The girl began walking towards the mansion. Hajime's eyes wandered to its towering sides, his expression still laced with curiosity, before shifting to the girl as she moved forward.
The chain binding them clinked sharply. To avoid stirring up trouble, Hajime followed the girl's lead while the maids trailed behind at a measured pace.
As they reached the mansion's entrance, both Hajime and the girl came to a halt. Uncertainty clouded the girl's eyes, and her body became stiff with hesitation. Then, without warning, a cold chill swept through.
What's this?... Why can't I move? Hajime wondered.
Though the others had entered through the same doorway moments before, the entrance was now shut tight, and not a single sign of life stirred around them. The maids passed them without pause, and as they neared the entrance, the doors creaked open on their own.
Are the doors automated? Hajime thought, but the moment they fully opened, they were met with a vast, narrow corridor stretching deep into the mansion, fading into a shadowy distance.
"Let's proceed." One of the maids said, her blinded sight focused on the girl.
The girl simply began walking, trailing behind the maid ahead. The other maid moved behind them, ensuring they wouldn't pause again for any reason.
Hajime fell silent, his eyes shifting restlessly as he took in the corridor for anything suspicious. The door creaked shut just a few steps after they had gone through, sealing them in.
Hajime and the girl turned sharply, glancing back. The girl trembled slightly, while Hajime glinted his teeth, trying to mask the dread rising inside him. Then, without warning, a small metal pin dropped onto the floor ahead, clinking and bouncing twice before coming to a still, eerie stop.
They both shifted their eyes forward once more. What they saw next was even more startling: the long corridor had vanished, replaced by an expansive dining room that had several doors standing tall and parallel to each other.
"... Huh?" What just happened? Were we teleported?
Hajime pivoted slightly as his crimson eyes widened.
The room behind them was shifting, the walls were sliding, and the furniture was folding. The space was rearranging itself like a living puzzle. The design morphed before his eyes, yet the maids moved on, completely unfazed.
What's going on...? Is this some kind of haunted mansion?
I need to come down and assess the situation calmly, or I'll overlook something. He told himself, trying to make sense of the shifting walls.
"You will be staying in here." The maid ahead said. Hajime shifted his head towards her. Just in time to see her pointing at one of the tall, looming doors.
Without a word, the maid behind them stepped forward, walking past both Hajime and the girl. She had been holding a ring of keys ever since the corridor had been changed. These keys were to open the door that the maid ahead was pointing to.
Reaching the designated door, she selected the key and inserted it through the keyhole.
Creak!
The door opened.
◊◊◊
Neon lights flickered to life, casting a soft glow across the vast chamber lined with bookshelves inside. From a distance, just across the shelves, there lay another room in wait, with its door already open.
"Proceed." The maid said, withdrawing the key from the door and glancing back at Hajime and the girl.
Without a word, they stepped forward, crossing the threshold. But the moment their feet touched the floor inside, the door swung shut behind them with a silent echoing thud, sealing the maids outside.
"Hm?" Hajime turned to the door.
Before he could utter a word, the girl collapsed beside him. The pressure was just too much for her to handle. She simply couldn't take it anymore.
"...Hey, this isn't the time to be playing dead."
◊◊◊◊
Elsewhere, in a place that looked like the aftermath of an immense battle, rain poured relentlessly, like the sky itself was weeping in agony and solitude. From a distance, a massive crater stretched across the land, as if carved out by a nuclear blast. And in the middle of it lay a woman, dressed in white and drenched in blood.
Her right arm and both her legs had been torn away. And a growing golden sword was embedded deep in her chest, its light flickering through the downpour.
This woman was Nanako. And against all odds, she was still breathing.
"I see the long years of training your body has finally paid off. You almost had me that time, but you still haven't changed, you still use your face as a shield." A peculiar man dressed in white said as he approached Nanako.
His voice dripped with mockery, as though the entire thing had been nothing more than a joke... Yet, not a speck of dirt marked his shoes, and despite the pouring rain, not a single drop clung to him. He looked untouched.
Cough. Cough.
The golden sword embedded in Nanako's chest began to dissolve, vanishing from her body only to reappear in the man's hand, still growing.
"Hahahahahahaha. Hahahahahahaha." He let out a laugh as blood bubbled from Nanako's lips and she began to choke.
"If you'd only taken me seriously, maybe you could've taken me out," he said, watching as the scarlet light faded from Nanako's eyes. "But you still haven't changed Azuryth. Always looking down on the rest of us just because you can't die. But that ends here... Today's the day you're going to die. Today's the day I'll wipe you out from existence. But first, I'll be taking your power, and I'll become the strongest god in the multiverse, removing the tyrant Nexus."
...What's he yapping on about? Nanako thought weakly, confusion swirling in her fading consciousness as her inner voice began to fade away.
Switch!
Golden light began to gather at a single point in front of the peculiar god. The formation resembled the one that had appeared before Miyoko in the limitless void. But this time, instead of forming a crystal, the light ripped through the air, cutting reality itself.
Within seconds, a portal ripped open. From its growing center, a giant hand forged from stone emerged, reaching into the rain-soaked crater.
It slowly wrapped around Nanako's body and lifted her from the ground, dragging her into the portal. The man followed close behind, never glancing back.
Baaa! Switch!
The portal closed, warping the air where it forced.
◊◊◊◊
Meanwhile, in the capital of Steria, Rin suddenly collapsed in the middle of the road while walking beside Zest.
"Prey! What's going on there?"
People who had been going about their day stopped, turning their eyes to the woman lying motionless on the cobblestone path.
Without warning, the sky split open. A massive rift tore through the clouds, and a blinding pillar of light descended, engulfing the entire capital in its radiant glow.
On the ground, Rin's body began to disintegrate, fading, and crumbling into dust. Zest stood frozen, his eyes wide with disbelief, unsure of what was happening to his master.
Tears started to gather in his eyes, and an unbearable pain throbbed his chest.
What's going on with my body? He wondered, clenching the fabric on his chest.
Suddenly, as it appeared, the pillar vanished.
Rin's body reformed in an instant. She gasped awake and slightly trembling as silence fell over the people around.
In Melcelut, where the village of Dol used to stand. The goddess statue that was standing there shattered into pieces. Though, nobody was around to witness its fall.
◊◊◊◊
Back to the mansion.
"..."
Hajime strained as he dragged the girl across the floor. Her body felt impossibly heavy, far too much for someone her age. But Hajime had no choice but to continue on.
His hands and legs quivered violently. Sweat mixed with the chill air clung to his skin.
Breathe. Breathe. Breathe
He repeated the thought like a player, dragging the girl towards the open room a few meters ahead.
Then, his foot caught the chain that still bound them together. He stumbled forward with a yelp, crashing into one of the bookshelves. It rocked violently, and several books tumbled loose, raining down on them.
"Shit."
In chaos, Hajime instinctively let go of the girl and quickly raised his arms to shield his head.
A sharp clang echoed through the room. A key, hidden among several books, had hit the floor. Hajime momentary froze.
He glanced to his left and saw the key.
"...Isn't that-?" He breathed.
It was lying on the floor, partially buried beneath the scattered books. It was small, black, and jagged at the edges. But what caught Hajime's attention was its size. It matched the iron clasps of the chains binding them together.
His gaze shifted to the girl. She was beneath the fallen books from head to knees. "Oh, no..." Panic surged through him as he scrambled to clear them off her. One by one, tossing them aside. And once the last book slid away, revealing her bruised face, he turned back to the key.