She poured every ounce of her remaining mana into the lantern. In the labyrinth, the Marginal Maze puppet began to glow furiously. Disregarding its own safety, it unleashed a massive torrent of destructive magic directly into the Warden's core.
Within moments, the corridor was quiet again, save for the mechanical clicking of the puppets' joints.
As the Aster Crow reached out to claim the artifact, the ground began to shake violently. The walls peeled back like skin, revealing a massive, towering guardian made of fused stone and discarded puppet parts—a Labyrinth Warden.
Eureka winced but nodded. Madame Marta was harsh, but she was right. They were here at the behest of the noble house to explore the Labyrinth of Galleria, a sprawling, impossible maze buried deep beneath the manor. It was said to hold "Curios d'art"—artifacts of immense, reality-bending power. But no living human could survive the labyrinth's toxic miasma. That was where Eureka and the Wandering Soul came in.
They hadn't gone far when the air grew cold. From the shadows ahead, a swarm of Biters—grotesque, floating eyeballs surrounded by gnashing teeth—materialized. Form up! Eureka commanded through the soul link.
Let’s go, Eureka thought, her consciousness linking with the Wandering Soul as it possessed the puppet brigade.