Just as Leo and the survivors reappeared far from the battlefield, the shimmering light of the teleportation faded, and his knees immediately buckled. He dropped down hard, one hand braced against the cold, uneven soil floor as he panted for breath. Sweat slid down his temples and dripped from his chin. Even with all the strength he had gained, even with the vast increase in mana he possessed now, maintaining his creation spell for that long had pushed him right to the edge. His entire mana pool felt like a dry, cracked vessel.
Before their eyes, the remnants of his empowered form dissolved. The stark white overtaking his hair receded strand by strand until only his natural black remained, leaving behind the single silver lock that had always marked him. The glow drained from his eyes as well, the intense unnatural color fading back into his normal deep green.
"Who are you? What was that?" the elven girl blurted out the moment she found her voice. Her hands still trembled slightly, her staff clutched tightly against her chest.
Leo slowly lifted his head to look at them. Even exhausted, his expression carried a cold sharpness that made all three instinctively take a step back. There was no threat in his posture, just a heavy seriousness that pressed against them like weight.
"These are not the questions you should ask in a place like this," he said, voice low but steady. "This place is a nightmare. The monsters here are nothing like the ones outside."
"Then what should we ask?" the archer demanded, though his voice cracked halfway through. Leo's gaze shifted toward him, and for a brief second, his narrowed eyes seemed to strip away any bravado the man had left.
"First of all," Leo said, "tell me which kingdom you're from."
"Kingdom of Magic," the elf answered quickly.
Leo didn't even blink before continuing, "How did you end up here?"
The dwarf stepped forward slightly, still breathing hard from the earlier terror. "We were surrounded by orcs. And when we thought it was the end of us… a voice came. It said if we stepped into this place, it would save the village."
Leo exhaled slowly, heavily, more like someone trying to release frustration than someone catching their breath. "That voice was the Mad God," he said. "And you probably doomed your village."
"What?" all three shouted together, their faces draining of color.
Leo's eyes hardened. "Your rank and power are nowhere near enough for a place like this."
The dwarf lifted his chin stubbornly. "I am a B-rank warrior, and these two are B-minus. Do not underestimate us."
Leo stared at him for a long moment, silent, expression unreadable, but clearly unimpressed.
"B rank?" Leo repeated. "That monster that just killed your friend was near S-rank, and most of the monsters here are A-rank at least."
The dwarf's stern expression wavered, the confidence draining from his face as the weight of Leo's words sank in. His thick brows lifted, his jaw slackening for a heartbeat, shock breaking through the hardened warrior visage he tried to maintain.
"You have one choice," Leo continued, his tone steady despite the strain still lingering in his breathing. "And that is to become stronger. If you stay with me, I can protect you against most of the monsters here… at least until you're strong enough to protect yourselves."
"Most of the monsters here?" the elf girl asked quietly. Even though she tried to keep her voice controlled, a thin tremor of fear slipped through. Her slender fingers tightened around her staff, knuckles whitening.
"You saw the monster just now," Leo said, his eyes lowering slightly, remembering the fight. "Even while I was fighting it with everything I had, it still managed to kill two of your friends."
"Why should we trust you?" the archer pressed, voice tense, anger and grief mixing behind his eyes.
The elf turned sharply toward him. "Hey. This man just saved our lives." She then faced Leo again and bowed deeply, her long silver hair falling forward. "We will be grateful, sir."
"Call me Leo," he said simply.
"I'm Orane. Pleased to meet you," she replied with a more composed bow.
"I am Loidon Torvo, son of Berevil Torvo," the dwarf announced with pride, stepping forward and offering his hand.
Leo clasped it firmly.
Then Orane's gaze shifted to the archer. "James Walter," he muttered reluctantly. Then, quieter, "And… thank you for your save."
Leo gave a short nod. "You're welcome. Now let's move, before the maze decides to crush us."
He turned and began walking. The other three exchanged glances, then quickly followed behind him, their footsteps echoing faintly against the shifting walls.
For a long stretch they moved in silence, the tension heavy, each of them still haunted by the battle they had escaped, and friends the had lost. The air felt colder in this part of the maze, and the faint groaning of distant shifting walls made every shadow seem alive.
Then, ahead of them, a massive lizard-like monster emerged, its body covered in thick, uneven scales, its eyes burning with predatory hunger.
The three survivors instantly tightened their grips on their weapons, falling into defensive stances, though their legs trembled slightly.
But Leo's expression sharpened with something closer to relief than fear. This was exactly what he needed. One more kill, then he could finally rest. His body was still screaming from the strain of his transformation and the prolonged creation spell.
He raised Thorn, and the weapon responded to his will immediately, its form expanding and stretching into a towering greatsword, its edge gleaming with cold sharpness.
Without a word, he brought it down.
The giant blade cleaved straight through the monster's torso, slicing it cleanly in half with a thunderous crack of breaking bone and tearing flesh.
All three behind him froze, eyes wide, their breaths catching in their throats. For a second, none of them could even exhale, stunned silent by the sheer, effortless brutality of the strike.
Only Leo's voice pulled them back to reality.
"We rest here," he said, lowering Thorn as the massive sword shrank back to its normal size. His exhaustion was unmistakable now, heavy in every word and movement.
…
Loidon watched Leo sitting beside the bisected corpse of the lizard-like beast, Thorn still resting across his knees as he exhaled a long, shaky breath. Leo's shoulders, which had been tight with tension from the moment they ran, finally loosened. His eyelids drifted shut, and for the first time since they'd met him, he looked almost humanly exhausted rather than terrifyingly capable.
Seeing that, the quiet lowering of his guard, Loidon felt the weight in his own chest ease. If someone like Leo could rest, then it was safe enough for them to do the same. He gave a small nod to the others, and the trio followed his lead, settling near the cooling corpse to take whatever moment of peace the maze allowed.
The dwarf sank down heavily, muscles aching from hours of running and fighting. They had been in this hellish place nearly a full day now, pushed past the limit of what any of them should have endured. Sleep tugged at him immediately, thick and irresistible. But barely ten minutes after he shut his eyes, soft but hurried footsteps pulled him back.
Loidon blinked awake to find James lowering himself to sit beside him. The archer's burned hand was wrapped tightly in makeshift bandages, the fabric still darkened with soot from the monster's earlier flames. His expression was tight, too sharp, too awake for someone so exhausted.
"Loidon," James muttered, voice low and edged with suspicion, "what do you think about this Leo guy?"
Loidon followed his gaze to where Leo rested. Even in exhaustion, the man radiated a quiet danger, like a blade laid down but not sheathed. "He saved our lives," Loidon answered simply. "I think we can trust him."
James's jaw clenched. "In the middle of the fight, he turned into… whatever that was. Stronger than before. Why didn't he use that from the start? Why let Alvin and Julian die first?"
Loidon frowned. "What are you suggesting?"
James leaned in slightly, his voice dropping to a whisper filled with agitation. "He's drained now, you can see it. No mana left. This might be our only chance to kill him and free ourselves before he shows us what he really wants."
Loidon's brow lifted, disbelief replacing fatigue. "What are you talking about? He never forced us to follow him."
James's expression twisted, frustration and fear mixing into something sour. "When it's too late," he hissed, standing abruptly, "don't say I didn't warn you."
He turned and went into the dim, shifting light of the maze.
Loidon watched him go, then looked back toward Leo, still unmoving, still breathing heavily but peacefully. He didn't understand James at all. Fear did strange things to people, but turning against the one man keeping them alive? That was madness.
Still, he was too worn out to make sense of it. The exhaustion pulled him under like a tide. His eyes slid shut again, and this time the darkness came instantly, swallowing every thought.
…
"Giah!!"
Leo's eyes snapped open, his body reacting before his mind fully caught up. The scream tore through the stillness like a blade, sharp and panicked, Orane's voice. His heart lurched. In a single motion he pushed himself up from the ground, muscles still aching from mana depletion, and scanned the area.
The dim corridor of the Maze flickered with shifting shadows, its oppressive silence broken only by Orane's ragged breaths. She stood a meter away from a still figure on the ground, her whole body trembling. Her hands were clamped over her mouth, fingers quivering, and tears streamed down her cheeks.
James stood several steps behind her, frozen. His bandaged arm hung limp at his side, and his eyes were stretched wide with a shock that seemed too stiff, too rehearsed, for the moment.
Leo moved toward them at once, boots scraping against the stone floor. As he knelt beside the fallen figure, the sight struck him with cold disbelief.
Loidon lay flat on his back, his skin pale, too pale, and completely devoid of the lingering warmth of life. His beard was still slightly tangled from sleep, his hands relaxed at his sides as if he had simply drifted away in silence.
"What happened here?" Leo asked, voice low but edged with urgency. The idea that someone died within arm's reach of him without his awareness sent a chill down his spine. He had been exhausted, drained, but not careless.
"I… I don't know," Orane said through hitched breaths, wiping her face with shaking fingers. "I woke up… then woke James. And when I tried to wake Loidon, he was cold."
Leo exhaled slowly and activated his dual vision. Heat, life force, none remained. Loidon was a hollow shell, his energy extinguished completely.
Leo lifted his gaze to the living. Orane showed faint traces of remaining life force, unstable from grief and fear but otherwise normal. Then his eyes moved to James.
He studied the man for a long, silent moment.
"What about you?" Leo asked. His voice wasn't accusatory, only searching, steady. "Did you see anything?"
James shook his head quickly. "No. We… we talked a little last night. He seemed fine." His voice wavered, but his expression didn't match the panic in Orane's.
Leo stood and looked around the darkness. The Maze was quiet, too quiet. No lingering threat. No signs of a monster's presence.
Something was wrong.
"We need to leave," he said firmly.
"We… we have to bury him," Orane whispered, her voice cracking under grief.
Leo's shoulders lowered with a resigned sigh. "Fine."
He wasn't heartless. And even in this nightmare, the dead deserved dignity.
He helped them dig, hands pushing through the cold, resistant earth. When the grave was finished, he stepped back, giving them space to mourn. Orane knelt beside the fresh mound, whispering something under her breath. James stood behind her, head lowered.
Leo walked farther away, letting them have privacy.
Once he was out of earshot, James slowly moved toward Orane. His shadow stretched long behind him as he stopped at her side.
"We have to do something," he whispered softly, voice dripping with false concern. "Or we'll be next."
Orane lifted her head slowly, eyes red and swollen. "You're saying… you think Leo killed Loidon?" Her voice shook, torn between confusion and disbelief.
James leaned closer. "Who else could do this?"
"Why?" she whispered, gripping her cloak tightly. "Why would he save us… and then kill us?"
James shrugged slightly. "Who knows how long he's been trapped here? Maybe he's gone mad."
Orane's breath hitched again, and she looked toward Leo in the distance. Fear flickered behind her eyes, new, fragile, and confused.
Behind her, James smiled.
A twisted, wicked curl of his lips.
Gone the moment she turned her head.
Minutes passed before Leo returned. His expression was tired but resolute.
"We should leave now," he said.
Orane looked at James one last time. James nodded, slow and deliberate. She swallowed hard, then nodded back.
Together, they walked into the Maze's darkness unaware of the real danger walking beside them.