Morning in the Labyrinth City was so quiet it seemed suspicious of its own existence. Rai'kanna woke before everyone and checked the street where we had slept. She remained still for several seconds, as if trying to confirm whether it was still a street or if the city had decided to change shape while we blinked.
"It's the same," she said when I returned from the small fountain where I'd washed my face.
"For now," I replied. "This city changes whenever it wants."
Liriel closed her grimoire carefully. "Today we need to stay even more alert than yesterday. The second artifact is somewhere in this region, but this part of the city has… a peculiar reputation."
Vespera stretched her arms. "What level of peculiar? Like buildings that move or streets that try to swallow you?"
"Both," Elara answered without hesitation.
Lyannis swallowed hard. "Can we still go back?"
Everyone looked at her at the same time.
"…kidding," she said, blushing.
We headed toward the district where the Inverted Lens was supposed to be. The narrow streets stretched like braided threads, but something about them drew attention: they were all too long. No plazas, no curves, no simple intersections. It was as if we had stepped into an endless open-air corridor.
After twenty minutes walking, I noticed that the same broken window had appeared for the third time.
"We're going in circles," I murmured.
"No," Liriel corrected, analyzing the ground. "The street is repeating."
Vespera frowned. "The street is what?"
"They're not leading us in a loop. The street itself is copying its own layout and showing the same structure multiple times."
I looked at the buildings around us. Identical bricks. Identical doors. Identical lanterns. Everything exactly the same.
It was like being stuck inside a painting that kept extending itself.
"Alright," Rai'kanna said. "Solution?"
"They want us to find the difference," Liriel replied. "Every repetitive street in the Labyrinth City hides a flaw. A crack, a displaced object, anything that doesn't match the copy."
"So we just walk until we find the anomaly," Vespera said.
"Yes. Or the street might get irritated and start hunting us," Elara added calmly.
"Great," Lyannis sighed.
We walked through another long, repetitive stretch. I kept watching every detail — rooftops, stones, steps, shadows. Vespera tapped her finger on the walls to hear the sound; Elara discreetly marked the doors; Liriel compared things with the grimoire; Rai'kanna walked with her wings half-open, ready to react.
But nothing changed.
Until the shadows did.
Vespera was the first to notice.
"Hey… did anyone notice this?"
She pointed at the shadow of a lamppost. The lamppost was identical to all the others, but its shadow was pointing in the opposite direction of the sunlight.
"That's the flaw," Liriel said, getting closer. "But it's too big. I think…"
The ground trembled.
The street stretched backward as if it were breathing.
"Get ready," Rai'kanna warned, already pulling the short spear from her back. "It noticed we found it."
The lamppost began to creak. The bricks around it vibrated. The wrong shadow moved, dripping across the ground like dark liquid.
And from that shadow, something emerged.
A face.
Then an entire body made of stone and black lines. It was tall, hunched, with arms far too long. Its eyes were square holes, like two empty windows. It rose slowly, like a leaning tower trying to get a better look.
"The Corner-Guard…" Liriel whispered.
The creature turned slowly toward me.
Lyannis tugged my cloak. "Why is it looking only at you?"
"Because his flame doesn't get along with living structures," Elara answered.
"And because living structures don't get along with him," Vespera added.
The Guard advanced with heavy steps. Every stomp made the entire street vibrate.
Rai'kanna stepped in front. "Takumi, don't let it touch you. City creatures can copy abilities and memories."
"Perfect," Vespera muttered. "The last thing we need is a Takumi clone with brick walls."
The creature opened its square mouth and emitted a sound like blocks being crushed.
It attacked.
The stone arm came with force. I rolled to the side, feeling the wind cut far too close. Rai'kanna struck with her wing, opening a fissure in the creature's arm — but the fissure closed immediately.
"This is going to be annoying," Vespera grumbled, creating blades of wind that ricocheted off as if they were made of paper.
Elara tried arrows. The arrows went in… and got stuck inside the creature's body, as if it were made of dense clay.
"He absorbs the attacks," Liriel analyzed. "We need to find his weak point the same way we found the street's."
"Where would that be?" Lyannis asked.
"Something different about him," I replied. "Something that doesn't match."
We scanned quickly.
Body — identical bricks. Eyes — perfect squares. Shadow — normal. Movements — heavy, symmetrical.
Too symmetrical.
"There!" I pointed. "The left shoulder is slightly lower."
Rai'kanna understood instantly.
"He has an incorrect weight axis. That's where the street failed when creating him!"
The Guard attacked again, pushing half the street backward as if it were a folded carpet.
The flame inside me reacted strongly. I propelled myself forward, aiming at the defective shoulder. The blade heated up, leaving an orange trail in the air.
The creature tried to defend, but it was slow. The tip of the sword struck the crooked part. The impact was sharp — a deep crack opened, much larger than the previous ones.
Vespera didn't waste a second.
"Open it more, open it more!"
She released a gust of wind straight into the fissure.
Liriel activated runes on the ground to intensify the vibration.
Elara shot arrows exactly at the weak point.
Lyannis delivered a final strike with her spear to throw it off balance.
And the Corner-Guard finally broke.
As it fell, the entire street warped. The repetitive scenery vanished as if erased by a giant rubber. Doors reappeared, shadows normalized, and the endless corridor opened into three new paths.
Rai'kanna took a deep breath. "We found the exit."
Liriel approached the remains of the creature. From within the fragments of dark stone, she pulled out a small metallic cylinder covered by a thin line of bluish light.
"The second clue," she murmured.
"And the city left that for us?" Vespera asked.
"No," Liriel replied. "It dropped it by accident. That means we're getting closer to the truth… and that it's getting irritated."
Lyannis held my arm. "Takumi… is your flame calm now?"
I nodded. "For now. But it recognized that thing. Or reacted to whatever was inside it."
Rai'kanna folded her wings behind her. "We need to keep going."
The new path ahead pulsed faintly, as if it were breathing.
The city seemed to be watching them.
And, for the first time since we entered that place, I was sure it was learning from us as well.