The path ahead did not look like a path.
It looked broken.
The ground was cracked into uneven pieces, like someone had shattered it and left it there. Thin glowing lines ran between the cracks, pulsing softly like veins under skin.
Luna stopped walking.
"This… doesn't look safe," she said quietly.
Kenta didn't even try to joke this time.
"Nothing here is safe," he muttered.
Ron stepped forward slightly, his eyes scanning the ground, the air, the petals drifting around them.
"The traps start here," Prince Kai said from behind them.
His voice was calm, but it carried weight.
"The deeper layers of Bakula test more than your body. They test your mind. Your past. Your fears."
Luna swallowed.
"So… this place knows us?"
Kai didn't answer.
A cold silence followed.
The petals in the air shifted slightly, as if reacting.
Ron stepped forward carefully.
"Then we move slowly," he said.
Kenta sighed shakily.
No one laughed.
They took the first step.
The ground did not react.
Second step.
Still nothing.
Luna exhaled a little.
Maybe it's not that bad.
Then Kenta took a step ahead.
The moment his foot touched a cracked stone, the glowing lines under it flashed bright.
"Wait!"
Too late.
The ground shattered under him.
Kenta dropped instantly.
"AHHHH!"
Luna grabbed his arm just in time.
Ron grabbed Luna.
Kai moved faster than both.
His sword flashed.
A sharp wind cut through the air, forming a solid current under Kenta's feet for a split second.
Just enough.
Kenta slammed back onto the ground, breathing heavily.
"I- I-I almost died!" he shouted, his voice breaking.
Kai lowered his sword.
"Step only where the light is dim," he said.
They all looked down.
Some cracks glowed bright.
Some were faint.
Ron nodded slowly.
"Pattern," he said. "Bright means unstable. Dim means safe."
Kai glanced at him.
"You learn fast."
Ron did not reply.
They moved again.
Step by step.
Careful.
Slow.
Every movement felt heavy.
Every sound echoed too much.
The air felt like it was watching them.
Then the whispers returned.
Soft at first.
"…Luna…"
"…Kenta…"
"…Ron…"
Kenta froze.
"No… not again…" he said.
Ron's jaw tightened.
"Yeah, ignore it."
They kept moving.
But the whispers changed.
They became clearer.
More real.
More personal.
"…Luna… why didn't you tell us…?"
Luna froze.
Her breath stopped.
That voice.
Her mother.
She turned slowly.
Behind her… for a split second… she saw her home.
Her mother standing in the doorway.
Looking worried.
"Luna… where were you…?"
Luna's chest tightened.
"I… I-"
"Don't look," Ron said sharply.
Luna blinked.
The image vanished.
The broken path returned.
Her hands were shaking.
"It felt real," she whispered.
Kai spoke quietly.
"It pulls from memory. From regret."
Luna looked down.
Her voice was small.
"I didn't tell them I was going to the park that night…"
No one spoke for a moment.
They kept walking.
Then it hit Ron.
"…Save me…"
He stopped.
His entire body froze.
The others noticed instantly.
"Ron?" Luna said.
But he didn't answer.
His eyes were wide.
"…save me… Ron… please…"
That voice.
It was of...Ruby.
His fingers trembled.
He looked ahead.
And suddenly, the broken path was gone.
He was back in the park.
Sunlight.
Warm wind.
Ruby standing near the bench.
Holding a single white flower.
"Ron… help me…"
His breathing became uneven.
"I… I…"
His feet moved forward on their own.
"Ron!" Luna shouted.
But he couldn't hear her.
The memory felt too real.
Too close.
Ruby reached out her hand.
"RON!"
Ron stepped forward.
The ground beneath him cracked.
Bright light flashed.
The trap activated.
Kai moved instantly.
His sword cut through the air.
A strong wind slammed into Ron, throwing him backward.
Ron fell hard onto the ground.
The illusion shattered.
The broken path returned.
Ron stared up at the sky, breathing heavily.
His chest hurt.
Not from the fall.
From the memory.
Kai stood over him.
"That voice is not real," he said firmly.
Ron didn't respond.
His eyes looked distant.
Luna knelt beside him.
"Ron…"
He finally spoke.
"She said that… once."
Luna didn't ask.
She understood enough.
Ron closed his eyes briefly.
Then sat up.
"I'm fine," he said.
But his voice was not steady.
They kept moving.
The traps became worse.
Some made the ground shift.
Some twisted the air.
Some created illusions.
Every few steps, something tried to break them.
Kenta was struggling.
Badly.
He kept hearing voices.
Laughing.
Mocking.
His own voice.
"…you're useless…"
"…you're just a dogsh*t who messed up everything...."
"…they don't need you…"
Kenta covered his ears.
"SHUT UP!!!"
Luna grabbed his arm.
"They're lying," she said.
Kenta laughed weakly.
"Yeah… but they sound like me…"
That hit hard.
Luna didn't know what to say.
So she just stayed beside him.
Kai walked ahead.
Silent.
Focused.
But even he wasn't untouched.
For a moment, the air around him shifted.
A memory appeared.
A burning village.
People shouting.
A younger Kai standing in front of a destroyed gate.
Someone yelling at him.
"You were too late!"
Kai's grip on his sword tightened.
The memory flickered.
Then disappeared.
Ron noticed.
"You saw something," he said.
Kai did not look back.
"Everyone does." he said calmly.
They reached a narrow path.
On both sides, there was nothing.
Just darkness.
The path itself was thin.
Barely enough for one person at a time.
Petals floated below.
But these were darker.
Almost black.
"This is bad," Kenta whispered.
Kai nodded.
"This is a mind path. If you lose focus, you fall."
Kenta swallowed.
"I'm already not focused…"
Luna took a deep breath.
"Then stay behind me."
Ron moved to the front.
"I'll go first."
Kai stepped beside him.
"Remember, you're outsider, I lead. You follow."
They stepped onto the narrow path.
The world went silent.
No wind.
No whispers.
Just their breathing.
One step.
Two steps.
Three.
Then the voices came back.
Louder than before.
"…Luna… you'll never go home…"
"…Kenta… you're a burden…"
"…Ron… you Killed her…"
Ron almost slipped.
"NO-"
Luna grabbed him.
"Look at me," she said.
"Not them. Me."
Ron blushed slightly.
Prince Kai and Kenta kept walking.
But the voice came again.
"…save me… Ron…"
He clenched his fists.
"No," he whispered.
The path shook slightly.
The trap reacted to doubt.
Kai noticed.
"Stay steady," he said.
"Your mind controls your steps here."
Ron took a deep breath.
Focused.
Step by step.
Halfway through.
The path began to crack.
Not from the ground.
From them.
From their thoughts.
Luna felt it too.
A deep fear rising.
What if we don't make it?
The path flickered.
Kenta panicked.
"I'm going to fall-"
"You're not!" Luna shouted.
But her own voice shook.
The path cracked more.
Kai stopped.
Turned.
His eyes sharp.
"Listen to me," he said.
"This path is not your enemy. Your fear is."
He stepped forward.
Calm.
Steady.
The cracks stopped under him.
"Follow my steps," he said.
One by one.
They matched his steps.
Slow.
Careful.
Breathing steady.
The whispers tried again.
But weaker now.
They reached the other side.
Kenta dropped to his knees.
"I hate this place," he said.
Luna sat down beside him.
"Same."
Ron stood quietly.
Looking ahead.
Kai sheathed his sword.
"You did well," he said.
Ahead of them, something waited.
A large structure.
Not a building.
Not ruins.
Something older.
A gate.
Huge.
Broken.
Covered in symbols.
The same symbols from before.
But stronger.
Glowing faintly.
Luna felt it immediately.
"The portal…" she whispered.
Prince Kai looked at it carefully.
"This is not the exit," he said.
"This is the center."
A silence fell.
Kenta looked up.
"Center… of what?"
Prince Kai answered slowly.
"The place where all paths decide their end."
Luna's chest tightened.
"So… after this…"
Kai looked at them.
"Everything changes."
The wind moved again.
Soft.
Cold.
The petals began to rise.
And somewhere beyond the gate…
something was waiting.
Watching.
Listening.
And for the first time…
it felt aware of all of them.
TO BE CONTINUED IN CHAPTER 11.