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A capsule appeared before the blood mage’s eyes. What had once seemed an unattainable goal now stood right in front of her. A thrill of anticipation ran through her body, and her fatigue vanished as if by magic. She hurried forward, forgetting to be cautious. It seemed unlikely that no one had laid claim to the spacious, dry cave. But she couldn’t worry about that as her hands touched the desired metal surface. A feeling of joy filled Suri—it wasn’t a dream.

Up close, the damage to the metal looked even worse. Some force had twisted the structure, deforming the original shape of the capsule. Suri was overcome by conflicting feelings. The longer she examined the wreckage, the more she hoped it wasn’t her capsule. If it was, how would she ever return to her world? Her father must be going crazy with worry.

The girl leaned over the edge and looked inside. What was once white, soft upholstery was now covered with tufts of blue lichen, giving the capsule an even more depressing and abandoned look. Soon, the underground vegetation would confidently take over this habitat, erasing any traces of the previous user.

“It looks so different from what I remember… But logically, it should be somewhere in this part.” She bit her lip with determination and, with all her might, hit the capsule’s wall with the back of her fist. The panel clanged but held up under the unflattering treatment.

“The mechanism is broken,” Suri thought, frowning. She raised her hand for another strike, but a strong grip stopped her.

“What are you doing?” the Judge asked.

The girl was so engrossed that she hadn’t realized how much noise her careless actions were making.

“Step back.”

When she obediently stepped aside, the Judge picked up a metal fragment and pried the bent edge of the panel. With a sharp push, the panel popped off and crashed onto the stones. She had misinterpreted the Judge’s actions. He didn’t seem concerned about the noise.

Nevertheless, the goal was achieved. Beneath the panel was a small black matte cube. Suri exhaled in relief; at least she had gotten something right.

Carefully extracting the cube from its slot, she rolled it from one hand to the other. Familiar sensations washed over her. She envisioned a bright room where she usually juggled informational cores, checking data sorting. The matte, smooth surface felt exactly the same as she remembered.

“What is that?” The Judge’s voice sounded right next to her ear, startling her. She let out a nervous giggle, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment, but the Judge didn’t seem to notice. His eyes were fixed on the unusual object, starkly standing out against her pale palm.

“It’s a core.” When the man’s dark eyebrow raised, Suri hastened to add, “No, you’re thinking of something else. It’s an informational core. Something that stores knowledge.” She gestured energetically, helping herself organize her thoughts. Her voice rang with impatience, and her eyes sparkled. “You know, this isn’t the smallest core I’ve seen.” The blood mage’s thin fingers probed the cube’s surface. Usually restrained, she now radiated a whole spectrum of emotions. And the sole observer didn’t interrupt, ask questions, or take his eyes off her smile.

Suddenly, her thin eyebrows knitted together. She weighed the core in her hand and muttered, “How strange… It seems like it should be heavier. What kind of material is this? And why hasn’t it activated yet?” She covered the core with her other hand and tried to warm it. She managed this with great difficulty. Deep underground, the warmth from the runes on her gear barely kept her teeth from chattering. Having faced many dangers and anxieties, she had temporarily forgotten about the cold. But now, feeling relatively safe, other sensations began to return.

Suri breathed on the cube, her hot breath turning into a cloud of vapor. Her impatience grew with each attempt.

“No! No!” She furiously rubbed the cube between her palms, breathing on it repeatedly. “Don’t you dare! You can’t do this to me! Not now, when I’ve reached this damned capsule!” She screamed angrily. The cube’s corner scratched her delicate skin and fell from her hands. She didn’t move, indifferently watching as the cube clattered on the ground and rolled away.

A veil covered Suri’s eyes. A bitter sense of hopelessness and despair enveloped her. In every desperate situation she had previously found herself, there had always been hope that it wasn’t real. But one small, soulless object had destroyed all the castles in the air she had built. This thing was too familiar to her. The discarded fatigue returned with doubled force, and she collapsed to the ground, staring into nothingness.

The Judge knelt beside her and picked up the informational core. Turning it over in his hands, he found nothing remarkable. Perhaps the blood mage saw something more in this junk. She always saw more than others. And he suddenly became curious about how the world looked through her eyes. Why could a fragile trinket make her smile and shine from within, and in the next moment, take away the light from her eyes?

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“Is this all?” the Judge raised an eyebrow. “You risked your life for this?” He extended the cube to her on an outstretched palm.

Suri shook her head. “I don’t know what I expected to find here. Why did I think it would change anything? I can’t tell what’s real anymore.”

“What did you remember?” the Judge asked. “You knew there was a secret in the tomb. You knew exactly where to look for this thing. And judging by your disappointment, you know what it is, or what it was.” The man’s voice dropped with tension. White knuckles showed on his hands. He barely restrained himself, having turned into a bundle of nerves. What could have agitated this man so much that he couldn’t even hide his feelings?

The girl remained silent, immersed in her own thoughts. The Judge couldn’t take it and shook her by the shoulders, looking into her pale face.

“It’s not a tomb. It’s a surgical capsule…” she brushed off the warrior, trying to stop this torture. And then Suri froze, suspended in his hands. She suddenly broke free from his grip and rushed to the capsule. “They do look alike. How did I not notice this immediately?”

Damage and time had erased all possible marks from the exterior. But inside, she could still find something. Sweeping away the debris from the bottom, she discovered a barely visible symbol: three intersecting rings in a triangle. Quarantine. Infection threat.

The girl recoiled from the capsule as if some force had thrown her back. She ran to the Judge and wordlessly snatched the matte black cube from his hand. The fall had left scratches on it, but there were no other damages.

“There are no defects. It should at least respond to emergency activation. In that case… how much time has passed that even the core failed?” The thought flashed through Suri’s mind like lightning. “Am I infected with something? Why don’t I remember this?”

“Speak,” the Judge ordered. “What happened before you ended up in the tomb? Do you remember your past life? Do you know who I am? What’s my name?”

“Why should I know your name?” Suri was puzzled. “We’ve never met before.” Her rounded mouth and clear, direct gaze showed she clearly didn’t understand what the Judge was talking about. And that irritated him.

The warrior’s jaw muscles tensed under his cheeks, but he closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose with two fingers, regaining his composure. His next question came in his usual detached tone: “Then how did your image end up in my tomb?”

Suri shook her head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re mistaken. You must have confused me with someone else. That’s right. My face is quite ordinary.” The Judge’s words didn’t make sense to her. Emotions were overwhelming her, threatening to break free at any moment. The Judge’s strange behavior completely confused her.

He continued questioning, moving closer: “Ordinary? And do many people in Azur have blue eyes?” The warrior lunged to grab the blood mage but at the last moment struck his palm against the nearby stalagmite instead. His piercing gaze burned through the girl as if trying to look straight into her thoughts. Flames flared in his eyes, tinting his irises. Living golden patterns spread across his face, quickly extending down his neck and arms. Where the tattoos appeared, the warrior’s skin transformed. The Judge’s aura changed.

Black flames spread from his right hand across the stone. Quickly and silently, their golden fiery tendrils consumed the stone column. Flames that didn’t belong to this world and radiated an otherworldly cold appeared for one purpose—to devour everything their golden tongues touched.

Suri watched the man, feeling that a divine being was being born before her eyes. Colossal pressure weighed down on her body. She felt alternately hot and cold. Any resistance faded in the face of superior power. If the bearer of this power wished, he could destroy her world entirely.

“You risk your life because you believe you have a reason to die. But I have a reason for you to live.”

The deity caught one of the tears streaming from her wide-open blue eyes. Her lips trembled. No sound escaped her mouth. He frowned deeper. Why wasn’t she breathing? What scared her so much? The deity’s gaze fell on his altered hand. By then, the black flame had erased the huge stalagmite and spread across the cave ceiling.

“Tsk,” he clicked his tongue irritably and stepped away from the girl. At that moment, he wished to be as far away from her as possible. When something inside him took over, he lost control. How long had it been since that last happened? He was too agitated. Too impatient. He needed to get a grip. The time would come, and he would find answers to his questions. He calmed his mind, dismissing emotions. The golden tattoos on the Judge’s hand faded, and with them, the terrifying pressure ceased. When the man turned around, his eyes were once again their usual black. Nothing in his appearance revealed the recent transformation, as if nothing had happened at all.

The Judge was in no hurry to approach the blood mage. But his gaze spoke volumes.

“Who are you?” The girl’s hoarse voice sounded unusually loud in the oppressive silence.

The corner of the Judge’s mouth lifted. “That’s what I want to know.”

Surveying the cave, he moved to a relatively flat section of ground surrounded by a cluster of rocks. Nearby, water dripped. When the Judge finished filling the empty flask, Suri was still standing in the same place.

“We’ll stop for a rest,” the Judge said, glancing at her, and sat down on the ground, leaning against a stone. He no longer paid attention to the blood mage. She had the impression that he wouldn’t stop her even if she decided to run away. She almost did, but after taking a few steps, she stopped. Her body ached, her head buzzed. And escaping the Judge would only mean running into another Labyrinth monster. At least this man needed her alive.

After drinking water from the flask left nearby, Suri settled down to rest, moving as far away from the Judge as possible. She fidgeted anxiously, listening to every rustle coming from the cave’s entrance.

“No one will come.” The Judge’s eyes glowed darkly in the shadows. Suri didn’t dwell on what else might threaten her. The measured sound of dripping water gradually drowned out all worries, and her heavy eyelids closed tightly.

When the blood mage’s breathing evened out, the Judge took a small object from the folds of his leather armor. The cube in his hands was an exact copy of the one Suri had found. In several places, thin tangled threads hung from its edges, resembling cobwebs, yet extraordinarily strong. The Judge tossed the cube on his palm, then covered it with his other hand, mimicking the blood mage’s movements. As the object warmed to body temperature, a red pulse of light escaped from his tightly clasped hands. After blinking a few times, the light went out. The cube emitted no further signals.