"Flattery won't erase that outburst, fox boy. Now come on, we've got bigger problems than your runaway mouth."
Laverna's blush lingered in her cheeks. The crest reveals the truth in both of them.
It glowed faintly, betraying feelings they dared not speak aloud. For Shin, it was a quiet yearning he kept locked away—he didn't want Laverna to feel cornered or uncomfortable, no matter what his heart told him.
And for Laverna, the stirrings were there too, undeniable now, even if she didn't quite know what to do with them. Despite the chaos around them, something soft and real was blooming.
But Shin would wait. As long as it took. He was a gentleman, and her comfort came before anything else.
"You know," Shin said with a lopsided grin, "if we die in these ruins, I just want it on the record that I still haven't gotten my apology for you casting that Zone of Truth spell."
Laverna scoffed. "If we die in these ruins, I'll haunt you so I can still not give you that apology."
"That's cold," he teased. "Even in the afterlife?"
"Especially in the afterlife." she jested back.
They both laughed quietly, the tension between them softening for a moment.
Then, her voice dropped a note. "But... thanks. For not pushing. About... you know."
Shin gave her a gentle nod. "You don't have to say anything. I get it. We're dancing on knives already. Feelings just make the footing worse."
"Still," she murmured, brushing a hand along the wall absently, "maybe dancing with you wouldn't be so bad."
Shin's ears twitched, his cheeks faintly red. "Let's just make it out of here first, then we'll see if your feet can keep up."
"Cocky fox."
"Dangerous kunoichi."
They exchanged one last smile before the echo of shifting stone reminded them of the truth — They were still trapped in the ruins, and the danger hadn't passed.
A cold draft rolled through the underground chamber, pulling at Shin's coat as another hidden mechanism groaned to life.
The mural behind them shuddered, ancient gears grinding, and a seam split down its center. With a deep rumble, the wall peeled open to reveal a second corridor, cloaked in unnatural shadows and lined with jagged roots pulsing with faint red light.
Shin and Laverna exchanged a glance, then stepped into the gloom.
This new passage was narrower, more oppressive, and the air itself felt heavy with grief. Along the walls, another series of murals unfolded—a continuation of the story.
These new images showed the corrupted pups fully grown, their forms now divine and terrifying. One bore a crown of twisted horns, while the other held a massive blade crackling with obsidian lightning.
They laid waste to the land, reducing forests to ash and turning rivers to black ichor. Entire cities fell beneath their claws.
But what disturbed Shin and Laverna most was not the destruction, but the worship. Painted figures of ancient peoples bowed before the corrupted kitsune, raising offerings of gold, blood, and chained sacrifices. Temples were erected in their names, not as warnings, but as tributes.
"They weren't just feared," Laverna said quietly. "They were revered. Used by the darkness to manipulate the world... not through terror alone, but through blind devotion."
Shin's fists clenched. "Avatars of darkness. False gods masquerading as saviors. They twisted everything."
As they ventured deeper, the murals changed again. The people who once worshipped the corrupted pups eventually turned on each other. Civilizations crumbled under infighting, consumed by zealotry and betrayal. In the final panel, a burning city stood atop a blackened mountain—and at its heart, the two corrupted foxes sat upon thrones of bone, their eyes hollow, their smiles cruel.
At the corridor's end, they found a final archway sealed with ancient runes. With a pulse from Shin's orb and a whispered incantation from Laverna, the runes faded, and the stone doorway split.
Daylight poured in.
Blinking against the sudden brightness, they stepped forward—and emerged in a hidden chamber beneath Mayor Edmund's estate.
The air was warmer here, tinged with the scent of polished wood and rose incense. A flight of stairs led upward, no doubt into the estate proper.
Laverna inhaled sharply. "All this... under his home?"
Shin looked around the chamber—small, quiet, filled with relics and faded portraits. It looked more like a shrine than a war room.
"He's connected to this somehow," Shin muttered. "Whether he knows it or not."
Their minds churned with revelations. The corrupted pups were not just a myth or warning—they were real. They were worshipped. And their influence still lingered, tangled deep within the roots of the world.
And now, Valdorne stood atop that buried past.
Somewhere above, Edmund and his family were being targeted.
And the darkness might already be closer than they feared.
They continued down the corridor, their footsteps echoing faintly against the stone. The passage stretched on, the air growing denser, until they reached a spiral stairway carved into the rock.
Its steps were worn smooth, as if countless feet had tread them over centuries. As they began to climb, the cold air that had clung to them in the ruins slowly turned hot, thick with an unnatural warmth that prickled their skin.
Shin's tail twitched uneasily. "This heat… It's not right. Feels like we're walking into a furnace."
Laverna's hand hovered near her dagger, her eyes scanning the shadows above. "Or something worse. You feel that, don't you? Like the air's watching us."
"Yeah," Shin muttered, his voice low. "It's heavy. Like the ruins are alive and not happy we're here." He paused, glancing at her. "How long have we been down here, anyway? Feels like days."
Laverna's brow furrowed. "No idea. Time's all wrong in this place. Could be hours… could be longer." She took another step, then stopped, her voice quieter. "Shin, if this goes bad up there… You got my back, right?"
He met her gaze, his usual grin absent. "Always. You know that. You got mine?"
She smirked, but there was a softness in it. "Don't get cocky, fox boy. But yeah. I do."
They shared a brief nod, the ominous weight of the stairway pressing down on them. Each step upward felt heavier, the heat intensifying, and a dangerous, primal instinct screamed that whatever waited at the top was far from friendly.