After the second gathering ended, Arthur didn't leave the room he was in. Instead, he stepped directly into his domain. The shift was instant. Heat rolled over him, dry and heavy, and the endless desert stretched out in every direction. Hundreds of swords pierced the sand like metal gravestones, each one a fragment of his power. The closer he walked toward the center, the stronger the pressure became.
At the heart of the desert stood the oldest blade. Weathered, darkened, and half-buried, it radiated a quiet authority. But now something far more imposing dwarfed even that sword.
A massive stone structure rose behind it, so large it cast a shadow across dozens of dunes. Smooth, featureless walls towered upward, carved from the same material that had appeared in the creator's domain, only darker. The air around it hummed faintly, vibrating with a power he had never felt from anything inside his domain.
Arthur approached the entrance. Two enormous stone doors stood shut, meeting perfectly in the middle without a gap. He set both palms against them and pushed. Nothing. The doors didn't shift, not even by a grain of sand. He pushed harder, sharpening his focus, letting his physical strength rise, but the doors remained immovable, as if the entire structure existed outside the weight of his power.
He stepped back, gaze lingering on the faint glow pulsing from within the cracks of the stone. He could feel it, raw, ancient force pressing outward like a heartbeat. Whatever lay inside that structure, it wasn't meant to be reached by who he was now.
He tightened his fists. He was close to mastering his transformation. Once he fully controlled it, he was sure he'd be able to open this gate.
And if he did… the power behind it felt strong enough to push him to S-rank at last.
…
Deep in the mazes, Leo stepped out of his tent. His sleeveless shirt showed the hardened lines of his arms and shoulders, giving him the look of a seasoned martial artist rather than a illusionist. The cold air clung to his skin, but the nearby campfire pushed back enough of the chill to make the night bearable.
He walked over to the flames, where a few of his friends were already gathered, and sat down among them. Sparks drifted upward as logs shifted in the heat.
Eight years. That was how long he'd survived this place. Six of those years had been with the people sitting around this fire, people he hadn't expected to bond with, people he now trusted enough to call friends. In this hellish labyrinth, that meant something.
He wasn't sure how strong he had actually become. The weight of the bracelets, now fifteen hundred pounds each, no longer felt impossible. His transformation lasted hours instead of minutes, and his mana reserves had grown far deeper than before. But he still didn't know if it was enough.
Four years remained before his time here ended. Four years to escape. Every spare moment he studied the maze: its shifting paths, its traps, its patterns. The more he learned, the better his chances. A god's domain demanded caution. Even with a plan, failure was a real possibility.
Around the fire sat James, Orane, Dave, the void assassin Ezekiel, and the towering warrior woman Liane Hildom. All of them glanced at Leo with a mix of respect and familiarity. Over the years, he had become more than a companion, he'd become another teacher, someone who walked the maze with them and showed them how to survive it.
James poked at the fire with a stick, sending a curl of ash drifting upward. "You're up early," he said without looking at Leo. "Or late. Hard to tell in this place."
Leo smirked. "Couldn't sleep."
"That's rare," Orane said, leaning back on her pack. "You're usually out before any of us."
Leo didn't answer. He kept his eyes on the fire, watching the flames twist and stretch like the maze corridors he memorized each day.
Ezekiel, sitting slightly apart from the group as always, spoke without lifting his hood. His voice was quiet but sharp. "Your mind is noisy tonight."
Leo raised an eyebrow. "That obvious?"
"You walk differently when you're thinking too much," Ezekiel replied. "Quicker. Less balanced."
Liane snorted, leaning forward with her elbows on her knees. "Or maybe he's just finally realizing how ugly this place really is."
Dave chuckled. "Pretty sure he knew that eight years ago."
Leo smiled faintly, but the tension in his chest didn't ease. After a moment, Liane's voice softened. "You worrying about the time?"
Leo paused before answering. "Four years isn't long."
"It's longer than zero," James said. "And you're still the strongest out of all of us."
"That doesn't matter if we can't get out."
The fire cracked loudly, filling the silence that followed.
Orane folded her arms. "Then we train harder. We study more. Simple as that."
Leo shook his head. "It's not that simple. This place…" He looked past the fire into the endless dark. "It changes. It watches. If I make one mistake, everything ends."
Ezekiel lifted his hooded head slightly, just enough for Leo to sense his gaze. "You have not made that mistake yet."
Liane leaned back, the firelight reflecting off her armor. "And you won't. Not with us here."
Leo breathed out slowly.
"Besides," Dave said with a grin, "if you die, who's gonna keep telling us what we're doing wrong?"
Leo huffed a quiet laugh. For a moment, the pressure inside him loosened, replaced by something steadier. He looked at each of them, one by one, then rose to his feet. The fire cast a long shadow behind him.
"Get ready," Leo said. "We're going deeper tomorrow."
No one argued.
…
Month after month, Leo pushed deeper into the maze, driving himself harder than ever. Another year passed before he and Paul finally agreed the others were ready; Dave, Vanessa, Ezekiel, and Liane had all climbed well into A rank, with Vanessa already reaching A3 and standing at the front of every fight. They left Loidon, Orane, and James, newly B rank, to watch over the village with the Elder, whose A-rank strength gave Leo enough peace of mind to take the rest into the dangerous depths.
They entered the maze together, and at the first encounter Leo and Paul stepped aside, letting the four handle it on their own. One battle followed another. A creature of living gloom drifted out of the darkness, its form constantly warping as shadows peeled and rewove themselves around it. Only the pale, fixed points of its eyes stayed solid as it stalked forward, its limbs uncertain until the moment they struck. Later, a skeletal beast emerged from the dark mist, its spined frame wrapped in torn darkness, its skull crowned with twisted, rootlike horns. Tendrils writhed from its jaw with every rasping breath, and each step dimmed the air as if it fed on the light around it.
They fought for hours, carving through the maze's horrors, gaining confidence as they advanced. But when Leo and Paul finally decided it was time to return, a heavy pressure rolled across the ground. The earth trembled beneath their feet, and a slow, deep rumble echoed through the tunnels.
Both Leo and Paul froze. Something massive was approaching.
The walls shivered, and then shadows tore apart as a colossal serpent glided into view, moving with a speed that its size shouldn't have allowed. Darkness clung to its scales like a living mantle. Its body coiled and uncoiled in long, sweeping motions, each segment thicker than a grown man's torso and marked with ancient, earthen patterns etched into the overlapping armor-like plates.
Its head rose high, almost brushing the upper shadows. Curved horns swept backward like sharpened blades. Golden light burned faintly in its eyes, not bright enough to push back the darkness around it, but clear enough to show a cold, calculating awareness. When its jaws opened, rows of thin, needling fangs clicked softly together, coated in something that hissed as it dripped onto the floor.
The maze fell silent around it. No wind, no echoes, just the weight of its presence pressing in from every direction, shrinking the tunnel until it felt barely big enough to contain the creature.
Leo's grip tightened around his sword as blood-red energy gathered along the blade. He lifted it, preparing to strike but Paul was already moving.
He surged forward in a blur, and the serpent lunged down to meet him. The collision came a heartbeat later: the serpent's skull and Paul's fist crashing together with a force that made the stone floor heave. The impact sent a shudder through the entire corridor and the ground cracked beneath them.
Leo moved to step in, but Paul's shout cracked through the path before he could take a single stride.
"No, stop!" Paul's boots dug into the stone as he held the serpent back with raw force alone. "Go back to the village. Now!"
Vanessa stared at him, stunned. "Why? What's happening?"
"I've never seen this creature before," Paul growled, pushing against the serpent's massive jaw as cracks spread beneath his feet. "There's only one reason it would reveal itself here."
Leo froze. His heart lurched. He understood immediately.
The village. Something was attacking the village.
He didn't wait for the others to understand. The sphere of creation burst from his hand, expanding in a flicker of light. A second later the five of them were standing on the familiar path leading home.
"Leo, what are you doing?!" Liane shouted. "Teacher is still back there!"
Leo didn't answer. He couldn't. His hair flashed white as he accelerated, feet hammering the ground. In moments he tore down the path, faster than any of them had ever seen him move.
Less than a minute later, he reached the village. And the world stopped.
Blood soaked the dirt, streaked across bone walls, pooled beneath bodies he recognized, faces he had spoken to for years, trained with, protected. Homes were shattered, furniture burned, the air thick with the metallic sting of death.
The others arrived seconds later, breathless.
"What's going on, Leo? Why did you—" Liane's voice died. Her eyes locked onto the corpses, and the color drained from her face. "Heh…" She covered her mouth as tears spilled down her cheeks.
Dave's hands trembled. Vanessa's knees nearly buckled. Even Ezekiel staggered, his usual calm shattered.
Fear. Horror. Disbelief.
But in Leo, all of it turned into fire. Into fury. He lifted his gaze toward the largest building, the Elder's hall. A translucent shield still flickered around it, trembling under pressure. And in front of it stood the King of Madness, his towering form unmistakable, surrounded by his five queens.
Something dangled from the king's hand.
Leo stepped closer.
The king turned, sensing him. The limp figure in his grip swung slightly.
It was James. Dead.
The five queens scattered in a flash, each streaking toward a different angle around Leo while the king advanced straight toward him, step by thunderous step.
A heartbeat later, all five queens launched at him at once.
Leo didn't flinch. Five versions of himself materialized around him, solid, complete, fully-powered bodies born from his creation spell. Not illusions and not phantoms. Copies with the same lethal intent. Each clone intercepted a queen, blades meeting claws in explosive bursts of force.
Leo drove his own sword into the dirt. Instantly, the blood soaking the ground surged toward it in rivers, drawn in as if the blade were a living, thirsty thing. The steel pulsed, darkened, then gleamed with a deep, violent red as he pulled it free.
He raised his head. His eyes were pure murder.
"Die with the blood of those you killed."
His voice echoed through the ruined village. He lifted the blade high.
"Blood Destruction."
The world ignited. A colossal sphere of blood erupted outward, far larger, far denser than any Blood Explosion he had cast before, swallowing the battlefield for thousands of meters. The dark sky itself seemed drowned in red.
When the roaring finally died down, only one figure remained unaffected. The King of Madness stood unmoved, not a scratch on him.
Behind Leo, the others finally steadied themselves. Seeing the Elder's shield still flickering meant survivors were inside. They couldn't hesitate now.
They rushed forward.
"Stop," Leo said, without turning.
"You can't take them all alone!" Vanessa snapped, voice trembling but determined.
"I'm not." Leo lowered his blade slightly. "The queens are yours."
Shock flashed across their faces. Leo had never handed off threats of this level, not once. But this time was different. This time he wasn't holding back.
The king lunged without warning, moving faster than sight. A blur, then a shockwave.
Leo's sword met him mid-charge.
Steel collided with steel.
And in the very next instant, both of them vanished.