It's alive!

The group moved cautiously through the narrow corridor, their breaths still heavy from the fight. 

Takeshi broke the silence, glancing around as they walked. "Feels like we've been down this hallway already… it's like we're going in circles."

Kazu grunted in agreement, looking over his shoulder. "Yeah, I was about to say the same. Didn't we pass that cracked mirror a few times already?"

Michio's eyes narrowed as he scanned their surroundings, his mind turning over the details. "It's more than just the hallways repeating," he muttered, half to himself. "That inner courtyard shouldn't exist within the dimensions of the house. From what we saw outside, there's no way it fits."

They continued forward when suddenly, Michio's ears perked up. Somewhere down the hall, he heard a familiar voice faintly calling out, growing clearer with each echo.

"Kyofu! Kyofu! Can you hear me?"

He stopped, alert. "That's Hanari… She's nearby!" Without hesitation, he picked up his pace, the others following suit, their steps quickening as they rushed toward the sound.

They soon found themselves at a dead-end, and on the other side, there stood Hanari, her hands cupped around her mouth, shouting Kyofu's name. Takeshi moved forward, placing his hand on the wall blocking their path. He flashed a grin over his shoulder.

"Echo Palm!"

BOOM!

The wall exploded outward, and they were suddenly tumbling through open air, dropping from a rooftop down onto the floor below. They hit the ground a few feet in front of Hanari and the two other sorcerers from her group. Michio managed to land on his feet, brushing himself off while regaining his balance, though his hair fell over his eyes in a disheveled mess. Takeshi landed with a thud, muttering a string of curses as he picked himself up. Kazu, on the other hand, fell into a fit of laughter, clutching his sides as he stumbled forward.

Hanari stood there, staring at them with wide eyes, hands still slightly raised as if in shock. "The hell did you guys even come from?" she asked, completely dumbfounded.

Michio gave a slight shrug, brushing off the dust on his sleeves as he steadied himself. "Long story," he muttered, glancing back up at the broken rooftop above them. "Let's just say we took a shortcut."

Takeshi grunted, finally managing to get to his feet. "Some shortcut," he grumbled, shooting Michio a glare. "Could've done without the extra bruises."

Kazu was still catching his breath, wiping a tear from his eye as he stifled his laughter. "That was wild. You should've seen your faces."

Rei stepped over to Mei, who gave a small nod in acknowledgment, while Hanari folded her arms, still waiting for a real explanation. "Alright, spill. What happened up there? We were just about to give up on finding anyone."

Michio raised an eyebrow, glancing over at Hanari. "Not so different from what you all seem to have been dealing with. We've been running in circles, and the layout's all twisted. Found ourselves in this… courtyard that couldn't possibly fit with the house's structure."

Hanari nodded slowly, her eyes narrowing. "Yeah… same here. We've been navigating through corridors that seem to lead back on themselves, rooms that just don't add up. And then there was this massive blast that separated us from Kyofu."

Michio's brow furrowed as he listened, and a flicker of concern crossed his usually composed face. "Kyofu got separated?" he asked, his tone sharper than usual.

"Yeah," Hanari replied, "One of those curses blasted him through a wall before we could do anything."

While Michio absorbed this, Kazu had sidled over to Natsuko's side, crouching down as he absentmindedly pet her shikigami. The creature, a strange hybrid of worm, tiger, and dog, writhed happily under his hand. Kazu launched into a broken, wildly exaggerated retelling of their fight, his tone heroic. "So there we were, right? Lanterns everywhere, curse popping out left and right, and I just—you know—took it head-on like a true warrior. Everyone else was struggling, but not me!"

Takeshi rolled his eyes, muttering under his breath, "True warrior, my ass…"

Ignoring the banter, Michio took a deep breath and spoke up, his voice steady. "This confirms it. We're in a domain expansion," he said, his tone carrying a finality that quieted everyone's chatter. "Everything we've experienced so far—hallways looping back on themselves, rooms shifting positions, even that impossible courtyard… It's all intentional. Whoever set this up designed it to keep us disoriented and separate us from each other."

Rei looked over at him, her expression tense. "But why haven't we encountered the caster yet? If they wanted us dead, why not just show themselves?"

"Good question," Michio murmured, his gaze narrowing. 

The walls around them shifted with a sickening groan, protruding outward as if being forced by some unseen pressure. The wooden surfaces rippled, stretching and warping, morphing into something grotesque. Slowly, the corridor reshaped, bending and twisting as flesh-like textures emerged from the walls, until they seemed to meld into a massive, boneless curse with a hollow, leering grin.

It tilted toward them, the makeshift mouth stretching open. "Sooorcerersss…" it hissed, the word dragging out with a voice that seemed to scrape from within the walls.

Hanari took a wary step back, her eyes darting along the corridor's new horrific details. "Tsk—The whole hallway's part of it…"

"Sorcerersss…" the curse repeated, its voice a mocking echo, tinged with hunger.

Kazu scoffed, taking a bold step forward. "Is it… trying to speak to us?" he asked, sounding more curious than afraid.

Behind him, Natsuko placed a hand on his shoulder, giving him a light, sarcastic pat. "I think, for once, you're actually using your brain," she muttered.

Kazu's face reddened, and he spun around, shouting back, "Hey, I—!"

Michio stepped forward, ignoring their banter. He addressed the looming figure with a calm, steady voice. "Is that true?" His gaze locked onto the hollow eyes of the curse, his demeanor resolute.

The curse's grin widened, distorting even further, as it slowly repeated, "True… truueee…"

Hanari's eyes narrowed. "If you've got something to say, then say it."

The curse's grin widened further, twisting grotesquely as it leaned closer, voice seeping through the walls like venom. "I hold a strong sorcerer… as a hostage," it hissed, "Kill him."

Takeshi's eyes narrowed. "It must mean Kyofu," he muttered.

Hanari's gaze sharpened as she glanced between the curse and Takeshi, fists clenching at her sides. "It wants us to kill Kyofu? Why would it ask that?"

Michio remained still. The curse has misread things, he thought. Kyofu's cursed energy is higher than anyone else's here, so logically, it should expect him to be our best defense.

But in reality, Kyofu's lack of experience made him far less of a threat than it assumed. As Michio processed this, he glanced up at the curse, expression hardening.

"And what exactly do we get in return?" he asked.

The curse's hollow laugh echoed in the warped hallway. "I will… release you… from my domain."

Michio let out a small, mirthless chuckle, a grim realization dawning. If it doesn't let us go, it can simply starve us out. It's waiting us out, thinking it has the upper hand.

Hanari turned sharply to Michio, eyes blazing. "You can't actually be considering this!?"

Kazu's face hardened as he shifted his stance, jaw set. "Think about it, Hanari. Like Michio said… if we don't comply, we'll be stuck in this inn forever. It's going to kill us one way or another."

Michio sighed, shaking his head. "Curses don't operate on good faith. Even if we gave it Kyofu, it wouldn't simply let us walk away. It stands to gain too much from keeping us trapped."

The curse's hollow chuckle reverberated, its voice low and menacing. "No… trickery, sorcerer. Your release… would be bound. A vow."

Michio's eyes narrowed, his tone cold. "We will not be obeying your terms."

The curse's smile turned into a furious snarl, its form twisting in rage. Mei and Rei stood close, their eyes wide with fear. Mei clutched Rei's hand, her voice a faint tremble as Rei whispered reassurances into her ear. 

With a guttural roar, the curse pulled back, its face dissolving into the walls and reassembling the hallway around them. The distorted, monstrous smile vanished, leaving only silence and the reformed corridor.

Hanari let out a breath, steadying herself. "Now what?"

Michio's eyes were steely.

〚＊〛

Kyofu paced back and forth, his footsteps echoing in the warped silence of the room. "Okay, think… think. Domains are supposed to be advantages, not death traps," he reminded himself.

He paused, running a hand through his hair as he reviewed what he knew. "Domains… they're like a sorcerer's extension of self. It gives them more control, better leverage against opponents." But even as he recited it, doubt crept in. If it's just supposed to be an advantage, then why hasn't it shown up yet? Why hasn't anything attacked me directly?

Pacing again, he wracked his mind for any clue. "It's not attacking outright, so it's got to be waiting on something," he reasoned aloud. Maybe it's waiting for me to make the wrong move? He could feel frustration building up, gnawing at him.

But domains aren't usually about hiding or isolating, he thought, remembering Michio's words. "A domain amplifies the caster's technique." Yet all he'd seen so far were twisted, looping hallways back to the lobby, disorienting him without any real engagement. If the domain user wanted him dead, it could've attacked any time. So what's the purpose?

A deep, guttural sound filled the air, rumbling through the walls like a slow, creeping avalanche. Kyofu froze, his eyes darting around as the noise grew louder, closer—wood creaking, bending, twisting with a sickening crunch that echoed down the hallway.

BOOM!

A massive, grotesque head burst through the wall, splintering wood and sending shards flying. The face twisted into a horrific smile, hollow eyes bearing down on him as it roared, the sound reverberating through his bones. The walls seemed to shift, responding to the curse's movements, bending the hallway into unnatural angles, making it feel like the entire inn was breathing, alive. No… not just alive, Kyofu realized, a chill running down his spine. The inn is the curse itself.

His heart pounded, and he sprang into action, instincts taking over as he swung his hand to the nearest surface, feeling his cursed energy surge. "Cleave!" With a sharp hiss, his cursed energy sliced through the floorboards and a nearby wall, creating a makeshift barricade of shattered wood. But the walls shifted, bending around his defenses as though absorbing them.

Stay calm, stay calm… Kyofu tried to steady his breathing, but the twisted corridors seemed to loom over him, pressing down with an almost suffocating weight. He sprinted down the hallway, eyes darting for any route that would give him space, scanning the walls, the floor, looking for any movement.

He skidded around a corner, barely catching his breath before the floor cracked open beneath him, a distorted, fleshy tendril snaking toward him from the walls. He reacted on impulse, bringing his hand down to touch the ground, channeling his cursed energy. "Cleave!" The tendril shrieked as his energy tore through it, snapping it back into the walls.

His nerves frayed, but he kept moving, now moving almost on pure instinct. Another cluster of tendrils lashed out, forcing him to swing his arm, unleashing a "Dismantle!" that sent a controlled slash through the air, carving through the grasping limbs. He stumbled back, barely managing to keep his footing. Crowd control, just like Michio taught you…

Defend yourself, stay sharp!

In his panic, his breaths grew shallow, almost gasping. I have to defend myself… focus, keep it together, don't stop—just keep moving!