Chapter 40 Little girl and Minotaur

[3rd Level Maze]

"..." I quietly followed the little girl from behind. Since the first time I had met her, I kept seeing black fumes around her. 'Why do I keep getting bad vibes from her? Is she planning to kill me? Oui...' I looked away and found a treasure chest. 'Nice! Hopefully, I got a weapon to defend myself.' I peeked at the little girl to see if she was looking behind. 'Whew! She's not looking back. Better be quick before she notices I'm gone.' I quickly ran toward the treasure chest and opened it.

Creak.

'Hmm? A cloak? What does it do? Increase defence?' I flipped the cloak, but there were no descriptions or anything. I tried wearing it. 'Oh! It fits nicely.' I looked in the mirror and couldn't find myself. "Huh? I'm gone?... Wait. Is this an invisible cloak? Cool! I've scored!" I took off the cloak. 'Hmm... I better keep it properly and use it when an emergency.' I folded the cloak and shoved it in my clothes. I quickly went back to the little girl. When I found the little girl, she was anxiously looking for something.

I walked towards her and said. "Hey. Looking for something? Need my help?"

The little girl turned toward me and glared. "Where the hell were you? Where did you go?" I was shocked and took a few steps back. 'Oh right, there's the other personality I had to deal with.' I laughed and said. "Sorry, the mirrors here confused me. I thought you went the other way and followed you, but it turned out I was wrong." The little girl kept silent and stared at me. 'Hmm? Is she checking if I'm lying? Well, sorry, kiddo, when it comes to lying, no one can out beat me.' I smiled. "What's wrong?" I asked.

The little girl turned away and sighed. "Don't leave my sight. Come on, you meathead." I continued following the little girl. 'Oui. Just pick one personality.'

Swish. Whoosh. Splat.

I stood in a corner, watching the little girl kill those slime monsters. 'She's really good at using those needles as weapons, but awful at detecting monsters. I don't know how many times I've saved her from getting one shot killed by those monsters.'

The little girl wiped off the grime and said. "What are you staring at? Move it."

I grumbled and followed her. "Hey..." I reluctantly opened my mouth.

"What!" The little girl shouted.

'Boy, is she mad...' "I've been meaning to ask, you aren't a contestant, are you?"

She stomped her foot. 'Eek! She's gonna blow up!' She stood there and didn't speak a word. The atmosphere was weird. It suddenly felt chilly and dangerous. I reached my hand out. "Err... Hey, you oka -" The little girl suddenly swung her needle and attacked me. I managed to dodge in time before she sliced my neck.

"Wow, what are you doing? I know you have a nasty temper, but this is too much!"

The little girl gave a creepy smile. "What am I doing? Killing you, of course. Oh... I have been itching to kill you since the start of the maze."

I took a few steps back and said. "Well, ya, I know. After all, you aren't really good at hiding your murderous intent."

The little girl chuckled. "Oh, really? Why didn't you say so earlier? I could have given you an earlier death."

I gulped nervously. "Thanks, but no thanks. If I wish to die early, I could have let those monsters in the mirror eat me by now."

The little girl walked closer. "Well, that would be bad, wouldn't it? I'll lose my joy of killing you." As she walked closer, I walked backwards. "That's true. That's true. Hahahaha."

Click.

Click.

'Click? Ah!' I put up my hand and screamed. "Wait!"

The little girl stopped. "What's the matter? If you're gonna beg, it's too late now." The little girl twirled her needles around and was getting ready to shoot it at me.

I panicked and said. "Let's talk a bit before you kill me."

The little girl tilted her head. "Talk?"

I nodded. "Ya. The three of us. You, me, and Mr. Bear."

The little girl placed her fingers at her lips and went silent. She looked as if she was listening to someone talking beside me.

I glanced at the mirrors. 'Why the heck is it taking so long to come out this time? Hurry your ass up already.'

The little girl chuckled. "Sorry, but that won't be necessary." She raised her weapon. "You were able to fool Master last time, but you won't be able to fool me."

I bend my knees, preparing to dodge her needles. Suddenly, the monster came out and smashed the little girl into the mirrors. The little girl had no time to react. She was slammed hard into the mirror. I saw her body twitching from the shock. Her bones were all broken into pieces, and her organs were ruptured. She couldn't move her body. I could see her blood dripping everywhere. The little girl stared at me. "Y-You-" She couldn't finish her sentence and died with her eyes open. I stood there like a statue, horrified by the scene. 'I didn't know a monster's slam could be that deadly.'

Rawwwrrrr~

The monster was still there. It raised its axe and roared. I shifted my focus onto the monster. I scanned its body from top to bottom. My face went pale when I saw the monster had a head and a tail like a bull with a human body. 'Is that a Minotaur?' I slowly moved away from the scene. As I moved back, I accidentally stepped on a stone and cracked it.

Crack.

'Crack?' I looked at my shoe and saw a stone. 'Where the heck did this stone come from? And now of all time?' The minotaur heard the crack and turned toward the sound. It saw me and exhaled. "Oh shit," I whispered. The minotaur roared and rushed toward me with its gigantic axe. I quickly grabbed the invisible cloak and wore it. The minotaur stopped and was confused. It looked everywhere for me, but there was no sign. The minotaur stomped in frustration and tried to swing its axe everywhere. I quickly sneaked past it and walked toward the little girl's dead body. I squatted in front of the little girl's body. I looked at the little girl's bloody body and nearly puked. I prayed for a bit and took her weapon from her.

Clink.

Small bits of glass dropped onto the floor. 'I was so careful... Oh, why...? Oh, my luck.' I cried internally. The minotaur heard the glass-dropping sound and stopped swinging his axe around and rushed toward me. It stood right in front of me and looked around. The minotaur stomped its feet in anger. The ground vibrated, and I nearly lost my balance. It squatted down and stared at the fallen glass. It tilted and scratched its head. Then, it looked up and stared into the empty space. My heart nearly leapt out when it looked up and stared at me. 'Oui... This isn't good for my tiny heart.' The minotaur blew his nose before it stood up.

Fsshh...

The cloak nearly flew off. I hold onto the cloak as tight as possible. 'Luckily, I caught the cloak in time.' I looked up and saw the minotaur slowly walked into the mirror. All the fatigue built up till now was instantly blown away. My hands and legs were shaking as I dropped onto the ground and let out a big sigh. "OH MY GOD! That was so scary. I was so close to losing my life. Oui. My head hurts." I looked at the big screen above. More than half the contestants were wiped out. "I'll be glad if I make it out of here alive." I looked at the little girl's body. "Oh, right. The punishment. Argh!" I laid on the ground. "I'm so damn tired. I can't move a muscle." Suddenly, I remembered those scary brutes, Mr. James summoned at the start of the game. "..." I gulped nervously. I leapt up and said. "This isn't the time to rest. Carry on!" I moved forward aimlessly, hoping I won't encounter any monster like the Minotaur or the Chimaera.

Step. Step.

"I walked for so long, but I couldn't find anything... All I could find were dead-ends... WHY!!!" I screamed in anger. I stomped on my foot. "Grr~, I feel like destroying this useless and irritating maze. Buwahhh!!!"

Wheeze. Wheeze.

I let out a big sigh. "Ugh... Why am I getting angry for? It's not like it's going to help me..." I drooped down and slowly walked around the maze till I found the centre of the maze or someone. As I turned a corner, my head smacked into something hard. "Ow! What did I just -" I moved back and heard something fell to the ground.

Bang!