He had been naive.

Christopher might not have realized it at the time, but the only reason he managed to defeat the Son of Hor was luck.

The terror’s sickness, coupled with the Dead Man’s Stake and maybe his Breathless Touch had been just enough to stop the creature.

Even then, he only survived by a fluke.

When faced with another terror of the same level, all there was left was to run away. And yet, it was now too late to do so.

He jumped back, keeping the distance from the terror, and used Triangulation Beam, marking two of the terror’s broken fingers.

The blue beam struck true, piercing through the creature’s flesh. Despite not severely wounding it, it was enough to slow it down.

“Are you still alive, Salvio?” Christopher shouted, ignoring his splitting headache and casting Triangulation Beam again.

A groan behind him told him that Salvio wasn’t out of combat just yet.

The man struggled to stand up, using his broken spear to support himself while coughing up blood.

“How on earth did we find such a terror on the 3rd floor?” he cursed. His voice was rough and ragged, his breath nearly spent.

“It’s you two,” he continued with disdain, spating blood onto the ground. His completely black eyes stared hard into Christopher’s back as if trying to tear a hole through it.

“You’ve done something,” he snarked. ”You must have provoked the Labyrinth, and now, it wants revenge,” he said in a crazed rant.

Christopher panted harshly, ignoring his words and focusing on casting beam after beam. So far, he was keeping the monster at bay, but he knew he couldn’t last much longer.

An intense headache threatened to split his head. With every pulse of his throbbing veins, it felt as though they might burst at any moment. His vision began to dim, the edges of his sight blurring into darkness, and the ever-present dark clouds on his vision gradually growing bigger.

I’m about to pass out, Christopher realized.

“You’re awake?” Behind him, Saldio sounded surprised.

What is this idiot talking about? Christopher protested. I’m awake now, but I won’t last much longer.

A feeble yet familiar voice echoed through the chamber, rising above the fight.

“King of Snakes Chain. First Link: One of Shadows.”

A light breeze swept through the tunnel, carrying an unexpected chill that sent shivers down Christopher’s spine. In an instant, a myriad of cuts appeared on the monster’s grotesque body, and its thumb was completely severed in half.

The terror twitched violently, blood oozing from the stump where its thumb had been. It tripped and collapsed to the floor before recovering its balance and vanishing into the void.

The breeze dispersed, and Jules materialized from thin air.

The boy knelt, panting heavily, before turning his head to face Christopher. His face was a gruesome tapestry of open wounds, each one of them reminding Christopher of what he had done.

Jules’ face turned into an exhausted but joyful smile, barely perceptible due to his deformed face.

“Thank you for saving me,” he said. Each of his naive, sincere words turned into a painful stab of guilt in Christopher’s heart.

“Thank you, too,” Christopher replied with difficulty. “Let’s get the hell out of here before that thing returns. Can you walk?”

“Barely,” Jules confessed.

Christopher passed the boy’s arm around his shoulder, helping him stand.

“Let’s go,” he encouraged him despite also being exhausted.

“Where do you think you are going?” Salvio asked from the side. A bright light filled the cavern, momentarily blinding them as he summoned the small green lantern.

The light revealed the stone floors covered in blood, most of it dripping from Brune’s body, which now lay mangled against the cave wall.

Salvio, too, was in a terrible state. His insides had been smashed to a pulp, and the bones of his broken ribs poked through his skin. His muscles had also deflated, leaving only twisting, snake-like veins writhing beneath the skin.

His face was contorted into an ugly expression of rage and pain, and his eyes were still completely black, giving him a demon-like appearance.

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“We are running away,” Christopher said. It seemed almost too obvious to state.

He glanced at the man. Salvio could barely stand up.

Christopher frowned. Jules was already too much for him to carry. He had no way of helping Salvio. But surprisingly enough, he didn’t feel as guilty as he thought he would.

Salvio rested the lantern on the ground and dug greedily through Brune’s clothes. A moment later, he retrieved a damaged, half-torn notebook.

“This fucker,” Salvio cursed after opening Brune’s Tale and giving it a quick glance.

Without giving any explanation, he collected all the loose pages and tore some of the others from the notebook before shoving them into his pocket.

Satisfied, he took something out of a pouch hanging on his belt and popped it into his mouth before dismissing the lantern.

“Let’s go,” Salvio said, stumbling forward. He didn’t give his fallen comrade a second glance.

Despite his condition, Salvio had no difficulty moving in the darkness. Christopher didn’t take long to realize that whatever the man had swallowed had allowed him to see in the darkness.

Christopher and Jules followed the man carefully while listening to him mumbling on an endless craze.

Every now and then, Salvio would stop and glance at Jules. Christopher could see his greedy eyes aiming at Jules’ sword.

Despite his condition, Jules never lowered his guard, walking with his unsheated sword at the ready. He moved forward, never lowering his guard, one hand gripping the hilt while the other rested on Christopher’s neck.

“Do you want me to try and heal your wounds?” Christopher asked. “I can’t heal you fully, but I can at least try to stop the bleeding.”

“Don’t,” Jules replied, his eyes stuck to Salvio’s back. “Save your strength… Just in case.”

The tension grew heavy as they advanced. Each step felt more burdensome than the last, and despite the hours that dragged on, they were unable to find an exit. It was pure torment.

Christopher lost track of time and found himself wishing for the Prelude to begin–the terrors of the 3rd floor would not be able to follow them there.

No wonder Lisa warned us not to go to the 4th floor,” he thought, distracted. “The 3rd is already dangerous enough.”

“What are you doing?” Jules asked, his voice a mix of annoyance and pain.

Christopher looked up and saw Salvio grip Jules's shoulder with his abnormally large hand.

“There’s something off about you, too,” Salvio said. His dark, suspicious eyes darted back and forth between Christopher and Jules. “I’ve seen a blade like that before.”

“It’s a common sword,” Jules said. “I’ve bought it cheap. Drop my arm, please.”

“I’m sure of it,” Salvio insisted. “That skill you used. It was a Gift, wasn’t it?“

“Leave him alone!” Christopher requested, stepping forward. But Salvio wasn’t done yet.

“Why would a weak Fabled like you have such a thing,” he whispered, scratching his head with his handless stub. “A Unique Gift, and the Left Arm of a Snake….”

Christopher saw Jules's face distorting with disgust.

“Leave me alone,” he insisted. Despite the darkness, the boy raised his blade, placing it just above Salvio’s wrist, ready to strike.

“I’ve seen it once before… That Gift,” Slavio continued, ignoring Jules's threat. “But the man who used it…” He stopped abruptly, the shadow of a memory passing through his eyes.

Without warning, he dropped Jules’ shoulder and turned towards Christopher.

“There’s something odd about him,” He said, pointing at Jules. “For more than twenty years, I’ve scoured around this place. Old Brune, there was even longer. But as soon as we met you two, we faced a Six-Nailed Mother?”

Christopher didn’t answer but gripped his spear, ready to strike.

“It’s you,” he said again, closing his iron grip around Jules’ shoulder once more. “I’ve seen the way the terrors that were coming at us while you were unconscious. They were targeting you! You must have done something to invoke the Labyrinth’s wrath!”

Christopher’s heart froze. “Shut up!”

“Come one,” Salvio argued, glancing at Christopher. “You know what must be done. Let’s quench the Labyrinth’s thirst for blood by giving it what it wants.”

“Let him go, or else–” Christopher threatened, pointing his trembling spear at the man.

Salvio’s reaction wasn’t what he expected.

“There’s something weird about you, too,” he accused. “You haven’t fooled me. You appear oddly unaware of how the Labyrinth works. And yet, you claim to have survived the 5th’s bloodbath–”

Slavio suddenly choked on his words, breaking into a bloody cough. When he finished, he glanced at Christopher again, his chin dripping with thick blood, and his eyes opened wide. Without warning, he dropped Jules’ arm.

“You fucking scoundrel,” he cackled.

Christopher watched the man, confused. Despite his chaotic psychological state, he could almost sense admiration in his words.

“I now understand how you survived the bloodbath! It must have been fun with all those rich legacies around. I’m sure they would underestimate someone like you,” he explained. “This boy here was just another one of your victims. We just happened to interfere at the wrong time, wasn’t it?”

“I-I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Christopher replied.

“You backstabber son of a bitch,” Salvio spat on the floor with disgust. “I should have known after watching you use Crimson Proof. You, Ariadne’s Chosen, are all sneaky bastards, aren’t you?”

Christopher shook his head, refusing the accusation. However, Salvio’s machinations hadn’t stopped yet.

His shoulders dropped, his breathing turned fast and loud, and tears welled in his eyes.

“The Six-Nailed Mother… “ He accused crazily. “You led us to her intentionally. You wanted to get rid of us…”

Salvio trembled, sobbing like a toddler.

“You killed Brune!” He accused, sounding almost like a child.

“I didn’t,” Christopher replied. “I had no idea–”

“You killed Brune!” Salvio shouted, his voice rising in a fit of rage, almost like a tantrum.

“I didn’t–” Christopher argued again, but Salvio’s deranged mind couldn’t understand him.

Suddenly, his face turned into a torn smile, and a dangerous glow appeared in his dark eyes.

“You killed Brune, and now, you’ll die for it!”