Vita’s voice, coming from somewhere in the middle, rang out.
A cry that was almost a scream.
“It’s the Rasiers! It’s them!”
Whoosh!
Amidst the flames, shadows flickered.
Standing there were faces with smiles.
“Welcome.”
They were Rasier’s candidates.
“First time in the labyrinth?”
“Welcome.”
A young man with white hair at the front.
The saint-like figure flickering in the flames spoke with a devilish smile.
“First time in the labyrinth?”
And then.
“Aaargh!”
The screams of his comrades could be heard.
“I thought there would be at least something to give way to the competitor. Tsk.”
The disappointed expression on the saint’s face seemed to crush Damos’ heart.
“Regardless, welcome to hell.”
With that, the saint turned away.
Beside him, Balak and Sis stepped forward.
“…!”
Only then did Damos fully regain the sensation in his body.
Clang!
Balak’s greatsword clashed with Damos’ longsword, echoing loudly.
Finally, they collided, two swords.
“How…?”
It was Damos who was astonished.
The trembling and immense power emanating from the swords.
He was a master.
Even blocking his own master-level sword.
“A master?”
Rasiel’s challenger, whose name he didn’t even know, blocked his sword.
“Really, it seems like you’ve thoroughly ignored us, Damos.”
“You. Sis.”
An exposed flank.
Into that vulnerability came Sis’s voice and sword piercing together.
Damos, who braced himself.
Kwahng!
He simultaneously blocked Sis and Valac’s swords.
“You thought you had the upper hand in this maze? Dante has prepared and trained for mazes, you know?”
Kukukukung!
Damos’s sword, blocking two swords, trembled.
He needed to find an opening to escape, but it was not easy.
“Sorry, but mazes are not new to us.”
“Nonsense!”
With a shout, Damos’s magical power surged.
Cha-e-eng!
The two swords were knocked away.
Damos’s body and magic were adapting to the maze, regaining their original strength.
“Candidates entering the maze? Did Rasiel really do that?”
It’s madness.
“Well, he wouldn’t do that….”
Sis’s voice sounded bitter somewhere.
“But he doesn’t care about such things.”
“Him….”
He knew.
That white-haired lunatic.
Sain Demorus.
“Are you conquering the maze?”
Damos adjusted his stance.
It was a flawless posture, as if to prove that the title of master was not a lie.
A posture that could smoothly shift to offense or defense, or any other form.
Cha-cha-cha-chang!
Even amidst all this, Damos surveyed the situation.
“Not completely overwhelmed yet.”
While some of Dante’s candidates seemed to be in a state of incapacity, the two master-level figures, considered the main forces, were fiercely battling.
Clang.
Teeth gritted.
To fight fiercely.
To be pushed back by Luciel.
But they couldn’t just be overwhelmed like this.
“Dante! Listen-!”
Kwoooosh!
Damos, unleashing his magic explosively.
He thrust his sword and shouted.
Aura Pierce.
A master-level skill that shoots out an Aura Blade.
“It’s a retreat-! For now, it’s a retreat!”
It had to be acknowledged.
Only then could the next move be made.
“Where.”
Balak swung his greatsword.
Schlack!
Sis pierced with her sword.
Damos.
Thud!
Blocked their sword strikes with the sword face.
Zzweeeeng!
Even the swords vibrating from the immense force was temporary.
Kwaaaaaah!
As if absorbing and emitting the power of Balak and Sis’s swords, shockwaves spread out from Damos’s sword.
In an instant, Luciel’s forces staggered, some even falling to their knees.
“Now’s the time-!”
From Noble mtl dot com
Damos’s shout.
And Dante began to leave the battlefield as if possessed.
*
*
*
Lost sight of Dante, including Damos.
Only two were captured.
It felt like a bittersweet victory.
Snick.
If only he had seen Luciel’s expression.
“Sain, as you said.”
Valac approached and said,
“Well done.”
Damos may have thought he could escape this place on his own will, but he was wrong.
This was a let go.
“Injured ones, gather.”
Sein said as he organized the situation.
Capture.
Was it really Dante’s doing?
Taking advantage of the element of surprise and utilizing the benefits of information.
Yet, the outcome was disappointing.
There were quite a few injured candidates.
“Do you all know what to do?”
“…Sorry.”
Candidates who, despite being injured, gathered their magic and struck their heads.
The rest took it for granted.
“Bring the captured ones.”
Snap.
At Sein’s command, the other candidates brought Dante’s captured candidates.
“If you intend to kill, then do so.”
Candidates spoke with determined expressions.
And Sein…
“That’s the plan.”
Swoosh.
He drew his sword without hesitation.
Although he thought he was determined, when he faced the sharp edge of the sword, he couldn’t help but waver.
Sein’s sword swung slowly.
Snap.
However, their heads remained intact, only losing consciousness.
“We still have time.”
Sein said.
“Do you think these brats will be broken by just this much?”
He looked at Dante.
They were as solid as diamond.
“No, these brats will probably ignite with anger. They’ll probably be grumbling without even acknowledging our skills.”
“…”
“We’ll torment them until they break.”
Not the body, but the mind.
“Chris, have you finished tracking?”
“Yeah. And I’ve attached all the tracking scents. We can confirm where they went and how long they stayed.”
Chris was among the candidates of Rasiel, relatively weak, but quite intelligent.
In the previous maze, Sein did.
– Learn.
He passed on the teachings of tracking skills he received from Tank, the master of tracking, whom he learned from in the hunter’s life, to Chris.
And as a result.
“Until the maze is over, I won’t be able to get away.”
A rather plausible guy was born.
Not just Chris.
“The trap release is over. These guys seem to have unfortunately gone towards quite a tricky trap. Some may have died.”
Shimara was in charge of trap setting and releasing.
“Let’s eat.”
To Tobyra, he taught a special cooking method.
Each candidate of Lasciel contained a part of Sein’s past.
“Alright.”
These would be the party Sein would use for a while.
And later became talents that could still be used.
“Everyone, keep in mind.”
Sein did not actively participate in this exchange battle.
‘It’s already done.’
Lasciel’s candidates were already developed enough to defeat Dante.
So this is.
“This isn’t about trying to beat Dante, it’s about evaluating whether you can go with me or not.”
Sein’s test disguised as the exchange battle.
*
*
*
“This is ridiculous.”
It had been over a week since they entered the maze.
“This is insane!”
The appearance of Damos, who looked like a hero of reversal, was nothing short of astonishing.
The maze, experienced for the first time, was hell itself, completely different from what they learned or trained for.
“Is the trap removal not done yet?”
“Oh, not yet….”
Kwaaang!
“Ouch!”
“What’s going on!”
“It seems the trap was released!”
“Again?”
The traps scattered throughout the maze were even threatening to supernatural beings who used magic.
“Monsters!”
The dark type monsters appearing again were incomparable to what they had faced in their missions.
Size, strength, ferocity.
“By the gods! Get ready!”
Facing such dark creatures in a high-density magical dungeon was not just a challenge, it was hell.
Even after the battle was over, problems continued to arise.
“Several pieces of equipment are completely unusable.”
“What about repair kits?”
“We’ve used them all up.”
The shortage of supplies had begun.
But the real issue started from that moment.
“There’s nothing to eat.”
Food supplies had run out.
Losing the magic bag with provisions at the entrance of the dungeon to the despicable Rasel’s men was a fatal mistake.
Those captured by them were in charge of Dante’s supplies.
“…I guess we’ll have to eat monster meat in a pinch.”
“But.”
Monster meat was the worst kind of food eaten only in lower regions.
It was often toxic, induced madness, and was terrible in taste and freshness.
The biggest problem was that the monster meat available in the dungeon was not of ordinary species but that of the dark creatures.
“Ugh.”
It could be called a delicacy to giants.
Capable of enduring Demolus’s blood flowing, but barely.
“…I need to rest for a moment.”
From minor stomach upsets to severe fevers.
Dante’s situation was only getting worse.
Bang!
Damos struck the dungeon wall with his fist.
“Raaaah!”
Damos roared like a monster.
He couldn’t contain his anger.
“We are Dante’s men!”
Candidates for Dante’s successor, boasting of being the strongest in violence among the three major organizations.
“I am…”
And he was chosen by Dante.
To become Demolus’s successor in the future.
“I am Demolus Damos-!”
Being Damos.
But the situation was pitiful.
