Yui and Zalarosa stood frozen, completely paralyzed by indecision.
Zalarosa spoke with heavy hesitation:
"Yui... must we truly move forward? Honestly, I don't want to leave this floor. I can feel a terrifying, crushing pressure coming from the other side of those steps."
Yui replied, her voice shaking with deep fear:
"I feel it too... but we have no choice. Let's move."
Steeling their resolve, Yui and Zalarosa dashed toward the staircase. Only a few steps remained before they would officially clear this agonizing layer.
But before their boots could cross the threshold, a massive weight descended directly ahead of them. A colossal beast, towering nearly 16 meters in height, materialized to block their path. It loomed over them like an unyielding mountain—a stone fortress that no storm could ever shake, and which the strongest of men could never hope to move.
The Sovereign's Chamber
"I was starting to get completely bored," Rio muttered, resting his chin on his palm. Suddenly, he sat up straight as a sharp ripple passed through his senses. "Ah... someone has finally arrived!"
He could clearly feel the presence of multiple life forces.
Adventurer 1: "Is this... is this really the final floor?"
Adventurer 2: "By the look of it, yes."
Adventurer 3: "Hey, look over there! There's someone sitting on that throne... Is that guy the final boss of this place?"
Rio spoke up, his voice echoing smoothly through the chamber:
"Welcome, welcome to the final floor. Honestly, I never expected anyone to breach this sanctuary so quickly."
Adventurer 1 snapped, his hand instinctively moving to his hilt:
"What are you? Are you a monster? Everyone, assume combat positions immediately!"
The commander ordered the vanguard to prepare for an instant life-or-death struggle.
Yet, the other adventurers couldn't shake a deep sense of bewilderment. This mysterious youth, Rio, looked nothing like a traditional monster; his appearance was almost entirely human. However, his eyes completely betrayed his true nature.
His sclerae were pitch-black, and within them burned irises of a piercing, blood-crimson red.
Rio waved his hand dismissively:
"Let's not rush into bloodshed so quickly. Why don't we introduce ourselves first? I am known as Rio."
After a tense, brief silence, the adventurers reluctantly revealed their identities. They were Marina, Araeos, and Gadin—their commanding officer.
Gadin narrowed his eyes, gripping his weapon tightly:
"So... do you intend to fight the three of us entirely on your own?"
Rio merely offered a calm smile and sharply snapped his fingers. Instantly, reality fractured, and the entire party was forcefully teleported to a completely separate battlefield.
The Forgotten Summit
The Location:
A massive, ancient stone arena situated at the very top of a desolate, abandoned mountain peak inside the labyrinth. Heavy clouds covered the sky, and a thick, creeping fog swirled around the edges, making the arena look like a mythic hall completely forgotten by time.
The Adversaries:
Three high-tier adventurers of intermediate rank, universally known across the lands as:
"The Trio of the Heavenly Seal."
Araeos: A Magic Swordsman of the Light Element—capable of striking with blistering, supernatural speed.
Marina: A Master Swordswoman of the Ice and Water Elements—capable of instantly freezing the air and manipulating liquid blades.
Gadin: A Vanguard Duelist of the Earth and Nature Elements—possessing a body as unyielding as solid steel, surrounded by living roots and massive stone swords.
Rio stood perfectly composed before them, his blade still resting inside its scabbard. His expression was calm, yet a strange, supernatural light began to flicker intensely within his right eye.
Gadin growled:
"You face us entirely alone? Against the three of us at once?"
Marina mocked openly:
"He's either exceptionally brave... or profoundly foolish."
Araeos said, as a brilliant radiance began to engulf his body:
"Let's finish him off quickly. Maybe his corpse will drop something valuable."
Yet, Rio didn't back down an inch. Raising his head slowly, he spoke in a cold, detached tone:
"Eye of Eternity—First Level."
[The Eye of Eternity – First Level]
Weakness Perception: Structural vulnerabilities across physical bodies are clearly revealed as glowing blue markers.
Strength Identification: Focal points of raw power appear as a brilliant golden glow on joints, vital spots, or weapons.
Energy Navigation: The precise flow of mana and spiritual pathways within opposing bodies becomes fully visible.
Temporal Delation: Partial control over time within his line of sight—allowing him to slow down the enemy's movements by 50% for ten seconds, with a 10-minute cooldown.
Omnidirectional Sight: Grants absolute vision from all angles at the same time.
The very millisecond his eye ignited, the world shifted entirely within his perception. He saw Araeos's spiritual aura exploding from his chest like a miniature sun. He spotted a critical weakness at the back of Marina's neck... and a tiny, jagged crack running through Gadin's massive stone sword.
Rio said with absolute coldness:
"You are indeed strong... However, your power is completely transparent to my eyes."
Araeos launched the attack. His body vanished entirely—
Reappearing directly in front of Rio a fraction of a second later, unleashing a devastating slash of light that threatened to rip the air apart.
Yet, Rio merely shifted his torso at an incredibly precise, tiny angle—a movement so subtle it was barely visible. He evaded the lethal strike flawlessly.
Marina gasped, losing her composure:
"He... he successfully evaded a maximum speed strike? Impossible!"
Dashing forward immediately to support her ally, Marina extended both palms. Fluid swords of compressed water formed, swirling around her like a violent vortex before condensing into a massive ice spear, which she threw at Rio with crushing force.
Focusing his right eye, Rio invoked his temporal power, causing time to slow to a crawl in his field of vision. Stepping lightly onto the tip of the oncoming projectile, he seamlessly glided upward along the length of the icy spear.
Rio murmured:
"Perfect... timing."
Descending from the sky like a falling meteor, he targeted Gadin. The commander violently shattered the earth beneath him, raising a massive wall of stone spikes to impale the descending youth.
But Rio merely applied a calculated pressure to the hilt of his sword, whispering:
"Invisible Severance."
It was a strike entirely invisible to the naked eye.
Yet, the exact moment his boots touched the ground, the stone spikes collapsed into harmless dust, and a massive crack ripped through Gadin's heavy armor.
The Crucible of War
The trio coordinated their efforts perfectly, launching a simultaneous, multi-directional assault.
Araeos attacked him directly from the front.
Marina barraged him with a relentless storm of ice lances, liquid swords, and freezing blizzards.
Gadin summoned a horde of monstrous earth golems from the shattered ground.
Yet, looking at the oncoming apocalypse... Rio merely smiled.
Rio:
"In that case... let's unveil the second capability of this eye."
[First Level Attribute: The Thread of Dominion]
Utilizing the First Level of the Eye of Eternity, Rio can see the microscopic "Energy Threads" that bind physical environments to kinetic energy. By lightly striking these threads with his blade, he can change the direction of motion or completely dismantle an oncoming attack with a simple touch.
Raising his sword with fluid grace, Rio struck the empty air right in front of him.
Suddenly... Araeos's blinding trajectory was violently deflected into the dirt. Marina's massive ice spear spontaneously turned into harmless mist before it could touch his skin. The giant earth golems instantly lost their balance, collapsing into piles of unformed mud.
Araeos shouted in sheer horror:
"What just happened? What kind of magic did that monster just use?!"
Marina whispered, her hands shaking:
"Did he... did he just completely rewrite the path of our attacks?"
Rio stated calmly:
"Not quite. This... is merely the prelude."
[The Unique Art: Absolute Deconstruction]
Rio unleashed the full potential of a specialized skill he had mastered a month ago. The internal flow of life force inside their hearts became completely visible to him... He could feel the precise firing of their nerves... and he could even hear the faint whispers of their thoughts.
Then, his swordplay transformed into an ethereal dance of death.
Against Araeos: A swift, calculated strike delivered directly to the back of his neck, instantly knocking him out. Araeos fell into an immediate, deep sleep.
Against Marina: His blade sliced cleanly through the water vapor, striking the exact weakness at her shoulder. The blow looked completely effortless, yet to Marina, it felt as if a literal mountain had collapsed right onto her bones.
Against Gadin: A sweeping, diagonal slash accurately cleaved the crack within his stone sword, shattering the weapon into a thousand jagged pieces. Defenseless and exposed, the commander was forced to retreat.
The three elite adventurers collapsed heavily onto the cold stone floor... utterly drained, their broken weapons scattered carelessly across the arena.
Rio smoothly guided his blade back into its scabbard, the metal clicking softly:
"No one is truly invincible. However... I can see everything you desperately try to hide."
Backing away in deep shock, Araeos choked out:
"You... you are monstrously powerful."
Marina added, her breath catching:
"If the three of us hadn't been fighting in perfect unison... we would be dead right now."
Rio turned his gaze upon them:
"Even together... you were severely lacking. I only withheld my killing intent out of mercy."
Turning his back on the defeated trio, he left them amidst the rising dust. With a final snap of his fingers, the three adventurers vanished from the labyrinth, instantly teleported back to the safety of the human city outside the Forbidden Forest.
The Aftermath
Gadin let out a hollow, self-deprecating laugh, leaning against a city wall:
"That monster... he completely dismantled us. We're incredibly lucky he chose to spare our lives."
Marina nodded, her face still pale:
"You're absolutely right."
Araeos asked softly, staring at his trembling hands:
"Is he... is he really a monster?"
Marina paused, her mind racing:
"That same question has been echoing continuously through my thoughts. He was fully conscious, reasoned with sharp intellect, and looked almost entirely human. He showed none of the wild, mindless savagery of a typical beast."
Gadin shook his head, his voice grim:
"Maybe he's a highly evolved, advanced tier of monster. Didn't you see the pitch-black sclerae and the crimson red of his eyes? That anatomy is fundamentally non-human. That single detail is the absolute proof that he belongs to the labyrinth."
Marina lowered her eyes. "You're right."
Meanwhile, deep within the absolute depths of the living labyrinth...
Rio sat quietly upon his grand throne. He slowly placed his hand over his glowing eye, letting out a heavy, weary sigh of profound isolation:
"And yet... I am a human being. I am not a monster."
To be continued...