Both Ren and Kagami were forced in opposite directions, carried by separate platforms that rose from below, then tilted sharply to one side. Walls slid between them, and then a heavy mechanism locked each of the areas in.
Ren found himself entirely alone.
After a few moments, he steadied himself as the platform beneath him finally stopped moving. He looked around to get an idea of where he was. He saw a corridor with walls so tightly pressed around him that he was able to hear his own breathing. And there were no lanterns this time to make it easier on him, only a faint glow coming from a nearby junction where the corridor bent out of view.
He conjured his Pact Blade slowly, letting its glow spill around and light the path ahead. The Pact Glyph behind him burned smaller and dimmer than before, conserving what power it could. Adjusting his grip, he advanced into the dark carefully.
Suddenly, noise echoed from somewhere deeper in the maze. It sounded like some heavy impact followed by movement. That's when he realized someone... or rather something... was approaching.
He pressed himself against the wall as a Kagemono came into view. Its face was pale and vacant. The dim surroundings made the gold of its eyes and the black swirls within them stand out even more. It slowed near where he stood, lingering as if it had somehow sensed Ren's presence nearby. But Ren kept perfectly still while the Kagemono circled the area a few times in erratic ways. Then, without doing anything else, the figure turned and drifted back into the darkness.
Ren allowed himself a breath after that and then continued on his path.
He kept moving, walking through corridors that narrowed or widened randomly, as if there was no real purpose to it all. It almost felt like a game built to wear a person's mind more than anything else.
Soon afterwards, he reached a passage that split in two. To the left, the way was lined with what looked like wide shoji panels placed within metallic frames. They were all broken and bent in places. To the right, the corridor widened and curved into the shadows. Ren chose the curved path.
As he moved, he sensed fragments of magic in the air. Initially, he thought it might have been the Pact's energy reacting since that was the only element of comparison he had, but then he realized this one carried a different sort of vibration. Colder. Heavier. Like mud dragging itself forward.
Ren followed that sensation until the passage opened into a tunnel lined with scorched wooden panels, each partially peeled back like paper exposed to fire.
Here, the walls were covered in cluttered sigils that looked awkward. Kagami wasn't around to explain as she usually would, but Ren guessed they were cursed sigils of some sort.
The air was thick with heavy magic, so something in here must have been of significance.
As he moved closer to one of the cursed sigils for a better look, the Pact Blade flickered as if something was interfering with it.
----
Meanwhile, somewhere beyond the sealed walls, Kagami moved with her usual elegance and precision.
Her space was even darker and more claustrophobic than Ren's, and for once, being a cat worked in her favor. She adapted easily to this environment. Every motion was controlled and silent enough to make her nearly invisible to the Kagemonos.
Three of them were following her. She let them come.
When they closed in, she jumped upward, kicking off a side wall to flip onto a ledge above. Below, one of the Kagemonos triggered a trap while trying to get a hold of her. A tile gave way under its foot, and a row of metal spikes shot out horizontally, driving through its chest. The others turned toward the sound, and Kagami struck them with her magic infused and sharp claws, before they could react in any way.
Suddenly, her eyes glowed. It was an involuntary reaction to something taking place in some other part of the maze. Somewhere where Ren was. She felt the Pact stir in response and knew instantly the source wasn't her. It was him.
Ren was closing in on something.
----
Ren tightened his grip on the blade and moved in to strike one of the cursed sigils. The moment he closed the distance, it reacted, releasing a sudden shockwave that slammed into him with full force, pushing him against the opposite wall. By the time he registered what had happened, he was already on the floor. He pushed himself up, coughing hard.
Then something else pressed from deep within. It was something new, unfamiliar, yet marked with the signature of his own Pact. It felt as if the Pact was answering the cursed magic ahead, forming a counterwave, ready to be channeled in tune with Ren's own internal balance.
He closed his eyes, then lowered his breath further.
He pictured his Kindling spell and, at its core, found its glyph. Every spell had one, and while he did manage to conjure fragments of its flame in the past and wield them with some efficiency, the full shape of the glyph always eluded him. But now it formed clearly in his mind, as if the spell itself had chosen to speak, revealing its design and letting its true form be known.
The shape of the glyph began to take form in his mind. He then felt it stretch beyond his shoulders, and with a single breath in and out, he activated it.
The glyph ignited across his back, and a burst of golden light erupted from his chest. It rolled through the chamber, releasing a wave of pressure and heat that burned through the air. The flames moved with grace, cutting through everything in their path.
Every cursed sigil in the walls responded to them. They all flared, tried to keep themselves from bursting, but then slowly cracked and shattered.
As the flames died down, Ren stood there, catching his breath, with his gaze fixed on the ruined wall where the cursed sigils had been. It stood blackened and collapsed in some areas. The echo of Kindling still pulsed through him, making his skin vibrate with energy still.
And for reasons that made little sense in a moment like that, his mind drifted away, and for a few moments, he wished Haruki could have seen him.