2025-12-15 10:45:10
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
179
~LaurentThe air outside the Maze felt almost unreal, sharp with the scent of dust and stone, but clean. We were only in the maze for a few hours but it felt definitely longerDenzel’s eyes found mine immediately. Not wide with panic, not desperate. Just steady, calculating. Even in relief, he carried the aura of someone who had endured something far worse than what I could imagine.Kendrix spoke first, voice sharp. “How… how the hell are you alive? We saw the exit seal. We saw you get left behind.”I let a small smile play at my lips, rubbing my neck tiredly. “I made a clone,” I said simply. “The Maze wanted someone to stay behind. I gave it one.”For a beat, none of them said anything. The idea seemed to settle like a heavy stone in the air. Then Calista’s jaw tightened, disbelief written across her face.“A… clone?” she said slowly, like she was tasting the word, trying to make sense of it.Denzel’s lips twitched, almost imperceptibly. “So… you can make clones now,” he said, voice
178
~OmniscientLaurent paced. The Maze stretched around him, endless corridors twisting in impossible angles, but he barely noticed the walls. His mind buzzed, a hive of calculations and fears. The symbols burned into the stone—the ultimatums—had left their mark. Only three could leave. One must remain. Power could not be carried together.He had thought he understood the Maze, thought he could bend it, outsmart it. But now it felt alive, aware, patient. It didn’t punish recklessly. It tested, prodded, waited for weakness.Laurent stopped at a junction and pressed his palm against the polished floor. The stone hummed faintly beneath his fingers. He closed his eyes. Feel the flow. Listen to the rhythm. The Maze was breathing, moving, thinking.He counted in his head. Three exits. Three paths. Only three could pass. Only three.His jaw tightened. The others—Calista, Kendrix, Denzel—had to get out. He couldn’t let the Maze trap them. Not now. Not after everything.He turned sharply, pacing
177
~VyrathThe throne room was a cage of shadow and gold. Candles lined the edges, their flames small, trembling against the chill in the air. The floor was stained, polished to reflect the despair of those who had been brought here before me.A rebel knelt in the center, hands bound, hooded, trembling. The executioner raised his blade, the steel gleaming coldly in the flickering light. Silence stretched like a taut wire.I watched. Calm. Observing how fear bent bodies, how it broke them before the steel even landed.The first swing descended.A sudden slam at the door stopped it mid-air.An arcanist, one of the humans that swore allegiance to me when they figured out no one was coming to save them.He came dashing in, robes torn, breathing ragged. His eyes were wild, desperation dragging him like a leash.“Your… Your Majesty! Laurent—he’s… he’s found his way into the Maze! He’s looking for Denzel!” The words tumbled out in a panic. “He’s coming—he’s coming for you!”I leaned back, resti
176
LaurentI woke to light.Not warm light.Not natural.It bled through the air in thin fractures, like something underneath reality was leaking through cracks it hadn’t sealed properly.Stone pressed against my back. Solid. Real. I exhaled, feeling the ache settle into my bones all at once. My body was still healing—slowly now, like it was tired of pretending nothing had happened.I pushed myself upright.This wasn’t the Maze corridor.The space was wide. Circular. An arena of sorts, though broken and unfinished, like it had been abandoned halfway through its own construction. Stone pillars ringed the edges, some collapsed, others cracked clean through the middle. The floor was scarred with deep gouges, old impact marks layered over newer ones.As if fights had happened here before.As if this place remembered them.I swallowed.Then I heard breathing.Sharp. Uneven.Too close.“Calista.”The name left my mouth before I realized I’d spoken.She was a few meters away, kneeling on one kn
175
~LaurentI stopped talking.Not because I was out of breath.Not because I was scared.But because I finally understood something simple and ugly.Whether this was the real Denzel or not didn’t matter anymore.Hesitation was no longer mercy.It was suicide. I had underestimated him and if I didn't adjust, I'd be seriously injured.I shifted my stance.The air around me changed.Not violently. Not explosively.It just… tightened.Like the space itself had decided to pay attention.Denzel moved first.Of course he did.A gust of compressed wind detonated where I had been standing—but I wasn’t there anymore.Shadow Step.I reappeared to his right, palm driving toward his ribs.He turned with it.Too clean.Too ready.Our forearms collided instead, shock rippling outward. Stone cracked beneath our feet. The impact rattled up my bones and into my spine.I didn’t retreat.I stepped in.Again.My movements stopped being careful. Stopped being polite. I wove between his strikes, not dodging a
174
~LaurentI opened my eyes to darkness.The darkness was thick, almost liquid, pressing against my skin. My chest heaved, lungs gulping air I didn’t know was there. The ground beneath me felt uneven, soft in some places, hard in others, like it couldn’t decide what it wanted to be.I sighed. I guess I was foolish for thinking those reflections wanted to help me.I pushed myself up, wincing as my muscles screamed. Nothing broken, nothing missing, but every movement carried the memory of the fall.The walls… if they could be called that… rose from shadow. Stone, polished black, absorbing what little light I had. I took a cautious step forward. Then another. The space stretched on endlessly, corridors curling in directions that made no sense.Nothing moved.Nothing breathed.Nothing waited—except me.I tried calling out. My voice was swallowed by the darkness. Even my system hummed faintly in my chest, a quiet heartbeat I could barely feel. No guidance. No notifications. Just silence.I m
You may also like
White Alchemist
David Ogiriki 20.8K viewsEarly Access System Volume 1: Shadow Of The Behemoth
ChadGuy4522.6K viewsDivine Sword Art System
Rafaiir_20.6K viewsRise of the Useless Young Master
AFM3130.8K viewsNightmare Apocalypse
Icemaster36010.0K viewsJust Became a Vampire, I Clinged to Life by Grinding Health
Cheerful Atmosphere Group1.4K viewsSystem Of Judgment: Rise Of Kael
GRACE135 viewsRise of the Super War God
M.A. Sumi476 views