Morning began with the city changing before everyone had even woken up. The distant sound of stones sliding spread like a lazy, dragging growl that climbed the walls and slipped through the cracks in the windows. When I opened my eyes, the light coming through the window was not the same as the day before. The sky seemed lower, as if it had sunk a little.
Vespera stretched, yawning. "The city woke up before us. That's never a good sign."
Rai'kanna was already on her feet, arranging her weapons. "Today is the day we try to find the fourth key. The city will make everything harder."
Liriel turned a page of the grimoire. "The map has changed again. The three routes I mentioned yesterday aren't aligned… yet."
"Then we have to make them align," Elara said, pulling on her cloak.
Lyannis took a deep breath, still sleepy but focused. "The collector said this key only appears when three streets form a perfect triangle. And that only happens if the city allows it."
"Or if we irritate it until it does," Vespera muttered.
We set out immediately.
That day, the city seemed irritated. The sidewalks trembled at irregular intervals, wooden signs flipped on their own, and windows changed shape as we passed. There were no creatures roaming—and that was the worst part. When the city didn't show monsters, it was because it was preparing something else.
After a few minutes, Liriel stopped abruptly.
"There. The first route has started to move."
I looked where she was pointing. An entire street was slowly sliding to the right, as if on an invisible track. The sound was like stone scraping against ice.
"We have to position ourselves quickly," Elara said. "If we lose one of them, we'll have to wait until the city wants to change again."
Vespera snapped her fingers. "Great, a race against time. As always."
The first street was almost aligned when the second began to move as well. It came from the north, winding like a stone serpent. The third, however, remained still.
"It's waiting for something," Liriel said. "The city is reacting to Takumi's presence."
"Again?" I sighed. "What does it want this time?"
Rai'kanna placed a hand on my shoulder. "Maybe it wants to measure your flame… or test it."
The ground vibrated.
The third street finally began to move. But unlike the others, it didn't slide. It bent, twisted, as if trying to rid itself of us. As it passed, a narrow corridor opened, seeming to change width as long as it existed.
"We're supposed to go in there?" Vespera asked.
"Yes," Liriel replied. "Now. And quickly."
We entered the corridor, but the city seemed to feel our presence. The walls drew closer by a few centimeters, then pulled back. The light flickered. The ground tilted slightly.
It was like walking inside a living animal.
Lyannis tightened her grip on the spear. "It doesn't want us to pass."
"No," Rai'kanna said. "It wants to see if we can pass."
There was a subtle difference.
We continued until the end, where the three streets were about to align. A central point, marked by three black stones, glowed with golden light. The Key of the Three Gates would appear there.
Or it should have.
But something interrupted.
A deep crack echoed beneath the ground. Then a crash like metal being crushed. The city stopped. Everything stopped.
And then the creature emerged.
It was nothing like the previous ones. This one seemed made of street segments, as if pieces of sidewalk and brick had risen and assembled into a humanoid body. Its face was a mask of windows, and on its arms, chains moved like serpents.
"A Route Guardian," Liriel said, swallowing hard. "It only exists when three streets try to align."
"And it exists to stop that?" Vespera asked.
"To test who deserves the key."
The Guardian extended its arm, and a chain shot out like a whip. Rai'kanna spread her wings, dodging at the last second. Elara fired arrows, but they froze in midair, floating as if gravity had given up on them.
The creature absorbed the arrows.
That was not good.
Vespera leapt aside, creating a gust of wind that pushed the Guardian back several meters. But the city's walls responded, shifting to compensate for the impact, as if protecting the monster.
"It's helping him," Lyannis murmured. "The city is on his side!"
"No," I replied. "It's watching. It wants to see what we do."
The flame inside me pulsed, hot, alive, reacting to the Guardian as if it had found something familiar.
The Guardian advanced.
I advanced as well.
When my blade touched its body, the flame reacted as if it recognized the material. The impact opened the first crack in the creature's body. Rai'kanna took advantage and dove in with flaming wings, striking the other side.
The Guardian tried to crush us with its chains, but Vespera dodged them with precise movements. Elara hit a window on its face, shattering one of its "eyes." Lyannis attacked the leg, opening space for me to strike the core.
The flame lit up the surroundings as it touched the right point.
The Guardian stopped.
Its body trembled, the bricks vibrating as if they were about to fall apart. It took a step back, then another, and knelt. The chains fell. The windows went dark.
And then it collapsed, becoming nothing more than street again.
The ground shook.
The three streets aligned perfectly.
A golden light rose at the center, forming a circular figure that seemed to float between solid and liquid states. When it touched the ground, it became solid: a metal key with three triangular markings.
The Key of the Three Gates.
Liriel picked it up carefully. "It accepted. The city recognized our victory."
Rai'kanna took a deep breath. "It means we're close to discovering what it keeps."
Lyannis looked at me, worried. "The flame… Is everything okay?"
"It is," I replied. "But it's reacting faster than before."
Vespera gave my shoulder a light slap. "Then get ready. Because if the city is testing you… it's because it wants something big."
Elara agreed. "And the next step won't be easy."
I knew that.
And the city did too.