Episode 37: The Silent Depths Await

The echoes of battle still clung to the chamber like smoke after fire. Crimson shards of the shattered Seal lay scattered across the stone floor, their glow fading into nothingness as the oppressive weight of Norvahel's memory retreated for now. The air was still heavy, but no longer suffocating. It felt like the dungeon itself had paused to watch what they would do next.

Kuro remained on one knee, his emberblade dimmed to a faint glow as his chest rose and fell with labored breaths. Sweat slid down his face, steam lifting faintly from his skin where the frostfire of Elira's resonance had clashed against his flame. His body was battered, his mind scorched from the sync, but his eyes… they still burned with the same defiance that had shattered a king's shadow.

Across from him, Elira stood with frostfire fading at her fingertips. Her violet eyes shimmered faintly, not with weakness but with something steadier than before. Her hair clung to her cheeks, the silver-blue ends glimmering in the low light as though the Seal itself had left its mark upon her.

She was trembling. Not from fear. Not even exhaustion. But from the weight of what she had just faced—her father's shadow, the voice that had judged her unworthy since the day she wore her crown.

Kuro slowly pushed himself to his feet and stepped toward her. The crunch of broken stone under his boots drew her eyes to him. For a moment, the whispers of the Seal still echoed in her ears, and the face of the phantom king threatened to resurface. But when she looked at him, those whispers dimmed.

"You're still here," Kuro said quietly, his voice rough, but steady.

Her throat tightened. "…You almost weren't."

His lips curved into the faintest shadow of a smirk. "Almost doesn't count. I told you. This place doesn't get to decide who we are."

Her gaze wavered, then steadied. The frost at her fingertips melted away. "And you… you threw yourself into the flames of the Seal just to remind me of that. Do you realize how reckless that was?"

Kuro shrugged, the emberlight still glowing faintly in his eyes. "Reckless is better than losing you."

For a heartbeat, the silence was louder than any battle. Elira's breath caught, her cheeks flushing faintly beneath the glow of the runes. She turned her face away quickly, hiding the heat in her chest. "…Idiot."

Akira, leaning against his katana a few paces away, exhaled hard and broke the tension with a sharp cough. "If you two are finished with your dramatic confessions, some of us are still trying not to collapse from exhaustion."

Kuro shot him a sidelong look, but the corner of his lips curved slightly. Elira's blush deepened, though she masked it with a scowl.

Akira pushed off his sword, rolling his shoulders. "Jokes aside… I won't lie. That was hell. These Seals… they're not just fights. They're tearing into us piece by piece." He dragged his sleeve across his face, sweat streaking across his jaw. "If we don't find a way to sharpen ourselves before the next descent, one of these tests is going to finish the job."

Kuro glanced at him, then down at his own trembling hands. The system's alerts still burned faintly in his vision.

[System Update: Frostfire Pact Resonance – Stabilized at 28%]

[Warning: Overuse may result in permanent cognitive burn]

He clenched his fist. "He's right. The Seals don't want us to win by strength alone. They're breaking us from the inside."

Elira lowered her gaze, her expression shadowed. "…Then we'll break them first."

Akira huffed a small laugh, shaking his head. "Always so damn poetic, Princess. But fine. I'll take that as a promise."

The ground beneath them shifted with a slow, grinding rumble. The last fragments of the shattered Seal dissolved into the stone, and across the chamber's far wall, a new path opened.

This time, the stairway did not descend straight down. Instead, jagged walls shifted into a labyrinthine corridor, its entrance gaping like a mouth waiting to swallow them. Thick black mist rolled out, heavier than before, clinging to the ground like spilled ink.

The system pulsed a warning.

[System Alert: Zone Transition – The Silent Depths]

[Hazard: Total Sound Suppression / Identity Distortion]

[Survival Rate Estimate: <15%]

Akira read the flickering glyphs across the wall as they stepped closer. His brows furrowed. "…Silent Depths? Great. First whispers, then blood, and now silence. What's next—blindness?"

"Don't tempt it," Kuro muttered.

Elira stood at the edge of the mist, her violet eyes reflecting the abyss ahead. "The Labyrinth of Forgotten Names. I've heard of it."

Kuro glanced at her. "From where?"

She hesitated. "…My kingdom's archives. Old tales. They say this labyrinth was once a library… where every soul in Norvahel was recorded. The names of kings, soldiers, even children. All etched into stone. But when the city fell, the labyrinth turned inward. The names were… erased. Forgotten. And those who enter are stripped of their own identity until nothing remains."

Akira grimaced. "Sounds like a good place to die."

Kuro's gaze hardened. "Then we don't forget. We anchor each other."

Elira turned toward him, her expression caught between fear and determination. "Even if the labyrinth tears away our names, our faces, everything we are?"

His emberlight eyes met hers without wavering. "Then we remind each other. As many times as it takes."

Her chest tightened, her lips parting to speak—but she stopped herself. Instead, she gave the smallest nod, frost gathering faintly at her lashes.

Akira groaned under his breath. "Seriously… you two with your speeches. Fine. Anchor points. Just don't expect me to start holding hands."

The mist rippled as if mocking his words.

They stepped forward.

---

The world changed instantly.

The moment the mist enveloped them, sound vanished. The crunch of their boots on stone, the rasp of their breaths, even the pulse of Kuro's flame—gone. Silence pressed down like an ocean.

Kuro felt his chest tighten. He glanced at Elira and Akira, but when his lips moved, no words came. The labyrinth had swallowed even their voices.

And then—he felt it. The edges of his thoughts blurring, memories slipping like sand through his grasp. His name. His origin. His reason for fighting. They blurred at the edges, threatening to unravel.

[System Alert: Identity Distortion – 3%]

He clenched his fists, grit his teeth. Not yet. Not now.

He reached out instinctively—his hand brushing against Elira's. Her fingers flinched at the contact, but then tightened around his. The frostfire pulse of her mana surged faintly through his skin, steadying the storm in his head.

Her lips moved—though no sound came, he could read them.

"Kuro."

The mist recoiled slightly. The system's alert dimmed.

[Anchor Point Established]

Her name surfaced in his mind in return. Elira.

The labyrinth tried to steal it, but he refused to let it go. He squeezed her hand tighter, and she squeezed back.

Akira moved beside them, his katana steady in his grip, eyes narrowed. He didn't reach for their hands, but his lips shaped words all the same—silent, but fierce.

"Don't forget me either."

Kuro gave him a sharp nod.

Together, they pressed deeper into the labyrinth.

The walls shifted around them, etched with half-erased runes, the remnants of forgotten names. Faces flickered in the mist—hollow, eyeless, reaching toward them with grasping hands. Each step grew heavier, as if their bodies carried not just their own weight but the weight of countless lives erased.

Kuro's vision blurred. He saw himself standing in a classroom, back on Earth, faceless students turning toward him, their voices silent. He saw chains binding his arms, his throat. A memory. A fragment.

You don't belong anywhere.

The labyrinth whispered—not in sound, but in thought.

His knees buckled, but Elira's frostfire pulsed through their joined hands again, steadying him. Her own face was pale, her breath uneven, but she held on. Her lips shaped his name again, reminding him.

Kuro.

And in return, he shaped hers.

Elira.

The labyrinth shuddered. The walls groaned. And somewhere ahead, the first guardian stirred.

---

[System Alert: Silent Depths Trial Initiated]

[Incoming Entity – Class Unknown]

Chains rattled in the mist. A shape emerged—tall, faceless, clad in robes etched with broken runes. Its body shifted like paper unraveling, its limbs stretching in impossible ways. In its hands was a staff carved from countless names—letters and symbols twisting, unreadable.

It raised the staff. The runes across the walls flared.

And the labyrinth screamed without sound.

---

[To Be Continued…]

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