Footsteps echoed through the cave like the heavy pounding of war drums, blending with the ragged breaths and racing heartbeats.
The three of them rushed along the jagged stone path, lit only by the flickering glow of luminescent mineral veins running through the cave walls.
Each landing was unsteady, but no one stopped. They couldn't stop.
Behind them, the screams had not yet faded. Groans, howls, anguished cries slammed into the stone and rebounded, trapped in an endless loop of someone's dying torment.
It was no longer just sound. It became an invisible blade, slicing deeper into the listener's mind.
Every scream sent a chill down their spines, a searing cold spreading through their bodies.
And then...clink!
The sound wasn't loud. It was delicate, like a crystal glass falling onto stone.
Yet in that space, it rang out unnaturally sharp...piercing, chilling.
A sound of breaking… like a soul being crushed. Like life shattering into pieces that could never be put back together.
It was the system's sound. A death notification.
No one said a word. No one turned around. But for a heartbeat, all three held their breath.
They knew.
Someone had died. Maybe the leader, maybe one of his followers. But it no longer mattered.
He had chosen that path. They had chosen that path. And now, they were just names erased, vanishing from this world as if they never existed.
Yuna bit her lip. Her eyes were wide, her hand trembling.
Even without turning back, she could picture it, the blood, the snap of bones, the scream fading into silence as the soul slipped away.
She still had compassion. She still believed in saving others. But that sound... it stole a part of that belief.
Nautilus was frozen. He said nothing, but his steps faltered for a moment, as if to understand, to be sure he wasn't indifferent.
Then, he tightened his grip on Yuna's hand, forcing himself to move forward. He knew, if he stopped, there would be no one left to protect her.
Ren was the only one unchanged. He said nothing. Didn't look back. Showed no trace of sorrow.
His hand clenched so tightly it turned white, veins bulging beneath his skin. Not from regret...but from anger.
He didn't mourn their deaths. What enraged him was the way they had dragged everyone to the edge, the way they dared betray and exploit trust.
They weren't worthy of salvation.
And that breaking sound… was simply the final confirmation.
They kept walking, deeper into the damp, dark tunnels that felt like the earth was swallowing them whole.
The air was thick, heavy, as if each breath was being slowly drawn from their lungs.
The walls were lined with gray moss and fractured mineral veins glowing an eerie green, casting ghostly light over their faces, three haunted souls wandering a nightmare.
The path ahead twisted and turned like a labyrinth, locking them inside.
Distant echoes, falling stones or phantom footsteps, blurred the line between reality and hallucination, unsettling their sense of direction.
Ren furrowed his brow. For the first time since the escape began, worry clearly appeared in his eyes.
But he quickly masked it. His voice, low and steady, broke the silence, "We're heading deeper into the collapse zone…"
He glanced at his companions. Nautilus was slightly hunched, his eyes vacant, his face pale as if all color had drained away.
And Yuna… she hadn't said a word. Her eyes were wide, empty of light, replaying the scenes behind them, scenes that refused to fade. Her hand still trembled, even as Nautilus held it tightly.
Ren let out a quiet sigh. He understood. They were still trapped in the trauma.
That death...unheroic, devoid of humanity, had left a deep fracture in their hearts.
What had happened wasn't just another battle for survival. It was the first collision between ideals and harsh reality.
It was their first time facing the truth...Sometimes… not everyone can be saved. And not everyone deserves to be saved.
Ren didn't blame them for being shaken. He only hoped that, after everything… they would keep moving forward. Because from here on, the path would only grow darker.
Ren stopped briefly and opened his inventory. In the soft hum of a virtual interface appearing in the gloom, he quietly pulled out two HP recovery potions.
Saying nothing else, he placed one gently into each of their hands.
"Drink," he said, voice low but firm, leaving no room for refusal. "We don't know what else is waiting in the shadows ahead."
They both took the potions, but Yuna didn't move. She stood still, gripping the bottle but not lifting it.
She looked at Ren for a long time, deeply, her gaze holding something different, something no longer the same.
In that fleeting moment, it was as if she were seeing a completely different person.
A faint fracture crossed her expression, like ripples stirring the surface of a still lake.
"…You…" she whispered, her voice catching in her throat, "Don't you feel even a little guilty?"
The question wasn't loud, nor sharp, but there was something in it, something like a blade hidden in velvet.Not an accusation… more like the echo of a belief beginning to crumble.
Ren's heart skipped a beat.
It was as if Yuna's question wasn't just a reprimand, but a sound striking straight into the part of him he'd tried so hard to ignore.
He didn't answer right away. But his eyes lowered slightly, and his hand around the sword tightened, an unconscious motion, as if to keep himself from falling apart.
Only now, when the shouting behind them had completely faded, when adrenaline and anger no longer clouded his mind… did Ren finally feel it.
A faint sting at first, then spreading like a knot twisting in his stomach.Uncomfortable. Dully painful.
Like something gnawing at him from the inside out, a worm hollowing the core of a conscience he thought had gone numb.
Did he feel guilty?
Yes.
When rage had overtaken him, when his blood surged, when the lives of his friends were the only thing left in his mind… he hadn't thought much at all.
He'd let contempt and fury speak in place of reason. But now that it was over… the cost of that choice began to show itself.
And Ren knew. He knew it clearly.
The act he thought was righteous punishment… might also carry the stain of cruelty.
He had thrown the traitors to the monsters, not because he had no other choice, but because he wanted to.
So even though his face showed nothing… inside, Ren was asking himself:
Was he really any different from them? Or just another version of the same brutality?
He meant to say something, but when their eyes met, words failed.
Yuna stood frozen, as if her entire body had gone still beneath a silent wind.
In her eyes, the gentleness that once resided had been replaced by something else, cold, uncertain, and perhaps… tinged with fear.
"You said you wanted to protect us," she said, voice soft but trembling, like a taut thread on the verge of snapping. "But you threw away other lives… like they meant nothing."
Ren stood there, hands clenched so tightly the knuckles turned white. His gaze darkened, not with anger, but as if trying to hide a crack slowly spreading across his heart.
"I did what I had to do," he replied, his voice dry, almost as if he didn't fully believe the words himself.
Yuna let out a short, bitter laugh, choked and sorrowful.
"What you had to do? Was it really right...to watch people get torn apart just so we could move on? Do you even know… what their eyes looked like, in that moment?"
Ren spun around, his eyes blazing, his voice a low growl, like he was holding back a storm."They betrayed us! They led you into that damn trap! If I hadn't done it, both of you would've died there!"
"So you decided to kill them?" Yuna shouted, her voice cutting like a blade for the first time on this journey. "And that makes it right? Or are you just justifying your own rage and fear?"
Ren fell silent.
His shoulders trembled slightly, whether from anger, fear, or because for the first time… he didn't know what was right or wrong anymore.
"I chose to protect you both," he said quietly, each word torn from somewhere deep inside. "If it's between my teammates and three people who stabbed us in the back… I won't hesitate."
Yuna stared at him, eyes glistening, unblinking. "Then… what if one day, it's me… or Nautilus… who makes a mistake? Will you throw us away too, Ren?"
The question landed like a strike to the heart.
Ren didn't respond.
He only turned his face away, lips pressed so tightly they bled.
Not a word. Not a single word could erase the look in her eyes then...hurt, disillusioned, and lost.
Yuna took a step back. There was nothing left to say.
The silence between them now stretched like an abyss, bottomless and cold.
And Ren, no matter how strong he tried to be… felt his chest heavy as if weighted with stone.
Because that look...the gaze of someone who once trusted him, hurt more than any wound he had ever taken.
Nautilus stood quietly between them, as if the air around him had solidified into a wall too thick to cut through.
His eyes flicked from Yuna to Ren, lost, as if hoping one of them would say something to make it all clear.
But nothing was clear.
He understood Yuna. She was hurting.
Not just from the scene they had witnessed, but from the person she trusted...Ren, being capable of such coldness.
And deep down, Nautilus found himself agreeing with her: a life shouldn't be discarded like a broken object.
But he also understood Ren.
The way Ren screamed, trembled in anger… wasn't pure cruelty.
It was desperation. The fear of losing the few people still by his side.
If it had been Yuna standing on that line between life and death, needing a way out...perhaps… he would have done the same.