The appearance of the warrior turned Suri’s fate upside down. The monster could easily crush an ordinary person with a single limb, yet the cloaked figure’s presence completely suppressed the aura of the dungeon’s ruler. The black blades in his hands gleamed menacingly, foretelling doom for anyone they targeted.

Suri’s breath caught. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from him. Questions raced through her mind—how had he gotten here? Why had he come? But those questions didn’t matter now. She had a powerful ally, and that was all that mattered.

The Judge exuded deadly intent. Cold sweat trickled down Suri’s back, but her lips curved into a satisfied smile. What did it matter what punishment awaited her later if, at this moment, this man’s wrath was directed at the Needle? No more running away.

A powerful wave erupted from the supreme Needle. Passing through the bodies of people, the energy crashed into the lair’s walls. The creature cast its strongest hunting net, suppression. Sounds, smells, even reality itself dulled for its unfortunate victims. The foreign energy surrounded Suri, draining warmth from her body drop by drop.

The Judge swung his blade, severing the greedy currents reaching for him and completely thwarting any attempts to weaken him. The creature emitted guttural sounds and launched another attack. Energy poured from its huge body like a tidal wave, crushing all obstacles in its path, only to pathetically break against the black blades.

The Judge moved forward. The pressure that squeezed dead brown carcasses and turned stone to rubble did not affect him. The distance between him and the Needle shrank rapidly. The cold weapon in his hands swallowed the glitter of crystals and rushed towards the pale face.

The song of steel echoed through the lair, and a cascade of sparks fell to the ground. The Judge’s movements were so fast that his weapons seemed to transform, deform, and split. Suri blinked, and in that brief moment, she lost sight of the blades. The Needle snapped its jaws, but its efforts were futile. Each of the Judge’s attacks cost the creature more than a pair of teeth.

The battle unfolded at a frantic pace. Suri barely noticed the enraged Needle’s attacks. To an observer, it seemed effortless for the Judge to dodge and counterattack. He and the elite Needle operated on an entirely different level compared to the pitiful combat skills of the newborn blood mage.

Suddenly, the creature’s nape flared with blue light.

“On its back. Right below the third spike. That’s the core,” Suri shouted. The Judge retreated, casting a quick glance at the blood mage. Grasping the hilt of a short blade, he rushed back into the fray. The spiked tail swept toward him, but the unwieldy appendage, weighed down by the attached brown carcass, couldn’t match the Judge’s agility. Avoiding contact, he plunged the short blade into the creature’s head and used it as a lever to jump onto its back.

His long blade pierced the bony plate on the Needle`s back, penetrating deep into its body. The Needle screeched. None of its previous losses compared to the pain of its core being damaged. The creature rose on its hind legs and collapsed against the wall. By the time the black mass crashed into the sharp rocks, the Judge was already gone. But the Needle had achieved its goal, knocking the pesky attacker away from its vulnerability.

“That’s not enough. It will recover quickly,” Suri shouted anxiously.

The Needle fell onto its forelimbs, spraying mucus and clumps of wet earth into the air.

“Can you see its core?” The Judge’s voice cut through the Needle’s wailing as he appeared beside Suri.

The blood mage’s hand flew to her mouth, but it was too late to deny it. “Yes,” she admitted.

The eyeless face turned towards the girl, revealing the Needle’s intentions. And Suri could understand the creature. Not everyone would dare confront the Judge, and in the Needle’s place, she too would get rid of the weaker enemy first. After all, even a dog can kill an exhausted wolf.

“Don’t move,” the Judge ordered. Suri paled as the creature opened its jaws and, with a howl, rushed toward her. Even if she had wanted to dodge, it wouldn’t have been possible. Her legs seemed rooted to the ground.

The pale, huge face, smeared with green viscous blood, loomed over Suri. The foul stench of death engulfed her, and the color drained from her face. All she could see were the razor-sharp claws raised high above her head.

“Even if I could, my ‘Shield’ wouldn’t hold,” she thought. Fear enveloped her, and she closed her eyes.

The creature hesitated. The wait became torturous. Suri felt the fetid breath of the creature on her face, and the predatory rasps sounded right above her. A swift movement of air and a loud thud resounded at her feet. Suri opened her eyes and recoiled. The Needle’s claws had sunk deep into the ground, like into warm butter.

“Did it miss?” she wondered. But she didn’t waste time doubting and seized the opportunity to widen the distance from the monster. Only later did she realize that her actions were pointless.

The Needle’s core had gone dark.

A shadow straightened on the creature’s nape, extracting the blade from its lifeless carcass with effort. The core shattered, and with it, the suppression ceased. The Judge wiped the blood off his blades and sheathed them, exuding confidence that there was no longer any threat in the heart of the lair. Indeed, not a single living creature remained in the enormous cave.

“Let’s go,” he said, moving quickly toward the lair’s wall. Only when Suri got closer did she notice an overgrown tunnel. She had no idea how anyone could navigate so well in the darkness.

The Judge kicked aside the dried vegetation, clearing the way to a steeply descending passage, and disappeared from view. Yet, Suri hesitated.

“Maybe another burrow will lead us to the main tunnel. How did the creatures get there?” she asked cautiously. “It’s dangerous to delve deeper into the Labyrinth in my condition.”

The Judge swiftly reappeared, but instead of agreeing, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her along, dragging her into the depths of the unknown path.

“The Queen is close,” was all he said.

Suri’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “But… who was that Needle?”

“It doesn’t have just one body.”

The Judge’s icy fingers gripped girl’s wrist tightly. She felt the cold seep through this connection into her body—a soothing, calming, reassuring cold.

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No living soul had used the narrow tunnel for a long time. The walls and ceiling were covered in cracks, oozing with underground moisture. The ground squelched under their feet, occasionally emitting a crunching sound. Suri didn’t know when she had lost her traveling crystal, along with the rest of her equipment. Perhaps during the encounter with Tilek, or during the fall. Now she could only rely on the Judge’s ability to navigate the darkness. And judging by his confident pace, he had no trouble with that.

“Ouch,” Suri flinched as something scratched her cheek. The scratch burned and itched simultaneously. The Judge stopped and soon gripped her chin, turning her face roughly, preventing her from touching her cheek with her hand.

“Put on your hood. Stay low,” he instructed.

Something in his tone made Suri uneasy. An unpleasant feeling quickly spread across her face, and it became increasingly difficult to keep her hands away. The squelching underfoot changed to a crunching sound, as if they were walking over a carpet of dry twigs.

“Why are we walking in the dark? Is there no crystal?” Suri finally couldn’t hold back.

The Judge remained silent. Only because his grip on her wrist tightened did Suri realize he had heard her.

“I should probably keep quiet.” She sighed. Eventually, this tunnel would end. Frankly, she had no desire to see what was above them.

“It’s safer without light,” the Judge muttered, then stopped abruptly. Suri collided with his steel-like body and hissed in pain. The warrior’s hand clamped over her mouth.

The Judge tensed completely. It seemed even his chest stopped rising. His unusual behavior unnerved the blood mage. At that moment, a piercing scream echoed far behind them, chilling to the bone. It was answered by another scream, deeper and more powerful. This sound was picked up by countless other voices, creating a chorus. Suri had encountered the Needle’s wail before, but nothing could prepare anyone for this. She covered her ears with her hands, clenching her teeth so hard they creaked.

The Judge shook her by the shoulders, snapping her out of her stupor. Even with her limited experience, she understood they couldn’t linger. How long would it take the agile creatures accustomed to narrow burrows to catch up with them? Suri was already stumbling, extracting the last remnants of energy from her body. She had been moving on inertia for some time, and the Judge was dragging her along.

When the Needle’s wails subsided, a rustling sound grew overhead, like wind caught in a dense canopy.

“What is that sound?” Despite studying everything she could find in the Council Hall library about the Labyrinth, the blood mage already knew the answer. The Needles wouldn’t abandon the tunnel without a good reason. Yet, she still hoped she was wrong in her assumptions.

“A lazy angler.” Her hopes were dashed. Now was the worst possible time to use a traveling crystal, given that its light attracted this predatory plant.

The warrior and blood mage quickened their pace just in time. Vines studded with tiny bony thorns hung above Suri’s head, catching on her cloak. The acrid sap oozing from the vines emitted a dizzying aroma. Suri’s head was already spinning from severe exhaustion. Her eyelids felt like lead.

Death followed them closely, giving no respite. Clicking and clattering echoed through the tunnel, indicating that the Needles had frantically set off in pursuit of their escaped prey while the angler plant loomed overhead.

Suri closed her heavy eyelids for a moment. Her entire body felt lighter, and she even imagined warm sunlight touching her face. The journey into the Labyrinth seemed like a distant memory, though she couldn’t recall how her descent had ended. She frowned as the sunlight caressed her face, then its source moved behind her.

“Snap out of it,” growled the Judge, yanking the blood mage with such force that her wrist ached. A solitary travel crystal shone brightly a few meters behind them, and numerous spiny tendrils reached toward it like hungry tongues. The diversion worked, and the path ahead was clear. However, the tendrils that had already latched onto their marked prey were not fooled. The tendrils tightened around Suri’s body, digging their spikes deeper.

Without hesitation, the Judge drew his blade and swung. “Cover your face,” he ordered, freezing in place. Suri’s eyes widened at the sight of the exposed steel. She shook her head, desperately trying to dissuade the warrior.

“No. The angler plant’s sap is like acid. I won’t survive,” she said nervously. Hunters rarely encountered the lazy angler plant. With a single root system, it grew like a weed, feeding on the life essence of creatures. The few squad that had faced this predatory plant strongly recommended finding another path or digging a detour. They insisted on never using travel crystals. If the tendrils attracted by the light tasted blood, they might follow the hunter to the ends of the earth. What once sounded like a scary tale for novices now seemed much worse to Suri. The angler plant dissolved creatures with its sap. Cutting or tearing off a tendril would only hasten the victim’s death.

The Judge sheathed his blade. Tearing a piece of cloth from his cloak, he wrapped his hands tightly.

Suri watched, her mind racing. “What is he planning? Oh?! That’s madness!”

“No,” she exclaimed in astonishment. The tendril squeezed her ribcage, not letting go. Several predatory tendrils lost interest in the crystal and also reached for her legs.

“There must be another way. Think! The answer is right in your head,” Suri urged herself, precisely recalling all the scrolls where she had encountered the name of the lazy angler plant.

Besides light, the plant responded to the warmth of creatures… It thrived near water sources. That’s it!

“Give me your water flask,” Suri demanded, only to realize her tone belatedly. But when her palm felt the cold, heavy leather flask, she pushed everything else out of her mind. Her hands trembled as she tilted the flask, pouring a small amount of water onto the tendril wrapped around her waist. In response, the tendril oozed sizzling sap, tightening its grip.

“Stop,” commanded the Judge, grabbing her hand to prevent another attempt. Suri looked up at him, her bright, clear blue eyes full of certainty.

“My hands are shaking. You do it,” she said, letting go of the flask.

The Judge frowned, plagued with doubts. But Suri was pleasantly surprised when he decisively poured the flask’s contents on the tendrils holding her. The plant reacted instantly. The tendrils dropped their spikes, and bubbling sap oozed from the open pores. The places touched by the sap were quickly corroded, light threads of smoke rising from her cloak. Soon, the sap mixed with the water, and only then did the result become evident. The weakened tendril fell at her feet.

The Judge’s black eyes gleamed. Suri hadn’t noticed when his eye color changed again. Or was her condition so dire that she was hallucinating?

“How did you know?” the Judge asked as they moved forward. Suri raised her eyebrows in surprise.

“That the angler plant fears water? Maybe it grows near water sources because it’s uncomfortable there. This plant hides its root and hunts with its tendrils. Who would have thought that water doesn’t nourish it but stops it from expanding?”

Suri walked without paying attention to the path. She would give anything right now to get out of this narrow tunnel filled with rotten smells and the eerie crunch of bones, as she had already guessed.

“You took a big risk,” the Judge said calmly.

“Are we still talking about the angler plant?” thought Suri. She pressed her lips together, the most intense reaction she could muster.

“That’s true. I took a risk. I didn’t expect the blood mage to reveal his intentions so soon. Especially not at such a critical moment. Tilek must be very confident in his abilities.”

She could say whatever she wanted; the Judge wouldn’t interfere in the blood mages’ affairs. The recent incident proved that none of the hunters even flinched when she needed help. “I wonder what Tilek told the others? Did he say anything at all?” Suri’s eyes sparkled.

“How did you find me?” she asked instead.

“You left a trail,” the Judge shrugged. “It wasn’t hard.”

Silence fell between them. The crunching underfoot was revolting, not to mention the echoes of the Needles’ screams coming from behind.

“Can a Judge leave Azur?” Suri finally couldn’t stand it.

“I can.”

“The first rank means so much for Azur’s fate that the Council sent a Judge?”

The tunnel ended abruptly. A small cave filled with ruins and debris greeted the travelers. Huge yellow crystals hung overhead. The Judge turned, but the bright light prevented Suri from seeing his expression.

“I don’t care what happens to the first rank,” he said, stepping aside. Suri saw a structure made of sturdy alloy. The shiny construction stood out, as if it belonged to a different era. She cautiously approached. Blood pulsed in her head. The noise in her ears grew. The walls of this thing were covered in deep scratches and gouges. But the explosion that deformed its original shape came from within. Although Suri had never encountered such a structure, she was sure that this mangled heap of metal was once a capsule.

She spun around, scanning the cave. This scene had visited her dreams many times. She remembered too well the first thing she saw upon waking. And the figure of the person who now stood before her again.