Cassie turned her head toward the sound of the footsteps, her body trembling so violently that her teeth rattled.
"Is it... is it you, Blaze?" she whispered, her voice a fragile thread in the gloom.
"Yeah," Blaze replied, his voice grounding her in the nightmare.
Cassie fell silent, her sightless eyes shimmering with a mixture of disbelief and sheer, overwhelming relief. She took a moment to process the fact that she wasn't alone in this hellscape—that a familiar soul had found her in the dark.
"Thanks..." she choked out, her voice breaking as the tears she had been holding back finally flooded over. "Thanks for coming for me."
Blaze offered a tired, genuine smile that she couldn't see. "No problem, Cass. I told you I'd help if we landed in the same place."
He looked her over. In the chaotic transition to the Dream Realm, her clothing had been shredded or lost; she was defenseless and exposed to the biting chill of the gray mists. Without hesitation, Blaze reached out.
"Cass, lend me your hand."
She obeyed immediately, reaching out into the void. As their skin met, Blaze willed his current Armor Memory to transfer. A shimmer of light danced between them, and suddenly, the weight of the protective gear shifted from his body to hers.
Cassie's eyes widened as she felt the cool, solid weight of the high-rank armor manifest around her. "But... why? Why are you giving me this? It's a higher rank than anything I have. You need it too!"
"You're exposed, Cass," Blaze said firmly, ignoring the sudden bite of the wind on his own skin. "Cover yourself. Survival first, modesty second—but let's handle both."
Cassie blushed deeply, realized her state, and quickly adjusted the plates and straps of the armor until she was fully protected. Blaze, now left with nothing but his grit, sat down on the jagged coral floor. He was exhausted, the spiritual toll of the transition and the transfer weighing on him like lead.
"As I said before," Blaze said, leaning his head back against a coral rib, "you survived. That's the only thing that matters right now."
"Thanks for it... again," Cassie whispered, a small, weary smile finally appearing on her face.
Silence descended between them. Blaze watched the horizon, his mind already churning. After the sun rises, I need to find something to cover myself with. I can't go wandering this place like this. Maybe I can find some fibrous coral and stitch at least some trousers.
The exhaustion eventually claimed them both. Cassie drifted into a fitful, shallow sleep, anchored by the presence of someone she trusted.
The morning didn't bring a bright sun, but rather a sickly, pale illumination that cut through the gray mists. As the light grew, a terrifying sound filled the Labyrinth—the sound of millions of gallons of water rushing away.
Cassie bolted awake, her head swiveling in panic. "What... what is happening?"
Blaze stood at the edge of the high platform, watching the impossible. The Dark Sea, which had surrounded their small island of stone, was pulling back, revealing a landscape of twisted coral and deep, shadowed ravines.
"The Dark Sea has receded," Blaze said, his voice laced with awe.
"How is that possible?" Cassie gasped, her hands clutching the edges of her armor.
"I have no idea," Blaze replied. "This place doesn't follow the rules of the world we know."
Once the sun had fully risen, providing what little visibility this realm allowed, Blaze turned to her. "I'm going down. I need to scout the area and see if I can procure some food. We can't stay on this platform forever."
Cassie hesitated, her fingers trembling. She reached into her soul and summoned a Memory—a length of sturdy, enchanted rope. She handed it to him, her voice barely a whisper.
"Stay... safe. And come... back. Alive."
Blaze took the rope, his expression softening. "Sure, I will."
Using the rope to navigate the treacherous, slippery descent, Blaze climbed down into the Labyrinth. His first task was practical; using the knowledge he had absorbed from Teacher Julius's survival classes, he gathered flexible, vine-like coral fibers. With grim patience, he stitched together a pair of rough, lousy trousers. It wasn't high fashion, but it was enough to cover him and provide a modicum of protection against the elements.
He summoned his iron sword, the weight of the hilt familiar and comforting. Then, he began to wander into the Labyrinth.
Blaze stood on the jagged ground, his boots crunching against the calcified remains of ancient polyps. The air was thick with the smell of salt and decay.
Clack-clack-clack.
The sound of chitinous limbs striking stone echoed through the coral ribs. Blaze froze. From the shadows of a towering, bone-white rib, the Carapace Scavenger emerged.
It was a nightmare given form—two and a half meters of armored malice. It looked like a demonic crab fused with the torso of a man, its four pairs of scythe-like legs clicking rhythmically. Its head sat neckless on its shoulders, mandibles twitching as it caught the scent of fresh meat.
The monster lunged, a screech of grinding metal tearing through the silence.
Blaze didn't move. He didn't blink. He reached deep into the orange sea of his soul. Ignite.
The change was instantaneous. Orange fire erupted from his skin, turning the surrounding mists into steam. As the flames took hold, his flesh dissolved into spiritual ash, revealing the stark, ivory bone wreathed in a roaring inferno. His eyes vanished, replaced by the flickering, hollow glow of the star within his skull's sockets.
The Scavenger swung an enormous pincer, meant to crush him into a red smear. Blaze shifted, his skeletal hand gripping his sword. He coated the blade in Hellfire. The metal didn't just glow; it screamed as the soul-burning heat fused with the iron.
Clang!
The sword met the pincer. The Scavenger's near-indestructible chitin meant nothing to the orange flames. The fire licked at the shell, and the creature let out a high-pitched, soul-piercing wail. It wasn't the armor that was failing; it was the life force beneath it.
Blaze moved like a flickering shadow, sliding beneath the monster's second strike. "All out of mercy," his voice rasped, the tone deep and horrifying.
He pointed his left hand, and a torrent of Hellfire erupted like a pressurized jet, bathing the Scavenger's torso. The armor blackened, but the damage was internal. The creature's movements became erratic as its very essence withered under the heat.
Desperate, the Scavenger reared up, trying to impale him with its scythe-tipped legs. Blaze funneled the fire into his own limbs, leaping high into the air. He gripped his sword with both skeletal hands, the flames intensifying into a blinding, incandescent white-gold.
"Burn," he commanded.
He descended like a falling star. The blade carved through the center of the Scavenger's head, slicing through the torso and deep into the main carapace. The fire imploded, sucking the life out of the monster in a silent, terrifying vacuum.
The Scavenger collapsed, its limbs twitching one last time before going still.
[You have killed Awakened Beast: Carapace Scavenger]
[Your soul grows stronger]
Blaze felt a sudden surge of energy. It wasn't just a mental shift; he felt the power minimally strengthening his flesh, his bones, and his mind and some place he couldnt understand
The flames receded, and his skin knitted itself back over his skeleton. He stood over the hollowed-out husk of the beast, pale and gasping for air. The transformation was an incredible drain, but he was alive. He had made his first kill.
But the moment of triumph was shattered.
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
The scream ripped through the coral Labyrinth. It was Cassie. And it was coming from the platform above.