Rin's eyes slowly opened.
For a moment, everything was silent.
Then the pain returned.
His body was still far from healed.
Every movement sent sharp waves through his bones, but... it was different now.
He could move.
Barely.
Rin dragged himself across the cold stone, his fingers leaving faint streaks of dried blood behind him.
His eyes landed on the sword.
The same jagged blade the old woman had used.
He reached for it.
His hand trembled violently before finally gripping the hilt.
The moment he tried to pull himself up—
"AAAH—!"
A scream tore from his throat.
His body shook as he forced himself onto his feet.
The sword became his support.
His only support.
Rin stood there, swaying, coughing up blood that stained the ground beneath him.
But he didn't fall.
Not this time.
Not anymore.
He took one step.
Then another.
Each step felt like walking through fire.
Still—
He moved.
Dragging his broken body deeper into the darkness.
He didn't rush.
He couldn't.
Rin had already learned.
Move too much... and the healing slows.
Push too far... and the body breaks again.
So he stopped.
Rested.
Then, they moved again.
Slow.
Careful.
Like a wounded animal learning how to survive.
Hours passed.
Or maybe longer.
Time meant nothing in that abyss.
The cave twisted endlessly.
Paths are splitting into more paths.
Dark tunnels swallow each other.
It felt like an infinite maze.
Rin's breath hitched.
A faint tremor ran through him.
Memories surfaced.
Another maze.
Another moment of being lost.
Another time, he almost died.
His grip on the sword tightened.
"No..."
He forced the thought away.
He couldn't afford fear now.
Hunger clawed at his stomach.
Thirst burned his throat.
His body was healing—
But healing needed energy.
And he had nothing left.
That's when he heard it.
A low growl.
Rin froze.
A creature emerged from the shadows.
Grade 3.
Weak... compared to what lurked deeper.
But for Rin now—
still dangerous.
Rin lowered his breathing.
His body tensed.
Not strength.
Not speed.
Timing.
The monster turned its head—
That was enough.
Rin moved.
A single step.
A single swing.
The blade cut across its throat.
The creature collapsed before it could even react.
Rin stood still.
Breathing hard.
He didn't celebrate.
Didn't relax.
He waited.
One second.
Two.
No movement.
Only then did he exhale.
After that—
He adapted.
If the presence felt weak, he attacked.
If it felt strong—
He ran.
No hesitation.
No pride.
Only survival.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Still...
The maze did not end.
Every path led to another.
Every turn led to more darkness.
Rin's body trembled slightly.
Not from pain this time.
From something deeper.
The memory of being trapped.
The fear of never escaping.
He gritted his teeth.
"I'll get out..."
His voice was hoarse.
"I have to."
Rin tightened his grip on the blood-stained sword—
and stepped forward into the endless abyss.
Rin collapsed in a corner where the darkness felt... quieter.
Safer.
At least, safer than everything else.
His body gave in.
For two hours, he slept like a dead man.
When he woke—
His throat burned.
Dry.
Cracked.
His lips had hardened, his skin felt tight against his bones, and his face had sunk slightly from hunger.
Rin inhaled sharply.
Even breathing felt rough.
"I need water..."
His voice came out as a whisper.
Forcing his body up again, Rin continued forward.
Step.
Drag.
Step.
Drag.
After what felt like forever—
He saw something.
A structure.
Man-made.
Rin's eyes widened slightly.
Someone was here...
He moved closer.
It was broken, ancient...
but unmistakable.
A prison.
Rust-covered bars lined the entrance.
The air inside was heavier.
Colder.
Wrong.
Rin stepped in.
The first cell—
He froze.
Inside was a human.
Or what used to be one.
Its body was twisted, swollen in unnatural ways, veins crawling across its skin like living worms.
Its eyes were hollow.
Yet... it was still breathing.
Rin's grip tightened.
He moved on.
The next cell—
something shifted.
Rin slowly turned his head.
And saw it.
A creature.
If it could even be called that.
It had no body.
Only hands.
Twenty of them.
All fused, writhing slowly in the air.
And at the centre—
a single eye.
Watching.
Unblinking.
Rin felt his stomach twist.
He stepped back instinctively.
More cells.
More things.
Each one worse than the last.
Creatures that should not exist.
Things that looked like failed experiments.
Or nightmares given form.
Then—
He reached the final cell.
And stopped.
This one was different.
Completely sealed.
Layers of bindings covered the bars.
Strange engravings.
Symbols carved deep into the metal and stone.
Chains wrapped over chains.
As if whatever was inside...
had to be contained at all costs.
Rin swallowed.
Slowly...
He looked inside.
There was nothing.
No shape.
No movement.
Empty.
But—
Rin couldn't look away.
Something was there.
He couldn't see it...
but he could feel it.
A presence.
Cold.
Watching him back.
His eyes narrowed.
He leaned closer.
Just a little more—
"If I were you..."
A voice suddenly echoed behind him.
"I wouldn't look at that."
Rin's body froze.
Rin's body stiffened.
Slowly—
He turned around.
His eyes landed on the source of the voice.
And for a moment...
He forgot where he was.
Inside one of the cells—
sat a woman.
Chains wrapped tightly around her arms, her waist, even her legs, binding her to the cold stone behind her.
Yet none of it diminished her presence.
Her beauty was... unnatural.
Elegant.
Refined.
Like something that did not belong in this abyss.
Long blue hair fell over her shoulders like flowing water, and her deep blue eyes held a quiet, distant sadness.
She looked like a princess torn out of a fairy tale—
and thrown into a nightmare.
Rin frowned.
Something felt off.
Very off.
Her gaze met his.
Calm.
Too calm.
No fear.
No desperation.
Only a faint gloom... as if she had already accepted everything.
She wore heavy armour. It, though worn with age, still carried an imposing weight.
Beside her—
resting within the chains—
was a massive sword.
Rin's eyes shifted to it.
The blade was enormous.
Far too large for an ordinary human to wield.
Its surface shimmered faintly even in the dim light, covered in intricate carvings that seemed almost alive.
Not decoration.
Something more.
Something powerful.
Rin instinctively tightened his grip on his own broken blade.
"...You spoke?"
His voice was cautious.
The woman didn't answer immediately.
Instead, her eyes slowly drifted past him—
toward the sealed cell behind.
The one with nothing inside.
Her expression darkened slightly.
Then she spoke again.
Quietly.
"That thing..."
A small pause.
"...is not empty."
Rin felt a chill run down his spine.
Her gaze returned to him.
"If you stare at it long enough..."
"...it will start staring back."
Silence filled the prison once more.
Rin didn't move.
Something about her words—
felt true.
Dangerously true.
Rin slowly lowered himself to the ground in front of her cell.
The cold stone pressed against his back as he exhaled weakly.
The woman tilted her head slightly, chains clinking softly.
"Aren't you afraid..." she asked quietly, "...that I might do something to you?"
Rin didn't hesitate.
"No."
Her brows lifted just a little.
She studied him more carefully now.
"You're badly injured."
Rin gave a faint, tired scoff.
"That's because I am."
For a moment, silence settled between them.
Then she spoke again.
"Can you break me out of here?"
Rin looked at her.
Really looked this time.
At the chains.
At the sword.
At her calm expression.
His face turned slightly darker.
"No way."
The answer came instantly.
A small smile formed on his lips, but there was no warmth in it.
"I already released one monster into this world."
He glanced down briefly.
"I'm not making that mistake twice."
The woman's expression didn't change much—
But there was a flicker of confusion in her eyes.
She didn't fully understand.
Rin shifted slightly, wincing from the pain.
Then he looked back at her.
"You have water?"
That finally made her react.
She stared at him, almost amused.
"You just called me a monster..."
"...and now you're asking me for water?"
Rin didn't answer.
He just looked at her.
Tired.
Dry.
On the edge.
She sighed faintly.
From beside her, she pulled out an old metal bottle.
Without standing, she rolled it across the floor.
It stopped just within Rin's reach.
Rin didn't hesitate.
He grabbed it with shaking hands and drank immediately.
Water spilt down his chin as he gulped it like a man who had forgotten what living felt like.
The woman watched him.
A hint of surprise crossed her face.
When he finally stopped, she spoke again.
"You're not afraid?"
"...that I might have poisoned it?"
Rin let out a weak laugh.
It sounded almost empty.
"I'm already on the verge of dying."
He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
"So no..."
"I'm not afraid."
Silence followed.
But this time—
It felt different.