The champions stood at their vantage point, the reflection of crimson flames and blackened shadows alternating on their faces, while their trembling eyes surveyed the expansive maze below. Blackened smoke mingled with crimson patches covered the heavens, while colossal, nightmarish creatures bound in flaming chains roamed about, wielding thorned whips dripping with blood and other fluids.

Every scream and explosion resonated through the air, evidence of numerous champions being chased, hunted, beaten, and killed in different sections of the colossal maze.

The harpies instinctively took a step backward, only to find a cold barrier blocking their retreat. Somewhere along the way, a wall had materialized, cutting them off from the first layer. The only path ahead was the descending staircase into the nightmarish maze.

Welcome to the Path of Chains, the Second Layer of Thisos' Labyrinth! Champions will not be revived unless and until all participating members of a party, alliance, or faction are thoroughly decimated! A minimum of one champion must make it to the end of the maze for a party, faction, or alliance to advance! Warning! Upon the death of all party members, champions will be revived in the First Layer! There are no time limits or attempt allocations for this layer! Warning! The creatures and the maze will adapt to the champions' abilities! Good luck!

Another cacophony of screams echoed as a slender monster with an elongated, tubed head rampaged across several mazes, obliterating several champions along the way.

“I knew it was a bad idea, I fucking knew it,” Daphine muttered, fear distorting the artist's visage as the chilling scene played out before her eyes. “We should have conducted more experiments,” she said, her voice tinged with anger.

“Well, it’s too late for that now,” Orion said with a bright smile. It was unclear whether he was taunting the artist, but he could barely contain his excitement as his eyes darted across the ominous area.

“I don’t want to do this,” Daphine complained, leaning against the barrier blocking their path of retreat. The screams grew louder, and more dreadful creatures revealed themselves. Though they could see most of the maze from their vantage point, there were no clear paths to avoid the confined creatures within its walls. The fact that some monsters could traverse between different paths only made it more precarious.

Lysa turned toward Zara with a sober expression. “What’s the plan?” she whispered; dejection evident in her voice. Though there was no way to determine if other exits would have led to a more favorable location, she couldn’t help but feel a pang of regret. However, the emotion was fleeting.

“This is all your fault, you maniacs,” Uvophine suddenly blurted out, glaring at the hound extermination crew. “Are you happy now? Is this what you wanted?” she added, her rage palpable.

Orion chuckled softly, wearing the sincerest of smiles as he faced the harpy. “It’s beyond my wildest expectations. I’m so happy,” he said, before turning toward the perilous maze once more.

Rage distorted Uvophine’s features, and she prepared to lash out once more. However, Scott’s voice echoed amidst the screams and explosions, filling the ears of the dissatisfied ladies.

“Here you go,” Scott said, tossing a dagger at the harpy.

Daphine frowned as she stared at the pristine dagger. “What is she supposed…” the artist paused, a sudden understanding dawning on her. Instantly, rage distorted her features. She took a step forward, prepared to unleash her anger verbally, but Scott spoke up again.

“No one wants to hear your whining. If you’re too much of a coward to use it, then you can jump over there and let one of those bastards do the job for you,” Scott said, his voice devoid of emotion. “If you’re lucky, maybe you'll eventually fail and get your chance to go back to the first layer.”

Scott averted his gaze as soon as he finished speaking, ignoring the diatribe from the furious ladies. He turned his attention toward Orion, mentally asking, “Are you done?”

“Um, I just need a little more... yeah, I'm done,” the mage said, flashing a beaming smile. “I've memorized the complete layout of the maze. What about you?” he asked.

“The zones with illusionary traps shouldn't be a problem,” Scott replied.

The duo exchanged a nod before shifting their attention to Slim, Zara, Llorva, and Fi-Fi. Sensing the weight of gazes upon them, they turned toward Scott and Orion.

“Are you two finished with your part already?” Slim inquired, his tone suggesting he already knew the forthcoming answer.

“What have you learned so far?” Scott queried mentally.

The necromancer sighed deeply, shaking its head. “This place is utterly insane,” Slim muttered.

“Who doesn't know that, genius?” Zara interjected, rolling her eyes. “The array of monsters in this place surpasses anything I've ever seen. Whoever created this maze must have a twisted mind.”

The lesser god of doom is feeling being cured at but can’t explain why! The lesser god of doom is vehemently causing whoever is causing him!

As they observed the system notification, Zara and her companions struggled to stifle their rising urge to laugh.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

After regaining their composure, Llorva spoke up, “Apart from those disgusting creatures, I've noticed various clashes among different groups. But the most terrifying thing I've seen so far is that some groups simply vanish. I doubt we'll be able to clear this trial in twenty attempts.”

“Fi-Fi would like to add something too,” the slime mentioned, sticking close to Llorva. “Fi-Fi can't seem to find the maze's exit. Another thing, although the maze appears to extend indefinitely, every nook and cranny is oddly visible. Fi-Fi is confused,” the slime announced.

Orion giggled softly as he turned toward the slime. “It’s an illusion, that’s why. A ridiculously powerful one at that. Not even I have been able to crack it yet,” the mage said before turning toward Scott. “Everyone is dying to know, what exactly is beyond the illusion?”

“It’s…” Scott suddenly paused; his gaze fixated on the skulls hovering above the heads of his companions. Though still illusory, their forms had grown more distinct.

“What’s the matter? Why did you stop?” Slim asked quickly, a note of concern in his voice. The necromancer, along with the others, scanned the area cautiously, but found nothing unusual. They called out to Scott again, but the eldritch knight remained silent, lost in thought.

Zara reached out towards Scott, and in that same moment, the eldritch knight’s body dissipated like smoke. The brawler took a step back, startled, but Orion's voice filled her ears. “Relax,” he said, his giggle echoing softly. “We’re in an illusory space. We've just entered,” he explained.

The mage lifted his head suddenly, and the others followed suit. There, they beheld massive eyeballs with dazzling yellow pupils observing the maze.

“I apologize for bringing you guys in here suddenly, but it seems those skulls were eavesdropping on our conversation,” Scott appeared before the champions like a ghoul, and continued, “As I was saying, the path shrouded in illusion lacks any monsters or traps.”

Slim beamed, hardly able to believe their luck.

“Surely, it can’t be that simple, right?” Zara said.

“There really isn’t anything there,” Scott reiterated. “However, not a single person has been able to cross that path. In fact, everyone who has survived to that extent ended up killing themselves in the most brutal ways possible.”

“Is it another illusion at play?” Llorva muttered after a brief silence.

Scott shook his head. “It’s something worse than that,” he said.

“The suspense is killing me, buddy. What exactly did you see?” Slim asked, unable to tear his gaze away from the ominous maze. Even though it was merely a replica formed by Scott's powers, it still exuded the same haunting sensation as the original.

“Um, before you get to that, I have a question,” Orion interjected with a smile. All eyes turned to the mage, and he wasted no time continuing. “You mentioned that the champions who made it that far all ended up killing themselves as brutally as possible, right?”

Scott nodded.

“If my guess is correct, they were plagued with some kind of madness which made either their bodies somewhat indestructible or they were blessed with a healing factor that overwhelmed the amount of damage they could unleash,” Orion speculated, drawing everyone's attention to Scott once more.

Scott took a deep breath, feeling the weight of his companions' curious gazes. “It's both,” he declared.

“Damn,” Slim and Zara muttered simultaneously, while Orion burst into laughter.

Meanwhile, Llorva wore a deep frown, muttering inaudible words, and Fi-Fi constantly sighed, morphing into various amorphous forms.

“That's not even the worst of it,” Scott suddenly announced.

“Of course it's not,” Slim said sarcastically. “The bastards running these games always have something more sinister planned out,” he grumbled.

“Scott, how bad is it?” Zara suddenly asked, biting her lip as if anticipating the most perilous of situations.

Scott took another deep breath. “The reason that place is more troublesome than the others is because of those skulls. They seem to possess anyone who steps into the illusion, and if my guess is correct, their sole purpose is to slowly corrupt the mind, ensuring we mindlessly roam the area for who knows how long.”

Apart from Orion, the expressions of the others soured.

“Do you think it's something that would best me?” Orion suddenly said, vaguely laughing.

Scott met the mage's gaze, speaking in a voice only Orion could hear. “If you're not careful, not even your main body will be spared,” he warned.

The others heard a different version of Scott's words, but only Orion truly understood.

“I guess we all have to depend on you, then,” Orion said with a smile.

“Huh? Does that mean you won't be affected?” Slim suddenly asked.

“I'm not sure yet, but I should be impervious to its antics. I'll know for certain when we get there,” Scott assured them.

“Only one of us needs to make it to the end, so we’ll do everything to create a path for you,” Zara said after a brief pause.

“That reminds me, we’re all forgetting something very important,” Orion suddenly announced with a chuckle. “Don’t forget that it was mentioned that the maze and its creatures would adapt to our abilities,” he said with a smile, before pointing toward the staircase leading into the maze. “For all we know, all our plans would become obsolete as soon as we descend those stairs.”

Silence hung in the air. No one admitted it, but they had indeed forgotten about that part of the message.

“I guess we'll just have to do what we always do: adapt, improvise, and survive,” Slim muttered. Then, his features turned serious. “What about the ladies from Claw? I feel like they’re a disaster waiting to happen.”

“I feel the same way too,” Orion chimed in. “It would be best to nip such problems in the bud, but then again it’s not my decision to make,” the mage said with a smile.

Zara turned toward the mage, wearing a pensive frown. Llorva, on the other hand, spoke up. “That would be shortsighted of us. After all, we can’t tell what the third layer entails. They might intentionally eliminate themselves to mess us up out of spite,” the elf warned.

“Exactly,” Zara affirmed with a nod. “Spite and hatred are powerful emotions that can fuel even the most unassuming of people,” she added.

“We have wasted too much time discussing this here,” Scott suddenly interjected. “Although I have no definite proof yet, don’t recklessly share any message if it’s not done here. It’s very likely that the skulls are being used to monitor us,” he warned.

Before anyone could retort, all members of the party disappeared, except for Scott and Orion.

The mage laughed softly as he locked gazes with the eldritch knight. “You want me to eliminate them discreetly, right?”

Scott nodded.

“I was planning on doing it either way,” the mage giggled. “Something tells me that’s not all you have to say.”

“As perceptive as always,” Scott commented dryly before changing the subject. “How much progress has your main body made?”

The mage's smile widened as he adjusted his glasses. “We're still hard at work. There's so much data to gather and organize. If I had known, I would have asked you to bring me to Carcosa sooner.” He paused, stepping closer to the eldritch knight. “We only need one more month, and it will be ready.”

“Okay. We'll talk more then,” Scott replied, watching as the mage vanished.

Scott gazed at the spot where the mage had stood, his confusion evident. “I don't know why, but the tendrils within him seem different. Has he begun to befriend them too?” he murmured to himself.

Shaking his head, the eldritch knight also disappeared from the illusionary space. Scott returned to the starting point, the cacophony of screams and explosions welcoming him. He turned to the women from Claw, who had spent the last couple of minutes furiously insulting and threatening him. “I can see you're all motivated now. Shall we begin?”