The metal door slid aside, revealing a room bright enough to feel like it was lit by hundreds of miniature suns.
No lamp shone directly, yet thousands of hair-thin laser beams filled the space, weaving upward and downward like the breathing rhythm of a half-asleep beast.
The heat hit Z-69 in the face, forcing his eyes to narrow.
Lumina let out a low growl, her tail puffing up like an electrified feather duster.
Ten simply froze, mouth slightly open, his hands instinctively clutching the sleeve of Z-69’s coat.
“This…” Lumina whispered into both their minds,
“These aren’t normal lasers. I sense heart-rate sensors and neural-wave detectors. Hell—it's measuring emotions too!”
Z-69 stepped one foot forward.
The moment the tip of his boot touched the floor, a green laser instantly shifted direction, sweeping across his face—missing by only a few strands of hair.
Ten jerked backward, gripping Z-69 even tighter.
“Don’t—don’t step forward so fast!”
Z-69 retreated half a step, eyes locked on the cluster of lasers constantly shifting their angles.
“The system reacts to biology,” he said slowly. “I move — it changes.”
“That’s not all,” Lumina added, frowning.
“It’s reading the electrical signals in your body. And because you’re… not exactly normal, it’s marking you as the highest-level threat.”
Ten’s face drained of color.
“High… highest level? Meaning… it’ll aim for him first?”
“Yep,” Lumina replied bluntly. “You, me, everything in this room—it grades us. And he’s topping the kill list.”
Z-69 nodded as if hearing a weather report.
“Reasonable.”
“No!” Ten burst out—his first time raising his voice. “It’s not reasonable! If you get hit—!”
“I have already died once.” Z-69 answered simply.
The statement silenced Ten, though he still refused to let go of Z-69’s sleeve.
Z-69 lifted his short blade and gently nudged a laser with the flat of the metal.
A sharp crackle rang out— the blade was pushed backward as if someone rapped it with force.
Ten stared at the rippling wave of light created by the movement.
“Don’t… don’t let the blade touch the purple beams,” he said suddenly. “They’re hotter—no, not heat. They make… my heart beat faster. They’re dangerous.”
“You can sense that?” Z-69 asked.
“Not see,” Ten said, pressing a hand to his chest, breathing quickly. “Feels like… a bell ringing inside my head. A warning.”
Lumina blinked.
“I’ve never met anyone who senses danger like that. Not logical—but accurate.”
Z-69 stepped in again—this time following the angle Ten indicated.
A red laser shot up from the opposite side, slicing through where Z-69’s torso had been a second earlier.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
The air whistled sharply.
Ten swallowed hard.
“I was… guessing right.”
“Not guessing,” Z-69 corrected. “Feeling. Better than guessing.”
A faint shine passed across Ten’s blue eyes—not pride, but the warmth of being acknowledged.
The group began moving into the maze of light.
Each step was a gamble between life and death.
The lasers never stayed still.
They swept up and down, changed colors, shifted speeds—sometimes disappearing only to reappear inches from their faces like mischievous predators.
Lumina hopped down from Z-69’s shoulder onto the ground.
Her eyes narrowed.
Her ears stood straight.
“I’ll help with sensory interference. I can create a 0.01-second delay. Not much—but enough if you’re fast.”
“Understood,” Z-69 said.
The first stretch was narrow—only one person could pass at a time.
Z-69 led, blade extended like wings guiding threads of electric wind.
Ten followed directly behind him, trembling with each unpredictable sweep of light.
“Left!” Ten shouted.
Z-69 leaned.
A dense purple beam hissed past his cheek—close enough to leave a faint burn mark on the skin.
“It almost cut you!” Ten gasped.
“It is fine. It did not reach the bone,” Z-69 replied.
Deeper inside, the lasers changed algorithms.
Two beams crossed each other, creating a moving lattice—like a glowing spherical net.
Z-69 stepped forward—and immediately realized:
“Too fast.”
Ten’s voice trembled:
“You have to step with its rhythm. It runs on… cycles. I… I can feel it!”
Z-69 tilted his head.
“Cycles?”
“Like… breathing? Or a heartbeat? I don’t know the word—but I know when it opens and closes.”
Lumina muttered:
“Suddenly the kid’s incredibly useful.”
Z-69 placed one hand on Ten’s shoulder.
“You lead.”
Ten stiffened.
“M-me? I’m not a fighter!”
“You are the eyes,” Z-69 said. “I am the hands.”
“And I’m the hair. And the second brain,” Lumina added.
“No—you’re the cute mascot.” Z-69 said.
“You have taste.” Lumina flicked her tail proudly.
Ten inhaled deeply, then pointed to a tiny opening between shifting beams.
“Step… there—NOW!”
Z-69 leaped.
Lasers shifted violently, slashing through the space where he had stood.
Ten’s voice came faster, shakier:
“Right! No—down! No—stop!”
Z-69 froze.
A purple laser shot down from above, tearing a hole through the air exactly where his head would’ve moved.
Ten wiped sweat from his brow.
“The system… it’s testing me. It’s trying to trick me.”
“Then don’t let it.” Z-69 said.
Ten looked at him as if staring at a lantern in endless night.
“Yes.”
Midway through the maze, another team stumbled in—completely unaware of the laser patterns.
They ran chaotically.
One brushed a green beam.
A scream.
His body split from shoulder to hip.
Not blood—only smoke.
The remaining teammate panicked, shoving Ten aside.
“Move! I need to—!!”
Z-69 grabbed the man by his collar and yanked him backward.
“Do not go that way.”
The man snarled:
“I wanna live! Who the hell do you think you—”
He jerked free and dashed forward.
A purple laser shifted.
Z-69 didn’t speak.
He only watched the man turn into drifting black particles.
Ten shivered violently.
“You… let him go.”
“Yes,” Z-69 said. “He stood wrong.”
Lumina nodded.
“A panicked stance is a dead stance. No cure.”
Ten swallowed, understanding the brutal logic.
Farther in, the lasers became more aggressive.
Red, green, purple—woven like glowing serpents twisting into knots.
Z-69 swung his short blade—violet electricity flaring as he redirected a few beams for milliseconds.
But each time he summoned lightning—black cracks spread along his neck.
His skin fissured like brittle ceramic.
The warning band on his wrist flickered red.
Ten panicked.
“Stop using lightning! You’ll—!”
“Don’t worry.” Z-69 said. “It only itches.”
“Itches?! ITCHES?!” Ten nearly shouted. “You’re burning yourself alive!”
Lumina smacked Z-69 with her tail.
“He’s right! Stop acting cool!”
Z-69 didn’t argue.
Ten bit his lip—hard.
Fear for Z-69’s life sharpened into something else—a quiet, fierce resolve.
They reached the last stretch.
The lasers here were thin as spider silk—almost invisible.
But Ten shouted sharply:
“Hidden lasers! Don’t step into the dark zones!”
Z-69 froze immediately.
“How do you know?”
“The dark… feels cold. Wrong.” Ten said, trembling.
“Cold means death. Hot areas are safe. It’s a reversed trigger trap.”
Lumina whispered:
“This kid… his sense isn’t normal.”
Just as they approached the exit door— A final laser—the smallest yet— shot from the corner, faster than any of the others.
Ten had no time to warn.
Lumina had no time to interfere.
It aimed straight at Ten’s heart.
Z-69 stepped in front of him.
The beam sliced through his forearm.
Burning flesh.
Blackened cracks.
The smell of scorched tissue.
Ten’s scream tore from his throat.
“No—!! Why would you—?!”
Z-69 lowered his arm, examining the charred cut with detached curiosity.
“You almost lost your arm!” Ten yelled.
“It is fine. I have still have one left.” Z-69 replied calmly.
Lumina smacked him again.
“You keep hurting your body! Be more aware of yourself!”
Z-69 rubbed her head gently.
He then pushed open the door.
The room beyond was dark, cold, vibrating faintly.
The clack of metal.
The whir of mechanical wings.
Ten clutched Z-69’s sleeve tightly.
“That is…?”
Z-69 gripped his Heaven-Sundering Short Blade.
The purple glow flickered dangerously.
“Combat drones.” he said.
The door behind them slammed shut—swallowing all escape.
