Just like Ethan, Ricky and Aria had stumbled straight into an illusion maze.

Ricky kept walking forward, but no matter how many times he tried, the same thing happened—the stone pillars always reappeared in front of him, like some twisted loop.

"Damn it! It's an illusion maze—we're stuck in here!" Aria said, frowning. She'd read about this kind of thing back at Pinnacle Academy, in her rune theory classes.

But what she'd studied was basic—entry-level stuff. Even the hardest bonus questions on her exams weren't half as complex as what they were facing now.

"Illusion maze? Then let's just break it," Ricky said, thinking aloud.

"Break it? Did you even go to school?" Aria scoffed, rolling her eyes. She was a top-tier academic, and even she couldn't figure this out. What hope did this street punk have?

"I didn't go to school," Ricky said with a shrug, "but I've got a Master."

With that, he casually tossed Aria to the side—thud—and reached behind his back, drawing a katana that shimmered with a cold blue light. A sharp gleam flashed across the blade, and a dark, ghostly aura began to swirl around him. The pressure in the air spiked.

"Cut."

With a roar, Ricky slashed forward. The blade surged with vengeful energy, like a wrathful spirit had taken form, and it came crashing down on the nearest pillar.

CLANG—!

The moment the blade struck, a metallic screech rang out. The pillar lit up with golden runes, forming a powerful barrier.

It was like hitting a steel wall.

The impact sent a jolt of force back through Ricky's arms, rattling his bones and nearly tearing the sword from his grip.

He was using the same brute-force method Ethan had—but the difference in power between them was night and day.

Ethan could casually throw a punch that shattered worlds. Ricky? He was barely scratching the surface.

Still, he managed to chip off a sliver of stone before the backlash sent him flying.

"It's useless," Aria said, arms crossed. "Runes this complex have to be at least SSS-grade. You're not cutting through that."

But Ricky wasn't listening.

There was a stubborn fire in him—call it grit, or just plain hardheadedness. If one strike didn't work, he'd try two. If two didn't work, he'd go for a thousand. Ten thousand.

"If I gave up every time something looked impossible, I'd be dead by now," he said, eyes locked on the pillar. "You rich girls have no idea what real struggle even looks like."

"Uh..." Aria blinked, caught off guard.

He wasn't wrong.

Her life had been a smooth ride from the start—privilege, prestige, everything handed to her. She'd never really had to fight for anything.

And now, watching Ricky grit his teeth, blood dripping from his hands, and still raise his sword again—it stirred something in her.

The dark aura flared up once more as Ricky launched another strike. The blade rang out, slicing another chip from the pillar. Then another. And another.

CLANG. CLANG. CLANG!

The sound of steel on stone echoed through the maze, relentless. The entire illusion maze began to tremble, like it was on the verge of collapse.

"This... this is actually working?" Aria stared, stunned.

The boy in front of her was still going, still burning with that fierce, unyielding energy. His hands were torn and bleeding, his grip shaky—but his eyes never wavered.

He wasn't stopping until that pillar was dust.

With each strike, Ricky's momentum grew. The runes on the pillar began to flicker, their glow dimming. His strength surged, while the pillar's defenses weakened.

And finally—he let out a roar, swung his katana in a wide arc, and—

CRACK!

The golden light vanished. The pillar split clean in two.

BOOM!

The entire illusion maze shattered like glass, crumbling into nothing.

"Phew—" Ricky exhaled, chest heaving. His hands were soaked in blood, and he could barely keep his grip on the sword. Just breaking that one pillar had drained most of his energy.

Aria stood frozen, staring at him in disbelief.

He'd actually done it.

He broke the illusion maze.

But before Aria could even catch her breath, the ground beneath her stirred again—another sudden shift.

Glowing lines began crawling across the stone floor, forming a complex ritual array. The patterns were just as intricate—if not more so—than the ones from the illusion maze.

"...Are you kidding me?" Aria muttered, exasperated. "Does this place ever stop?"

Right after the illusion maze came the Sigil Lockdown.

As the runes lit up, the air around them began to hum and tremble. A crushing force surged outward, wrapping around everything like invisible chains, growing stronger by the second.

Already bound, Aria felt the pressure hit her like a boulder to the chest. Her breath caught, her ribs strained—it was like the air itself was trying to squeeze the life out of her.

Then the ground beneath her started to give way.

The stone slabs cracked and crumbled, pulling her downward with a sickening drop, as if the earth had opened its jaws to swallow her whole.

Not far off, Ricky was caught in the same chaos. The sudden shift had thrown him off, but he quickly rallied, dark energy flaring around him as he fought against the binding force.

He slashed at the ground with his katana, the blade glowing with vengeful energy. Each strike shattered a few of the glowing lines, easing the pressure on him just enough to move.

Step by step, he forced his way forward.

"This guy..." Aria gritted her teeth, pain etched across her face. She couldn't move—her body was still sinking, the pull stronger than ever. She was being dragged down, inch by inch.

Was this it? Was she really going to die here?

But just as despair started to take hold, she turned her head—and froze.

Ricky wasn't trying to escape.

He wasn't running from the Sigil Lockdown.

He was walking toward her.

"What...?" Aria's eyes widened in disbelief.

But the stone beneath her gave way again, and her vision tilted as she began to fall.

Then—suddenly—something yanked her back.

A strong hand had grabbed the chain wrapped around her body, stopping her descent at the last second.

Ricky was lying flat on the edge of the pit, teeth clenched, muscles straining, his face tight with effort—but his eyes were locked on her, unwavering.

"You... why didn't you run?" Aria gasped.

Ricky grunted, holding on with everything he had. "Master said I gotta keep you alive. So I'm seeing it through."

"..." Aria was speechless. Of all the things she expected, this wasn't one of them.

Even now, with the ground collapsing beneath him, he was still thinking about her.

"You'll get pulled in too if you keep this up!"

"Then so be it," Ricky said, just as the ground beneath him gave way with a thunderous crack.

BOOM.

The stone slabs shattered, and the earth swallowed him whole.

The ritual array twisted like a Rubik's Cube, shifting and rotating until the gap sealed shut. The floor was whole again.

And both of them were gone.

...

THUD! THUD!

Two bodies slammed into the ground below.

Aria hit hard, pain exploding through her limbs. Her whole body ached, bruised and battered. She groaned, blinking through the darkness.

They hadn't died.

Instead, they'd fallen into some kind of underground chamber.

An Underground Temple.

As she tried to sit up, she realized something soft was beneath her.

She looked down—and her face flushed.

She was sprawled across Ricky's chest.

With a startled yelp, she rolled off him and scrambled to her feet.

"You... you okay?" she asked, brushing herself off.

"Still breathing," Ricky muttered, sitting up slowly. He glanced around, taking in their surroundings.

The room was sealed tight, built entirely from the same bluish stone. No doors. No windows. Just four towering statues in each corner.

Each one was over thirty feet tall—humanoid bodies with massive dog heads, their feet planted firmly on the ground, heads pressed against the ceiling, eyes cast downward like silent sentinels.

Ricky narrowed his eyes. He could feel it—those statues were watching them.

"Is this... a prison?" he muttered.

Not far from where they'd landed, a few skulls and shattered bones lay scattered across the floor. The corpses were mangled, crushed as if something massive had slammed into them.

Their tattered uniforms were unmistakable—combat suits from human civilization.

Aria's eyes narrowed, her voice low. "Those must be... explorers. People who tried to enter the Forbidden Zone before us."

And clearly, they hadn't made it out.

...

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