Still shocked by the new discovery, Chaos stood beside the doors. The roots were wiggling inside the hole as if trying to repair what the demon had destroyed. But for now they were rather slow in that, barely advancing towards the hole.

- I don't know what about you, but I don't want to stay here any longer- Samukai said, preparing himself to go through the opening.

- And neither do I- Noktum followed after the samurai. Phantom was the last one to join. He needed to cast abbadon once again in order to make an entrance big enough for himself. This time the barricade hasn't been activated, probably due to roots being damaged.

Once they were on the other side, Chaos immediately started searching for any kind of mechanism that could open the doors. But there simply was none, or at least none that was anywhere close. And it couldn't be that well hidden. The part they were in now looked like a normal corridor that they had ventured through. Yet that was a little worrisome, samurai and demon couldn't help but wonder how many things like that they had missed in the entire maze.

- Say- warrior started- Do you think there are more things like that?

- I guess so. It would've been pointless to make just one of those in such a big maze- Phantom commented, giving up on further search for the mechanism- Now you better tell me where is the closest room with that Exodus?

- I'd like to know that myself. Noktum, do you see any runes here and there?

- There doesn't seem to be any. I would say that our best plan for now is to search for that room with many entrances. Then I might find something

- Well then, lead us on- thus shadow came in front of the team, with flame in his hands he started leading them on. The corridor they were now in was pretty straightforward, no curves, forks in the roads, nothing. Just a simple long hall that seemed to never end. After a good few minutes of walking Chaos was pretty convinced that it really was never going to end. But that was when it started going down, leading through the more damaged part of the maze. All of the walls were badly cracked and some roots were coming from said cracks. As for taking a closer look, they seemed to grow in the direction from which they came, damaging the walls even further.

- Do you think that was the reason why that area was somewhat closed?- samurai asked.

- That's quite possible. Whoever build this maze was quite foreseeing in order to do that

- It's a shame they never probably had a chance to fix that

- We can admire the views after we have found the room with Exodus- Phantom came out on the front, slithering further into the corridor- Come on, we don't have the time to waste here

Now with the demon leading the way, after another while, the team had stopped their exploration before a dead end. But it wasn't a simple wall. It couldn't have even been called such. Before them were many roots coming from the upper parts, covering the entire path. They all were digging either into the walls beside them or into the ground, going even deeper.

- So, what do we do now?

- Step aside and let me do it- demon commanded as he shoved the warrior away. He stood right next to the roots- From ash you were made and to ash you shall turn, I command the Great fire of Hell to scorch those who stand against me!- a great vortex of fire danced around demon. Tongues of flame like miniature snakes wrapped themselves around his wings. Then they jumped before him, creating a ball of dancing flames that slammed itself at the ground, causing a great explosion of fire that scorched everything around the demon.

The walls once yellow, now black, roots burned down with the remains still on fire, some stray flames still dancing around and in the middle of it all stood a demon with a proud look on his face. Right in front of him was a much bigger room, yet still similar to the one from before the water king. Many, many entrances, yet those ones were like greatly decorated gates rather than simple holes.

- There is nothing that a good old fire can't solve- Phantom said proudly entering the great room. Chaos followed him and Noktum was already at the entrances, looking for any runes. Samukai tried to help him, but was unable to find any. Even Phantom joined to the search but it was fruitless. Noktum too didn't see any.

Defeated, he took the crystals from the bag, yet they had only pointed at each other, not even wanting to budge even an inch in any direction. He carefully brought them to each entrance in hope of some sort of revelation. Yet after checking each way, crystals stayed still.

- So are we back to checking each way until we find something?- warrior asked while sitting on the ground.

- That would've been the case, yes- Noktum said putting the crystals back in the bag. Phantom had already slithered to the entrance right in front of them.

- My intuition is telling me that there will be something good- he said going further into the entrance.

- And my is telling me that something bad will happen- Samukai murmured as he followed the demon with shadow just right behind him. Warrior already checked if there wasn't any water in the corridor. To his luck there wasn't any, or at least for now. Few steps further in and the team stopped before another fork in the road. This time there were only three ways to go.

Phantom went into the left one. Followed by another long corridor was yet another fork. This time with only two roads to take. While Chaos was deciding which way to choose, a distant rumbling was heard, almost like someone or something was turning a stone plaque. It couldn't have been a wall or ceiling collapsing, because the noise would probably repeat itself.

Dismissing this for now, team went into the right way this time. They met with another corridor, but as they were traversing through it, the noise once again appeared. This time it was much louder. Chaos immediately stopped as it seemed to come from somewhere close. At the end of the corridor was another entrance that led to another circular room, but this time with only one entrance, not counting the one that they had come in.

- You know- demon started- There might have been some point as to why make such a large room with only two entrances, but for the life of it, I can't find any- neither warrior or magician could argue with that, considering how spacious this part was. Fenfir could easily fit in and still leave a lot of space. Neither of them could also see the ceiling which only added to the size of it.

- Maybe that was supposed to be a landmark of some sort or something- samurai tried to come up with some kind of explanation for that. But he was unable to do so, when the rumbling noise came once again. This time followed by something that sounded like someone was turning great metal wheels.

Yet the most shocking part of it all was how the walls reacted. They were slowly turning themselves. After a short while, both entrances were now at the left and right instead of the front and back. Not only that, previous roads were covered by said wall ,while two new ones appeared.

- Would anyone care to explain what happened to the wall?- warrior asked with both hands on his helmet.

- Well, the wall just turned around- demon answered looking just as lost as the samurai.

- Yes, something that wall shouldn't do! It can fall down, crumble, but not decide to change its position like that

- I would say that this was a work of magic, but I don't know any spell that could rotate walls- Noktum said while being the first one to come closer to the new entrance.

- And neither do I- the demon joined the magician. Warrior was the last one to come, still slightly shocked by what happened. He could only wonder if that could happen to any room they were in. If so then they could potentially be trapped. And while Phantom could use abbadon, he doubted that damaging the dungeon even further would help.

The corridor they were now traversing was full of turns, thus after the tenth one, no one could tell where they were going now. This and the fact that Noktum's flame was giving only mediocre light made them rather uneasy, considering that none could tell now what might happen next.

- You know, maybe you could tell us another story?- warrior asked, not wanting to spend most of the time in darkness and silence.

- Yea? And have you done something to deserve that?

- We helped you with Nebiros- samurai said, shrugging his shoulders. Phantom couldn't really argue with that. While that was pretty foolish of them, he too did similar things in his youth. A small smile crept on his face.

- Hm, fine then. What would you like to hear about?

- Give me a moment to think about that. I haven't thought you would agree so soon

- But under one condition, after I tell the story, you will teach me some martial arts

- Alright then- before the warrior could think about what he wanted to ask the demon, he noticed something interesting in the walls. There were a few rectangular, small holes. They were on both sides. It almost looked like something small could fit in. Maybe something with a sharp point. Like an arrow for example. That made the samurai freeze. And when he heard something like a stone shifting, he ducked just in time before the first round of arrows came from the holes. Noktum was the first to act and casted a barricade around Samukai.

- An arrow trap huh? Honestly it feels somewhat impractical if you ask me- demon commented as the samurai made his way to him.

- Please check the floor next time- warrior pleaded.

- How was I supposed to know that there might be traps

- What else can there be?- demon continued the journey, but stopped only after a few more meters. Once again they were blocked by the same doors as before. But this time no carvings were in sight. Phantom tried to destroy them with abbadon. Yet it was reflected. The same happened to the three more that were sent.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

- You know that brute force won't always be the answer?- samurai asked as he came closer to the doors. At first he searched for any holes in which the crystals could be put. But the doors were perfectly plain. Upon further inspection, he had noticed that there was a little bit of space on the left side of the doors. A hand would've been unable to get through it, but something like a small blade with a little bit of help could- Mind giving me the scythe?

- And I thought that brute force is not the answer- spellcaster summoned his scythe and handed it over to the warrior. Samukai took out Izanagi and placed its blade right in the gap. He did the same with the scythe, but his task was a little bit harder due to its blade being thicker.

- Now do what I do- samurai commanded. He grabbed his weapon and started pushing it, trying to widen the gap. Demon too took out his weapon and mimicked the warrior. After a few minutes, the gap was wide enough for them to pass.

When Chaos entered the new room, no one saw much. There was a natural or artificial source of light and Noktum's flame was simply too small for that room. Thus they wandered for a while until the shadow saw something like a stone table with the carvings from before. But the most interesting fact about it were three small holes in which something could fit.

Young magician took out the crystals from the bag and placed them in the holes. At first they only shone slightly and returned to normal. But after a few seconds the carving started to shine with bright blue light. It spread to all of the carvings in the room, making it lit up with blue light.

Those said carvings were everywhere, on each wall, floor and even on the ceiling. And each of them had those same symbols. Lines and circles. Phantom tried to come up with what they might mean, but no rune or symbol came to his mind.

But the attention of his companions was focused on something else. Something that was carved on the wall before them. Shining brightly were many symbols. Circles, rectangles, squares and even some triangles. All of them were linked with lines, bigger or smaller.

At first it looked just like some cluster of meaningless information, even if it could have been called such. Yet Samukai noticed something about the way those symbols were placed. Some of them could be outlines of some kingdoms. Not only that, there were barely any symbols in the middle, save for two rectangles and one great square. Most of them were placed either on the left or on the right.

- Mind giving me the map- warrior extended his hand to the magician, who gave him what he wanted. Samurai carefully studied the map. After a while he lifted it up in such a way that it covered the new map.

- Right, so either I am going crazy or this maze spans through the entire world- he said as his companions came closer to have a better look. They could see some similarities, but it wasn't enough to confirm that theory.

- Interesting, truly interesting- magician murmured, studying the maps with the warrior.

So Pharaoh, mind telling me how it is?

Yet the Pharaoh remained silent. Either he too didn't know how it was or wanted to hide something. Both of the options seemed to be possible considering that demob still didn't know what Pharaoh even was.

- I expected it to be enormous, but in such length!- Noktum said with awe in his voice.

- Does it tell us where the entrances to the temples are?- Phantom asked, giving the map a quick glance.

- Maybe, but without knowing what any of those symbols might represent it is hard to tell- samurai answered as he gave the map back to the magician- I can only hope that there are more map rooms like that. Who knows maybe one of them will have all of that explained?

- All done? Good, now let's go- demon commanded, slithering to the nearest and only exit. Yet the round hole in the ground that was right after it stopped him. But even if there was none, there still was a wall just a few feet away- This place is in worse condition than if it was run down by an imp- he commented, supporting himself on a nearest wall.

When something was approaching from the bottom, Chaos backed off taking battle stances. From the darkness came a stone platform with carved lines that shone slightly.

- A lift?- demon sounded somewhat confused but also a little bit disappointed. A surprising was the fact that there were no ropes or chains visible, so he could understand how it would have gone down but not up.

- That's a nice change from all the walking- samurai commented, stepping on the lift. Shadow and demon followed him shortly after. Soon the lift went down, albeit slower than any of them had expected. After reaching the bottom and stepping off the lift, it stayed for a while until it went up again. Now Chaos could see how it moved, right under the platform was a great spiral that moved like a drill.

The chamber that they were in now was spacious, looking more like a cave rather than a room. Many roots were coming from the deeper parts, from some of them the same liquid was flowing. Right next to it, linked by a small tunnel was another chamber, much smaller and made with that yellowish rock. Despite that, the roots too covered a great part of this chamber. The only thing that made this room stand out from the rest was a great moving wall that went down revealing another chamber, only to go up in the next few seconds acting like a fly trap that caught its prey.

- Noktum, can't you put a barricade on that?

- I might try, but I am worried that the wall might destroy it- shadow waited for the wall to go down. Then a barricade appeared on the floor, preventing it from going up. But surely it was struggling as small cracks started to appear on it. Chaos quickly made their way to what was probably the biggest chamber of all three. Many pillars were supporting the ceiling, most of them being covered in roots. The floor itself was cracked with seeping between them. The stone walls were pretty much invisible in the later parts of the chamber due to how thickly the roots had covered them. But the most intriguing of all were human sized sand golems with roots coming from their backs.

Each of them slowly moving, many had some objects in their hands. Mostly new floor tiles. Those golems were carefully replacing the broken parts with the new ones. While the work wasn't done quickly it surely was precise.

- It's nice knowing that someone does care about that maze- samurai commented walking past a few of them. They seemed to not mind the intruders and just continued their tasks.

- Do you think they know that we were adding them to many more tasks?- demon asked while some golems tried to fix the broken wall right next to him.

Fenfir finally came out of the shadows to stretch his legs. Hound immediately bared his teeth at the sand golems.

- Easy boy, easy. They are good- samurai tried to calm the wolf down. After a short while the hound stopped, but still was on his guard.

- He's right. Honestly I am waiting for a guardian of some sort- demon said as Chaos advanced through the room in hope of finding another exit, or even an entrance to the room with Exodus. Upon further search, Samukai noticed stairs going up. Following them, the team found themselves in a somewhat familiar room. A rather spacious chamber with a great statue standing in the middle. They all sat down close to Exodus, somewhat relaxed that they were already here, but also kinda anxious due to the possibility of the next king being near.

- What do you think might be the next element?- Noktum asked, getting himself comfortable on the ground.

- Honestly I hope it is anything but ice- Phantom replied.

- I personally wouldn't like stone- Samukai said- So then, allow me to ask you about something

- Ask anything you want. Oh, and I guess I should thank you for helping me with Nebiros

- That angel truly hit you harder than I thought

- And who is becoming a jester now?- demon sighed- But that was the first and the last time you have ever disregarded my orders. Understood?- both of his companions nodded. Phantom doubted that they would keep that promise, but only time would tell.

- So Nebiros mentioned some "her". Mind explaining that?- samurai could have sworn that when he finished that sentence, he noticed something on the demon's face. Even if it was for a split second, it seemed to be a regret. No, he definitely was seeing things. Just what the demon could regret? He didn't seem like the type to care about anyone else. Samurai wasn't even sure if the demon truly cared about them or if he kept them alive because Lucifer ordered him to. But the warrior quickly dismissed those thoughts. If Phantom wanted he could kill them a long time ago, and yet here they were.

- No one important, really. And if you will keep pestering me about that I will shoot you with an abbadon

- Got the memo- warrior replied. Well it's not like he planned to do that either way. He had known that asking him further would've been fruitless. Unless the demon would have felt like telling about that, there was just no point in trying to get him to talk- Then maybe you could tell me about that coliseum?- samurai noticed that Phantom's face beamed as if he remembered something pleasant.

- I'll gladly tell you how I became a Champion that held that title for many years- demon said with pride filling his voice.

In a meantime Noktum was checking for anything valuable that might have been left in that chamber. While there were many stone tables, each of them was empty. Not even a single coin was left for them to take it. Continuing his search, he felt a gaze coming from the statue. Shadow quickly turned around to look at the statue, but it stood still, not even looking in his direction. He probably imagined things, or so he wanted to believe that.

Magician wanted to give up on searching, but he had noticed something lying near one of the many tables. It was another part of that stone plaque. This one had text that went: " It raised its hand and said; I bring forth water to temple of my, to cleanse it from the dust and ashes and death. And water appeared and cleansed the temple"

Noktum couldn't help but wonder if the order in which they've found these was important. After all they already had one about earth and a fire. Maybe they too were a clue about the next king? If so then probably the next king should've been earth. Which wasn't all that optimistic. Considering the last two elementals, that one would probably bury them alive or something. Not an experience that he would like to go through.

- You did what to him!?- shadow heard a scream coming from his fellow companion.

- If only you heard how it snapped- demon followed by a slight laughter.

Magician could only smile a little. It was great that those two finally could somehow stand with each other. Even the master seemed somewhat more open to them. He could only wonder what caused such change, considering what they heard about his previous team. He still was curious what fate bestowed them. But remembering Phantom's conversation with Lilith, it wasn't anything pleasant.

Magician finally returned to his companions, showing them what he found. Both were pretty curious and too considered the option of stone tablets being somewhat connected with the kings.

- I only hope that this maze won't close itself before we can get out of this room- samurai said gazing at the further part of the chamber.

- At this point nothing will surprise me- Noktum said.

- Same for me- demon added- Well now samurai, how about you finally teach me some martial arts?

- Fine, but I won't go easy on you- warrior stood up and took Izanagi out.

- I wouldn't have it any other way- demon smirked as he too stood up.

If Noktum had to somewhat describe what happened next, he would say that the sight of two madmen swinging their weapons, which were being covered in various colors that vanished after each strike and swing, would probably be enough. For a moment he thought he was watching some art being displayed in a theater.

Samurai was the who lead that "art" as he was the first to cast martial arts, with Phantom following him soon after. While the warrior's weapon gracefully covered itself in magic each time the samurai commanded it to, his master's scythe was doing it as it pleased. At first they started with two simple arts that demon already knew. This went rather well for both of them. Then came time for new things. Izanagi was covered in light green light which followed the blade after each swing. Scythe on the other hand, while it too gained a new color, was unable to let the light chase it.

Noktum also noticed that it was rather easy to tell which of them knew how to properly handle a blade. Samurai's moves were full of grace and each of them was fluid, easily turning into a new swing. It looked like the blade led its wielder.

As for the spellcaster it was clear that he never really used a proper weapon. Swinging his scythe left and right with no sense of direction. Each time taking a great swing rather than a small one. While the magician wasn't too knowledgeable on how to properly use a weapon, he did know that taking such great swings and leaving yourself open wasn't how you should fight.

This continued on for a longer while. After what felt like an hour both finally stopped.

- I must admit, you too are a quick learner- warrior complemented the demon, to which he only grinned- Remind me to show you some fourth tier later

- Will do

- Then master, should we finally advance?- Noktum asked.

Phantom only nodded and led his team forward. Like always, at the end of the room was a staircase from which one could feel the fresh air. While they all were full of doubts about the upcoming battle, one thing was certain. It will once again test their abilities.