The Labyrinth’s Collapse

Void shattered, and a red figure appeared beside Joanna. Endless flames lay docile on his body, flickering with scarlet light. This was evidently a peak rank 5 Magus.

He solemnly grabbed at Joanna, pure golden flames turning into sharp claws that caused Joanna’s defences to break inch by inch.

“Blazing Flame Monarch!” Clarke howled with fury, arriving in front of her. The sharp, flaming claws ruthlessly grabbed him, causing the steel armour to break. Even the skin underneath had been roasted a charred black, revealing bright silver, metallic bones.

Within the Alanore Labyrinth, there was only one person who could move freely. And that was its owner, the Blazing Flame Monarch!

Clarke spat out fresh blood as he and Joanna were sent flying.

“Brother! BROTHER!” Joanna kept screaming, eyes instantly turning blood red. “HOW DARE YOU HARM MY BROTHER. I WANT YOU DEAD!”

Thin, translucent threads emerged from her hands, and even the void itself was cut through as they headed in the direction of the red figure in the air.

Fierce golden flames struck the translucent threads. Under the burning of the flames, the threads gradually melted. Not far away, Joanna turned pale.

“Joanna, get behind me.” At this point, Clarke stood up once again, as if he did not have a life-threatening injury on his chest, “Blazing Flame Monarch, I’ve waited for this day for a long time.”

*Bzzt!* Clarke’s hands were on his giant black sword, emanating the terrifying undulations from high-grade magic equipment. The sharp rays of light were bright and dazzling, and even the void was constantly crumbling in front of it.

“Sorrow of Gaia!” Clarke yelled in his anger, the phantom of a vast land appearing behind him. An aura of rot converged on his body, forming terrifying sword glints.

“Death and decay are not something a living soul can control.” The scarlet being in the air spoke slowly, a red sword with flames on it similarly appearing in its hands. “In the name of Fire, your only destination shall be the stillness of an eternal death.”

The whole world seemed to tremble and cheer as large amounts of fire elemental particles wound automatically around the surface of the flaming sword.

These two longswords that had surpassed the limitations of space connected in the next instant, the dark green force that represented death and wilting up against the scarlet fire. Their collision formed a storm that annihilated everything. Red sword light flashed in the roiling storm, and Clarke’s whole body fell backwards.

To be precise, ‘half his body’ fell back. Everything under Clarke’s lower abdomen had completely disappeared, as if he had been chopped in half at the waist. It revealed a mechanical backbone and translucent fluids.

The scarlet figure of the Blazing Flame Monarch was revealed once more as the energy storm dissipated. He stared at Clarke’s wounds and suddenly laughed.

“It’s not even a mechanical modification, just the puppet of a soul servant. The true Clarke should have died long ago.” He turned around, staring at Joanna who had tears in her eyes.

“A pretty good soul division technique. It’s no wonder the two of you weren’t separated when you came in, you are one and the same. Clarke’s your courage, longing and hatred; after removing these qualities, your main body is only left with weakness.”

“No, my brother isn’t dead.” Joanna cried out like a kitten whose tail had been stepped on, tears spilling out of her eyes.

“Don’t… cry… sister…” The half-bodied Clarke on the ground consoled her with a smile, but the voice grew increasingly rigid, and the sound intermittent. It eventually turned robotic.

“Ah, wait. I seem to remember only a little girl surviving during that massacre then. Was it you?” A strange smile appeared on the Blazing Flame Monarch’s face, “You actually placed all your hopes on someone else. Even if you’ve reached rank 5, you’re still trash.”

Words that were as sharp as a blade caused Joanna’s face to turn deathly pale. “No, I’m not…” She hugged her head, on the brink of a complete breakdown.

The Blazing Flame Monarch looked proud, and just as he was about to deal her another blow and upset her further, his expression suddenly changed.

Joanna was still hugging her head, but streams of black gas were dispelled from her body. A dangerous aura formed around her, one that even had him considering retreat.

‘What’s going on? Wait, she’s the descendant of that deceased clan. Could it be…’ The Blazing Flame Monarch’s eyes shrank, and large amounts of flaming shackles appeared and shot towards Joanna. He was one step too late.

Joanna looked up and began to scream. An endless terrifying undulation immediately enveloped the whole region…

*Thud!* The terrifying rank 5 fire elemental, the alligator-human hybrid Flame Sovereign King toppled down, the flames on its body extinguishing bit by bit.

The two bundles of soul flames gradually dimmed in its eye sockets. Soul light was constantly dispelled from the body, bringing with it dense fire elemental particles that were like fireflies. They quickly disappeared into the air.

*Chirp!* A high-pitched cry sounded and a large black phoenix descended from the skies. The flames withdrew to reveal Leylin who was within.

“The rank 5 Flame Sovereign King really was quite troublesome. I almost had to use my Arcane Art…”

Leylin stood at the edges of the lava lake. After the death of the Sovereign King, the black walls of the labyrinth at the other side of the lake pushed and pulled each other like toy building blocks, revealing a pitch-black pathway.

“It’s hard to tell how many stages there are in the labyrinth, unless…” Leylin stroked the ring on his hand.

A maze set up by a rank 6 Magus was something a rank 5 like him could only solve directly. It required another rank 6 to act to break it, or other special circumstances.

“AAAAAAHHHH…” An ear-piercing screech was transmitted to Leylin’s ears, the hatred and terrifying energy it held causing Leylin’s expression to change slightly. “It came from there… Did anything happen?”

*Boom!* One of the walls slowly crumbled following the explosion, and large amounts of black dust fell down.

“The labyrinth is already showing signs of collapsing. This power seems to be a unique type that’s rumoured to have existed in ancient times.” Leylin’s eyes glinted coldly.

While he was focused on the energy undulations, space suddenly collapsed around him. A scarlet figure appeared before him like before.

Flames seethed in the opponent’s hands, seemingly breaking their limitations to possess a terrifying heat. They caused the other energy particles to constantly draw back.There were only flames within this domain.

“The Origin Law of fire. So you’re the one who’s been spying on me,” Leylin snickered, his right hand unhesitatingly activating the silver ring.

Streams of fog dissipated, instantly forming a world of fog.

“Roar!* The phantom of a four-armed cyclops with hard skin emerged from the ring.

“The Fog Space of the ancient Misty Fog Giant.” The world of fog enveloped Leylin and the person who had launched a sneak attack. The opponent’s law of fire was already tangled up by the fog, using up its energy.

With the blood from Bevis as the basis, and via in-depth processing by the A.I. Chip, Leylin had successfully created a bloodline imprint of the Misty Fog Giant and sealed it within the ring.

Since it was a spell that could be activated using a bloodline, Leylin’s bloodline imprint had reached a might of rank 6.

‘Is this… the law of fog?’ Leylin could sense a deep-seated force in this world of fog. This was the law that controlled it. Due to its connection with the bloodline imprint, he gained some rudimentary control as well.

Large amounts of grey fog were like the most docile stream of water to him, allowing him to do as he liked.

“Crush him!” With Leylin’s command, great amounts of grey fog immediately turned into hardened rock, bringing with them the World Will as they rained down on the red figure.

“This isn’t your own ability, it’s an ancient rank 6 spell!” The tremendous force caused the scarlet figure to cry out involuntarily.

He was covered by the fog immediately after. Red light constantly penetrated through the fog, yet it grew increasingly dark.

“This is the real ancient Fog Space! If Bevis had used a spell like this, I might have long since been defeated or even killed…” Leylin sighed.

While Bevis did have the blood of the Misty Fog Giant, he had no A.I. Chip and it wasn’t as if he could endlessly consume his bloodline for spells. Leylin was different. After being purified by the A.I. Chip, the blood of the Misty Fog Giant now displayed its might like in ancient times.

“Damn it, there’s another one.” Another voice sounded from within the fog, and it soon turned deathly silent. The world of fog dissipated, returning to the scene of the lava lake from before.

“Another one?” Light flashed, and Leylin’s figure emerged. “Looks like it isn’t the first time he’s been at such a disadvantage, and…”

Leylin stared at where the scarlet figure had been. There was now nothing there.

“A rank 5 clone? Looks like the Blazing Flame Monarch has no helpers nearby, and has no choice but to do this himself…

“Good timing. I’ll make use of this.” Leylin waved his arms, and the fog that had not completely dispersed spread out, completely corroding the walls of the labyrinth.

*Crack! Crack!* The labyrinth walls that had already gone through immense damage could not hold on any longer and began to break apart inch by inch.

Much of the wall turned into powder, and this was still spreading further.

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