROR: MECHANICAL ARRHYTHMIA DETECTED]
"The Labyrinth is 'Coughing'," Kenji said, a grim smile on his face. "The walls won't close for another ten minutes. Move!"
They sprinted deeper into the moon. As they reached the Second Tier, the scrap changed. It was no longer just metal; they began to see "Frozen Data" objects that looked like translucent, crystalline versions of everyday things. A crystalline chair, a crystalline sword, a crystalline child's toy.
"These are 'Conceptual Remains'," Mateo whispered, his sensors whirring. "Things that the Syndicate deleted so thoroughly that only their 'idea' is left. Kenji, the Stellar-Iron is right ahead. But it's guarded by a Corrupted Memory."
In the center of the chamber, floating above a pool of molten "Stellar-Iron," was a figure that looked like a distorted version of Elara.
[TARGET: MIRROR-GHOST (RANK 140 - WORLD BOSS)]
[ABILITY: LOGIC-COPY (MIMICS THE STRONGEST ATTACKER)]
The Ghost turned its head, its eyes glowing with the cold blue of the Syndicate. It didn't speak. It simply raised a hand, and a massive, Rank 140 [Frost-Silk Blizzard] erupted far more powerful than anything the real Elara could produce.
"It's copying us!" Elara cried, shivering as the temperature in the room plummeted to absolute zero.
"It's copying our Ranks," Kenji said, stepping forward. He put his blade away. "It's looking at our data and multiplying it to find its own power level."
Kenji stood in the center of the blizzard, the ice freezing his clothes, his skin turning blue.
"Kenji! Get out of there!" Bjorn yelled.
"Wait," Kenji said. He looked at the Mirror-Ghost. "You're Rank 140 because you think I'm the strongest thing here. But I'm Rank 0."
Kenji deactivated his Density Soul. He suppressed his Void-Smith Star. He let go of every bit of "Data" he had accumulated since the Gutter.
He became "Null."
The Mirror-Ghost suddenly flickered. Its form began to shrink. Its Rank 140 status started to tumble.
[ADAPTING TO TARGET... TARGET RANK: 0]
[ADJUSTING POWER LEVEL... 140 -> 0]
The blizzard vanished. The Ghost became a small, flickering flame, no stronger than a candle.
"You can't copy what isn't there," Kenji whispered.
He walked up to the flame and blew it out.
[BOSS DEFEATED: MIRROR-GHOST]
[REWARD: ACCESS TO STELLAR-IRON POOL]
[LEVEL UP: ??? (STAGNANT AT 0)]
Kenji stood over the pool of molten Stellar-Iron. It was a liquid that looked like a captured nebula swirling purples, blacks, and golds.
"This isn't just metal," Kenji said, reaching his hand into the liquid. He didn't burn. The Stellar-Iron climbed up his arm, sensing a "Null-Host." "This is the material they use to build the foundations of a new universe. And now... we're going to use it to rebuild the Ghost-Venture."
As the iron fused with Kenji's skin, the Seventh Star in his chest roared to life, turning a brilliant, blinding gold.
[THE SYNDICATE WAR: ESCALATION LEVEL 1]
[THE ARCHITECTS HAVE NOTICED YOUR PRESENCE]