Dark Ages, Light Ages, Eras of Progress, countless centuries had passed yet the walls of this cruel maze had never even once rusted. No matter how much we go through, no matter how powerful we were, no matter how destructive we, humans, have tried we just couldn’t push through to the end with our own strength.
After all this time, there was no other choice, nothing else to do but succumb to playing this maze’s cruel game. Playing the puzzles of this maze finally gave humanity, who was on the brink of destruction, a chance. After countless sacrifices, countless trips, and countless minds, the hardest puzzle of the maze was finally solved, its reward? The very first Fragment.
It was too bad the only thing they had managed to figure out was… this the was first layer, the beginning of their journey.
~~~
A rugged man was scavenging the trash bins of a restaurant, hoping to get the leftovers of others as his meal. He wore tattered clothes. Multiple holes were pierced through his body, evident that he had gone through the ages with great difficulty.
“Yeah, did you see the rack on that girl?” A waiter was holding out a cigarette as he took out a lighter from his right pocket.
“You know it! I actually know where she lives, if you’re… who’s this?” Another waiter was about to throw out the bag of leftovers to end the day when he noticed this rugged man. He looked so filthy that you wouldn’t have even been able to know what he actually looked like from all the tar and mud on his face.
“Please… some food…” The rugged man tried to ask, despite knowing just how unlikely it was for someone in this damned city to actually be giving.
The waiter who had a cigarette in his hands immediately got extremely annoyed, “For the love of… you aren’t welcome here! Get out! Don’t make me call a Solver! And you know what happens if a Solver comes here.”
The rugged man ignored the threat and kept his gaze locked on the man holding the garbage bag. The man felt a little sympathetic to him. He seemed to have thought for a brief moment before throwing the garbage bag to the rugged man.
“Take it and leave.”
“You can’t be serious! What if-“
“The Boss won’t find out… right?” He clearly intended his words towards the rugged man who immediately bowed and left with the garbage bag in his hand.
“Tch, your loss. So, what were you saying about that girl? Where did you say she lived again?”
“Hah… she lives in the Southern District.”
The banter between the two young men continued on for a long time, the duration of their conversation seemed to have dragged on for an extremely long time. Meanwhile, the rugged man continued to bring the garbage bag that he recently received to his place of dwelling, the underpass of a bridge that was a little out of the way of the main road. He huddled down, unable to even ignite a spark of flame to warm himself up. Opening the garbage bag, he started consuming the bits of rice, meat, and grain that weren’t already too stained.
Countless months had passed that the rugged man had lived like this. Life had been extremely brutal to him, causing him to lose everything that he had gained. As for his current predicament, it was something he rightfully deserved. The inconvenience of his current lifestyle couldn’t wash away nor atone for his past sins.
As the man continued to eat the leftovers of the people who had once worshiped him, he noticed a car’s blinding light showering his dark dwelling in a bright hue. He didn’t even bother covering his eyes from the light as he had already gone through much worse.
From within the car, a black-haired young woman showed up. If one were to see her figure the first word that would come to mind was, exotic. She had numerous tattoos and runes covering her entire body, even her pupils had sigils imprinted on them. Despite this, there was this sense of allurement coming from her.
“Jackson, are you ready?”
“Anabelle… leave me…” The rugged man continued eating his dinner, he seemed to have fully placed his attention on scraping the bits of meat from the bones. He segregated the inedible from the edible as he continued on to eat.
“You know I can’t do that. You’re one kill away from finishing it. Finish the job. Come on, kill me.” Anabelle slowly walked over to Jackson with a knife in her hand. The weirdest part about this knife wasn’t the blade but rather the hilt, it seemed to have been created using a mirror as it reflected the girl’s grasp.
“You can always go back down. There’s no need to keep… fighting…” Jackson seemed to have been suffering as he said this, evident by how he lost his appetite, not even bothering to pick apart his meal.
“Huh, now you like you’re my father. Typical. I don’t know why Mom even bothered being with you. Where’s your guts? Where’s your bravery? Where’s your will? Don’t you understand the consequences if you don’t kill me?!” Anabelle was completely furious with her father’s decision. There was far too much at stake for Jackson to not play his part.
“Anabelle… I can’t…”
Anabelle’s eyes turned red as she immediately ran up to Jackson and kicked him in the stomach. This was no ordinary kick, the force behind it forced Jackson up to the bridge, breaking it apart. Luckily there weren’t any civilians nearby to get affected by the debris.
Anabelle didn’t finish her attack, immediately right after, she instantly teleported right behind Jackson and kicked him down once more, creating a devastating crater on the ground. The power behind it was evident that she was no ordinary person, such strength was at the upper echelons of the maze.
Seeing Jackson embedded into the ground, refusing to even fight back. Anabelle’s pride was hurt even more, she grabbed the leg that was poking out of the ground and pulled him up. The heroic figure that was praised by great figures of this era was now nothing more than a waste.
“And as expected, not even a single injury. I don’t understand, everything is already agreed on it. Why are you so stubborn!”
“Anabelle… there’s a hidden escape to the lower levels. I have the map here-” Jackson was about to bring out a piece of paper from his waist when Anabelle scoffed and immediately ripped that piece of paper into shreds with her knife.
“Jackson! Everything you and Mom built up will disappear! Don’t you understand?! Too many lives were sacrificed! Too many talented people are gone! This is the furthest we have ever made it! The highest humanity has ever reached! Are you willing to throw it all away?”
“If it means my daughter gets to live… yes…” Jackson slowly raised his hand, trying to reach out for Anabelle’s hand. Feeling startled, she immediately threw Jackson away, trying to calm down from the surge of emotions that were bubbling up within her.
She already knew that this was her father’s answer. She was already prepared to die for the sake of the greater good, even so, she was still human. The bloodline connection between her and Jackson wasn’t something she could just overlook.
“What about Mom?”
Jackson said with complete resolve, “I’ll take her life without hesitation. That’s a promise I made to her.”
“Then what about me? What’s the difference? Countless lives will be lost if that Hysteria Trial transforms!”
“That’s why-“
“No! I’m not running away! Neither is Mom! Jackson, please, do what’s right. Don’t let everything fall apart!” Anabelle was on the edge of tears, she was resolved, she was determined yet at the end of the day it wasn’t her decision.
“Anabelle… if you want-“
“No! I’m never running away. Don’t you dare tell me to run away ever again! Just do it, no one’s blaming you. In fact, everyone will praise you for it! This sick, twisted maze’s the one at fault, not you!”
“…” Jackson lay on the ground, unable to even utter another word. He fully understood that this was something he had to do to prevent everything from being wiped away. Yet something he had never thought would happen, his determination was nothing compared to his love for his daughter.
“Father…” Anabelle dropped on the ground, as tears started to flow down her face. She just wanted it to be over yet why did this have to happen? As much as she wanted everything to be easy, when it comes to the maze, it never is.
“Dad…” When Jackson heard Anabelle utter this word, it tore away at his heart even more. The cruelty of the maze was far too much for Jackson. Even through the numerous bodies he slashed away, the countless puzzles he had solved, and the plethora of promises he had made, he was still stuck at the last step, unable to do what he needed to.
“Ana, where’s your mother?”
“She’s not running away, like what she’s supposed to do. She’s in the heart of the city, waiting for your decision. Meanwhile those cowards… they’re going back down to the third layer.” Anabelle was trying to clear away the tears flowing down her face that just wouldn’t stop. She tried to recompose herself yet as she continued to think of how messed up her life was she just couldn’t stop them.
“How about this… if you go to your mother, I’ll promise you one thing.”
“Promise…? Dad, you already broke your promise. What’s making one more? Just… let me stay here then. I might as well spend the rest of my life here since we never got the chance to even spend our time like this.” Anabelle huddled up into a ball, her grip still tightly grasping the strange knife.
“I’m sure your mother would-“
“You know her more than me. Do you even believe your next words?”
“I guess not. Say, how long do we have until it transforms?”
“A week.” Anabelle started hugging her legs tightly, trying to come to grips with the reality that everything was going to disappear.
“A week… that’s a lot shorter than I thought. Ana, there’s always the future, just not this time. Take my Fragment… you’re bound to surpass me.”
“You know I can’t do it.”
“Why not?”
“…” Anabelle couldn’t give her father an answer, she just gripped even tighter, the mental anguish of the answer was something she had to suppress. The burden of being one of the leading figures of humanity was too much for a single person to bear.
“That’s the same reason I can’t either. Come here.” Jackson’s weakened body pulled itself together as he slowly went over to Anabelle. He slowly went up to her and hugged her, despite how brutal the maze was, it never stopped them from caring for others.
The pitter-patter of the rain weakly rained down on the duo. Despite the rain slowly increasing in strength, the warmth of each other’s embrace was something the cold rain couldn’t put out. Too much was at stake, too much was lost, and too much was taken away from them.
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“Dad, why do we have to live like this?”
“Ana… I don’t know the answer to that. But I do know that the world outside’s brighter and clearer than whatever hellhole we are in right now.”
“I don’t know about that. Mom told me before I left that she spotted new blood.”
“It must’ve been just some refuge from the lower levels rising up.”
“No, Dad. They’re new blood. Hair color we have never seen before, body modifications that could only be achieved through severe exposure to high-level puzzles, and power greater than normal human beings. They suddenly appeared out of nowhere.” Anabelle wanted to spend the last days of her life with her father yet for some reason she just couldn’t put down the burden of saving humanity.
“That’s… not right.” Jackson’s aged voice seemed to have suddenly deepened as if the shell of a weary old man was finally cracking, showing the carnivorous monster that was growing inside.
“Dad?” Anabelle noticed Jackson’s strange change as she started to feel that ever-so-familiar aura of death that lingered around his father. The feeling of brutal suppression makes one unable to breathe properly. Even Anabelle was affected, a person that had great supreme strength, enough to topple over the entire layer, and was nothing but a mere child in front of her father.
“They said they wouldn’t do that. They said they wouldn’t let them in. Ana, let’s go meet your mother. She knew what she was doing saying this.” Jackson’s frail figure suddenly changed as he exponentially grew, becoming a nearly three-meter giant with bulging muscles and exquisite form.
“Dad, what’s happening?”
“Let’s go meet your mother.” Jackson’s previously weak expression suddenly turned wrathful, showing his anger toward the only woman he had ever loved. Even Anabelle had never seen his father this angry, the pure unadulterated wrath behind his eyes was something no human should ever be able to have.
“Mom? Why are we-“
“Because your mother betrayed humanity. And as I promised to her at our wedding, if she ever made a mistake, I’ll right her wrongs.”
“N-No… that can’t be! Mom would never betray humanity! She’s the leading figure, why would she ever do that!”
Jackson didn’t even bother with his child’s confusion, he merely grabbed ahold of her as his figure disappeared. A few moments later, despite the millions of kilometers of distance, he immediately appeared in the heart of the city, a place where everything begins and ends.
Anabelle’s physical body was strong, strong enough to fight against eldritch horrors and beings of unquestionable strength, yet the simple movement technique that his father used was more than enough to disorient her. Taking a brief moment to control herself, she could see that his father’s signature back was there standing straight as he glared down a lascivious woman sitting on a makeshift throne in the middle of an arena.
“Took you long enough.” The woman dressed in white had a dress draping down her body as it tempted the weak-minded to fully focus on her. If one were to say that Anabelle was beautiful then her mother was perfection. Both strength and beauty, she had it all, bearing the burden of raising humanity to the heavens, to keep fighting on.
“Mom! What’s happening?”
“Sweet child, it’s as your father said. Or at least, assumed. So… what did he say?”
“T-That you betrayed everyone? That can’t be… right?”
“Mmm… that’s right. So, Darling, are you here to slaughter me?”
“Exactly.” Jackson’s previously blue eyes turned black, darker than night, blacker than the void, emptier than the space around him. His unrivaled strength was uncontested, even she would be rendered powerless before the strongest man in the maze. His previously human hand was suddenly enshrouded in spikes, and black crystalline shards started to form on his hands, seemingly eating away at the light all around him.
“Ah.” The lascivious woman seemed to slightly enjoy the scene before her, slightly giggling. “How I’ve missed seeing you like this. It’s as they said, you need to lose everything to gain everything. Well, Black Monarch, what are you waiting for? My head's yours for the taking.”
“… I just need to know, why?” Jackson’s anger didn’t dissipate in the slightest, in fact, it was boiling even more, heating up to the point that he could barely control himself.
“It’s as you’ve always said. It’s not yet time for humanity to rise. So, after thinking about it for a while, I decided to speed up our ‘evolution’ using my little friend’s help.” The lascivious woman smiled as a golden disc appeared right behind her, as if the sun showed up, completely submissive to the woman’s desires.
“The First Fragment. Of course, you’d use it. I bet you don’t even have an hour left to live.” Jackson’s anger was reaching its boiling point, almost uncontrollable but for the sake of the future, he had to rein it in. His eyes were bloodshot and his fists were clenched, blood was dripping down his hands as he desperately tried to control his anger.
“Hahaha! That’s right, the ever-so-accurate Black Monarch. Whether you kill me or not it doesn’t matter. So why not have a talk as a family for once?” The golden sun behind her seemed to calm down as it simmered down to nothingness. She slowly walked forward to meet the both of them with open arms.
However, neither Anabelle nor Jackson appeased her whims. Anabelle was still too shocked at finding out that her mother had become a traitor. Jackson was already too busy reigning in his anger, he was afraid that if he went any closer to her, he just might separate her head for her body.
The woman walked closer to Anabelle, who was currently kneeling down on the floor, trying to process everything, “Sweet child, it’s not as bad as you think. Think of it as a… trial, if you will. They don’t know that the fourth layer’s about to experience The Cleansing so we’ll have a head start. Once they enter, for the first time in the maze, humanity will finally have the right to stand on its own. And… I fully believe that humanity will win against them.”
“Traitor! How can I believe you!” Anabelle smacked her mother away, countless conflicted feelings swelled up within her as she didn’t know what to believe anymore. Subconsciously, she looked for her father, as much as he let her down, never once had he lied to her.
“Dad?” Any semblance of hope echoed within her voice, she was hoping that this was just a terrible joke that went on for too long. Oh, how she wished it was just a joke.
“Ana, what your mother said is true. Everything will change from this point onward.”
“Mom! Why did you do it? What you did was even worse than your father’s decision! At least for him, we’ll only be set back but with your decision everything that our race is banking on might disappear! Humanity might disappear! Don’t you see just how bad it is!” Anabelle was screaming at the top of her lungs, trying to reason what her mother just done, the person whom everyone laid their trust in was the very same person who was leading them to the brink of destruction.
“Sweet child, it’s not that bad. Come here.” As the woman was about to reach out for her child to embrace, Anabelle’s raged expression said it all as she slapped her mother who was trying to reach out for her. The slap echoed throughout this empty arena.
“I think I deserved that… haha.” Despite the severity of her decision, she could still laugh it off as if it meant nothing. This little laugh broke Anabelle’s trust in her mother, completely cutting her off from her self-conceived notion of family.
“Sweet child, have you ever wondered what the First Fragment does? Think about it, ever since humanity received the First Fragment, we have always grown, evolved, and succeeded.”
“What are you trying to say?” Anabelle was clearly confused, suddenly saying this out of nowhere meant that there was some motive behind it.
Jackson immediately explained to her child, “The First Fragment, is a terrifying tool. There’s a reason why humanity has changed ever since we received this item. Yet for some reason no one really knew what it did, do you know why?”
“Dad? What are you talking about?”
“It’s simple.” The woman said with a happy smile, “The First Fragment takes the life of its user to spread her talent to her entire race. Which means…”
“Everyone will embody a fraction of your mother’s talent. And I’m guessing you took some kind of talent-enhancing item from them.”
“Correct! As expected of the Black Monarch, truly perceptive. Ah, which makes me remember the day I fell for you. That truly was a blissful day. If only I could live in that day for an eternity, I would without any hesitation.” The woman in white closed her eyes as she started hugging herself, remembering how happy she was when it happened.
“Knowing you, it must’ve been a-“
“A one-time use Mania-level Fragment. It’s not too exaggerated, only exponentially increases my talent by ten times. If I could only see what the future had in store for me…”
“Mania-level…” Anabelle now somewhat understood why her mother did so. Ten times the talent, to multiplicatively increase her mother’s talent like this, it was a nearly a god-like item. There were so many generations yet the strongest powerhouse that humanity had was only Hysteria-level. This was essentially skipping eons of humanity’s progress at an extremely terrifying risk.
“Don’t be so shocked now! Haha, it’s time for gifts! I wouldn’t leave my family without giving them anything. You didn’t think that, did you?”
“For my loving daughter, here, the First Fragment! I trust you’ll use this wisely. Humanity will feel the effect once I breathe my last.” The woman laughed it off as she whimsically continued on talking about whatever she wanted. “I wish I could see you grow up.” Her last sentence wasn’t loud nor did it have a heavy tone but this was one sentence that made Anabelle tear up the most.
“Well, as for the Black Monarch, my loving husband. A child! Surprise! You didn’t think I still had it in me, did you? Hehe.” The woman snapped her fingers and a female child wrapped up in white cloth showed up in her arms. She cradled it a little while before handing it over to Jackson.
Jackson didn’t understand why she would give him a child. It was undoubtedly his as his bloodline was raging at the connection between him and this child. And before he left, he did make love to her, so this meant that she had been planning this for an extremely long time.
“Oh, why the long face? Haha, if that’s the entire gift then it would be far too cruel, right? So, here’s a little something.” The woman came closer to Jackson, and despite the blood-curdling fear rising up within her bones, she suppressed it and came to right beside his ear. “I tweaked the First Fragment a little and… she holds just a tiny bit more power than the rest! Don’t tell anyone else or I’ll get in trouble!” The woman winked at Jackson as she finished her words, she also raised her finger up to her lips with a smile.
“It’s unfortunate that I didn’t give you a little strong boy! That might be my biggest regret so far. Now that’s done, where’s my gift? Oh? You guys didn’t prepare any? I guess a hug will do!” The woman opened her arms wide open, seeing this Anabelle came up to her and finally gave her a deep embrace. As much as she hated her mother’s decision, this was the last moment that she’d ever have the opportunity to embrace her.
Jackson’s cold gaze didn’t warm up nor did it fade away, the rage building up him never stopped. The woman saw this and exhaled, “Hah… fine, I’ll come to you.” The woman slowly came up to her husband despite the building up fear within her. Despite the terrifying talent and power, she holds now, she still couldn’t even measure up to a fraction of her husband’s power.
Jackson extended his bulging arm to the side, clearly showing hostile intent.
“Oh you, always the serious type.” The woman smiled and continued on forward and as she expected… her husband, Jackson, pierced through her heart using his arm. Despite this, she kept on moving forward, her inside getting scrapped as she moved forward, and blood started dripping down the massive hole in her chest.
Anabelle couldn’t handle it anymore and looked away, tearing away at why this had to happen. Too many things happened on this day, events that would be forever written down in history, be it good or bad, that she could never forget a single detail for the rest of her life.
After the painful sound of flesh dropping down and the woman’s faded breaths slowing down, she finally reached Jackson’s chest. She slowly raised her hand and only managed to go around his waist, “I love you, Jackson. Please, promise me you’ll let our child do what she wants. One child burdened with saving humanity is enough. And Ana… I’m sorry. There was no other choice.”
Jackson’s silence was finally broken, with one hand piercing through the woman he loved, and the other carrying his child, “I promise.”
That one last word gave the woman enough ease that she immediately fell down, hanging by Jackson’s monstrous arm. She died with a smile on her face, a very happy smile. As brutal and messy as her death was, her inner self was at peace with what she had done.
“Dad… why did Mom apologize.”
“Only women can use the First Fragment." Jackson's words finally made Anabelle understand everything, why her mother gave it to her and not her father. This meant that the burden of this was fully hers to bear.
"Now, will you run away? There’s nothing left for us here.”
“I… I understand. Goodbye, Dad. I won’t let you nor Mom down.” Anabelle immediately ran away, now given the burden of being the hope of humanity, she had to mature to be able to lead everyone to salvation. As heavy as the burden of this was, she fully understood, that she wasn’t supposed to save humanity, all she needed to do was bide time. Enough time for the great geniuses of humanity to grow into pillars that will be able to support the future. This was her burden, her calling.
As Jackson stared at the woman that he had pierced through slowly disappearing into motes of light, a single tear went down his cheek. Even the strongest wills couldn’t overcome loss.
That night, the first layer, the second layer, the third layer, and the fourth layer of the Maze of Mania, were enshrouded by a calming golden light as if the sun came down to bless everyone with vigor and vitality.
One week later, the fourth layer, the strongest bastion of humanity… was wiped clean. A Hysteria Trial transformed into a towering monster that destroyed the city. This creature had turned into a Pravum, a Hysteria Pravum. No powerhouse was left to guard it as they all retreated down to the third layer… except for one domineering monster that no human could ever mistake. This domineering monster faced the Hysteria Pravum, blow was traded per blow as the shockwaves were strong enough to squish normal humans into a paste.
As the battle neared its end, the Hysteria Pravum was taken down, which rewarded this unparalleled monster its gift, the prize for defeating the devastating being that mowed down the entire fourth layer.
Soon, the invasive species came in with extreme bravado bringing in most of their strongest powerhouses. Unfortunately for them, The Cleansing came. Wiping everything. The regrets of being betrayed could only be blamed on themselves.
The Black Monarch took his reward and forever disappeared into obscurity. His whereabouts were unknown. Even the Neon Hope, Anabelle Pierre, did not find out where her father hid.
Whether it was the sin of failing to properly protect humanity’s frontline or the shame of not being able to stop his wife, he had disappeared. Yet oddly enough, one particular person seemed to be much more enraged than the rest. For she had lost someone precious to her.