"…"
Both Haruo and Ena stood still and carefully observed the room around them. Having experienced the strange shift multiple times in the past ten hours, they became all the more cautious, as anyone would.
The room was eerily still, no commotion, no golems, and no major transformation. However, despite their caution, the area still hadn't made a drastic change. It was still the same old design as when they first entered.
Yet the same old design as when they first entered.
Although they were convinced that nothing had changed, necessitating the need for their weapons, they made sure to have them at hand just in case.
Although there was a slight change that Haruo noticed.
In the middle of the room, the pointing statues changed directions and were pointing elsewhere when they first entered.
"What…? Did something happen…?"
Ena said, her face sweating profusely as she looked around the place. Raising her blade to point everywhere. It seems like the tomb had pushed her cautiousness to its peak during the past events.
"Stop overreacting."
"After everything we've been through, you think I'M overreacting?"
Haruo scoffed. "You're just inexperienced."
"SAYS THE PERSON WHO HAS HIS GUN OUT!"
Haruo sighed at her sudden outburst before lowering his M-13 to his waist, his finger tracing the side of the slide of his gun. Having his curiosity piqued, he closed the distance between himself and the statues. Ena didn't bother to follow him and slumped against the wall, closing her eyes as she prepared herself for her slumber.
The statues in front of him were smaller compared to the last.
Scratching the top of his head, he made Oscar scan the runes that lay on the smooth base of each statue. However, each one only disappointed him more. It was only the same praises and honorifics that they had found earlier.
Seeing as no useful information was presented to him, he decided to explore the area.
During his research, the room began to quake once more. Even Ena was surprised and was jolted to her feet.
Haruo, feeling the vibrations beneath his feet, turned his head toward the statues.
And slowly, they turned. And after a few seconds, the shaking stopped. The statues have been realigned once again.
"Mmm…"
And just like that, ten minutes passed, and the room quaked again. The statue's fingers were directed.
Another ten minutes have passed, and the statues have moved again. From there, Haruo noticed a pattern within the room.
Then, in the 4th shift, every single finger of each statue, except for one, pointed to a door.
In the room were five doors, and on top of each door was a drawing that represented one of the five. Having noticed the pattern, Haruo decided to wait longer and blatantly stared at the statues.
Another ten minutes have passed, and all the statues once again pointed to one of the five doors except for one statue.
After seeing the sight, Haruo gained the confirmation he needed.
Walking toward Ena, he tugged her by her side. She turned around with red-rimmed eyes and tiny red veins in her eyes. Her eyes were wide open, staring only at Haruo.
"You seem like you had a nice nap."
"Oh, you think??"
"Let's go, we're leaving this place. Hopefully, anyway."
Although there was no wind within the tomb, she felt the word 'Leaving' pass through her ear as if it was the wind blessing her ears and skin like she was in a peaceful grassland.
With her interpreting his words, she got to her feet immediately, and all the tiredness from her eyes instantly diminished.
"Really? Say you swear right now."
"Follow me."
Ena scratched her neck while she groaned from stretching her muscles.
"Just tell me where to go, point in the direction of where the exit is, and I'll go as fast as I can."
Ena said, her voice laced with energy. This was the first good thing that had happened to them in the past two days, or three. Being stuck in this tomb for hours on end made her sense of time rusty.
But that didn't matter any longer, as when they got outside, all the negative feelings she had experienced within the past day would all wash away just as long as she could breathe the fresh air once more.
So she waited, and when Haruo stopped, her eyes were filled with anticipation.
Haruo was staring at the five statues.
"So… When are we leaving?"
"Just wait."
For a moment, Ena nearly felt a vein pop out from her forehead, her smile slightly faltering as well. Though she still clung to her sanity and didn't lash out immediately.
"… What are we exactly waiting for?"
No response, and no matter how much she wanted to complain, she decided to wait for a moment and trust him.
***
A minute passed, and another soon after, and soon it had been more than twenty minutes in total. Her eyes were twitching from the impatience that had been building up. She had waited for a good while, and yet, they were still standing in the same spot as before. Even though she could wait, Ena was growing tired of just standing still.
"Haru~ It's been twenty minutes now! HOW- How long are you going to make me wait exactly?"
"Just wait a few more minutes."
"WHY!? CAN'T YOU JUST TELL ME WHEN EXACTLY?!"
Haruo didn't listen. He blocked his hearing and focused on his mind.
Just as Ena was about to say another word, the entire room shook. And despite her being used to it by now, she was still caught off guard slightly, especially when she was speaking.
Then, four of the statues pointed in the same direction. At the door that had the symbol of the Sun.
In that very moment, Haruo's legs shot forward, sprinting to the door.
Ena, witnessing his sudden burst, couldn't help but be slightly shocked. At that moment, she shut her mouth and followed closely from behind.
Although the statues were pointing at the door of the sun, that wasn't the door Haruo chose to go through. But instead, the door he chose was that of the candle.
"Why the hell are we running all of a sudden!?"
"We only have ten minutes to find the exit!"
"HUH? Why?!"
"I'll keep it short. There were a few things I've noticed while observing the statues. At every fourth shift, four statues would align and point in a direction. At first, I thought it was a coincidence, but after the third time, I realized it was a pattern."
As she processed my words as they ran deeper within the door. At the end of her contemplation, she frowned.
"WHY ARE WE GOING HERE THEN!? All the other statues were pointing toward the symbol of the sun!?"
"I said I noticed a few things, didn't I?"
Ena was correct, although the statues pointed within the door of the sun, they headed toward the candle instead.
The reason was that the statues weren't pointing at the doors, but at the statues themselves. Haruo had noticed this when he had first seen all the statues pointing at the 'doors.'
But only four statues shifted instead of the original five.
However, there wasn't enough evidence, and he thought it was just his suspicion talking, but after the second shift, his suspicion only deepened.
Why would it only be four? Because a fixed statue can never point at itself unless it were to bend its elbow, but after countless observations, he realized it was impossible. So he concluded that the statues that he observed weren't directed at the door they should follow, but at the statues themselves.
With that explanation, Ena was still confused.
"… That isn't enough evidence to say that they weren't pointing at the doors, though."
With her remark, Haruo stayed silent for a good moment before moving his lips to say.
"You're right. That's why I took a gamble."
As she was about to say something, a projectile had interrupted her. Her body twisted in an almost unnatural shape, just barely dodging it.
Ahead of them were constantly changing walls filled with traps and pits, like the one they had faced before. However, there seemed to be new things within this one.
Along with the traps were golems that rampaged through the corridors. Their figures varied in many sizes, either large or small, but their sizes didn't change their power surging within them.
It seems like the golems in front of them were more dangerous than the last. They could see that the opponents they faced were shaped and made more precisely due to the overwhelming aura they emitted from their stone skin.
Haruo, having been carrying the M-13 for the past twelve hours or so, felt his shoulder slightly numb and his palm shaking. Yet, despite that, he raised it with precise clarity and sent a massive amount of energy their way.
The energy soared through the halls, allowing them a clear way, at least, temporarily.
"Oscar, set a timer for nine minutes!"
By his command, a blue energy-like smoke wrapped around his wrist with three numbers atop it.
[8:59… 8… 7…]
Seconds flew by, and both Ena and Haruo sprinted with all their might, rushing past the traps and golems; however, each time they did so, the golems around them slowly began to grow faster.
One of them even managed to pull Ena by the back of her collar.
Her body was dragged backwards, turning her head as she saw a fist closing in on her face. She took a deep breath and embraced the momentum, and even enhanced it by jumping from the floor.
With the momentum, she rocketed above the marble fist. With an opportunity, she grabbed the wrist and dragged it along with the inertia and slammed the golem hard to the ground, turning its body into pieces before it became dust.
Her feet were light, landing softly on the ground like a feather.
But even then, she wasn't able to rest. To her side was a wall full of blades descending toward her direction.
Ena focused her gaze on Haruo. At that very moment, they gazed at each other and nodded.
Blood scattered forward, compressing into a single line that flew to Haruo. Responding to that, he stretched his other hand forward and grasped the crimson line tightly, before pulling it with great strength, allowing Ena to avoid the blades.
Haruo had thrown the line like a whip and shot her to the next horde of marble humanoids.
Since there wasn't much space around them, Haruo made sure Ena wouldn't get slammed to the wall by accident, only closing in the wall just inches away from crashing.
Without another word, she threw one of her emperor blades at the golem, before retrieving it back with the same line she was shot forward with.
Although twelve hours of constantly doing nothing and napping uncomfortably on the floor amidst room transformation wasn't much rest, that didn't mean she hadn't rested. And despite hating the tomb itself, she couldn't help but feel slightly bored and annoyed.
If she couldn't escape it yet, then why not embrace it?
She unleashed her wrath on the golems, venting her frustration about this ordeal. After all, if this really was the way to the exit, she was going to make sure to leave a mark.
While she was busy with the golems, Haruo focused on the ones that slipped away and finished them off himself, along with maintaining a clear path for both of them.
Haruo and Ena know that this tomb was always changing, as well as its overall structure. It even seemed to disregard the laws of physics entirely, though it was a daily occurrence; the entire place seemed nearly impossible to structure out.
That was because it was a mechanical tomb. A tomb that doesn't massively rely on magic.
Not long after, the hallways began to transform as they had expected, and the walls slowly scattered, revealing even more traps and space around them.
Careful adjustments were made, and Haruo saw that the place he was standing on was slowly drifting apart from the floor. Sensing the danger, he swiftly moved to the next platform.
Even then, it seemed useless. If he hadn't known any better, he would've thought the tomb had a mind of its own.
Traps appeared one after another. Each time he relocated, another trap was set for him. Even Ena was getting caught by it sometimes, but Haruo was there to warn her to intervene directly.
Distant gears turned despite having the whole room torn apart, another mystery Haruo could never solve. Sweat dripping from his face.
Outside was an abyss of darkness, not stone nor dirt; it was simply nothing. Where was the sound coming from?
He sighed before he noticed something from the corner of his eye.
Still having a part of the crimson string, Haruo pulled Ena away from the combat and dragged her near him. And just another moment later, the side had opened to a trap laced with gasoline and ember.
Ena was saved.
However, tension was slowly rising, and the constant strain of moving and using their abilities was slowly starting to show within them.
Haruo glanced at his wrist.
[4:32… 1… 0…]
Their time was reduced by more than half.
They had to be quicker.
Ena swallowed her saliva, her eyes filled with urgency, clenching her jaw as she took a glance at Haruo.
They continued their run.
slash, dodge, avoid, coordinate, time, it was clear that they were nearing their limit. And despite resting, it seemed that it wasn't enough rest to alleviate their fatigue.
And just as they expected, a strange dullness arose, as Ena took a misstep.
The whole platform underneath them vanished. Haruo gritted his teeth and tightly clung to Ena's wrist. His other hand was on the edge of the next platform.
"DON'T YOU DARE LET GO!!"
As if betraying her, Haruo couldn't manage to let go of the platform.
Not that he willingly did so, but because his hand broke, three of his fingers were torn off.