I Can See Evolution Paths

"I think the statues are alive."

For several seconds, nobody moved. Arthur remained crouched beside the ancient root, his hand still pressed against it while the faint sound continued somewhere beneath the ruined city.

Thump. Thump.

Slow. Heavy. Almost impossibly deep.

Vedas was the first to react, spear already in hand as he stepped toward Arthur. "Alive?"

Arthur nodded slowly. "I can hear their hearts."

"The statues?" Sun’s expression changed.

He pointed toward the nearest Beast statue. "That one."

Everyone stared at it. Nothing moved. It was still nothing more than a sculpture carved from ancient stone.

Mithra walked closer, narrowing her eyes. "You’re certain?"

"I wouldn’t say it if I wasn’t."

Athena’s expression shifted from confusion to curiosity. "Wait." She rushed toward the statue, Athy right behind her.

"Professor?"

"Listen." Athena placed both hands against the stone creature and stayed there for several seconds. Nothing. Her eyebrows furrowed. "I don’t hear anything."

Arthur’s certainty wavered. "But I—"

Athy pressed her ear against another statue and froze, eyes going wide. "Wait..."

"What?" Athena looked toward her immediately.

She pulled back. "I heard something."

"What did you hear?"

Athy placed her hand against the statue again. "...A heartbeat."

Athena’s expression changed instantly, and she pressed her own ear to the stone, eyes widening. "I hear it too."

"You actually hear it?" Vedas stared at them.

She pulled away slowly. "Yes."

Sun’s face tightened. "That shouldn’t be possible."

"Exactly."

Athy’s golden eyes began glowing, See-Through World activating, the world seeming to turn transparent around her as her gaze traveled through the statue. Then she layered Analyze on top of it and went completely still.

Everyone waited.

"What do you see?" Arthur asked.

Her expression grew more confused. "I can see the inside of the statue."

"And?" Athena stepped closer immediately.

Athy swallowed. "There are organs."

Everyone blinked.

"Organs?" Sun repeated.

She nodded. "There’s something that looks like a heart."

"Is it beating?" Arthur’s expression tightened.

She looked directly at him. "Yes."

The group fell silent again. Athy stared through the stone for several more seconds. "The heart is beating normally. There’s blood flowing through it, too."

Sun’s face went pale. "Blood?"

"Yes."

"So they’re not statues," Mithra said, looking toward the surrounding figures.

"They are statues," Athena said, shaking her head, looking at the creature in front of her. "But somehow..." She didn’t finish.

Arthur slowly stood, his eyes traveling across the enormous city. The thousands of stone figures suddenly looked very different. "This might be the most dangerous area we’ve entered."

"You’re not thinking—" Sun frowned.

"I am," Arthur said. "This might be the Mirror area’s special effect. Like the Fire Mirror Zone had the steam water that devoured magic." He counted it off on his fingers. "And the Water Mirror had the water that froze and thawed, changed gravity, reversed mana flow, and everything else it threw at us."

Mithra’s expression turned serious, her eyes moving across the statues. "Then this area..." She narrowed her eyes. "...might turn things to stone."

Melo glanced around the streets, frowning. "Could it be the sand?"

"The sand?" Arthur looked toward her.

"We’re in the eastern part of the Everglades, aren’t we? If the statues are connected to this place, maybe something in the environment is doing it." She looked toward the ground. "Perhaps the sand carries something."

Vedas tightened his grip around his spear, eyes moving over the countless statues. "I’m not sure. But that would be a good reason."

Eden tilted her head, looking toward Luna. "Luna... do you know anything?"

Luna had been staring at the statues the entire time. She lowered her gaze. "I... I think I’ve heard a story." She pressed her fingers together, trying to remember.

"What kind of story?" Athena asked.

"My grandfather used to tell me stories about places that existed before our tribe." She looked around the city. "Most of them were stories meant to scare children."

"Those are usually the best ones," Sun said, crossing his arms.

Luna ignored him. "There was one about an underground city."

"What did it say?" Arthur’s eyes sharpened.

Her expression slowly changed. "It said..." She looked toward the stone figures. "...the city could turn you to stone if you saw a flash of light."

Everyone blinked.

"Light?" Arthur murmured.

"Don’t," Sun said, staring at him.

"Don’t what?"

"Don’t start thinking about it like that."

His eyes brightened anyway. "Light."

Sun sighed. "Of course you would think like that."

"Did the story ever say how someone could escape?" Athena asked, turning to Luna immediately. "Or defend against it?"

Luna closed her eyes, thinking carefully, then opened them again. "As long as you don’t see the light, you can evade it."

Everyone exchanged looks.

"So we just need to avoid looking at any light?" Mithra asked, her expression serious.

"That’s what the story said."

Arthur slowly looked around, his gaze traveling over the walls. "If that’s true, then we shouldn’t—"

He stopped. Something had changed.

There was a tiny sound.

Click.

His eyes moved toward the wall. A small circular hole had appeared. Then another.

Click.

Another opened across the street. Then another. And another.

"Something is happening!" His expression turned sharp.

Everyone turned.

"What?" Sun shouted.

"Look at the walls!"

The entire group spun around. Hundreds of tiny openings were appearing throughout the city.

"The light..." Athena’s eyes went wide.

Mithra reached for her sword. "Everyone, don’t look!"

But it was already too late. A faint glow appeared inside the holes.

Arthur’s heart dropped. "Get down!"

The light erupted. For an instant, the entire underground city became brighter than daylight. He barely had time to raise his arm.

Then he saw Vedas moving. "Arthur!"

He rushed toward him. "Vedas!"

Vedas threw himself over Arthur’s body, covering him completely. The light swallowed everything. Arthur felt his weight crash down as the golden spear hit the ground beside them.

Then nothing.

The light remained for several seconds. Arthur couldn’t see anything, couldn’t hear anything except the ringing in his ears. Eventually the light began fading, the darkness returning.

He slowly opened his eyes and blinked. Once. Twice. Then groaned. "Vedas..."

The Beast Knight didn’t move.

Arthur pushed against him. "Thanks for the help, but you’re a bit heavy."

Vedas chuckled. "Sorry," and slowly stood.

Arthur rubbed his head as he pushed himself upright. "That’s better."

Then Vedas froze.

"Vedas?" Arthur noticed immediately, something wrong in his expression. He followed his gaze.

Athena was standing several meters away. Except she wasn’t standing anymore. Her entire body had become stone.

Athy was frozen in the same position, wings spread slightly.

Sun. Kong. Eden. Luna.

All of them. Stone.

Arthur’s face went pale. "No..." He rushed forward. "No, no, no!" His footsteps echoed through the silent city. "Athena!"

Nothing.

"Athy!"

Nothing.

"Eden!" His voice cracked.

He looked toward Sun. Stone. Kong. Stone. Luna. Stone.

His breathing came faster. "Damn it..."

Vedas gasped. "Arthur!" He pointed toward the side.

Arthur turned. Mithra was standing there, and she was moving. Melo was beside her. Both completely unharmed.

He blinked. "What?" and ran toward them. "M-Mithra?"

She turned. "Arthur?"

"You’re okay!?"

She looked confused. "I should be asking you that."

He stopped in front of her. "You’re not stone."

"No."

"How?"

"I don’t know."

He turned toward Melo, who frowned. "I know why."

"What?"

Her expression turned guilty. "Before the light appeared, I used my abilities on Mithra."

"She made me blink," Mithra nodded.

"And I suppressed her other senses," Melo continued.

Arthur’s eyes went wide. "Wait." His lips twitched. "Don’t tell me..." He looked toward the statues. "...we survived because we really didn’t see the light?"

"Possibly," Mithra said.

"That’s what I think," Melo nodded, ears lowering. "But I wasn’t fast enough to get the others."

His expression hardened. "We need to find a way to help them."

A faint sound echoed through the city.

Crack.

Arthur froze.

"What was that?" Mithra looked behind him.

Another crack.

Crack.

Vedas turned toward the nearest Beast statue, eyes widening. "Arthur..."

The stone covering the creature was beginning to fracture. Arthur stared. "Wait."

A crack spread across the Beast’s body. Then another. The statue trembled.

CRACK!

The entire shell shattered. A living Beast burst from inside, landing heavily on the stone street, shaking its body as fragments fell from its scales.

Arthur stared. "What..."

Another statue cracked.

Arthur immediately looked toward the surrounding figures, but this time he noticed something important. The cracking wasn’t spreading through the entire city. It was confined to the wide open plaza where they were standing, the same area where the eighteen statues had been gathered around the ancient stone platform.

Only the statues in this plaza were changing.

Among those eighteen figures, eight were Beast statues.

And all eight of them were beginning to crack.

Crack.

A long fracture spread across the body of the nearest Beast, running from its shoulder down to its heavily plated chest. The stone shell trembled as something moved beneath it.

Arthur stared. "Those are the Beast statues."

Vedas tightened his grip on his spear. "The ones we heard."

Another Beast statue began to crack beside it, followed by a third.

Mithra’s eyes widened as she looked between them. "There are eight."

Arthur quickly counted them. Eight Beast statues stood among the eighteen figures in the plaza, each one noticeably larger and more imposing than the other statues around them. Some had been carved with crowns of horns, others with elaborate markings or ornaments that made them look less like ordinary creatures and more like rulers.

Melo’s tails slowly rose behind her. "They aren’t ordinary Beasts."

"What makes you think that?" Arthur glanced at her.

"Look at how they were carved." She pointed toward the nearest creature. Its body was covered in layered armor, while an enormous crest rose from its head like a crown. "It was given a position of importance."

Athena’s voice suddenly came from behind them. "She’s right."

Arthur turned, blinking in confusion, Athena still trapped in stone, but her words coming from nowhere he could see. "Athena?"

"I’m still conscious," she said, her voice muffled slightly by the stone. "I can’t move, but I can hear everything."

His expression brightened with relief. "Good!"

"Don’t sound so happy about being able to hear me while I’m turned to stone."

"Sorry."

Athy’s voice followed from beside her. "Arthur?"

"I’m here."

"Please get us out of this."

"I will."

Athena sighed. "Preferably before you start touching the Beast statues again."

He looked toward the nearest cracking statue. "...No promises."

Mithra laughed despite herself. "You’re unbelievable."

The stone around the first Beast suddenly shattered. Fragments flew across the plaza as an enormous creature emerged from within. It had six powerful legs, a broad body covered in overlapping plates, and a massive crown-like structure extending from its head. Sand-colored fur flowed between the plates, while ancient markings glowed faintly across its body.

The creature stumbled forward. For several seconds, it simply stood there. Then it raised its head.

A deep growl rolled through the plaza.

Arthur slowly lowered his spear. "That’s definitely not an ordinary Beast."

Vedas stared at it. "I’ve never seen anything like it."

Another statue shattered. Then another. One creature emerged with enormous flower-shaped horns growing from its back. Another had a long serpentine body covered in crystalline scales. A fourth had wings that looked like layered pieces of hardened sand.

Eight ancient Beasts emerged from the stone one after another.

Each was different.

Each was enormous.

And each carried the same unmistakable presence.

He glanced toward his petrified companions. "We’ll figure out how to free everyone." Then he looked back at the eight ancient Beasts, his grip tightening around the golden spear. "But first... I think we need to survive their reunion with the world."

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