Like every other time before, traversing through the path linking an outer circle to the next one, deeper in, went by in a proverbial flash.

Lucian joined up with the others once he exited said path, having noticed them congregating up ahead on his way over.

Only after Transient Cardinal had done likewise did someone break the silence.

“Here we are again. So? Left, or right?” Julia asked in a clipped tone while flicking her hand in each direction as she mentioned them.

“I don’t think it really matters which way we go at this point.” He interjected before anyone else could. “It seems like no matter where we go, something will inevitably be after our hides.”

Cherub had already begun furiously nodding in agreement even when he was only midway through voicing his opinion.

“I totally agree!” he let out, further supporting his stance. “Let’s just choose as fast as possible and get outta here quickly.”

While the others didn’t make their agreements known in such an effusive manner, the fact that none of them disputed either man made their opinions clear.

Julia looked from one person to the next, making doubly sure that none of them wished to voice out an opinion, before raising her hands in defeated acceptance.

“Since none of you want to choose, I’ll choose then.” So saying, her head twisted from left to right then back again, honey blonde cascade limply slapping against her back a step behind her motions. “Let’s… go left.”

The buxom beauty didn’t wait for any responses, whether in assent or dissent, before heading down the left fork.

Exchanging a quick look with his white-haired partner, Lucian jerked his chin in the direction Julia had headed off to and got a quick nod back before following; Transient Cardinal falling in step.

The other three, reacting a beat behind, were forced to speed up a touch in order to overtake them and assume their usual places in the formation, as well.

From his past experiences, he suspected nothing hostile would assault them until they had made some headway into the new circle’s depths. He wasn’t willing to voice such a supposition, however. At the end of the day, his suspicions were still just that, suspicions. It was best not to get any hopes up without concrete proof.

And anyway, with Transient Cardinal and Boris present, they would most likely get an early warning of any approaching dangers at the very least.

Despite knowing that, the raven-haired man couldn’t help but look around warily, knowing the two’s Instinct implants weren’t the be all, end all.

Time passed, and at this point in the trek, it looked like the rain, initially a downpour, was tapering off; sheets of rain having transitioned into a gentle drizzle some time earlier, one that seemed to be giving way to an even lighter sprinkle.

Most of the fog overhead and blanketing the Bloodthirst Briars on either side had dispersed, letting him see that the pinpricks of purple light had brightened up once more, each one regaining their original crimson hue.

While Lucian wasn’t sure when exactly the change had occurred, he could be certain that it happened after himself, Transient Cardinal, and Julia had left their enclosed clearing; the light having still been purplish at that time.

If he were to make a bold guess, the specific colour of the lights might be related to the Bloodthirst Briar’s state of activeness.

Then again, he could be wrong. After all, it was just a guess, in the end.

The raven-haired man still made a note of it at the back of his mind, nevertheless. Who knows? Such a supposition might be key to his survival, later on.

“Something’s incoming from the front. Brace yourselves friends.”

Lucian looked up sharply at Boris’s warning, just as a soft tug on his left arm caused his eyes to dart downwards towards Transient Cardinal’s direction.

The white-haired waif let go once she noticed his attention was on her, obviously having achieved her goal.

While he wanted to ask her what all that was about, an exclamation from Julia stopped him from doing so.

“I’m seeing one—no, two—wait, no, three… okay, this might be an issue… Hungering Rodents and Shadowborn Skullkers incoming!” While her voice had wavered momentarily, her tone had gone back to normal once she had announced the incoming foes.

Snapping to full attention at the honey blonde’s proclamation, Lucian focused back on the area ahead and immediately spotted what she was talking about.

At a quick glance, he counted over five creatures—comprising an equal mix of dog-sized rats and serpentine, obsidian bones—bursting out from the fog.

Even as he was counting, the numbers only swelled; ballooning up to six then seven then eight, finally stopping only when there was almost an even dozen charging towards Julia and Boris.

Finally reacting, he ran forward, knowing the two in the van couldn’t handle the mob on their own. Bypassing Cherub and Tsumiki—the two having reacted a beat slower—he stopped next to Julia just as the vanguard of the horde was about to make contact.

Instead of waiting to engage in close combat, Lucian tossed his end table from his right hand to his left and yanked out an uncursed Sacrificial Stake.

Sweeping his eyes over the approaching monsters, he selected and took aim at one of the Hungering Rodents right in front before throwing the stake at it.

Only watching long enough to make sure it was on target, he focused on one of the Shadowborn Skullkers trying to slither up to him stealthily while tossing his end table back to his right hand…

Just in time to smash the serpentine monstrosity back into the shin-high cover as it lunged up for his knees in a plume of water.

Immediately taking a step forward, he stomped down on the grounded bones and made sure it wasn’t able to hide away. While doing so, he raised his end table over his head, gripped it in both hands, and brought it back down in a two-handed, crushing blow; both its eyeballs popping out of its sockets as it died.

Spotting a rapid flicker of snowy white from the corner of his eyes, Lucian spared Transient Cardinal a quick glance while stepping back and making some distance from other approaching creatures.

Stuck between the left wall of Bloodthirst Briars and himself, the young woman quickly darted forward and then back and then forward again as she stabbed at another one of the black-furred rats. From the glaring beads of blood liberally dotting its fur, it was clear she had already dealt it several injuries.

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Before he could observe any more, a blur of black from the corner of his right eye forced him to hop back, narrowly avoiding another Shadowborn Skullker that lunged out from amidst the shin-high waters.

He stepped back forward as it fell back down to earth, end table smashing into its spine and boosting its descent to even greater heights – one that was uncontrolled and ended with a resounding splash.

After grounding it, he stomped on its skull several times in rapid succession until it shattered completely; making sure it didn’t have an opportunity to recover and try to ambush him once again.

Checking the front and seeing that there weren’t any more creatures coming, Lucian looked to the right—where the sounds of combat were loudest—and saw that Cherub and Tsumiki were fighting off a pair of Hungering Rodents and a sole Shadowborn Skullker; both of them having been forced back from the frontlines.

Seeing that Boris was already heading over to assist them, he focused back on the frontlines and saw that Julia was simultaneously fighting a pair of Shadowborn Skullkers.

Before heading over to assist, he threw a quick glance over his shoulder to check on Transient Cardinal. It immediately became clear that she was doing fine.

The Hungering Rodent she was initially contending with lay dead at her feet, numerous holes, leaking copious amounts of blood into the muddy waters, strewn across its entire body. While she was currently entangled with a single Shadowborn Skullker, it didn’t look like she was having any obvious difficulties.

Turning his head back forward, he spent a moment mentally charting his route before setting off.

Instead of beelining for the honey blonde, he ran ahead slightly before progressing in a gentle arc towards the other end of the passage, making sure his approach would be noticed by Julia while letting him ambush the creatures attacking her.

The raven-haired man’s eyes locked with the honey blonde’s own when he was steps away. Emerald eyes widening in understanding, they narrowed back down in focus as she doubled down her assault; glass-embedded table leg furiously swinging at the pair of Shadowborn Skullkers in wide, devastating arcs.

While effective in warding them off, that’s all she managed to do…

At least until Lucian surprised the backmost animate bones with a crushing overhead blow. Almost simultaneously, Julia sprung forward while raising her spiky mace overhead, landing a devastating, one-handed smash on the frontmost skullker before it could react.

At the same time, the raven-haired man stomped down on the momentarily discombobulated Shadowborn Skullker, using his tried and true method of stomping on its skull until it shattered.

While he was in the middle of doing so, the sounds of combat ebbed away and eventually vanished; heaving breaths all that filled the air.

Certain that all the creatures in his nearby vicinity were dead, he swept his eyes over the passage’s entire width and checked on the others. While the lack of combat-related sounds made it clear that the others were done, he wasn’t sure if they were alright purely based on that.

Naturally, with Julia being the closest combatant, his eyes swept over her first. Having taken one of the Shadowborn Skullker’s attention away from her, the honey blonde hadn’t had any trouble dispatching the sole remaining serpentine monstrosity; evidence of which floated around her sneakered feet in the form of ebony bone fragments.

Somewhat behind her and off to the side, Boris, Cherub, and Tsumiki stood in a triangular formation around a trio of corpses; another two Hungering Rodents lying motionless amidst floating bones several metres behind the bearded giant.

From his angle, he couldn’t tell if any of them were injured. Judging from the lack of panicked body language, however, it seemed like any injuries—if there were any at all—were minor ones at most.

On the other end of the passage, where he had been initially, Transient Cardinal was already letting the sparse amounts of rain clean away the ichor coating her table legs; hole-riddled Hungering Rodent and shattered Shadowborn Skullker lying at her pink combat-booted feet.

Even at a glance, it was crystal clear the white-haired waif hadn’t incurred any new injuries.

Letting out an unconscious sigh of relief after finishing his survey, Lucian turned back around to face the path ahead, wary about any new creatures appearing out of the mists even as conversations started up behind him.

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Like every time before, the party of six collected their used weapons while waiting around for any loot to appear next to the dozen corpses.

From the 6 Hungering Rodents and 6 Shadowborn Skullkers, they found a total of 7 Runes of Insatiable Hunger [Shard], 8 Shadow-imbued Bonedusts, and a whopping 14 Hollow Vertebrae.

With 29 items in all, dividing them equally meant that five out of the sixsome would take away 5 items while one of them took 4.

Like in the Dormitories, Julia categorically refused to take any Hollow Vertebra. Consequently, she became the person who took possession of only four items – specifically, one rune and three pouches.

Once the remaining spoils were divvied up to everyone’s satisfaction, the pack continued their trek deeper into the maze.

Lucian kept his right hand tucked in his hoodie’s corresponding pocket while walking, having realised that starting off any future combat encounters by throwing a projectile was a most effective tactic.

His thumb rubbed over each thorn-shaped item one after another, making sure that he knew each and every one’s specific placement for when the need arose.

His left arm swung back and forward as grass became bone white pulp underfoot, gentle rain splashing against his end table as it acted like a misshapen pendulum while swishing through the air.

Sweeping his eyes over the nearby area, he made sure nothing was approaching before focusing back on the path stretching ahead. While no new hostiles had appeared out of the mist thus far, he wasn’t going to discount a new wave appearing any moment now.

…

His tension drained away as seconds passed without something new appearing. With their luck so far, he had honestly expected some new wave of hostiles to appear the moment the thought had crossed his mind; ludicrous as that sounded.

He supposed paranoia was finally starting to dig its claws into his psyche. Could anyone really blame him though? With a new horrifying creature appearing out of the woodwork around every other corner, it would have only been a matter of when, not if.

Lucian unconsciously heaved out a sigh of exhaustion at that depressing train of thought. Reflexively raising his right hand, he aborted his actions when it intersected with his line of sight and shoved it back into his hoodie’s pocket; thumb mindlessly rubbing over each thorn-shaped projectile, once again.

Glancing over at Transient Cardinal, he saw that she was studiously focused on the path ahead while remaining silent. Unlike the two pairs ahead of them, neither had spoken since leaving the previous battlefield behind, content with said silence.

Deciding to finally break it, he opened his mouth, words at the tip of his tongue, when Boris’s warning shout forced him to snap it back shut with an audible click.

“Monsters incoming. Brace yourselves.”

At the same time, the slightly absentminded look clouding his white-haired partner’s pale blues melted away like ice bathed in fire; sharp focus rushing back inn instantly.

Wanting to double confirm the bearded giant’s announcement, he asked. “Do you feel it too?”

At her quick nod, his left arm snapped up in a guarding position, end table’s circular top pointing slightly forward and up at this right shoulder. Almost in concert, his right hand slid out one of the uncursed Sacrificial Stakes, ready to throw it at a moment’s notice.

Instead of staying put directly behind the rest, he dashed to the right and closer to the densely woven wall of black leaves, giving him a wider field of view.

Just at a glance, he counted another handful of charging Hungering Rodents and a small scale swarm of slithering Shadowborn Skullkers.

Sparing a single glance for Transient Cardinal and seeing that she had mirrored his movements, he didn’t hesitate any further and charged forward, intending to meet the monsters head on.

Before he could reach the pair in the frontlines, Boris and Julia had long engaged; the former starting things off with a low, sweeping blow, extended Binding Chain tripping up the pair of Hungering Rodents at the leftmost end of the passage.

Looking away from that side of the battlefield, he focused on the pair heading straight for the honey blonde. Unlike Boris, she had adopted a defensive stance, waiting for the black-furred rats to come to her instead of vice versa.

At present, she was employing quick, sharp jabs at the pair, making sure neither of them could get too close. Having taken in enough of the current situation, Lucian cocked his arm back as he ran, eyes switching between the two dog-sized rats harassing her.

Eventually settling on the more aggressive one, he waited for a beat, letting it back up after snapping at Julia, before thrusting his arm forward and letting go of the uncursed Sacrificial Stake.

It tore through the drizzle like an arrow loosed from a straining bow and planted itself right between his target’s beady scarlet eyes; small spray of blood flying from the point of impact.

Confident it was dead from past experiences, he focused on another target—one of the numerous Shadowborn Skullkers—while quickly swapping his end table between his hands.

In the meantime, Julia had instantly sprung forward, taking advantage of one of the Hungering Rodents being dead. The remaining rat, distractedly flinching away at its compatriots demise, didn’t have time to avoid the rising, spike-enhanced uppercut the honey blonde landed on its black-furred jaw, dazing it.

Noticing the rising spray of crimson in his peripherals, Lucian had a feeling Julia was doing just fine even as he came in range of his chosen target.

The Shadowborn Skullker rapidly coiled up on itself before springing outward and up at him, ebony jaws agape and pitch black teeth bared.

Before it could complete its arc, he met it with a strong, downwards smash and forced it back into the mushy blades of grass, leaving behind a serpentine-shaped indentation amidst the yielding mud and sodden bone white carpet.

He stomped down at its skull but missed, the creature having slithered away to the side rapidly; something in stark contrast with most of its brethren.

Not having expected something like that, his booted foot squelched into the mud and got stuck momentarily, meaning that he couldn’t evade, like he usually did, as the spiny serpent sprung back out of the water in a spray of droplets and grass.

Bringing his end table back towards him in a guarding position, he was just in time to interpose its thin stand right in between himself and the wide agape jaws as it strongly bit down …

Only for its teeth to nearly crunch through the cylindrical wood’s entire diameter, getting stuck about two-thirds of the way through.

His body acted before any thoughts popped into his mind, left hand stretching up like greased lightning and clamping down on the skull with a strong grip, one that would have bruised flesh – if it had any, that is.

Giving it no time to react, his left hand pulled upwards while his right arm wrenched downwards, end table’s thin stand being yanked out from between pitch black teeth in a spray of jagged splinters and wood chips.

The moment he separated the Shadowborn Skullker from his improvised mace, Lucian dropped to a knee and smashed it into the muddy waters, eyeballs first.

Even as ebony skull squelched into mud, a large plume of water erupted upwards and rained down on his head, covering his matted hair and drenched shoulders in even more water and random blades of limp, displaced grass.

Highly doubting it would die from just that, he released his grip, rocketed upwards in a stationary high jump, and came back down with another plume of water; booted feet first.

Feeling the now-familiar sensation of bone underfoot, he twisted his right foot from side to side and ground it deeper into the yielding quagmire, making sure it wouldn’t be able to escape.

Based on the faint vibrations travelling up his leg, it was clearly still alive. Instead of letting it get back out of the mud, he stomped down once, twice, then thrice, until he heard the distinct sound of cracking bones warble from the water.

Repeating the action several more times in rapid succession, he only stopped when the heel of his boot sunk deeper than previously; skull finally giving way to toughened rubber sole.

Lucian paused, waiting to see if the Shadowborn Skullker would move. When it didn’t even after a second had passed, he yanked out his foot and stepped back, eyes sweeping the nearby vicinity for any more hostiles.

Quickly spotting nothing, he spun around and checked on the others, sounds of combat still ringing out from behind him. Even while doing so, he internally castigated himself for being so concentrated on his own foes that he had completely forgotten about the rest.