After a series of maneuvers, Arthur and Fenril managed to subdue the enemies. The Iron Crawlers lay inert, their exoskeletons dented, and the Tarantulas had been scattered by the wind blades.
"Let's rest," —Arthur muttered, slightly panting—. "After all, we've advanced non-stop."
Arthur, without knowing it, was almost on the heels of Paul's group. They had only entered the Labyrinth about an hour ago, and Arthur's speed was astonishing.
He sat down on the side, leaning carelessly against the wall to catch his breath. His rest lasted less than a second.
The wall, which looked solid, crumbled with a dull, dry sound, revealing a hidden trap of loose earth and quicksand.
Arthur felt the weightlessness of the fall, and a camouflaged metallic worm in the pit grabbed his backpack with a sucking mouth, dragging him toward the darkness.
He looked up in shock, watching Fenril's figure shrink as he was pulled away.
"I shouldn't have been so trusting," Arthur thought, feeling the speed of the fall.
Fenril, without hesitation, let out a loud howl of fury and jumped into the hole.
Arthur, who was being dragged backward by the worm holding his backpack, reacted. In a swift and agile movement, he slipped out of his backpack (letting the worm continue to drag it) and stabilized his body in the air as he fell.
In the gloom of the falling pit, Arthur embued *touki* into his sword.
With five high-speed sword movements, a burst of precise and lethal cuts, he sliced the metallic worm that had trapped him. The creature split apart, releasing the backpack.
Arthur grabbed the backpack with one hand and used Wind Magic on his feet, slowing his descent just in time to land softly on a new level.
¡Thud!
He landed on cold stone floor. The worm, now inert, crashed heavily beside him.
Arthur looked up. He saw Fenril falling down. He stretched out his arms and caught him before he hit the ground.
—"It's nothing, friend. Just a pit trap."
Fenril approached Arthur and gave him a small head bump, clearly annoyed by the carelessness.
"You're right..." —Arthur admitted, sighing—. "I underestimated this place."
He stood up and took a step forward.
—"Now then, what floor of the Lab—"
He didn't finish the sentence.
The dust in the air caused by the worm's body finally settled... and the answer appeared on its own.
More than forty monsters surrounded them.
Insectoid creatures, steel worms, multi-legged beasts, and glowing-eyed creatures emerged from wall cracks and the floor. The echo of their movements reverberated in the vast underground space.
Arthur gripped the handle of his sword.
"This is a bad joke..." —he muttered.
Fenril growled, the air around him distorting violently.
There was no time to plan.
The monsters attacked simultaneously.
Arthur took a step forward, and the world slowed down for him. His body moved by instinct, the result of years of training. The sword traced a clean arc, slicing through the air... and then through flesh and metal.
The first enemy fell split in two.
Arthur spun on his axis, dodging a low charge, and launched a Mana-charged kick that shattered the skull of a leaping creature against the wall.
"Fenril, left flank!"
The wolf disappeared into a distortion and reappeared among the monsters. His fangs tore through exoskeletons as if they were paper, his body moving too fast to be followed by the eye.
Arthur raised his free hand.
The air vibrated.
A pressure wave exploded from his position, slamming several enemies to the ground. Before they could get up, Arthur slid between them, every movement precise, every cut lethal. He wasted no energy. There were no unnecessary movements.
A metallic worm emerged beneath his feet.
Arthur jumped.
In the air, he twisted his body and pointed his sword downward. The Mana rushed along the blade, and as he fell, it pierced the monster's head, pinning it to the floor with a dry explosion.
From the back of the room, several creatures began to group together.
Arthur clicked his tongue.
"Fine... magic then."
He extended both hands.
The ground trembled.
Ice pillars shot up from below, skewering the monsters. The remnants crashed against the walls as the survivors tried to flee... only to meet Fenril, who was taking them down one by one.
One of the enemies managed to jump over the chaos and lunged straight for Arthur's neck.
Arthur didn't look.
He twisted his wrist and ran it through side-to-side without halting his advance.
The silence gradually returned.
Inert bodies covered the floor. Fragments of metal, dark blood, and broken exoskeletons were all that remained of the attack.
Arthur exhaled slowly and lowered his sword.
Fenril returned to his side, his fur lightly dusted with monster remains.
—"Well done," —Arthur said, resting the blade on the ground, slightly winded.
He heard the sound of more coming.
"Hey, hey, hey, seriously?" —Arthur straightened up, beginning to run to the side—. "Let's avoid any more fights. At this rate, this place will eat us alive."
Dodging attacks and occasionally knocking them down with Wind Magic, they found a magic circle whose destination they didn't know, but it was the safest way to escape the monster trap.
Both stepped on it, successfully escaping.
.....….
Point of View: Roxy Migurdia
I opened my eyes once more and found the same scene as always: a small, dark, and silent room. A space so cramped that I could barely move without brushing the walls. The ceiling was low; if I stood up, my hair would touch it.
In front of me, the magic circle glowed with a pale, constant blue light.
A teleportation circle.
As long as I stayed in the small rest area where whoever was sent to this room appeared, no monsters would emerge. It was, ironically, the only safe place in the labyrinth. But it was also a cage. Because the instant I stepped into that circle, I would be sent to another room... almost certainly full of monsters.
I had been trapped for a month.
It had all started with an unforgivable mistake. In the middle of a fight, I dodged an attack, took one step back... and stepped on a trap we had seen before. A random teleportation trap. I didn't have time to react.
When I appeared in the other room, I was surrounded. Dozens of monsters. More than I could count without losing my composure.
I am a mage. And not just any mage. I know how to shorten spells, I know my Mana reserves well, I cast spells faster than most. I have always trusted my ability.
But that day... for the first time, I felt a real fear of dying.
Still, I fought. Without thinking, without holding anything back. I fought as if every second was my last. My Mana steadily dropped—thirty percent... twenty—and the monsters kept appearing. For every one I defeated, another took its place.
Defeat was inevitable.
And no one came.
Over time, that thought became a constant thorn: maybe they left me behind. And, to be honest... maybe I would have done the same. An adventurer who falls into traps is a liability. No matter how powerful a mage is if they make such basic mistakes.
But still, I understood one thing: Paul must have fallen into another trap too. My mistake dragged him with me. Most likely, the group had been forced to retreat.
That meant one clear thing.
No one was coming to save me.
Desperate, I kept fighting while tears mixed with sweat and dust. When I knew I barely had any Mana left, I found a small ray of hope.
In that room, there were several magic circles. And one of them hadn't brought in any monsters for a while.
I had no alternative. It was all or nothing.
I spent every last drop of Mana to clear a path and jumped into the circle without knowing where it would take me.
That's how I ended up in this room.
I survived... purely by luck.
Since then, I had advanced alone, mapping the labyrinth, crossing unknown corridors, surviving as best I could. I ate monster meat, endured the tiredness, the pain, the constant fear. My body weakened, my mind too.
Every fight could be the last.
A month had already passed.
The monsters were starting to anticipate my attacks. They cooperated. They learned. They were no longer simple instinct-driven beasts.
And now...
Now I was here again.
Alone. Trembling. Gripping my staff tightly as my mind filled with thoughts I didn't want to face.
If I died here, no one would find my body. There would be no trace of me left.
I'm scared...
I remembered my life. My parents. My childhood. The day I decided to learn magic. My dream.
I wanted to teach. I wanted to be a professor. I wanted to live. To love. To be happy.
I still didn't want to die.
With my heart pounding and my teeth chattering, I took a step forward.
And stepped into the magic circle.
Because, even now...
The images of my past vanished when a brutal impact shook my barrier.
—"…!"
The Mad Skull threw another rock. This time, the earth wall alarmingly cracked. The Iron Crawlers, taking advantage of the fissure, charged all at once, slamming into it with their reinforced carapaces.
—"No... not yet...!"
I reinforced the barrier with what little Mana I had left, feeling my head pound forcefully. The Deathlord Tarantulas took the opportunity and shot webs from the flanks, sticky, heavy, trying to immobilize me.
—"Agh...!"
One of them trapped my leg. I fell to my knees.
The ground was shaking. The smell of blood, dead monster, and spent magic filled the room. I could barely breathe.
—"I don't want to die..." —I whispered, more like a plea than words.
I gripped the staff with both hands and, gathering the last thread of will remaining, forced an incomplete spell.
—"Ice Shield!" —I yelled.
An irregular blast of ice and water swept the front, pushing several enemies—Iron Crawlers and Mad Skull—backward. It managed to break part of the encirclement... but it wasn't enough.
The monsters only paused momentarily and then advanced.
Coordinated. Silent. As if they knew this was the end. They knew my Mana was depleted.
My vision blurred. The cold, which used to be comforting, was now the sharp pain of exhaustion. My legs trembled, on the verge of collapse. If I cast another spell... I would pass out. If I didn't... I would die here, alone, in this hell.
—"I'm sorry..." —I murmured.
I closed my eyes, accepting the imminent fate. I heard the scraping of claws on the stone.
And then—
A dry sound of something heavy landing was heard directly in front of me, followed by a metallic clang. I opened my eyes suddenly.
In front of me was a figure. A boy, in worn adventurer clothes and a dirty cloak. He was crouched in a low sword stance, with a drawn sword.
The most surprising thing was the energy. A powerful aura, almost visible, coursed through his body and his sword, briefly shining in the darkness. In that moment, before I could register the young man's face, he vanished.
Leaving behind only a residual heat wave in the air.
Then, chaos erupted around me.
Sshhh! Clank! Thwack!
The monsters approaching me began to fall. It was an ultra-fast slaughter. The Iron Crawlers, the Tarantulas, and the Mad Skulls fell with throats slit and limbs severed. The attacker moved so fast that he only left trails of wind.
The young man reappeared as quickly as he left, right beside me. Monster blood stained his sword. Beside him, the air twisted strangely, as if the light were bending around a large, invisible dog.
—"It's time to end this," —the boy murmured, raising his hand.
And I saw a never-before-seen Wind spell.
The surrounding air, within a ten-meter radius, compressed until it became solid and was then released in a single, silent, expansive wave.
BLAM!
The remaining monsters—Iron Crawlers, Tarantulas, and the Mad Skulls—were instantly crushed. Their armored exoskeletons imploded. The Ghouls flew towards the rock walls with the force of a cannon projectile and disintegrated upon impact, leaving dark stains.
The result was a perfect cleanup. The room, a second ago a battlefield full of death, suddenly became empty, swept clean of debris and monsters. Only the traces of the slaughter remained.
The silence returned.
My legs could no longer hold me.
I was about to fall... but something supported me.
A firm hand gripped my arm.
—"Calm down," —a young voice said, surprisingly serene—. "It's over."
I looked at him, still unable to focus properly. He was just a boy...
My senses relaxed. In that moment, everything went dark...
End of Chapter