Chapter 381: The Race

The next morning, Kai arrived at the eastern expedition gate of Nexus and immediately regretted agreeing to the race. It wasn’t because of the ruin. It was because of Lily, who had apparently taken the competition personally.

"You’re late," she said.

Kai looked at her. "It’s seven minutes before departure."

"Exactly."

"That isn’t late."

"We could have been here earlier."

Sera was leaning against the side of the transport. "She’s been like this for twenty minutes."

"I’ve been preparing," Lily said.

"You reorganized the equipment three times."

"Because someone put the relic scanner next to the food."

Sera pointed at Kai. "That was him."

Kai looked at the equipment. "I didn’t know it mattered."

"It matters."

Gabriel stood beside them with a cup of coffee, looking completely relaxed. "You know, I’ve never seen Lily this competitive."

"I’m not competitive," Lily said immediately.

Sera looked at her. "You challenged Aren to see who could identify the ruin’s activation pattern first."

"That’s research."

"You told him his map was incomplete, challenged him to a mapping competition, and then asked if he was afraid of losing."

Lily paused. "...That was research too."

Gabriel hid her smile behind her cup, and Kai sighed. "This is going to be a long day."

"Agreed," a voice said behind them.

Aren walked over with his team behind him. Vera carried her shield across her back, Jace had a long-range weapon strapped to his side, and Sol was loaded down with relic instruments. Aren looked exactly the way he had yesterday, calm, prepared, and annoyingly confident.

He stopped beside Kai. "Morning."

"Morning."

Aren looked at Lily. "Still convinced my map is incomplete?"

"Yes."

"Good." He smiled. "I’d hate for this to be boring."

Lily narrowed her eyes, and Sera stepped between them. "Before this gets worse, can we go over the rules again?"

Aren nodded. "First team to reach the core wins. No sabotage, no stealing, and no killing. If the ruin becomes dangerous, we work together."

"And nobody abandons an injured teammate," Kai added.

"Agreed," Aren said at once.

Sera looked satisfied. "Good."

Aren glanced at her. "You sound like our team leader."

"I sound like the only responsible person here."

Aren smiled. "That’s probably true."

Sera blinked, then turned to Kai. "He’s annoying."

"I noticed."

Aren laughed, and Gabriel took another sip of her coffee. "This is already more entertaining than I expected."

The awakened ruin was several hundred kilometers from the city, in a stretch of forest that had always been considered empty. Two days ago, that had changed. Ancient stone structures had pushed up out of the ground, old roads had risen from beneath the earth, and a massive black tower now stood at the center of it all. No one knew what it had been built for, which was exactly why Aren wanted to explore it.

The convoy left the modern highways behind for older roads, and eventually the roads disappeared entirely as the vehicles rolled across rough terrain.

Lily watched her scanner. "Energy levels are increasing."

"They should be," Aren said over the comm system.

Lily glared at his face on the vehicle’s display. "Why?"

"Because we’re getting close."

"That’s not an explanation."

"It’s an observation."

Lily frowned, and Sera laughed. "He’s doing it on purpose."

"I know."

Kai watched the landscape grow stranger outside the window. Ancient structures appeared between the trees, some barely poking above the ground and others standing hundreds of meters tall, and at one point they passed beneath an enormous stone bridge with no road under it, only forest.

Lily stared at it. "Why would anyone build a bridge here?"

"There used to be a road," Aren answered. "Underground. I found it on my second expedition."

"You mapped it?"

"Partially. About twelve kilometers."

Lily’s eyes lit up. "Can I see the map?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because we’re racing."

Lily stared at him while Aren smiled, and Sera laughed. "That’s fair."

Lily crossed her arms. "I don’t like him."

"I heard that," Aren said.

"Good."

Gabriel chuckled. "This is going well."

Thirty minutes later, they hit their first obstacle. The road simply ended at the edge of a massive ravine at least three hundred meters wide, and the black tower stood on the far side.

Both vehicles stopped, and Aren stepped out to study the ravine. "There’s a bridge."

Lily looked around. "I don’t see one."

"You won’t." Aren walked to the edge, pulled a small relic device from his belt, and pressed a button. Nothing happened, and he pressed it again with the same result.

Sera raised an eyebrow. "Your legendary ruin knowledge isn’t working."

"The bridge is below us," Aren said, pointing down. Far below, Kai could see ancient stone platforms half-hidden in the ravine.

Lily pulled out her scanner. "I can activate it."

"No, you can’t," Aren said. "It doesn’t activate from this side. You have to activate the tower first."

Kai looked at the distant structure. "So we can’t cross."

Aren smiled. "So we have to find another route." He turned around. "First team to the tower."

Then he started running.

Sera stared after him. "He just started."

"Go!" Lily shouted, already chasing him.

Kai followed, and Gabriel strolled after them at a much more reasonable pace. "I suppose I should participate."

The forest turned chaotic almost immediately. Aren’s team moved with practiced precision, Vera smashing through the undergrowth while Jace cleared branches overhead and Sol scanned the ground. Aren led them around every obstacle without hesitation. He clearly knew the terrain.

Kai’s team followed, with Sera beside Kai and Lily checking her scanner every few steps. "He’s faster."

Aren was already nearly fifty meters ahead.

"He’s familiar with the area," Kai said.

Sera smiled. "That sounds like an excuse."

"I’m observing."

"That’s Aren’s line."

Kai glanced at her. "Don’t encourage him."

A roar shook the ground, and a massive creature burst through the trees. It looked like a stone bear nearly four meters tall, covered in ancient armor plates, with glowing blue eyes.

Lily stopped. "Ancient construct."

"Don’t fight it!" Aren shouted from ahead.

Sera drew her sword. "Too late."

The construct charged, and Sera’s blade flashed against its shoulder, cracking the stone armor as it roared.

Aren turned around. "You were supposed to avoid it!"

Sera dodged another swipe. "I don’t take orders from the competition!"

Aren sighed. "Of course you don’t." He rushed in and drove his short blade into a glowing joint in the creature’s leg, and it stumbled. Sera followed with another strike, and the construct collapsed.

She looked at Aren. "Nice."

"You too."

"You’re still annoying."

"You’re still reckless."

"Thanks."

Aren smiled.

Lily leaned toward Kai. "They’re flirting."

Kai nearly stopped walking. "What?"

"They’re fighting."

"That’s not what you said."

Kai looked over at Sera, who was arguing with Aren about whether attacking the construct had been necessary while Aren insisted it wasn’t. Neither of them seemed particularly angry.

Kai shook his head. "I don’t think so."

Lily shrugged. "Probably."

"They’re not," Gabriel said as she walked past them, and Kai looked relieved until she added, "Not yet."

Kai stared at her. "...You’re enjoying this."

"Very much."

The two teams reached the tower almost at the same time, though Aren arrived first by three seconds. He turned around. "Looks like we’re ahead."

Sera pointed at him. "Three seconds."

"A victory is a victory."

"That doesn’t count," Lily said.

"It absolutely counts."

Kai looked up at the tower. "Can you activate it?"

"I know how," Aren said, heading for the entrance.

"Wait," Lily said, pointing at the wall. A small symbol had appeared there, four lines, a circle, and a vertical mark.

Aren’s expression changed. "I’ve never seen that."

Lily smiled. "Then your map really is incomplete."

Aren stared at her, then laughed. "Fair."

Kai stepped closer. It wasn’t the symbol itself that felt familiar. It was the way Distortion reacted to it, a faint pressure forming around his hand as the symbol shifted.

Aren stepped back. "What did you do?"

"Nothing."

The symbol moved again, and a hidden door slid open. Everyone went silent.

Aren looked at Kai. "You’re kidding."

Kai shook his head. "I didn’t know that would happen."

"That’s another recognition," Lily said, staring at the door.

"Perhaps," Gabriel said, her expression growing serious.

Aren looked from Kai to the door, and then he smiled. "Well." He stepped through. "The race isn’t over."

The inside of the tower was enormous, and the doors sealed shut the moment they were all inside.

"Stay together," Aren said.

The hallway ahead split three ways, and Aren pointed left just as Lily pointed right. They looked at each other.

Aren raised an eyebrow. "Why right?"

"The energy signature is stronger."

"Energy doesn’t mean it’s the right path."

"It does if the core is powered."

"Not necessarily."

Lily folded her arms. "Then why left?"

"Because ancient builders usually placed service routes away from the main access."

Lily paused. "That’s actually a good point."

Sera looked at Kai. "Are you going to decide?"

Kai looked at both paths and closed his eyes. Distortion stirred, not like a voice or a command. It simply changed the way each possibility felt, left and right and straight through the wall.

He opened his eyes. "Neither."

Aren stared at him. "What?"

Kai walked to the stretch of wall between the two corridors and placed his hand against the stone. Distortion spread through it, and the wall didn’t visibly bend or break. The space simply became slightly different, until a gap opened in front of him.

Lily’s mouth fell open, Sera smiled, and Aren stared. "That’s not normal."

"No," Kai said, stepping through.

Aren looked at the impossible shortcut, then laughed and followed. "That’s cheating."

Sera walked past him. "It’s not cheating if nobody wrote rules about reality."

Aren looked at her. "That’s the worst defense I’ve ever heard."

"You still lost."

"I haven’t lost yet."

The shortcut changed everything. Kai’s team moved through spaces Aren had never seen, and the ruin itself seemed confused. Doors opened, corridors shifted, and ancient mechanisms began to activate until stone warriors stepped out of the walls.

This time, the two teams fought together. Vera blocked the first attack, and Sera slipped around her shield while Aren struck the exposed joints and Jace fired from the rear. Lily called out weak points, Gabriel shielded everyone with defensive magic, and Kai moved through the fight almost effortlessly. One construct swung at him, and he stepped aside. A second charged, and he touched its chest and let Distortion shift, sending it crashing into its neighbor.

Sera laughed. "You’re enjoying this."

"A little."

Aren dodged a stone blade. "He’s enjoying the race."

"Finally," Sera said.

"I still intend to win," Aren said.

"You’re losing!" Lily shouted from ahead.

"We’re not even at the core!"

"Exactly!"

Aren laughed. "You’re really competitive."

"So are you!"

"Yes," Aren said with a grin. "That’s why this is fun."

Both teams reached the final chamber at almost the same moment, and Aren made it to the doorway first. He looked back at Kai, who was still several meters behind him. "I win."

Kai looked at the doorway, then at the floor, and stopped. Something felt wrong.

Aren noticed. "What?"

Kai didn’t answer. Distortion was moving again, pointing toward a path that wasn’t ahead or behind them. It was below.

"Wait," Kai said.

Lily crouched beside him. "What is it?"

"There’s space underneath."

Aren scanned the floor and found nothing. Lily scanned it too, and her eyes widened. "He’s right."

Aren stared at Kai. "You found a hidden route."

"Probably."

Aren laughed. "You’ve got to be kidding me."

Sera smiled. "Looks like you lost."

"We haven’t reached the core yet."

Kai placed his hand on the floor, and the stone shifted to reveal a hidden staircase. Aren stared at it for several seconds, then shook his head and stepped aside. "Fine. You win."

Sera looked surprised. "You’re admitting it?"

"I know when someone beats me." Aren looked at Kai. "That wasn’t speed, and it wasn’t strength. It was something else."

"Distortion," Kai said.

Aren smiled. "Then I definitely want another race."

"Why?"

"Because now I know what I’m racing against."

Sera laughed. "You’re insane."

"Probably."

They went down the stairs into a chamber unlike anything they had seen before. It was perfectly circular, ringed by seven enormous pillars, with a massive stone wall standing at its center. There were no monsters, no traps, and no weapons, only a mural.

Lily stopped beside Kai, her voice quiet. "This is ancient."

"Very," Gabriel said.

Aren studied the wall. "I’ve never seen this language before."

Lily looked at him in surprise. "You haven’t?"

"No."

Four enormous symbols covered the mural. The first was a dragon, and the second was six Disasters surrounding a city. The third was a figure standing beneath a massive sky. The fourth was different. It showed no monster, no army, and no destruction, only a doorway. The first three symbols had been carved in full, but the fourth looked untouched.

Lily raised her scanner, and nothing happened.

Gabriel stepped closer and pointed to each symbol in turn. "Destruction. Calamity. Judgment."

Aren looked at the doorway. "And that?"

No one answered. The doorway looked almost ordinary, but there was something unsettling about it. It wasn’t closed, and it wasn’t open. It was simply there, waiting.

"There’s writing," Lily said, brushing the dust away from the inscriptions below it.

Aren translated the first line. "First came destruction."

"Then came calamity," Lily read.

"Then came judgment," Gabriel finished.

Kai looked at the fourth symbol, where one last line was carved beneath it. Lily translated it slowly, and her expression changed.

"What?" Sera asked.

Lily looked at Kai, then back at the mural. "The fourth is not..." She stopped.

Aren frowned. "Not what?"

"...an enemy."

The room went completely silent.

Kai stared at the door, and for the first time since entering the ruin, Distortion didn’t react at all. There was no threat and no hostile possibility, only a path and whatever waited beyond it.

The mural lit up. The dragon glowed first, then the six Disasters, then the figure beneath the sky, and finally the doorway began to shine as a voice echoed through the chamber.

"The fourth is not an enemy."

Kai’s eyes narrowed as the door in the mural slowly opened. Behind it, there was nothing at all.

Only stars.