The chamber remained silent after the ancient voice finished speaking.
"Remaining challengers detected."
"Four."
The echo of the words lingered faintly across the stone walls before slowly fading away. The glowing runes carved across the floor dimmed one by one until only faint traces of light remained. The ancient mechanism that had spoken seemed to fall back into dormancy, as if waiting for the challengers to continue moving.
Aether stood still for a moment.
His calm gaze drifted across the chamber as he considered the meaning behind the announcement.
Four.
That number confirmed something important.
Six challengers had originally entered the deeper section of the ruins after passing the earlier trials. The labyrinth had separated them and forced each of them to face different dangers. Guardians, beasts, traps, and even other challengers had been part of the process.
Now the number had been reduced.
Two challengers had already fallen.
