Looking toward the path ahead, I realized it was pitch-black despite the time indicating it should be morning. Looking back up the fall, the lower it went, the darker the surroundings became. That meant we were underground again. If the Horror had not interfered, we could have escaped this place.
Hawk was carrying Parrot in his arms, while Cow and Crow walked beside him, trembling. He laid one of his hands on Crow's head, causing the boy to shake even more violently.
They were not speaking at all. Was this their pathetic attempt to look as if they cared?
After a few seconds, Hawk stopped and lowered Parrot to the ground. She placed one foot down, then the other, standing up with her eyes closed.
"So, Deer is dead?"
Following close behind them, I looked toward the lake of acid where Deer had fallen. I would be surprised if even his bones remained.
According to Hawk, Parrot's Flaw forced her to feel all the pain she inflicted on others within a minute of activating her Aspect.
Hawk simply nodded to her.
Logically speaking, that was a manageable Flaw that did not truly hinder her in combat.
The only reason she fell unconscious earlier was that she was sharing the rope with me. Pain is merely an unpleasant sensory signal traveling through nerve pathways to the brain. If you behead someone instantly, the nervous system hardly registers the agony.
Parrot had been killing those monsters in a single blow near their heads, meaning they felt little pain to pass on to her. What she actually felt was me splitting their flesh open. Since she woke up in less than a minute, it proved the pain was temporary.
Parrot opened her eyes and looked dead at me.
"You do not feel the pain of your entire body being burned? Most of your hair is gone and singed to the scalp. And looking at what you lack... Did you lose four of your five senses?"
I nodded at her, and she signaled for us to follow her toward the right.
Reaching a quiet corner, she sat down and leaned her head against the wall, closing her eyes.
The layout of this maze did not match what it was originally designed to be. No wonder hardly anyone had ever mapped true Trapped Land.
Seeing the others sit, I joined them, forming a circle on the ground.
They had lost three companions in just a few days, yet they pushed forward without hesitation. That spoke volumes about their mental strength.
"The way forward appears completely dark. How are we going to see?"
Parrot asked, likely formulating a strategy in her mind. Hawk reached out his hand, and a torch materialized in his grip. Feeling the sudden heat, Parrot opened one eye, closed it again, and settled back. Hawk then glanced at me.
It was his subtle way of showing that Deer had passed his Memory to Hawk before dying, meant to keep me from approaching him. Hawk did this specifically while Parrot had her eyes closed so she would not witness the exchange.
"I see. So he gave it to you."
Parrot slowly stood back up and opened her eyes, and the rest of us followed suit.
"Cat, what is the way out of this labyrinth?"
I could have answered using sign language as Hawk suggested, but that would consume far too much time. I also did not want Hawk translating my words to Parrot using altered phrasing.
[Divine Ledger] appeared in my hands. I showed her a blank page where the scene of her standing up and speaking to me just a second ago appeared in words. I then inscribed my thoughts directly onto the paper.
"The way to escape the labyrinth ahead is the same as the one we escaped before."
I was referring to the very first place where we met.
"Well then, lead the way."
I took a torch from Hawk and stepped forward to take the lead. Before walking into the darkness. I rolled up both my sleeves and opened several eyes along my arms, as well as single eyes on my neck and leg.
The area began as a massive pool of acid, surrounded by narrow paths with occasional bubbling puddles. As we moved further away, the safe footholds grew sparse. Surrounding the acid, darkness swallowed everything, with our torches providing the only fragile light.
We could not discern where the cavern boundaries ended. Only the pinkish-red solid ground beneath our feet remained visible in the flickering glow.
We marched deeper into the lightless abyss. Through the eyes on the back of my body, I watched them stay on high guard, waiting for an ambush.
The ground sloped slightly upward before abruptly cutting off at a small ledge. I raised my hand to stop their movement. They halted beside me and looked down. Throwing a torch over the edge revealed a drop several hundred meters deep. There were no monsters in sight, only an void.
"We should descend first."
Parrot spoke, looking at me. Since I could perceive movement in heightened detail, I was their best option to lead the descent.
I nodded. She grabbed me and slid down the wall, placing me gently on the floor below. Hawk tossed two torches down to us, which we threw forward to illuminate three massive tunnels descending into the ground.
Parrot signaled the rest to come down, and they dropped beside us.
Taking a few steps forward, I began analyzing the three passages. The darkness felt strangely thin here, almost as if the atmosphere intentionally allowed us to glimpse the colossal tunnels without exposing their ends.
I took three torches from Hawk and hurled one down each path. The first torch tumbled down, bouncing against a incline that curved back upward.
The second torch plummeted straight down into the pitch black, never hitting a floor.
The third torch traveled downward for a short distance before taking a left turn.
My eyes swept over the options before I held up three fingers to the group. We were taking the third path. Parrot picked me up once more, carrying me down while the others followed .
She set me down and drew her sword, taking a deep breath as we ventured into the dark.
We turned left through the corridor, then right, arriving at another set of three lightless openings.
Parrot stepped forward first, scanning every inch of the place.
I moved beside her and threw three more torches taken from Hawk.
The first torch went down and veered left.
The second fell down a steep drop before looping to a lower level.
The third torch bounced on a steep slope that pointed straight up.
I held up two fingers, and we took the second tunnel, following the loop down to the lower tier.
This time, Parrot walked out front, dragging the tip of her sword along the ground. The metal scraped against the ground which I couldn't hear, clearly meant to draw out any hidden creatures.
Yet nothing responded.
Another crossroad appeared, still devoid of any living presence. Parrot held her torch close to her face and glanced back at me, silently asking if I noticed anything hidden in the dark.
I simply shook my head.
Surprisingly, not a single drop of acid or unknown substance appeared along our path through this endless maze.
At this crossroad, the first tunnel pointed upward, the second looped to the right, and the third also angled upward.
We chose the second tunnel again.
We repeated this process over and over, navigating through tunnels that looped endlessly in total darkness.
Eventually, we followed a path that went up and down repeatedly before straightening into a long, descending corridor that sloped left and right, plunging into the deep lower corners of the structure until we emerged into a gigantic open chamber.
Calling it big would be an understatement. The cavern stretched endlessly in every direction, lit by light. Three massive archways stood before us, completely bathed in light. The first path went straight before dropping off a cliff. The second went straight and turned left. The third went straight and climbed upward.
We needed to take the first path, jump down, and leave this labyrinth behind for good.
The reason no monsters had attacked us was probably because we had taken the correct path every single time. Had we taken a single wrong turn into that darkness, the outcome would have been catastrophic.
I glanced back at them. They realized we were near the exit, and a subtle trace of relief returned to their faces. We had survived horrors, an unkillable monster, an horror beyond comprehension, pools of acid,substance, parasites, and each other.
Slowly, the relief vanished from their faces as they sat down to rest. I sat down as well, maintaining a cautious distance between us.
The moment we step down that first path, the Vow preventing us from betraying each other will be fulfilled. Once it dissolves, we can kill one another without consequence.
I surveyed the surroundings once more. The narrow corridor we had just exited gave way to an open expanse so massive its boundaries were invisible. Unlike the barren tunnels before, this place featured pinkish-red terrain dotted with strange hills, rock pillars, ruined temples. I planned to explore those structures before leaving this labyrinth.
I glanced back at the group. They were communicating with each other, but their lips merely parted without forming words, effectively preventing me from reading their mouth movements.
The moment we descend, the greatest threat will not be Parrot. It will be Hawk.
Hawk is far more dangerous at manipulation than Parrot. Had I still been under Dry Water's control, I would never have seen through it. The way Hawk took my hand to guide me away multiple times, his constant assertion of authority, his stalling until the rest arrived, his intervention to stop me from manipulating Deer, and then Deer mysteriously dying and granting him the Memory while the other two trembled in terror. Hawk bore no scars or stretch marks on his face while the others did.
He was the one abusing those three.
That was how subtle his manipulation truly was. He wanted me to believe that narrative. In reality, that was not the truth at all.
The nature of cloning dictates that repeated replication introduces slight biological flaws, which explained the physical differences between them. unstable skin gave way to stretch marks. In reality, his Aspect ability was not communication. That was an incorrect analysis made while my mind was clouded by Dry Water. His true ability was cloning.
Several facts proved this beyond a doubt. When Bear and Owl died, Crow, Cow, and Deer showed subtle relief. One could argue they were relieved to be free of unknown abuse, but that contradicted their behavior. If they were truly relieved to be under Hawk, they would not have grown terrified again moments later.
That single reaction revealed he was intentionally steering me to believe he was an abuser, blinding me to the reality that he was a cloner.
Another clue was that the four of them never spoke simultaneously or made distinct vocal sounds. Only Hawk ever took the lead. Hawk had projected his physical weaknesses into his clones, refining his original body to be optimal in appearance and intellect while commanding the other three. This explained why the clones wept before exiting the first labyrinth while Hawk remained completely impassive.
Furthermore, the presence of stretch marks on an Awakened body was a massive anomaly. Normal physical strain or rapid growth cannot leave such marks on an Awakened frame.
The most decisive proof was Hawk acquiring the Memory. The explanation that Deer gave it to him to keep himself away from me might have made sense if it happened in my presence. But the only time I left them alone after cornering Deer was when the substance was about to collapse. In a life-or-death panic, no one has the time to transfer a Memory.
The clones shared a collective memory.
Parrot was fully aware of this as well. She had simply been feigning ignorance the entire time.
There were numerous other details I did not have the time to break down.
They all stood up simultaneously, walking toward me with completely blank expressions. Since the Vow was still active, they could not attack me yet. I stood up as well.
Hawk initiated the conversation.
"So, what have you decided?"
There was not much for me to decide. I needed them to navigate me to the city, and they needed my knowledge of [Trapped].
...
Two arrows tore through the air toward us at a speed far too fast even for my heightened perception.
I immediately lunged forward, shoving them out of the trajectory.
They rolled across the stone and scrambled to their feet, drawing their weapons.
No.
When I grabbed them to dodge, a notification flashed in my vision.
[You have received a memory.]
My eyes snapped toward them as they smiled faintly and lowered their weapons.
Two arrows struck both of them in the side of the head, shattering through their eye sockets and protruding out the opposite side in a spray of blood.
Both bodies collapsed lifelessly to the stone.
Crow and Cow dropped to the ground immediately in fear. It was yet another illusion engineered by Hawk, though he was unaware that I had already seen through it.
They had chosen me as their scapegoat.
No. I need to remain calm and avoid overanalyzing this. The Flaw-
...
Immediately, I held out [Divine Ledger] and displayed a message to them. It read, [Give me the Memory, and I will not kill you.]
..
.
A millisecond later.
I felt a faint hint of irritation.
******
Well, erm, RIP. My Parrot and Hawk just get hit by a bazookaaaa
The ending might be a little confusing regarding Hawk and Parrot right now, like why did they even do this? The next three or four chapters will probably reveal it.
It was mostly another setup chapter. Did y'all like it? Did you think Hawk was the abuser because of the curveball? Did y'all feel tension when no monsters appeared?
And yeah, angry Kiyo will make his debut next chapter.
After three or four more chapters, it will finally be time for Sunless's POV from the start. Oh boy, I have been waiting for so long to write him again.
That's it, I guess.
Peace.
(Expect constant chapter for 4-5 days. I am really exited to write the ending of first Ayanokouji pov after that Sunless might have 3-4k words chapter)