Chương 52: Vol. 2 - Two Paths

"Welcome to your next trial…the path of two choices!" Lazarus's voice rang above us.

"Now, I will give you two paths. One that leads to certain death, and the other leads to mercy. Which will you choose?" Two paths appeared before us. One was a meadow with flowers softly blooming in the golden rays of light that shone down. The other was a dark, cobweb-filled dungeon.

"Artemis, take the dark one," I told her as I scanned through the paths.

"Why?" Artemis asked.

"The other leads to certain death," I answered.

"You do know that there is no way I will let you take the path of death, right?" Artemis slowly walked towards the meadow.

"Bye, Ace, I hope we will meet again at the end of the path." She waved a sad goodbye.

"..."

"Bye," She said one last time as the blinding light from the meadow swallowed her whole. Now, it was just me and the dark path that awaited me.

"You knew she would do that, didn't you? That's why you told her that the path she took led to certain death." Lazarus smirked.

"Yes," Lazarus gave me a nod of approval as he lifted his arms. A blinding light swallowed me whole, too, as I was transported to the path I chose. Level 2. The world folded in on itself. For a split second, there was no sound, no gravity — only the sensation of being pulled through a narrow thread in space. Then— Stone. My boots met solid ground. Cold air filled my lungs, thicker than the first level. Damp. Metallic. The scent of old blood clung to the walls. I straightened slowly.

The chamber was enormous — far wider than the arena above. Jagged pillars carved from black stone rose toward a ceiling lost in darkness. Faint crimson veins pulsed through the walls like the Labyrinth itself was breathing. So this was how it worked. Each level is isolated. Each trial is escalating. A low tremor vibrated through the ground beneath my feet. Then—"ROAAAAARRRR!!!!!" The roar didn't just echo. It struck.

The force of it slammed against my chest like a physical blow, rattling the pillars and sending dust cascading from above. From the far end of the chamber, a massive silhouette stepped forward into the dim red glow. A minotaur. Its horns curved outward like crescent blades, chipped and scarred from countless battles. Its body was a mountain of muscle layered with crude iron armour bolted directly into its flesh. Each breath it exhaled came out in hot, visible bursts. In its hands were two giant axes.

Each blade was roughly the size of my head — thick, brutal, and stained with something darker than rust. Its crimson eyes locked onto me. No hesitation. No theatrics. It charged. The ground shook with each step, cracks spiderwebbing across the stone floor. The sheer mass behind its movement made the air compress ahead of it. I didn't move. Not yet. Distance. Timing. Rhythm. It slowed only slightly as it closed the final stretch between us, confident in its size, confident in its strength.

A deep snort escaped its nostrils, steam rolling over me. One axe lifted. The metal groaned as it rose overhead. The other angleto block any escape route. A hunter who had learned from past prey. The blade descended. Slow in my vision. Heavy. Certain. The edge inched closer to my skull by the second, wind pressure slicing strands of hair loose beneath my blindfold. Three heartbeats. Two. One. Swiftly, I moved. My hand reached for the knife at my thigh holster in a single fluid motion.

I stepped forward instead of back. Into danger. The axe slammed into the stone where I had stood, the impact exploding the ground into shards. Before the minotaur could recover from the follow-through, I dropped low and slid across the fractured floor, passing directly between its massive legs. The smell of iron and sweat overwhelmed my senses. I inhaled once. Deep. Stabilising my Astralis just enough. As I slid behind it, I twisted my torso and released the knife.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. No wasted motion. No dramatic spin. Just precision. The blade left my fingers and cut cleanly through the air. A silver arc in the dim red chamber. It struck the minotaur at the base of the neck, right where muscle thinned beneath the armour plating. For a split second— Silence. Then the blade sank in. Deep.

The minotaur staggered forward, axes slipping from its grip and crashing against the stone with thunderous weight. A gurgling roar tried to form in its throat but never fully emerged. I rose to my feet as its massive body swayed. Then— BOOM. It collapsed face-first onto the ground, the impact sending another tremor through the chamber. Dust settled slowly around us. I walked forward calmly, placing a foot against its shoulder to retrieve my knife from its neck. Warm blood coated the blade.

The crimson veins in the walls dimmed slightly. Trial complete. Level 2 did not give me time to breathe. The moment the minotaur's body dissolved into black ash, the stone beneath my boots trembled and shifted. The walls did not fade this time — they rotated, grinding against one another like massive gears. The chamber elongated into a corridor before I could even steady my stance. The Labyrinth was accelerating. So be it. I stepped forward.

The corridor widened into a hall lined with towering mirrors, each stretching from floor to ceiling. At first glance, they reflected only darkness. Then my silhouette appeared in them — dozens of versions of me standing at different angles. One of them smiled. I did not. The reflection stepped out of the glass without shattering it. Then another. And another. Each one moved differently. One rushed me head-on with reckless aggression. Another circled silently. A third stood back, calculating.

They were not copies of my body — they were manifestations of choices I could have made. The reckless one struck first. I parried, but the calculating version had already anticipated that motion. A blade grazed my side, shallow but intentional. They were reading my rhythm. No. They were reading my intent. The longer I thought, the more they adapted. So I stopped thinking. I lunged forward, r, d not at a reflection — but at the mirror itself.

The blade pierced the glass, and fractures spread violently across the surface. The reflections screamed as the cracks multiplied, their bodies destabilising with each split in the mirror. I didn't let up. I shattered every pane in the hall. When the last mirror exploded into fragments, the copies dissolved into smoke, and the floor dropped beneath me. I landed hard. The air here was different — thinner, oppressive. The chamber was suspended over a vast abyss of glowing blue liquid light.

Chains of Astralis rose from below immediately, coiling around my wrists and ankles. The Labyrinth was no longer a testing skill. It was draining. The chains tightened, siphoning my reserves directly. I felt Astralis being pulled from my core, slow but constant. If I struggled, the pull intensified. So I stilled. Breathing slowed deliberately. Astralis compressed inward instead of radiating outward. The chains shuddered, confused, then cracked and shattered when there was nothing to take.

The platform beneath me rose again, carrying me upward into the next chamber. But my reserves were no longer pristine. And the trials were layering exhaustion onto injury. The next level opened into what looked like a battlefield frozen in time. Weapons lay scattered across the ground. Bodies covered the stone — young faces, uniforms bearing the insignia of Project Atlas. When I stepped forward, they opened their eyes. They rose slowly, not roaring, not snarling. They simply walked toward me.

Some dragged broken limbs. Some reached out as if asking for help. Their gazes were not hateful. They were hollow. The Labyrinth was testing hesitation now. Testing guilt. The first grabbed my wrist. I severed the tendons cleanly and moved past him. Another lunged from behind — I disarmed and disabled without looking back. I did not allow myself to pause. I did not allow myself to apologise. Precision. Efficiency. Forward.

When the last of them fell, the entire battlefield dissolved into dust that scattered like ashes in the wind. And then— Silence. The final chamber revealed itself without theatrics. Circular. Massive. Glyphs carved into the walls pulsed with a deep, venomous green light. At the centre sat a throne of bone and black crystal. Coiled around it was the true guardian of the Labyrinth. Its lower body was serpentine, scales glistening like oil under dim light.

Its upper body was almost human, long dark hair cascading over shoulders that moved with unnatural grace. Beneath translucent skin, green veins pulsed faintly. Its eyes were intelligent.

"You progress," it said calmly, though its voice echoed directly inside my skull. I stepped forward without responding. It moved first. Not a charge. Not brute force. A flick of its fingers sent dozens of razor-thin scales slicing through the air. I deflected most, but one grazed my shoulder. A shallow cut. I dismissed it instantly. Then heat exploded through my body. My vision blurred at the edges as something invasive spread from the wound. I felt it crawling beneath my skin like living fire. Poison.

Not an ordinary toxin. Astralis-corrupting venom. The serpent observed quietly as green veins began branching from my shoulder, spreading across my collarbone and down my chest. Every pulse disrupted my control, making my Astralis flare uncontrollably. And the venom fed on that flare. I staggered but did not fall. It struck again, this time with its tail. The impact launched me across the chamber and into a pillar. Stone shattered on impact. The veins had now spread further, glowing vividly beneath my skin.

My shirt clung to me, soaked in sweat and blood. Breathing grew heavier. Astralis unstable. The serpent approached slowly.

"You burn brightly," it said.

"Too brightly." Another volley of scales. I surged forward instead of retreating. If I allowed distance, it would chip away at me until the venom consumed everything. Its claws pierced my side as we collided, injecting more toxin directly. The pain was blinding, sharp and absolute. The veins across my chest pulsed violently, branching wider. My fingers trembled. Fine. Then I gripped the collar of my shirt and tore it off in one motion. The fabric fell to the stone.

Blue-ish purple veins covered nearly my entire chest now, spreading like fractured lightning frozen beneath my skin. Each pulse was agony — but it also revealed structure. Pattern. Threads. The venom followed pathways. Everything here followed threads. For a fraction of a second, I activated my deeper sight despite the immense Astralis cost. The chamber shifted into monochrome, and the serpent's true form revealed itself — not flesh, not scale — But a dense core of intertwined venom threads in its chest.

It lunged again. I did not dodge. Its claws sank into my shoulder as I drove my blade forward at the same time. Steel pierced directly into the nexus of threads. The serpent shrieked. The chamber shook violently as the venom inside my body reacted in fury, surging in one final attempt to overwhelm me. I twisted the blade. And cut. The threads snapped. One by one. The serpent's body unravelled into strands of green light, disintegrating into nothingness. The throne behind it cracked and collapsed into rubble.

The venom across my chest flared brilliantly once— Then began slowly receding, though faint markings remained like scars carved by poison itself. Silence. The Labyrinth stopped breathing. A portal formed at the far end of the chamber. I tried to take a step and nearly collapsed. My Astralis reserves were dangerously low. My body felt heavy, limbs numb from residual toxin. Still— I forced myself forward. One step. Then another. Halfway to the portal, my legs buckled.

I caught myself against the wall, leaving a faint smear of blood on the stone. No dramatic victory. No triumphant declaration. Just survival. I reached the portal at last and stepped through— And stumbled out, barely conscious. But alive.

"ROARRRRR!!!!" A deafening cry rang through the corridor I was in. Was this not the last level? My astralis was drained. No choice, I could only cower under a piece of cloth I found nearby. Step step step. Someone was here. His footsteps echoed through the empty corridor. Crap, this is bad. I'd better take him on by surprise then… With my last ounce of strength, I lifted my cloth and bolted towards him and pinned…her? Against the wall.