Leo's crimson eyes locked on the enemy for a single, burning heartbeat, then he shot forward. His acceleration ripped the air open, mana flaring behind him in jagged trails of red lightning. He blasted past Dave and Vanessa so fast the wind struck them like a physical blow, forcing both to raise their arms to shield their faces from the sharp, heated gust.
The six-armed monster reacted instantly. All six hands lifted, and hundreds of white-flame spheres burst toward him in a dense, roaring barrage.
Leo slid his sword to his side, voice a low, lethal whisper. "Blood Explosion."
He usually cast the spell while standing still; the pressure of the expanding sphere strained every muscle and joint. Moving under that force was dangerous, painful even, but he didn't hesitate.
The crimson sphere snapped into place around him as he charged, its surface rippling with violent energy. Every white-flame projectile that touched it evaporated in an instant, leaving only bursts of steam and fading sparks.
The monster's expression tightened. She formed six flaming swords, each blade twisting with pale fire, and lunged to meet him.
Their blades collided midair. The impact exploded into a shockwave of mana and scorching wind, rattling the maze walls and sending a deep, rolling echo down the endless corridors.
…
Vanessa and Dave stood rooted to the ground, eyes stretched so wide they almost hurt. In front of them, Leo and the monster blurred into motion, two bolts of living lightning ripping through the corridor, Leo a blazing red streak and the monster a roaring white flare.
The six-armed creature attacked with impossible speed. Each arm swung from a different angle, six blades weaving a cage of white fire around Leo. But Leo's sword moved just as fast, maybe faster. Every strike the monster threw was met midair, sparks bursting like exploding stars with every impact.
The sound wasn't just loud, it was violent. Each clash hammered against their eardrums. The air pressure around them shifted with every swing, buffeting their faces. Loose dust lifted from the ground, walls trembled, and the living maze rustled as if reacting to the shockwaves.
Then, for an instant, Leo held the upper hand. He caught three flaming blades at once in a single block. Vanessa barely had time to register that he'd stopped them before those three blades twisted, melting into glowing chains that snapped tight around his sword.
The remaining three arms stabbed straight through Leo's torso.
Vanessa let out a strangled gasp, before Leo's body shattered like glass, scattering into fading fragments of mana.
Three more Leos appeared around the monster, each raising a hand. Gravity swelled beneath her like an unseen vortex. Three overlapping Gravity Traps snapped into existence, slamming the creature down onto her knees with a force that cracked the earth beneath her.
The real Leo materialized behind his dissolving illusion. His blade extended with a deep hum, and the force behind the strike blasted the monster backward like a fired projectile. She hit the ground nearly a hundred meters away, skidding across the maze floor.
White fire erupted from her body in a violent burst, flames writhing as if fueled by rage. She twisted mid-air, slapped a hand against the ground, and landed in a crouch, then charged again, faster than before.
Leo met her charge head-on.
Red and white collided. The explosion of mana rocked the entire corridor. The plant walls of the maze peeled open as if slashed by invisible blades. Roots trembled, leaves flew like shrapnel. Every clash sent a shockwave rippling outward, bending the ground around them.
Vanessa and Dave could barely move. Their hearts hammered painfully against their ribs. Their eyes struggled just to follow one motion, one shape, one blur and failed. Every time they blinked, Leo and the monster were in a different part of the corridor.
Dave swallowed hard. Vanessa's grip on her sword trembled.
This wasn't normal strength. This was something terrifying. Two monsters were fighting and one of them was Leo.
At that moment, a thousand phantoms of Leo materialized in the air, each one sharp, clear, and moving as if alive. The monster froze, eyes darting from one illusion to the next. Flames roared across her body, building toward a massive eruption.
But every phantom leaned forward at once and whispered, perfectly synchronized.
"Dream."
A thousand Dream spells crashed into her mind like a storm. Even a monster of her level staggered, her focus ruptured, her vision shaking.
That opening was all Leo needed.
In the next blink, he stood right in front of her. His blade surged with blood-red power, and then he unleashed a storm, hundreds of slashes from every angle, so fast the steel blurred into threads of crimson light.
The monster couldn't react. She could only take the hits, her body jerking with each blow. On the final swing, Leo's sword twisted, shifting into a massive blood-forged hammer. He pulled it back and roared.
"Blood Explosion!"
The hammer connected. A blood sphere detonated around the monster, amplifying the blow and launching her across the battlefield. She hit the ground with an impact that shook the earth.
Vanessa's mouth parted, only one word managed to escape.
"…Amazing."
But Leo wasn't finished.
He lifted his sword, and the weapon expanded, growing into a colossal blade, large enough to split a mountain. High above, every one of his phantoms burst apart, turning into blood that streaked downward and wrapped around the giant sword like liquid armor.
Dave's face drained as he sensed what was coming. He instantly layered dozens of protection spells around them.
Leo swung the sword down with all he had.
"Blood Calamity!"
The ground erupted. A wave of blood-charged destruction tore through the maze, pulverizing everything in a span of a thousand meters. Plant walls and earth obliterated. When the shockwave finally ended, Dave lowered the shields and saw another layer of defense fading: a sphere of solid blood that had protected them from Leo's attack.
When that shield vanished, they found themselves standing in a vast crater. Nothing remained around them. No maze. No roots. Just a scar in the world.
Leo landed beside them, dropped to one knee, and gasped for breath. His skin looked pale, and his body visibly thinner.
"I used too much power…" he muttered.
"You don't say," Dave whispered, staring at him like he'd witnessed a natural disaster.
But the moment of relief lasted only seconds.
A new pressure washed over them, heavy, cold, and merciless. The three of them turned.
Another monster stood atop the broken corpse of the previous one. She looked as strong, and carried a massive hammer resting casually on her shoulder.
Vanessa and Dave froze for a heartbeat. Then, without hesitation, they stepped in front of Leo. Their hands trembled, but they raised their weapons anyway.
They knew they couldn't win. They knew they probably wouldn't survive. But they also knew one thing. Leo was down, and they wouldn't let him fall alone.
Leo tried to stand, but his legs gave out. He was completely spent. Unable to fight. Unable to defend himself.
And the new monster stared at him with hatred.
…
'Damn it,' Leo thought.
He had expected the monster to be the last threat, not for another one of the same level to appear immediately after. His mana was gone, his body was drained, and the maze walls in the distance were already shifting, racing back to close the crater he had created.
He couldn't fight. He couldn't run. He could only watch.
The new monster's eyes flicked between the three of them, Leo kneeling behind Dave and Vanessa, both of them standing firm.
Then she moved. In a blink, she crossed the distance. Her hammer was already swinging down, ready to crush all three of them.
But the blow never landed. A massive fist slammed into her side with enough force to send her flying into the darkness. The sound echoed through the empty crater.
Dave and Vanessa stared at the figure who had appeared in front of them. A huge, broad-shouldered man stood there, bald, scarred, built like stone. His face was rough but carried a warmth they both knew well. A thick beard, a long mustache, and calm brown eyes.
"Teacher," they breathed in unison.
The man smiled, gentle despite his size. "Good to see you both again."
"How are you here? How did you find us? Where were you?" Vanessa fired off quickly.
He raised a hand to quiet them. "Relax. Anyone could find you after that attack. Half the maze probably saw it." Then he exhaled and scratched his beard. "And as for where I was… well, I was lost."
"Lost?" Dave repeated, baffled. "You? Lost?"
"It's a maze," the man said flatly. "Of course I was lost."
His gaze turned to Leo, who was barely sitting upright. "I'm guessing this young man is the one who flattened that monster?"
Before Leo could answer, Dave spoke urgently, "Master, the maze, it's coming back!"
The teacher nodded but kept his eyes on Leo. "Then it seems I owe you a thank you, young man."
Leo managed a tired smirk, breath ragged. "Just did what any smart man would do."
The man studied him for a moment, then smiled, real approval in his eyes.
A surge of raw power burst from him, the unmistakable pressure of an S-rank. The distant maze walls immediately stopped advancing… then retreated, pulling back as if shrinking from him.
"Good," he said calmly. "Now, let's get home."
Before Leo could object, the man reached down, lifted him with ease, and hoisted him onto his massive shoulder as if he weighed nothing at all.
…
Leo's eyes snapped open, breath catching in his throat. He pushed himself upright. A tent ceiling hung above him, dimly glowing from the light outside. He was lying on a crude but sturdy bed made from layered hides and shaped monster bones.
A faint sound pulled his gaze aside. Orane was slumped in a chair beside him, her head resting on her arms. She must have been watching him for days. The moment he moved, she stirred, blinked… and her eyes widened.
"Mr. Leo, you're awake."
Her voice cracked, loud with relief. Tears gathered instantly. The noise brought James and Loidon rushing inside.
"Mr. Leo!" James blurted, grinning with exhaustion and relief.
Loidon gave a soft smile. "Good to see you alive."
Leo rubbed his forehead. "How long was I out?"
"Five days," Loidon answered.
"You looked like a corpse when they carried you back," James added. "They told us everything, what you did… how you killed that thing."
Memories of the fight pulled sharp through Leo's mind, the giant blood-forged blade, the uncontrolled force, the backlash ripping through his body. A spell born in desperation, far beyond what he was trained to handle.
He had won… but his body had collapsed as a price. The tent flap moved.
The man the others called Teacher, entered, ducking under the low frame. Dave and Vanessa followed behind him.
"You're finally awake," He said. Then he glanced at the others. "Give us a moment."
They understood and stepped out. Dave and Vanessa paused just long enough to bow deeply.
"Thank you, Mr. Leo. We owe you our lives."
Leo gave a single quiet nod. When the two of them were alone, the man sat heavily on the chair. The frame creaked under his size, he looked more like a battle-worn orc than a man.
"My name is Paul Hackney," he said, bowing his head. "And I thank you for what you did for my students."
Leo lifted a hand. "No need for that, Mr. Hackney."
"Paul," he corrected. "Just Paul." His gaze sharpened. "Dave tells me you have a way out of this place. I've been trapped here for over a thousand years, and never once found a path."
Leo's expression shifted. "When did you fall into this maze? What was happening outside? What do you remember?"
Paul fell silent. His eyes unfocused, drifting back through memories buried under centuries. His brow tightened.
Digging up those ancient moments was like reaching for a dream that had nearly faded.
"I can't remember everything," Paul said slowly, brow tightening as he tried to pull ancient memories into focus. "I just know we were in a battle, elves on one side, orcs on the other. Then the sky split open in a burst of golden light and a massive shadow came from every direction, stretching across the field like it meant to swallow the world."
He paused, rubbing his face with a rough hand.
"The mages we were fighting used the distraction to freeze us in ice. After that… nothing. I don't know how long I stayed trapped. Ages, maybe. But one day I heard a voice calling to me, said it could save me." His jaw clenched. "By the time I realized who that voice belonged to… it was too late."
Leo exhaled, thoughtful, hand settling under his chin. "You were likely frozen for hundreds of years." He met Paul's eyes. "Let me tell you what's happening outside."
Paul had heard pieces of the world from Dave and Vanessa, but Leo was different, someone fresh from the outside, someone whose strength alone hinted at how far the world had moved on.
So he listened. For half an hour he said nothing, absorbing every detail.
When Leo finished, Paul finally let out a long, heavy breath. "So that's the truth of it… That shadow was trying to protect us." His expression darkened. "And the god of light—he's our prince. I should have known."
Leo leaned forward. "Tell me about him."
"I'll tell you what I can," Paul said. "But I wasn't anyone important, just a foot soldier."
"That's fine."
Paul nodded and continued, voice low but steady.
"He always acted like a hero. Helped the poor, fought with the rest of us on the front lines. Brave. Charismatic. In one battle he lost his entire unit, but he stayed behind and held the line alone. Won, too. People worshiped him before he ever became a god."
Leo's eyes narrowed, listening.
"In another war, he negotiated with the elves. Convinced them to join forces with us to stop the orcs. The day of that battle… a golden light came down from the sky." Paul's face creased with confusion. "I wasn't there, but everyone saw the entire field lit up. That was the day I was frozen. I don't know what he did… but it started then."
Leo muttered, "A ritual. A sacrifice. Probably the moment the God of Magic was crippled. And it must be tied to the elves' leader. What else can you tell me?"
Paul continued, "He was trained by masters, true masters. One taught him swordsmanship. Another, elemental power. And he had an old master blacksmith… an enchanter. A good man. His name was… Ed… Ed—"
"Edgar Wilkerson?" Leo said, lips curling into a tight, uneasy smile.
Paul blinked. "Yes. How did you know? Is he alive?"
Leo nodded once. "He is."
Inside, his thoughts churned. 'Marco…'
The disciple of Edgar Wilkerson… was the God of Light himself.