DEATH REALM - Forest
— Formation!
Yorelei's voice cracked like a battlefield command.
The children obeyed instantly.Their auras ignited almost simultaneously, surrounding Rasfi from every direction.
For a split second, he was overwhelmed.
Ysabella vanished between the trees.An arrow whistled. Then another.With every shot, she changed position, tracing an invisible circle around their prey.
Rasfi narrowed his eyes.
To reduce the archer's accuracy, his body contracted violently.In an instant, he transformed into a black cat, leaping from tree to tree at blinding speed.
He attacked head-on.
Ryan barely dodged.Louis raised his arms to block — too late.
A violent gust tore through the air.
Yorelei appeared.
Her foot struck Rasfi's chin with surgical precision.The shapeshifter was launched away, crashing heavily into the undergrowth.
— Now! Ysabella shouted.
Two arrows were fired.
The first served as a decoy.The second ricocheted off the first, abruptly changing trajectory.
An unpredictable technique.Deadly.
Rasfi saw the arrow coming… in slow motion.
His pupils shrank.His body almost instantly disintegrated.
An ant.
The arrow missed his head by a hair's breadth.
— He's still here… Miya murmured.
Branches cracked softly.
Miya pointed at the ground.Louis squinted. He saw it.
— To the right, he whispered.
Ryan struck relentlessly.
This was the moment.
Nakid stared at the sky.He was the bait.
The ant passed behind him.
Nakid didn't crush it.He could never have guessed.
Suddenly, the air tore apart.
The ant grew.Fangs.Claws.
A humanoid wolf burst out behind him.
Nakid didn't turn around.
He didn't have time.
— Too slow.
Yorelei was already there.
She immobilized Rasfi, dislocating his limbs in one fluid motion.
— Now! Ysabella shouted.
— What a pain… she muttered. She really entrusted me with her dagger…
She aimed.
But it wasn't an arrow.
Yorelei's dagger cut through the air.
Yorelei caught it mid-flight.
— Cancellation and Activation.
She didn't strike Rasfi.
She struck his aura.
The shapeshifter's body reverted to human form.He collapsed heavily onto the ground, groaning.
Nakid was unharmed.
— And that's that, Yorelei said with a smile. Not bad, right?
— Well played… Nakid replied, still shaken.
— Now, let's move on to the real—
The air froze.
An overwhelming presence crashed down upon them.
At Nakid's feet, Rasfi lifted his head.
His blue aura cracked.
Then the sky turned scarlet.
The ground trembled.
A man appeared.
Tall.Motionless.
White hoodie.White mask engraved with a black labyrinth.
On his chest, a word:
"GAME OVER"
On his forehead:
"THE MAZEBOY"
— Greetings, players.
His voice echoed everywhere at once.
— I am the master of the Labyrinth. Today is a special day… the game only occurs once every thousand years.
Yorelei felt her body freeze.
Her instincts screamed.
Legend.
No.
Worse.
She tried to attack.
Her body refused to move.
— Do not worry, he continued calmly. I won't absorb all of you.
Louis fell to his knees.
— His aura… I can't… breathe…
— RUN! Ysabella screamed.
Nakid didn't move.
Each step the MazeBoy took doubled the weight of his body.
He approached.
Touched Nakid's face.
— Interesting…
Nakid vanished.
— WHAT DID YOU DO?! Yorelei screamed.
— You too. The archer. The beastman. And the unconscious child. You are my players now.
He turned his back on the others.
— The rest of you… do not interest me.
Silence.
They disappeared.
Nakid woke up.
White walls.
A door.A number.
A voice echoed.
— Welcome to the Labyrinth Ceremony.
— Aura is forbidden. For now.
Nakid placed his hand on the door.
He opened it.
Leslie.
His mother.
— Mom…
She stepped back.
Again.
Then vanished into the darkness.
— Two hundred players out of four hundred have opened their doors, announced the MazeBoy.— Their deepest desire has materialized.
— Those who opened their doors may leave in peace.
— The others… stay and play with me.
Nakid trembled.
The nightmare had begun.
— Let's start with the rules.