The maze closed in around them like the grip of a monstrous beast.

Its claustrophobic walls pressed tightly, slick with centuries of condensation, each stone scarred by time and etched with patterns too ancient to decipher.

The air was thick, oppressive,a heavy blanket that clung to their skin, infused with the stench of rot, mildew, and blood long dried into dust.

At the forefront was Caelum, his torchlight casting jagged shadows that danced across the walls.

Only thirty strong men now when remain now,each man limping, sweating, shoulders hunched as if the very ceiling bore down on them personally.

Their eyes were wide with terror; the whites stark against grime-streaked faces.

Weapons clutched tightly in trembling hands betrayed their exhaustion.

Silence enveloped them like a shroud,broken only by the drip of unseen water and the scuff of boots on rough stone.

Caelum's pride held them together; his presence felt like an unyielding force against the encroaching darkness.

He refused to slow or falter even as every instinct screamed that this maze was alive, and hungry.

But inside his heart was beating wirh terror,his inside was twisting with deep fear,fear he have never in his life experience before.

Although he seems calm on the surface but fear and terror is already ripping him from the inside.

-------

The first loss in the maze came suddenly,a flurry of blades whipped from hidden slits in the walls.

Four men fell instantly, their bodies split open like butchered meat.

Blood splattered across cold stone, soaking into cracks as their screams choked off into gurgles.

Caelum didn't look back; he pressed forward but the shaking of his hand and his bloodhsot eyes filled with fear betrayed what he is truly feeling.

Horrified whispers filled the ranks as they followed him deeper into despair.

One man broke away and turned to flee but before he could escape, Caelum shot him in cold silence.

The gunshot echoed down the corridor like a hammer striking iron,no one hesitated again.

Minutes later came another wave of death: a tile depressed underfoot with a faint click,a trap!

The ceiling collapsed in a rain of stone spikes that obliterated five more men into shattered limbs and pulped organs.

Survivors screamed and pressed against walls as gore splattered across their faces.

One desperate soldier stumbled toward Caelum, trying to pull him back but Caelum shoved him into debris without breaking stride.

Now there were ten,ten men trapped within this merciless labyrinth.

Of the thirty men, twenty are already gone crushed and turned into corpses in the maze.

As they ventured deeper, corridors twisted and turned; every passage looked identical.

Torches sputtered in damp air while shadows flickered over carvings that seemed to shift when not directly observed, symbols of serpents, suns, scales… esoteric shapes writhing like worms beneath flesh.

"Curses!" one soldier muttered nervously.

"Caelum led us here to die," another whispered.

Paranoia bubbled over into accusations: "You think yourself a king! Your pride got us killed!"

Voices quivered with rage born from fear.

Caelum turned slowly, his heart pounding in sync with the flickering torchlight that danced across his sweat-slicked brow.

In this grim maze of shadows and death, he raised his pistol, a lifeline in the chaos.

Bang!

The first shot rang out, echoing through the corridor as the accuser's skull shattered, brain matter splattering against the wall like grotesque paint on a canvas.

Bang!

Another figure fell lifelessly to the ground.

Bang!

A third man dropped, a clean hole drilled through his forehead.

Silence enveloped the space like a thick fog. Blood pooled at Caelum's boots, creeping ominously toward the remaining survivors. No one dared to move or speak.

With determination etched on his face, he raised the torch higher and pressed onward.

Seven remained.

---

The maze constricted around them, forcing their bodies into awkward hunches as they navigated uneven floors slick with moss that squelched beneath their boots.

The air grew stiflingly hot,like walking into the lungs of some monstrous beast ready to swallow them whole.

A wrong step claimed another life.

One soldier brushed against a jagged stone protrusion.

A hiss echoed ominously before darts tipped with blackened steel erupted from hidden slits in the wall.

They pierced his flesh,throat, chest, eyes, each strike accompanied by a wet thud as he thrashed helplessly, blood bubbling through lips until silence fell over him like a shroud.

The others recoiled in horror against the opposite wall, eyes fixed on the gruesome scene.

But Caelum stepped forward without hesitation; he gripped the lifeless body and hurled it ahead into the corridor.

The corpse hit the ground with an unsettling thud...click. More darts shot forth, burying themselves into already-dead flesh.

He glanced back once; his expression was inscrutable before he continued onward.

Six remained.

---

As they ventured deeper into this hellish labyrinth, claustrophobia tightened its grip around their minds.

The corridors narrowed further, forcing them single-file with shoulders scraping against cold stone walls.

Shadows elongated grotesquely in the torchlight,a visual mockery of their fear and desperation.

A trap was triggered when one man near the rear stepped on a pressure plate; a section of wall swung down like an executioner's blade adorned with wicked edges.

It cleaved him in two,a scream cut short as his torso slid one way while legs tumbled another direction, intestines spilling across blood-soaked stone.

Panic erupted among those left standing but Caelum didn't slow down for even a heartbeat.

Five remained.

---

They ventured deeper into the labyrinth, each step slowing, every glance sharpening. Fear gnawed at their insides, hollowing them out like a relentless predator.

Caelum's jaw tightened as sweat stung his eyes,his pride cracked under the weight of endless stone, but he refused to falter.

He would not kneel before this maze.

Suddenly, another disaster struck,a section of floor crumbled beneath one man's feet, sending him plummeting into a pit lined with jagged spikes.

His screams pierced the air as his body was impaled, blood spraying upward like a grotesque fountain.

The echoes of his cries faded into gurgles as silence enveloped the space.

Four remained.

Without hesitation, Caelum stepped onto the twitching back of the fallen man and crossed the pit, boots slipping in crimson slickness.

The others followed closely behind, faces pale and haunted, unable to turn back.

---

The corridors twisted tighter around them like a serpent coiling for its prey.

Claustrophobia sank its talons deep into their minds as they whispered heated arguments about dead ends and retreating to safety but there was no way back; only forward through this nightmarish maze.

They turned left… dead end.

Right… another dead end.

Desperation clawed at them as they doubled back only to trigger yet another trap,a section of ceiling collapsed with a thunderous crash, stone spikes hammering down mercilessly.

One man was crushed instantly,reduced to an unrecognizable pulp,as blood sprayed across the survivors like a macabre shower.

Three remained beside Caelum.

---

The torch flickered ominously in the oppressive darkness; their breathing grew harsh and ragged, echoing too loudly in this suffocating space.

The walls seemed to close in even further, forcing them sideways until their backs scraped painfully against cold stone.

Dust rained down from above as if the maze itself hungered for their demise.

A corridor split into three paths: they chose left… dead end again! They turned back and tried the middle route… wrong choice once more! Finally settling on the right path but at what cost?

As they passed through an unseen threshold, hidden crossbows sprang to life from shadowy alcoves,arrows whistled through the air with deadly precision.

One soldier fell clutching his throat as blood gushed forth; another staggered backward after an arrow pierced his chest and punctured his lung,he collapsed amidst choking breaths that mingled with screams echoing off stone walls.

In a moment of grim desperation, Caelum pushed one wounded man forward into the line of fire,using him as a shield against death's embrace.

Arrows sank into flesh until he sagged lifelessly like a discarded puppet before Caelum shoved him aside and pressed on.

When silence finally returned after that deadly barrage, only he and one soldier still stood alive.

---

They stumbled into an open passage, the walls stretching wider as if to embrace them.

The air was fresher, yet heavy with the metallic stench of blood.

Their bodies shook from exhaustion; their faces were ashen, hollow-eyed, and their hands trembled as they clutched weapons slick with sweat,tools rendered useless in this nightmare.

Caelum was a portrait of chaos,drenched in gore that mingled his own sweat with the blood of others, splatters of brain matter and chunks of flesh clinging to him like a grotesque second skin.

He appeared less like a commander and more like a beast dragged from the depths of a slaughterhouse.

Tilting his head back, he drew in ragged breaths filled with defiance.

The maze had shattered his men's spirits and cracked his pride. But it had not defeated him.

With grim determination, he pressed forward. The last soldier followed,stumbling, broken, silent shadows of his former selves.

But the maze was far from finished. Somewhere in the distance, stone gears ground faintly, whispering chilling promises of more death lurking just around the corner.

For now, only Caelum and his last man remained: alive, bloodied and trapped deep within the belly of this relentless labyrinth.

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