Jin's mouth hung open. "They're… gone."
Lee Hyun lowered his sword slowly. "He did it."
Steve turned around, smiling weakly. "Told you this would be fun."
Jin blinked, staring at the empty space where their clones had once stood.
He let out a breathless laugh. "What have you done, Steve? The clones… they're gone!"
Steve stood up slowly, brushing dust off his hands.
"I turned off the torch," he said, voice calm but tired. "No shadow formed when I touched the crystal. I figured… maybe that was the key."
Jin's eyes widened. "No shadow…"
Steve nodded. "The voice said only the one who doesn't cast a shadow can touch it. I thought, what if the clones appear because of the shadow? No shadow… no reflection."
Hwan stepped forward, cautious.
"And if they didn't vanish?"
Steve met his eyes with a serious look.
"Then we'd all be dead by now."
He exhaled. "What I did…was a pure gamble. But without trying something, we wouldn't have made it out."
Steve took a slow step toward Hwan, his voice steady and eyes unwavering.
"I only gamble… when I see hope don't worry."
Jin stepped back, his voice shaking slightly, "Okay… I don't want to go further. Let's move back."
Hwan scoffed, his eyes scanning the walls. "Move back? From where, Jin? The door we came through… it's sealed now."
A heavy silence fell over the group.
Steve exhaled slowly, then stepped forward.
"There's no other option," he said firmly, looking at Lee Hyun. "We have to move forward. Leader… on your command, we'll go further."
Lee Hyun's voice was steady. "Yes… we move further."
The group started walking into the next chamber, their steps cautious, shadows trailing behind them on the polished obsidian floor.
But then...
A sudden echo rang out, not from one direction but from all around them, as if the walls themselves were speaking:
"Only one can survive.
When the last grain of time sand falls…
Lava will rise.
All others… will perish."
The group froze.
A massive hourglass stood at the far end of the chamber its sand already falling, each grain echoing like a countdown.
Lee Hyun didn't say a word.
His jaw clenched. His fists tightened.
Not again.
Then in an instant
Then, in an instant, Hwan struck Jin down.
Jin collapsed to the floor his eyes wide, stunned, fading fast.
Steve screamed, voice echoing through the chamber, "What the hell are you doing, Hwan?!"
But Hwan only laughed first quietly, then louder and louder, like something inside him had finally broken.