The walls changed.
It wasn't a hallway anymore—it was a living throat.
The surface pulsed. The veins inside glowed with thin violet veins of Nen.
Even Kaen—whose Mind Palace had cataloged Nen types from conjurers to space distorters—had never seen anything like this.
"He's warping the Labyrinth as he breathes," said Kite, approaching fast.
"This section is Verge's territory."
The name made even Morel frown.
"Chimera Ant–born," Kite continued.
"But not just a brawler like most. He was… engineered. Raised by a group of rogue Hunters and Nen theorists. No ego. Just pure function. A walking recursion engine."
Kurapika clenched his fists.
"They didn't teach him to fight. They taught him to build nightmares."
⸻
ENTER THE PARASITE NEN ZONE
They reached the core of the throat-like tunnel: a central chamber made of floating platforms, twisting in three dimensions like a broken Rubik's Cube in zero gravity.
At its center stood a figure suspended in liquid aura.
Long, with jointless limbs and a face made of shifting masks.
Verge.
When he spoke, the air didn't vibrate. Your memories did.
"Kaen of Whale Island. Architect of imitation.
Let me test the integrity of your foundations."
Then the floor broke apart.
Kaen fell—
No, he looped.
And when he opened his eyes…
⸻
Kaen's Dream Prison
He was back on Whale Island.
Young.
Happy.
A world with no Nen.
No loss.
No war.
His hands held a fishing rod. Ging was at the dock, laughing. The air smelled like mangoes and ocean.
"This isn't real," Kaen whispered.
"This isn't my life anymore."
A voice behind him—Verge's, warped through the mouths of old friends and family.
"Why change the world, when the world was already perfect once?"
The parasite Nen was activating.
Its power?
Dream Loop Barrier – Eternal Thread Nest.
Traps targets in recursive dream-states built from their most nostalgic truths. The more they accept it, the more Nen is drained from their body in reality.
Kaen trembled.
This was not just mental trickery.
This was an invasive ability.
A parasite, feeding on his dream-memories.
But inside the Mind Palace…
Kaen didn't panic.
He opened a sealed door.
"Construct #47 – Reverse Recall: Memory Fracture."
A shockwave tore across the dream-world.
The fake Whale Island crumbled—turning into blueprints inside Kaen's mind.
"You tried to trap me in a world I know better than anyone," he said, standing amidst the ruins.
"But I study dreams. I catalog illusions. And I reshape them."
From the broken dream came new power:
⸻
New Mind Palace Constructs Unlocked
1. Heartbeat Layer – Emotional Rejection Field
Generates a shield of raw emotional resistance. Rejects Nen-based manipulations that use nostalgia, regret, or memory.
2. Echo Forge – Memory Blade
Forms a weapon from shattered dream-fragments. Its shape adapts to the opponent's emotional resonance, cutting through false constructs.
⸻
Back in the real world, Verge reeled.
His mask cracked.
Kaen emerged from the loop mid-air, eyes glowing, blade forged of broken memory in hand.
"You took my dreams and made them a trap."
"I take your traps and make them my arsenal."
Verge raised a thousand reflective panels.
Kaen charged.
Every panel tried to rewrite his thoughts. Each pulse tried to drag him back into another nostalgic illusion.
But Kaen's Heartbeat Layer pulsed louder.
Every attack hit a wall of truth forged in sorrow and will.
He struck Verge—
Not to destroy.
But to extract.
His blade absorbed Verge's core recursive logic.
"Mind Palace – Rewrite Protocol Initiated."
"Construct: Dream Loop Reversal – Parasite Prism."
Verge screamed in code and color. The parasite shattered.
The Labyrinth convulsed.
⸻
Aftermath
Kaen landed, breathing heavy, eyes burning.
Knuckle grabbed him.
"You good?! You were out for five minutes!"
Kaen didn't speak right away.
Instead, he smiled slowly.
"Five minutes there felt like a lifetime."
Killua cracked his knuckles.
"Well, while you were gone, the map updated."
Kurapika held up a shifting 3D model of the Labyrinth's deeper layers.
"We've found the Nexus."
"A central chamber where every trial converges."
And at its center…
An entity that the Association hadn't named.
Only whispered about.
"The Original Crafter."
Kite's face went pale.
"The one who made this entire Labyrinth system. A Nen user lost to history."
Cheadle's voice returned in their comms.
"Change of mission priority."
"Do not just survive."
"You are now tasked with reaching the Crafter. And if possible… learning what he built this place for."
⸻
Kaen's Thoughts – Inside the Palace
He sat before the echoing pages of his Dream Manuscript.
And wrote:
"The Mind Palace doesn't grow from power."
"It grows from memory. From loss. From dreams I outgrow and reclaim."
He turned the page.
And the walls around him shifted into a citadel of branching doors.
TO BE CONTINUED IN CHAPTER 23 – The Nexus Stairway and the Hunter Graveyard