The guardian screamed.
Not with rage this time. Pain. Real pain.
The sound tore through the chamber as Kai moved instantly, shadows bursting beneath his feet while he rushed forward. Broken stone cracked under each step as he accelerated straight toward the creature.
The guardian lunged at the same time. Too late.
Kai planted one foot against a fractured pillar and vaulted upward, body twisting cleanly through the air. He flipped over the guardian's reaching claws by inches before landing behind it in a low crouch.
His wrappings exploded outward. They snapped around the creature's limbs like restraints forged from shadow itself—arms, shoulders, neck, legs—coiling tighter and tighter until the guardian's movements jerked to a halt. The stone floor cratered beneath its feet as it struggled violently.
Kai gritted his teeth and pulled harder. "NOW, MYSTERY GIRL—!"
Cana moved.
Fear still twisted in her chest. The creature was still monstrous. Still horrifying. But this time— she didn't stop.
The blank card trembled between her fingers as she sprinted forward. The smooth white surface no longer carried a symbol or stored spell. No predefined outcome.
Just possibility.
Her ethernano surged violently through it. The card glowed not gold , not blue, but white.
Pure white light spread across its surface as Cana leapt forward and slammed the card directly against the guardian's chest.
"Card Magic—"
The chamber shook.
"OVERRIDE!"
The blank card erupted. Light spread across the guardian instantly, racing over its body like liquid ink reversing itself. The runes embedded beneath the creature's black flesh lit up one after another in violent pulses. Then flickered, then dimmed.
The guardian shrieked. Its body convulsed violently as the runes continued flashing erratically, like a broken signal struggling to reconnect.
Kai's eyes widened slightly. "...Oh, that's nasty."
The guardian's arm suddenly jerked free with raw physical force. Kai reacted instantly. He grabbed Cana around the waist with the wrappings and jumped backward just as the creature's claw tore through the space where she'd been standing a second earlier.
BOOM.
Stone exploded outward. Kai landed several meters away with Cana still held securely against his side before quickly setting her down.
His eyes stayed fixed on the creature. The runes beneath its flesh continued flashing wildly—dim, glow, dim again, unstable.
"...What exactly did you do?" he asked.
Cana breathed heavily, clutching the blank card tightly. "I—I tried to override its connection to the ruins," she said quickly. "The regeneration system. I think I interrupted the flow between it and the runes."
The guardian screeched again, clutching at its own body as cracks spread across portions of its blackened flesh without immediately repairing.
Cana swallowed. "It shouldn't regenerate now," she continued. "But it's extremely powerful... I had to pour a lot of magic into forcing the override." Her grip tightened slightly. "And I don't think it'll hold for long maybe two or three minutes at most."
Kai stared at the creature for another second.
Then patted her head smirking. "...I will only need a minute."
The guardian suddenly twisted toward them. Its hollow face locked onto Cana and charged. Fast.
Despite the instability ripping through its body, the sheer physical force behind it remained monstrous. The chamber trembled under its steps as it screeched.
Cana's breath caught—but Kai moved first.
He rushed forward directly toward it. No hesitation. No fear.
The guardian slammed into him like a collapsing building.
BOOM.
The impact blasted dust and shattered stone outward across the chamber. Kai's feet planted hard against the floor. One leg bent behind him. The other dug forward into fractured stone. The floor cracked beneath the pressure.
His wrappings shot outward instantly, anchoring themselves around nearby pillars and broken support structures like tightened cables.
The guardian pushed. Kai slid backward several inches, then stopped. Muscles tightened beneath torn sleeves. Steam poured faintly from his body again as he forced himself to hold position.
The guardian roared and tried to overpower him through sheer weight. Kai grinned through clenched teeth. "...Persistent big shit."
The creature tried to pull away suddenly— but Kai's arms tightened around its neck and shoulder area. Then twisted suddenly.
CRACK.
A sickening sound echoed through the chamber. The guardian screeched violently.
Its shoulder collapsed inward unnaturally. Its spine was bent wrong , it's shoulder and neck dislocated, yet not dead
But this time— nothing regenerated. No repair. No restoration.
The creature thrashed harder in panic and pain now, clawing wildly against Kai's body and the surrounding stone.
Kai held firm. Even as blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. Even as his arms trembled from strain.
His voice came low and rough beside the creature's skull. "What's the hurry, my dark chocolate?"
The guardian jerked violently again. Kai tightened his grip further. "You wanted to be close, right?"
His grin sharpened. "Now I'm gonna get real close and personal."
Then— KNEE. His knee slammed upward directly into the side of the guardian's skull.
CRACK.
The creature staggered slightly in his grasp.
Another knee. Then another. The guardian's movements started to slow down more. Enough.
Kai's expression darkened slightly as he pulled one arm back. "I don't need magic for this one." His eyes narrowed. "Consider it the price for annoying me."
Then— BAM. His elbow crashed downward into the guardian's skull. A visible shockwave burst outward from the impact. The creature screamed.
BAM. Another elbow.
BAM. Another.
Again. Again. Again.
The chamber echoed with brutal impacts one after another as Kai drove his elbows straight down into the creature's head with monstrous precision.
Stone cracked beneath their feet. Black fluid splattered across the floor. The guardian's screeches became weaker. Then distorted and broken.
But Kai didn't stop. His movements became sharper, faster , more violent. Like the entire mission of frustration and exhaustion were being poured directly into each strike.
Cana covered her mouth instinctively. Her stomach twisted. The guardian had stopped moving several hits ago. But Kai kept going.
BAM. BAM. BAM—
Then finally— CRAAAACK.
Kai's left elbow slammed downward like falling steel. The guardian's skull collapsed completely. Not cracked or fractured but destroyed.
The entire upper portion caved inward beneath the impact with a wet, horrific crunch.
Silence followed. Heavy breathing filled the chamber.
Kai remained still for a second longer, steam rolling off his body as his arms slowly lowered.
Then he exhaled. "...Sweet dreams."
The corpse twitched weakly beneath him. Kai stared down at it. Then casually drove his knee forward one last time, launching the massive body across the chamber. It crashed through broken stone and skidded lifelessly into the far wall.
Cana immediately turned away, one hand covering her mouth tightly. Her face had gone pale. The guardian's head—no. There was barely anything left recognizable as a head anymore.
Kai rolled one shoulder slowly before glancing down at himself. Dark fluid coated most of his arms and clothes. He sighed. "...Great."
He looked at his sleeve convered in his red blood and then the black fluid from the creature with visible disappointment. "I look like starberry parfait with chocolate dressing."
Cana stared at him in disbelief. "...That's your concern?!"
Kai glanced at her.Then smiled suddenly. Bright and casual. Like he hadn't just brutally beaten a nightmare creature to death moments earlier.
"Well, my mystery gift," he said lightly, "color me impressed."
He pointed toward the blank card still clutched in her hand. "New spell override. Sweeeeet."
Cana blinked. Then looked down at the card herself. The blank surface had dimmed slightly now, but it still felt different in her hand. Alive somehow. Unwritten.
A small smile slowly appeared on her face. "...Thanks to you," she admitted quietly, "I finally stepped off the edge and was able to discover more of my magic."
Kai smirked immediately. "Oh my." He placed a hand dramatically against his chest. "Is that gratitude I hear?"
Cana rolled her eyes. "Don't ruin the moment asshole."
"Too late." He grinned wider. "Good for you though. Learning some manners."
She snorted despite herself.
Then the chamber groaned again.A deep vibration rolled through the walls beneath their feet. Both of them went still. Kai's expression shifted first. Focused again.
The runes along the walls still glowed faintly.
Still active. Still feeding something deeper below.
He clicked his tongue softly. "...Right. Mission."
Cana nodded quickly, glancing uneasily toward the guardian's corpse. "Yeah... we should probably move before that thing decides dying was temporary."
"Agreed."
Kai stretched slightly before immediately regretting it when pain shot through his ribs. "...I am really getting sick of confined spaces ."
Cana folded her arms. "Pretty sure the confined spaces hate you too."
"No they love me."
Kai crouched near the wall and reached into his pouch again.
Cana blinked. "...What now?"
"Tracking." Kai answered without turning back .
He pulled out several small lacrima shards connected with thin metallic wire. The crystals glowed faintly as he pressed them against the runic wall.
Immediately, streams of ethernano began flowing visibly through the lacrima like glowing currents beneath glass.
Cana leaned closer. "...Wait. You're reading the mana flow?"
Kai hummed absentmindedly while scribbling quick notes into his journal. "The ruins distribute energy like a circulatory system," he explained. "If we follow the direction of the flow, we'll eventually reach the core."
Cana stared blankly. "...How are you even figuring this out?"
Kai didn't look up. "I spend unhealthy amounts of time around ancient death traps."
"...That explains disturbingly little." Cana mutters.
"It wasn't meant to ." Kai just answers back completely ignoring her stare .
The crystals flickered brighter. Kai's eyes tracked the movement carefully before finally standing. A grin spread across his face. "Hold your panties , my dumb companion." He pointed down the left corridor. "The ethernano from these sections is flowing left from right."
Cana scowled immediately. "MY WHAT—I'm starting to regret thanking you."
"But you did thank me." Kai hums back.
"Then I am taking that thanks back" she mutters.
Kai laughed quietly before turning toward the corridor. The deeper darkness beyond seemed endless—waiting. But now— they finally had a direction.
Kai tightened the wraps back around his wrists. Cana adjusted her grip on the cards and pixie. Then together—they ran deeper into the ruins.