CHAPTER 41: THE SHIFTING LABYRINTH

Booms and clanks of weapons shattering and falling on the floor echoed in the narrow space. The floor was devoid of any blood, but bodies with gaping holes in their chests, necks and in bellies of a few piled up into mounds.

His fists, fueled by the embers of his aura, shattered dry bone and pulverized brittle armor. The cold yellow eyes were extinguished one by one, leaving behind only dust and silence.

The hallway looked unrecognizable. Most of the flambeaux were rolling on the floor rather than adorned on the wall. There were multitude of cracks and circular depressions spread around the whole hallway, the debris piling upon along with the bodies.

[Undead Pharomin’s soldier killed= +3018]

[Level up!]

"One more level up to reach 30. I can push for the third realm then." Grey thought. The cracked lands had provided quite the exp for him. He just needed one more level up to reach the limit of the second realm.

To reach the third realm, just leveling up was not enough. He had to gain enlightenment through his cultivation technique.

No matter how many beats or monsters he killed, the exp would just pile up until he crosses the threshold to the next realm, only then will all the exp held, would be available.

After clearing the final rank, he was in front of another set of doors. Grey bursts through the doors, finding himself in a horrifyingly immense open space.

It wasn’t empty; it was a labyrinth.

Towering, perfectly smooth black stone walls formed an intricate maze that stretched into the darkness, its paths narrow and confusing. The ceiling of this vast chamber was too high to see, lost in the darkness.

This was just a basic maze. Grey couldn’t comprehend as to what was the challenge of passing it. This would probably be the easiest one to clear if nothing unexpected appears.

But then, the center of the maze offered the answer and the threat.

Perched atop a raised platform in the very middle was the statue of a stone mage, a figure carved from granite, wielding a staff tipped with a glowing, pulsing blue stone, the source of the chaos that was to unfold.

As Grey stepped fully into the chamber, the glowing stone pulsed violently, and the ground began to vibrate with a low, resonant thrum.

WHOOM!!!

The entire maze came alive. With a terrifying grinding noise, the massive stone walls shuffled and groaned, rearranging the pathways, sealing off routes Grey had just scanned, and opening new momentary corridors.

The maze was like a living, breathing obstacle, controlled by the mage’s stone.

Worse, the high ceiling suddenly became active. Bolts of pure lightning began to fork down, impacting the stone floor with explosive, blinding flashes.

Simultaneously, massive fireballs plummeted, turning sections of the maze into temporary infernos.

"Shit! And I thought this was going to be easy." His eyes of omniscience scanned around when he saw the pulsating stone on the mage’s staff glowing brighter than the rest.

"The source!" Grey gasped, adrenaline overriding his exhaustion. He had to reach the statue.

Grey began to run, dodging falling debris and the shifting walls. He sprinted down a path that instantly sealed behind him.

He slid under a descending wall just before it crushed him into the floor. Then, he flattened himself against a corner, as a bolt of lightning vaporized the air directly in front of him.

Aura coated his boots, allowing him to leap across gaps created by the rapidly shuffling stone.

The shuffling and rearranging were so fast and intense, that Grey was relying on split-second decisions and sheer luck to evade everything and rush ahead.

The breathing architecture of the tomb was not giving him much time to pull any big moves.

Finally, a shifting path briefly opened directly towards the central platform. Grey didn’t hesitate. He launched himself across the final gap, Landing hard on the granite base beneath the statue.

The lightnings and the fireballs increased in intensity, they were all now crazily falling towards him, rushing to obliterate him.

Ignoring the heat from the near-miss fireball, he focused aura into his fist, activating the skill.

"Enough annoyance you fucking piece of shit. Jab Impact!" With a roar, Grey’s fist slammed into the staff, aiming for the glowing blue stone.

SHATTER!!

The stone exploded into a blinding flash of blue energy and then dissolved into inert dust.

The chaos stopped. The grinding, shifting walls froze mid-motion. The lightning and fireballs vanished, leaving only silence, thick smoke, and the heavy scent of ozone and burnt rock.

Grey stood panting, leaning against the broken statue. Though this was not any life and death battle, the intensity and rush, was enough to exhaust him physically as well as mentally.

The sudden stillness allowed him to see the path clearly now. The shuffling had left one specific, perfectly straight route leading from the platform to the exit.

Grey followed the final corridor out, his clothes torn and scorched at some parts. He emerged into a vast, silent space, and there before him, stood a set of colossal double doors.

They were not obsidian or wood, but magnificent, shining bronze, entirely inlaid with brilliant golden stones and intricate glowing lines that pulsed with a slow, powerful heartbeat.

Taking a steady breath, he inspected the barrier. He found no obvious seams for an aura strike, but rather two large, rotating mechanisms, perfectly circular locks set into the bronze just above his head.

They looked less like locks and more like large, ceremonial disks. He placed his hands on the first disk and pushed. It was stiff, but not sealed by magic; it was locked by sheer, ancient tension.

With a deep grunt, Grey rotated the first lock fully.

THUNK!

A deep mechanical sound echoed within the door. He moved to the second disk and repeated the grueling action.

THWUM!

With the twin locks engaged, the immense bronze hinges gave a long, protesting creak. The huge double doors slowly, laboriously, began to separate, emitting a deep, resonant hum as the ancient bolts reluctantly retracted.

Grey shielded his eyes from the momentary flash of light escaping the newly opened seam.

After his eyes adjusted to the brightness, he stepped inside.

The moment Grey crossed the threshold, the golden doors slammed shut behind him with a final, echoing boom, plunging the small areas into momentary darkness.

Then, with a quick, soft whoosh, Flambeaux ignited along the walls of the vast chamber, bathing the space in a flickering, warm, amber light.

What Grey then saw inside, made his breath catch his throat, and for the first time since entering the tomb, his grim, desert-hardened façade shattered.

His eyes opened wide in pure, undisguised shock.