CHAPTER 45 — The Labyrinth of the False
The underground amphitheater resembled a cathedral without a god.
Its black stone walls absorbed the light. Only a few torches suspended in the void cast trembling shadows upon the stone steps. The air was cold, motionless, as if no one had breathed here for centuries.
Yet students filled the stone benches.
Three classes.
Three colors.
Three destinies about to tear each other apart.
To the left, Class Zenith. Dark uniforms, calm but tense gazes. The heroes. The ones they said were exceptional.
Zayn sat in the front row, arms crossed, feigning nonchalance. His fingers drummed against his arm. Beside him, Cynthia watched the other classes like a predator surveying its territory. Yojuro, three rows behind, had already closed his eyes. He seemed to be sleeping. He was probably listening to something else. Kai was silently sharpening his own limits. Haruto trembled, his fingers tracing quantum formulas in the air. Robin adjusted his bow, his gaze lost in the darkness. Murata pricked up his ears, his living katana still against his shoulder. Blanche blew ice crystals between her fingers, nervous. Ryuju felt the storm at his fingertips. Axel made sparks crackle between his palms. Yuma played with an invisible thread. Aku listened to the whispers of his djinn blood. Akamaru shuffled a deck of cards, a smirk at the corner of his lips.
To the right, Class Scarlet. Louder. Wilder. Some smiled, others cracked their knuckles, still others stared at Zenith with an almost animal intensity. Their reputation preceded them: they hadn't come to succeed. They had come to destroy.
Loyd sat in the front row, his multicolored hair – blue, red, yellow, green – falling in chaotic strands across his forehead. His yellow eyes glowed in the darkness like two cold lamps. Beside him, Kira remained motionless, his eyes constantly closed, his long black hair framing a face as calm as stone. Alexandra sneered while spinning a fake soul between her fingers. Éric punched his palm, impatient. Enara stared at Zayn with an uncomfortable intensity, a gravitational smile on her lips. Alexandro bounced a small explosive sphere between his fingers. Rex adjusted a magnetic gauntlet. Jackson stroked the cannon resting on his knees. Gravon stayed silent, his skin weakly absorbing the light. Kofi muttered a curse under his breath, to himself. Rodrigue spun his blessed ball on one finger.
And in the center, separated from the other two by a symbolic void, Class Eclipse. Few students. Barely a dozen. But each of them emitted a strange, almost unhealthy presence. They did not speak. They did not look at anyone. They waited.
Ranmaru stared into the void, his imagination already devouring his mind. Shizumi seemed to float rather than walk, living silence around her. Kazuma spun a coin between his fingers, testing fate. Masamune remained perfectly still, his blade ready. Yakumi kept his distance, an invisible halo of corruption around him.
Silence was broken by a clanking sound.
At the far end of the amphitheater, an ancient mechanism began to move. Gears groaned. Chains slid. Then, slowly, a massive stone portal opened in the wall, revealing a dark, damp corridor with no apparent end.
A voice emerged from the shadows.
— "You will enter."
A man stood before the portal. Neither a teacher nor a guard. A tall silhouette, clad in a gray cape, his face hidden by a hood. Only his eyes gleamed.
— "This is the second trial."
He raised a hand.
Behind him, hundreds of small lights flickered to life, suspended in the air like dead fireflies. Badges. Each bore a number engraved in white letters.
— "The Labyrinth of the False."
His echo bounced off the walls, as if the labyrinth itself repeated its name.
— "Listen carefully. I will say this only once."
Silence became absolute.
— "The rules are simple."
He counted on his fingers.
— "One: you will enter an underground labyrinth. It is alive. It will change. It will lie to you."
— "Two: each student starts with one badge. Some have one. Others have several. You do not know who has what."
— "Three: the goal is to collect five badges. The numbers do not matter. Five. No more, no less."
— "Four: if you are defeated, you are eliminated. You lose your badges. You leave the labyrinth."
— "Five: the first to reach five badges… wins. The trial ends immediately."
He lowered his hands.
— "There are no other rules."
A shiver ran through the assembly.
Zayn felt his heart beat harder.
— "No rule against killing?" asked Éric from Class Scarlet, almost gleefully.
The man in the gray cape did not answer.
He turned on his heel and disappeared into the shadow of the corridor.
The message was clear: the labyrinth protected no one.
---
The students began to rise. Murmurs swelled. Some were already grouping by affinity, forming fleeting alliances. Others moved away from the strongest, hoping to survive in the shadows.
Zayn descended the steps, followed by Cynthia. Haruto was trembling. Robin adjusted his bow. Murata pricked up his ears.
— "Do we stay together?" Cynthia murmured.
— "At first, yes. But inside the labyrinth… we'll see."
Yojuro walked past them without a word. Hands in his pockets. An empty face. A ghost already walking.
— "He's going to surpass us all," Haruto whispered.
Zayn did not answer.
He had just met a gaze.
At the foot of the steps, two boys were staring at him.
One was tall, his multicolored hair – blue, red, yellow, green strands – falling across his pale forehead. His yellow eyes glowed without warmth, like two dead suns. He wore the scarlet uniform, but without any rank insignia. As if ranks did not concern him. His name was Loyd. "Neutron King."
Beside him, a shorter boy, black hair cut short, a red band around his wrist. His eyes were closed. Yet he saw. Kira. "Blood Saint." His sealed eyelids did not seem to handicap him. Quite the opposite. They made him more unsettling.
Loyd stepped forward.
— "Al-Kage."
Zayn stopped.
— "Loyd."
— "Do you know why you're going to lose?"
Cynthia clenched her fists. Zayn raised a hand to calm her.
— "Go on, tell me."
Loyd leaned forward slightly, as if to reveal a secret.
— "Because you want to protect your people. I just want to win."
Zayn opened his mouth to answer, but Kira raised a hand.
— "Stop."
His voice was calm. Flat. Like a blade laid flat.
Loyd shrugged but took a step back.
Kira faced Zayn – or rather, he turned his sealed face toward him. No provocation. No threat either. Just an observation.
— "In the labyrinth, there will be no spectators."
He turned on his heel.
Loyd followed him, but before disappearing, he threw over his shoulder:
— "We'll settle this later, Al-Kage. In the real game."
Their silhouettes melted into the scarlet crowd.
Cynthia let out a breath she had been holding for too long.
— "Do you know them?"
— "Not yet. But soon."
---
The portal stood wide open.
The students poured in like a dark tide.
Zenith entered as a group: Zayn, Cynthia, Yojuro, Kai, Haruto, Robin, Murata, Blanche, Ryuju, Axel, Yuma, Aku, Akamaru.
Scarlet scattered immediately: Loyd, Kira, Alexandra, Éric, Enara, Alexandro, Rex, Jackson, Gravon, Kofi, Rodrigue. Each going their own way, like solitary predators.
Eclipse vanished without anyone really seeing them pass: Ranmaru, Shizumi, Kazuma, Masamune, Yakumi. One moment they were there. The next, nothing. Only a strange smell, like sulfur and old paper, lingered where they had stood.
Zayn crossed the threshold.
The air of the labyrinth was different. Heavier. More humid. A smell of wet stone and rusted metal tickled his nostrils.
Behind him, the portal closed with a dull rumble.
The light from the amphitheater went out.
Only the labyrinth's torches remained.
And the shadow.
A lot of shadow.
Cynthia lit a small light with her Fumetsu. Haruto stuck close to Robin. Murata listened to the walls.
— "Which way do we go?" asked Blanche, her voice barely above a whisper.
Zayn looked ahead.
Three corridors.
Three choices.
No clues.
— "We go slowly. We observe. We don't fight the first person we meet."
— "Since when are you reasonable?" Kai shot back.
— "Since I saw their eyes."
No one laughed.
They took the left corridor.
Behind them, the entrance to the labyrinth was already just a memory.
Ahead, darkness opened like a mouth.
And somewhere, very far away, a number one badge waited to be taken.
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