The narrow passageway closed in around them as they slipped through the Rift's thin threshold. The air grew colder, heavier, and thick with a mist that curled and twisted like restless spirits. Every step echoed faintly, swallowed quickly by the oppressive silence.

When they stepped fully inside, they found themselves in a labyrinthine chamber—endless corridors twisting and folding back on themselves, walls slick with moisture and etched with strange, faded markings. 

Above, decapitated skulls of Rift Hounds hung from the ceiling, suspended by frayed ropes. Their jagged teeth and cracked bones stared down like grim trophies, silent reminders of past battles and brutal fates.

A faint, eerie glow pulsed from the Rift's core deep within the chamber, casting long, trembling shadows over the scattered remains of shattered weapons and broken bones littering the uneven floor. The heavy air pressed against their lungs, as if warning them that this place was soaked in death.

Jaemin's pulse quickened, cold sweat prickling at his neck. This was no ordinary Rift.

"Auxiliary Core: Guardian's Domain."

A soft, protective shimmer spread outward, enveloping the group in a faint, shimmering light that Minjae created.

Minjae's voice was calm but firm.

"This place isn't like the lower tiers. The environment here is unstable, twisted by the Abyss itself.

Jaemin looked toward Hana, curiosity in his eyes.

"Why did Minjae activate his core powers now? Why not you?"

Before Hana could answer, Jisoo stepped in, her tone sharp and certain.

"Because this is Tier 3. The hazards here are different from anything we've faced before. We're no longer inside some mirror of our world. This place is a warped fragment of time and space—something the Abyss created to trap or test us."

She scanned the endless twisting corridors, shadows playing tricks in the dim light.

"To be honest, this place barely exists by normal rules. It's the Abyss's actual domain, where laws like gravity or inertia only faintly apply—if at all. If something breaks those laws, it can happen here."

Jaemin's heart pounded as he pictured the danger surrounding them — the skulls of Rift Hounds hanging like morbid ornaments from the ceiling, silent witnesses to countless failed expeditions.

They pressed deeper into the labyrinth, winding through corridors of obsidian stone that groaned and whispered as if alive. The walls were slick with condensation that shimmered unnaturally, and every step echoed like thunder in a place that shouldn't exist.

They rounded a corner and stopped.

Before them stood a massive stone door, nearly four meters tall, embedded in the black rock like a monument to some ancient civilisation long erased. It pulsed—breathed—with violet veins that coursed across its surface like arteries under skin.

Carved into the stone were three pedestals, each waist-high and flat-topped, shaped in perfect circles. Atop each was a glowing symbol:

A Clock, suspended in time, its hands twitching in reverse.

An Eye, ever-shifting, with concentric rings inside it.

A Flame, flickering but leaving no heat.

Above the door, words burned themselves into visibility in ancient Core script—yet Jaemin understood them immediately, as if whispered into his mind.

"Only those whose eyes see beyond time survive the fire."

The glyphs on the door rearranged every few seconds, always in a different configuration, but in the brief moments between the shifts, three icons would flash for a breath:

Clock → Eye → Flame.

"Another dead end?"

Jinhwan muttered, gripping his sword tightly.

"No…"

 Jaemin stepped forward, his eyes tracing the shifting glyphs.

"This isn't a wall. It's a lock."

"A puzzle?" Hana blinked, tilting her head.

 "Interesting. We usually see these in T2S. T3S are something else…"

"And deadly, if solved wrong. Careful."

Minjae raised an eyebrow.

"So what's the play, rookie?"

Jisoo stepped beside Jaemin, arms crossed.

Jaemin nodded toward the pedestals.

"Three symbols. Three of us. But it's not just about who steps up. It's about order. Clock… Eye… Flame."

"Bah!!"

Jinhwan grunted, already stepping toward the Flame symbol.

"No puzzle. Fire's mine. Flame always meant Lion's Mane. Don't overthink it."

"Wait, no—!"

Jaemin's warning came too late.

Jinhwan slammed his palm onto the Flame pedestal.

With the sound of an angry lion's roar, the lion's mane burst through Jinhwan's palm

The pedestal glowed red—and then pulsed a deep, angry black.

A shockwave exploded out from the stone with a piercing screech that dropped half the team to one knee. The hallway trembled.

Jinhwan coughed, staggered backward, and growled.

"What the hell was that?!"

Jaemin exhaled.

"Not Lion's Mane."

"You think?"

Jisoo smirked.

"Die alone, man; try not to get us all killed, tank boy."

Jinhwan grumbled something obscene and stomped back to the group, his armour still smoking.

The massive door groaned open, its stone slabs retracting with a hiss into the walls, revealing a dim chamber ahead lit by nothing but swirling violet fog.

But before they could take a single step forward—

CRACK!!!!.

A fissure tore open in the black stone beneath Jinhwan's feet. Energy surged from the break like a geyser of darkness.

"Wait!" Hana shouted.

Too late.

The air split open above the fissure, and a hand—no, a clawed appendage the size of a human torso—reached out from the void.

The team backed away instantly, forming a circle as the space between realms convulsed. The stench of acid and rot poured into the corridor like a wave.

From the wound in reality emerged a creature that scraped its claws against the walls with a sound like shrieking metal. A Rifthound, but three times larger than any they'd encountered. Its back arched like a panther's, hunched with exposed ribs that pulsed with green, sickly light. Its fangs dripped venom that sizzled upon touching the stone.

"Riftlord…"

Jaemin whispered, stepping back.

"It's a Riftlord-class variant!!!"

The beast didn't look at the group—it looked directly at Jinhwan, huffing as though it had smelled guilt.

Jisoo muttered under her breath.

"A punishment. These rifts do have a mind of their own…"

Hana's expression hardened.

"It's bound to Jinhwan. We intervene, and more might come through."

Jinhwan flexed his arms, cracking his neck with a grin that barely masked the sudden chill in his blood.

"You want me? Then come, you oversized dick!!"

He stepped forward, separating himself from the group. His crimson aura flared violently.

"Bastion Core: Lions Mane — Apex Ignition."

His shield expanded with roaring flame patterns, his armour thickening with radiant red plating. This was no longer reckless swagger—it was full battle mode.

The Riftlord lunged.

Claws met steel. Poison clashed against flame.

A solo duel began in that narrow corridor as the others could only watch, tense, ready to intervene if the tide turned. But this was Jinhwan's mess. His fight.

It wasn't just a wrong answer. The Rift had judged him unworthy.

And now, Jinhwan had to survive it.

Jinhwan looked like he was having fun.

Jinhwan grinned—actually grinned—as the Riftlord bared its fangs, venom sizzling onto the blackstone floor.

"Let's make this interesting."

With a sharp inhale and a low stance, he crossed his arms and drew twin blades from the magnetic clasps on his back. His shield shattered into embers.

"Bastion Core: Bastion Blades."

The twin swords gleamed—then glowed. The moment the skill activated, his armour, already radiating from Apex Ignition, pumped intense heat through his entire frame. 

The blades absorbed every ounce, the hilts hissing in his grip as they hardened, then burned red-hot, almost white at the edges.

The Riftlord lunged, claws outstretched like spears.

CLANGGGGG

A clean slice—and the poison-tipped claws hit the ground, severed. Steam hissed from the lacerations. The beast recoiled, letting out a guttural, gurgling howl.

"Bitch"

The squad, watching from the rear, let out small exhales of relief.

"He… calculated that."

"Dude's reckless, but he's not stupid…"

But the Riftlord wasn't finished.

With a sickening crack of bone, it whipped its spine like a serpent, a barbed tail flailing outward. Jinhwan didn't have time to dodge.

CRACKKKKKK!!!

He was launched across the corridor like a cannonball, slamming into the far wall, stone bursting outward from the impact. Dust flooded the air, obscuring him from view.

"Jinhwan!"

Hana called out.

Silence.

Then—

A shape surged through the smoke.

A blur of crimson flame, arcing high into the air above the Riftlord.

"Nice hit, bastard. Now take mine!!

Jinhwan brought both blades together and dove down, his armour ablaze, the very air rippling around him.

"Bastion Core: Overburn Cleave."

He slashed directly at the beast's nape, the twin blades igniting. The hit didn't just burn—it overloaded, detonating the poison sacs with volatile heat.

The status effect: "Overburn" kicked in.

The Riftlord howled as its acidic mist vaporised instantly, searing the toxin from existence.

"No more poison. My family back home is enough for me!"

Landing smoothly, Jinhwan didn't pause.

In a single fluid motion, he spun and dashed beneath the beast, driving both blades into its underbelly.

SLASHHH!

Like a zipper being undone, the Riftlord split clean from abdomen to skull—steam, bile, and sizzling tissue exploding outward as the creature fell in two, collapsing with a wet thud.

The Rift crack sealed behind the corpse with a faint pop, as if acknowledging the end of its sentence.

Jinhwan stood amidst the smoke, blades still glowing faintly red, chest rising and falling calmly.

"Hah… riddles, screw those."

"He fought like a lunatic."

Naeun said.

"He fought like a leader."

Jisoo corrected.