The ruins trembled again.
Not violently this time. Constantly.
A low, grinding vibration pulsed through the ancient corridors beneath their feet as though the entire structure had become restless after the guardian's defeat. Dust drifted steadily from the ceiling now, caught in the dim glow of the runes lining the walls. The air itself felt heavier deeper below—thicker with ethernano.
Kai moved quickly through the corridors ahead, his pace sharp despite the visible strain in his movements. Cana followed close behind, boots slamming against uneven stone as they pushed deeper into the labyrinth.
The tunnels had changed. The upper levels had felt old. These felt alive.
The walls pulsed faintly with flowing streams of light beneath cracked stone, like veins buried beneath skin. Every few seconds Kai would stop briefly, press a lacrima shard against a wall, watch the flow shift through it—and then immediately continue running.
"Left."
They turned sharply.
Another corridor.
Another staircase descending deeper underground.
Cana's breathing had started growing uneven again, not from fear this time but exhaustion. Her legs still ached from earlier, and the constant adrenaline crashes weren't helping.
Meanwhile Kai somehow kept moving.
Barely held together. But moving.
Though now that she was paying attention, she noticed the signs more clearly.
The slight stiffness in his right arm. The way he occasionally pressed a hand briefly against his ribs when he thought she wasn't looking. The faint steam still rolling from his body every now and then whenever he pushed his reinforcement too hard.
He was forcing himself forward entirely on stubbornness at this point.
Which honestly sounded exactly like him.
Another turn. Another corridor.
Then suddenly kai stopped.
Cana nearly slammed directly into his back."—What happened?" she asked quickly, looking around.
The corridor was empty. Silent. Only the low hum of runes echoed through the walls.
Kai didn't answer immediately.His expression had shifted slightly. Troubled.
"...We're forgetting something," he muttered.
Cana frowned. "What?"
Kai slowly lowered the lacrima shard in his hand. "The research team."
Silence.
Cana froze.
Right.
Them.
The entire reason they'd come into the ruins in the first place. Not just the data. People.
The team they'd been sent to retrieve.
Kai's eyes narrowed slightly as he thought aloud. "Before the guardian attacked us..." he said slowly, "they were already barely hanging on."
Cana's chest tightened.
"And after I collapsed the ruins," Kai continued, gaze drifting toward the walls around them, "they should've been far enough away not to get crushed."
Should've.
Not certainty. Not reassurance.
Just probability.
Cana swallowed. "...Should we go find them now?" she asked quietly.
Kai didn't answer.
For the first time since they had been inside these ruins— he hesitated.
Not physically.
Mentally.
His expression remained calm, but she could see the calculations happening behind his eyes. Options. Risks. Outcomes.
And somehow that hesitation alone made her stomach twist worse.
Because Kai always had an answer.
Then suddenly—
He grabbed her wrist.
"Let's move."
Before she could react, he pulled her forward and immediately broke back into a sprint through the corridor. "Kai—"
"It won't help." His voice came flat, controlled. But sharper than before. "Even if we locate them now, we can't do anything for them."
Cana frowned as she kept pace beside him. "What do you mean—?"
"We're low on magic," he interrupted. "You burned a huge amount with override, and I'm not in any better condition."
Another sharp turn.
Their footsteps echoed violently now.
"I can't use the flute anymore," Kai continued. "Not enough ethernano left to maintain healing frequencies properly."
His jaw tightened slightly.
"And until we reach the core, we still can't escape the ruins."
Cana stayed silent. Because he was right. That was the worst part.
If they found the unconscious research team now—
what then? Carry them? Protect them?
Fight the guardian again while exhausted?
Kai continued speaking, voice quieter now. "Finding them currently just slows us down."
A beat.
"And makes them targets."
The words landed hard.
Cana looked away slightly as they ran. Because part of her hated hearing that.
But another part— the part that had watched Kai nearly destroy his own body just to survive understood exactly why he was saying it.
"...We don't have much time," Kai muttered.
The corridor shook again. Closer this time.
Cana clenched her jaw and followed without another argument. Because she didn't actually have a better plan.
As if sensing that hesitation, Kai spoke again after a few seconds.
"The best thing we can do right now is disable the ruins."
His pace never slowed.
"If we stop the core, we stop the drain."
The runes along the walls flickered as they passed.
"Their condition won't worsen after that."
Then finally—
"I'll save them afterward."
Not "we'll try."
Not "maybe."
Just simple certainty.
Cana stared at the back of his head for a moment. Then quietly nodded. "...Okay."
A low screech suddenly echoed through the ruins. Both of them froze instinctively. The sound was distant— but unmistakable.
The guardian. Alive again.
A violent tremor followed immediately after, strong enough to crack the wall beside them.
Kai clicked his tongue. "...You have got to be kidding me."
Another screech. Closer.
Then came the sound beneath it— impact, heavy, massive. Something was tearing through the ruins again. Fast.
Kai's eyes sharpened instantly. "Run."
"We ARE runnin—!"
Before Cana could finish complaining, Kai abruptly grabbed her around the waist and threw her over his shoulder.
"HEY—!"
Shadows burst beneath his feet. The world blurred. Kai accelerated violently through the corridor, moving so fast the surrounding walls became streaks of dark stone and glowing runes. Cana nearly lost her grip immediately.
A thunderous crash echoed behind them. The guardian was gaining.
Kai's expression hardened. Without slowing down, he slammed his fist directly into a cracked support pillar as they passed.
BOOM.
The ceiling behind them collapsed instantly. Stone and debris crashed into the corridor in a violent chain reaction.
A few seconds later— another impact shattered through it. The guardian kept coming.
"...Of course it's not enough," Kai muttered tiredly. He kicked another fractured wall as they turned a corner.
CRACK.
The entire passage partially folded inward behind them. Dust exploded outward through the tunnels.
Still— the screech continued.
Closer. Relentless.
Cana gripped tighter against his shoulder despite herself. "How far is this path?!"
Kai didn't answer. Which immediately made her more nervous.
His eyes moved rapidly across every corridor, every rune path, every branching tunnel as he ran.
Left. Right.
Down another staircase.
Another tremor.
The walls around them had started looking stranger now. The symbols were denser. More complex. Almost layered over each other in spiraling patterns that hurt to look at too long.
Kai suddenly took another sharp left— and stopped dead.
Cana blinked."...What?"
Kai just motioned forward. Neither of them spoke for a moment.
Because the path ahead—ended.
A massive wall stood directly in front of them.
Smooth black stone stretched from floor to ceiling without a single visible crack or opening. Ancient runes glowed faintly across its surface in slow pulsing waves, far denser than anywhere else in the ruins.
The corridor simply... stopped here.
Behind them— another distant screech echoed through the tunnels.
Closer.
Cana just stared at the massive wall blocking their path, her chest tightening harder with every passing second. The corridor ended here. No doors. No tunnels. No openings.
Just smooth black stone stretching endlessly upward, ancient runes pulsing faintly beneath its surface like veins beneath skin.
Dead end.
Her stomach dropped. "...No," she whispered.
Kai stepped closer to the wall, eyes narrowing rapidly as he scanned the glowing patterns.
Cana hesitantly called out to him. "Kai—"
"We're dead," she said, panic finally bleeding into her voice. "The path ended—we have nowhere to go—"
Kai immediately dropped her unceremoniously onto the floor beside him.
"OW—!". She cursed looking at him. " What the hell are you doing?"
He ignored her completely.
"It's a ruin, obviously the path won't just be some open door," he answered quickly, already pressing one hand against the wall surface. "This must have some kind of mechanism like the first floor."
His fingers moved rapidly across the etched runes. "This should be the path," he continued. "There's no other direction the mana flow could've gone."
Cana froze slightly. The first floor, the hidden passage. It had taken them nearly half an hour to locate the concealed mechanism behind the false pillar earlier.
Half an hour.
A cold chill crawled down her spine.
"Kai..." her voice tightened, "we don't have that much time."
Another distant tremor shook the corridor violently enough to crack part of the ceiling.
The guardian screeched again. This time the sound echoed so loudly through the tunnels that Cana physically flinched.
It was close. Very close.
"You can feel the tremors!" she snapped, looking back down the corridor fearfully. "That thing will be here soon!"
Kai clicked his tongue sharply. "...Yeah."
His gaze shifted briefly toward the darkness behind them. "It's likely already within range."
Another pause.
"A few minutes or less."
Cana stared at him in horror. Then immediately pointed at the wall. "THEN WHY DON'T WE JUST DESTROY IT?!"
Kai didn't even look at her. "It's like the first door." He knocked once against the black surface. The sound that came back wasn't hollow.
It was dense. Layered. Wrong.
"If we break this incorrectly," he muttered, "the entire structure collapses on top of us."
Cana's face paled slightly.
Kai continued examining the runes quickly. "And like before, there aren't any visible gaps or structural seams here." His eyes narrowed further. "It's completely sealed."
Another tremor. Closer. Dust exploded from the far end of the corridor.
Cana instinctively stepped backward.
"Trying to locate the mechanism manually would take too long." He exhaled slowly through his nose.
Then muttered quietly.;"....I really don't like doing this."
Cana blinked. "What?"
Kai finally stepped back from the wall. "We're shadow stepping through it."
Silence.
Cana stared at him. "...We can do that?"
Kai immediately shook his head. "Normally i wouldn't."
Not reassuring.
"And it's not safe specially with a passenger but thankfully I am a veteran."
Even less reassuring.
Before she could question him further, Kai crouched and rapidly opened one of the pouches attached near his waist.
Metal clinked softly.
Then he pulled out a small mechanical object roughly the size of his palm.
It resembled a compact lacrima device surrounded by thin circular rings of metal etched with tiny rune patterns. A faint blue glow pulsed at its center.
The moment Kai activated it—
A high-frequency sound filled the corridor. Barely audible. But sharp enough to make Cana's ears twitch uncomfortably.
She frowned immediately. "...What the hell is that?"
Kai adjusted the device toward the wall without looking at her. "A sonar-type sensor used for ruin exploration."
The device emitted another pulse. Faint ripples of light spread briefly across the black wall surface before fading.
Cana blinked. "...You made that?"
Kai's expression remained focused. "I made this mini version , considering how often I end up crawling through ancient death traps."
The device hummed louder.
"Now shut up and let me focus."
Cana opened her mouth immediately—
Then another violent screech echoed through the ruins. Louder.
The corridor shook hard enough this time that a section of the ceiling partially collapsed farther behind them. Stone crashed violently across the pathway.
Cana swallowed hard and quickly turned toward the darkness behind them. "...Make it quick."
Kai didn't answer immediately. His eyes remained locked on the readings shifting across the device.
Tiny glowing lines flickered erratically around the outer rings.
Then suddenly—
He paused. The faintest smirk crossed his face. "...There."
Cana turned back sharply. "What?!"
Kai stood immediately. "There should be open space beyond the wall within transition range." He adjusted the wraps around his wrists tighter. "Not large. But enough."
Another deafening roar echoed toward them. Closer. Much closer.
The sound of massive footsteps thundered through the ruined corridors now. Fast.
Cana's breathing quickened instantly. "KAI—"
He turned toward her sharply. "Wait here."
Her eyes widened."What?"
"I need to confirm the transition path first."
Shadows had already started gathering beneath his feet again.
"If the internal space is unstable and I bring you through immediately, we could fuse into a wall."
Cana froze. "...That is NOT something you say at the last moment!"
Kai ignored that entirely. "Don't worry." The shadows deepened around him. "I'll be back in a flash."
Then—he vanished. The darkness swallowed him whole instantly. Gone.
Cana stood alone. Silence crashed down around her immediately after.
Then—
BOOOOOM.
The far end of the corridor exploded inward. Stone and debris erupted outward violently as something massive tore straight through the collapsed tunnels behind her.
Cana spun instantly. And froze.
The guardian emerged from the dust cloud slowly. Its broken hollow face twitched unnaturally, black flesh still partially cracked from their previous battle. Parts of its body hadn't fully regenerated properly this time—jagged fractures spread across one shoulder while one arm dragged slightly wrong behind it.
But it was still enormous. Still horrifying. Still alive. Its hollow skull-like face locked directly onto her.
Cana's hand immediately shot toward her cards. Her heartbeat slammed violently against her ribs.
The guardian screeched. Then lunged. Fast.
Far too fast.
The corridor shattered beneath its weight as it rushed toward her.
Cana's fingers tightened around her cards —and suddenly something grabbed her ankle. Hard.
Before she could react—the ground beneath her vanished. Darkness swallowed her whole. Everything disappeared.
No sound. No light. No direction.
Cana's eyes widened in terror. There was nothing. Only darkness stretching endlessly in every direction around her. Not empty darkness. Alive darkness.
Pressure crushed against her body from all sides as though the shadows themselves were trying to fold inward around her existence.
She couldn't breathe properly. Couldn't move. Couldn't even scream.
The silence was worse. Deafening. Absolute.
Her body felt weightless and trapped at the same time.
Then she saw them. Shapes. Dark figures standing impossibly far away within the void. Watching. Motionless.
Every direction she turned— more silhouettes. Distorted. Humanoid. Wrong.
Her chest tightened violently. She tried to move. Nothing happened. Tried to speak. Nothing came out.
Panic surged instantly.
The only thing grounding her— was a hand gripping her wrist tightly. Warm. Real.
Something solid within the endless dark.
Then suddenly—light exploded across her vision.
The pressure vanished instantly.
Cana stumbled forward hard onto solid ground, gasping sharply as air rushed violently back into her lungs.
Stone. Cold stone beneath her hands.
A corridor. Narrow. But real. Dark with only the light from a torch.
She coughed once, disoriented, before immediately spinning around.
Kai was slumped a few steps being her turning towards the wall for a moment before he turned back to her. His breathing was heavier now.
But he still smirked amused the moment she looked at him.
"...Thank you for travelling through Kai Shadow Transport Services."
Cana stared at him wide-eyed, still shaken from whatever the hell that had been.
Kai straightened slowly. "First ride is free."