Into The Labyrinth

Arc still held off on giving Tetsuro an answer and focused instead on amassing as many coins as he could before the time of the fateful crossroad.

While he didn't have much trouble with most of his event missions that consisted mainly of menial labour and some other minor tasks, the mission of playing cupid was still sitting in his system, uncleared.

It's not that he completely ignored the mission though— In fact, ignoring it was hardly an option as the alternative was being constantly teased by I, the mission simply proved rather difficult.

It's been several days since he was assigned that mission, and a mentally exhausted Arc was currently working in the mines.

"Hey, I... I give up, seriously"

[Here we go again]

"I've tried everything— locking them in the same room, having them run into each other in the bath, the 'accidental' wall slam, everything I can think of. Seriously, them being childhood friends just makes it unfair"

[From where I'm standing, you're not trying hard enough. Maybe because you lik—]

"Do not finish that sentence"

Arc retorted, exercebated as he was pushing a cart full of ore by himself.

"PRISONER 11036! COME HERE AS WELL!"

He turned to check the prison guard calling out to him. It was the one he met on his first day here— The one who made a show of authority by killing one of Rei's comrades and also hit her with a baton.

He headed over, curious as to the reason for his summon as well as why this man who he's never seen at the mines before was here today.

"Follow me, all of you!"

Turns out, he wasn't the only one summoned. Around him was Alfred, Junpei, Yuki and Rei. They arrived at the entrance to a tunnel at a location of the prison Arc and his companions were unfamiliar with. The guard turned to face them with gusto

"Listen up, maggots! Control discovered an anomaly somewhere in this tunnel so we'll be heading to scout it out! You maggots will accompany me and my partner here...."

The prison guard standing next to him waved slightly

".....Any questions?!"

Yuki raised his hand and started talking before the guard even had a chance to call him.

"What is our role here supposed to be? Why do you want Prisoners to accompany you to an uncertain location?"

The creepy smile on the guard's face as he replied sent a chill down everyone's spine

"As meat shields, obviously...."

GASP

"...If there's something dangerous lurking in there, your job is to die so we can escape"

Yuki instinctively held Rei, sensing she was about to lash out. The guard continued

"And before you even think about trying any funny business, I'll let you in on a little secret— All your collars are linked to the ygg of we prison guards, you could say we're your lifeline of sorts"

He raised up a finger

"It receives a pulse from a nearby guard every hour on the hour, and if there's no guard within 50 ft of you on the hour, KABOOM!"

His sudden outburst startled Arc. The others seemed mostly unfazed— more angry than anything

".....So if you try running away or any other funny business, you will die, have I made myself clear?!"

His question was met with silence from the crowd. Angrily, he struck the prisoners with a lightning based spell then asked again

"HAVE I MADE MYSELF CLEAR?!"

"Yes..."

"WHEN I ASK YOU A. QUESTION YOU SAY YES SIR! "

"Yes Sir... "

The crowd retorted sarcastically. This infuriated the man even more but his companion held him on the shoulder, smiling shyly

"That's enough Greg, Let's go"

"Don't tell me what to do, Klaus! These fools deserve punishme—"

"Did you forget who's in charge here?"

His receptive smile was suddenly replaced by a cold, piercing gaze and a commanding aura exuding from his person— one that figuratively froze the blood of Greg and the prisoners solid.

"I'm.... sorry, sir"

Greg said, almost cowering. Klaus returned to his usual smile and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Glad to see you thinking rationally again. C'mon, let's go"

Klaus said, walking towards the tunnel and the others reluctantly followed suit

"That aura....I thought the bulky prison guard was the one in charge here, turns out it's the scrawny, weak looking one. Looks really can be deceiving"

Arc thought to himself

[Yes. That guy is probably Slayer Class— probably Slayer 2 or 3. If you fight him now without your disaster classes, you're as good as dead]

"Yeah.... That we can agree on"

Arc followed behind, into the dark tunnel full of dust and cobwebs for some reason

[This must've been a secret passageway, although from the looks of it, I'm guessing no one's used it in a long time]

They kept moving, each fork in the road resembling the last and the entrance getting further and further away.

Forget tunnel, this was a labyrinth— long and confusing as a maze, but spacious and full of traps at every turn. It would've been like a fun dungeon exploring quest if they weren't being used as meat shields for the traps the guards failed to avoid.

Eventually, they made it to a fork in the tunnel

"Left or Right?"

Greg asked. Klaus pointed his finger at one of the paths and did "ini mini maini mo" between the two tunnels eventually landing his finger on the left.

"I'll take the left, you take right"

"B-But, shouldn't we stick together?"

"I'll leave you with three meat shields, while those two, come with me"

He said, pointing at Yuki and an injured Junpei. Arc squeezed his fist, holding back his anger over the way those guards were treating them like disposable tools

[Don't do anything stupid, you fool. You can't beat him right now and besides, you've done well to hide your abilities till now. Don't mess up just because of some comments]

"But...."

[But nothing! Didn't you say you wanted to return to that child? Don't throw it all away now]

Arc silently held back his frustration and followed Greg and the other two prisoners down the right path.

It was at that moment he made up his mind. He was going to escape from this place with the onis, and Baldur will answer for their crimes.

****************

Several Kilometers away from the Mines— Craig's Hunter Platoon

The revving engine of the Humvee echoed across the silent wasteland, it's tyres speeding through the dirt and exhaust fumes indifferent from the dust blowing through the air.

"Damn, what a sight"

The driver said, admiring the expert level work crafted into the view. The wasteland may have been silent and barren, but it wasn't empty.

Infact, it was filled to the brim with corpses— Oni corpses. Their dismembered parts randomly decorated the scenery while most of them were still intact.

The defeated, disembered onis were the work of several hunters of different grades and classes. However, the ones still left intact were the work of one man...

The man who sat atop the mountain of corpses the trail of intact onis led to....

"You're late, driver"

.... Master 3 Hunter from the Cradle, Craig Ryder.

As the cradle's hunter leaped off the corpses and into the car, the driver noticed there were more than just onis in that mountain— there were also different beasts and monsters.

"You had to fight tamers too? Sounds rough"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Craig retorted, with a light hearted air around him.

"Well, when fighting against a squad with a tamer, you're usually at a disadvantage since tamers can provide a wider range of support to warriors while also having their beasts replenish the ygg of mages"

"Oh, that's what you meant"

"That and you can't tame worth a damn, haha"

"Hey!"

Craig retorted, playfully ruffling the hair of the driver who was still driving

"You're going to cause an accident"

"Oh, sorry...."

He got his hands off and continued

"..... It's just, your hairs so soft I couldn't help myself"

"Words like that will make everyone think you're gay. It's no wonder you haven't gotten laid yet"

That statement hit Craig like an arrow through his heart which was reflected on his dejected expression.

"Seriously, why do all the ladies hate me?"

"So, where are we going?....."

The driver asked, skillfully changing the subject.

".... You wouldn't have called me out here just for laughs. What did you mess up this time?"

His face looked even more dejected

"C'mon!"

"Well.... You see..... There appears to be a secret passageway past this mountain"

"And? We don't have authorization to go in there"

"Well.... I might've gotten a little carried away in my fight and gotten a little bit careless, so...."

The driver stared at Craig intently who nervously avoided making eye contact

"... A couple of enemy beasts might've escaped into that passage"

"WHAT?!"

"Please don't tell anyone. If Mika finds out I was careless, my sweet promotion will go bye bye"

"Rules are rules, it's the problem of this world's owner now. Besides, she won't be so drastic just because a couple of low level mobs just happened to run free"

"Ha....ha.....ha....."

The short, dejected breaths of laughter Craig retorted with told him they were definitely not low level at all. He faceplamed and sighed

"Sigh, alright, let's go"

"Thank—"

The driver flicked him on the forehead

"Seriously, one would've assumed you learnt your lesson after letting that Oni scar you two months ago"

************

The Labyrinth

On the right path, deep in a dark enclave

"Gahhhhh"

Greg had fallen prey to an super fast creature bouncing through the room with the walls as a foothold and died instantly.

It was so fast for the naked eye to see but Rei and Alfred assumed a fighting stance prepare to stake their lives. However, Arc was calm.... After all—

"A tier 13 elastic bat"

He knew exactly what it was, and how to avoid it. Their team was rather lucky— well, at least luckier than the folks on the left path

Over on the left path, injured Yuki and Junpei were frozen in fear—

The cold air surrounding them, the corpse of the prison guard Klaus right before their feet and most importantly, the thing approaching them, fiercely stalking it's prey .

A tier 10 beast, ready to pounce