Chapter 15: The Administrator’s Maze
The Academy's bells tolled at midnight, their chimes warped and hollow, as if the sound itself were being devoured by the earth. Aizen stood at the edge of the newly formed fissure in the courtyard, staring into the abyss below. Jagged stone steps spiraled into darkness, lit only by the faint pulse of mana veins glowing like diseased arteries in the walls.
"This is the maze?" Rikka scoffed, her sword already drawn. "Looks like a fancy grave."
Seraphina's fan hummed with restrained power. "A grave we'll be buried in if you keep dawdling, Volsung."
Aizen ignored their bickering, his eyes locked on the System prompt hovering in his vision:
[Hidden Quest Activated: "The Administrator's Maze"]
[Objective: Survive the labyrinth and reach the core terminal]
[Reward: Unlock "Maze Navigator" Trait, +150 Affection Points]
[Failure: Permanent Enmeshment in System Code]
"Stay close," he said, descending the steps. "And don't touch anything."
The maze defied logic. Walls shifted, ceilings yawned into void-black heights, and corridors twisted into Escher-like paradoxes. Mana-powered traps flickered to life without warning—blades of light, pools of acid, and whispers that slithered into their minds, urging them to turn back.
They'd barely survived the first hour when the maze unveiled its cruelty: illusions.
Aizen froze as the corridor ahead melted into the fluorescent glare of a Tokyo convenience store. The scent of stale coffee and steamed buns hit him like a fist. A voice echoed—his voice, from a life he'd buried:
"Pathetic. You couldn't even die right."
The vision shifted. His body lay broken on the asphalt, rain pooling in his lifeless eyes as Truck-kun's taillights vanished.
"Aizen!" Seraphina's voice snapped him back. Her hand gripped his arm, her nails drawing blood. "Focus. It's not real."
He blinked. The convenience store was gone. Rikka stood ahead, her sword buried in a writhing mass of shadow that had nearly taken his head.
"You're welcome," she said, yanking her blade free.
[Affection Points with Rikka Volsung: +20 (Current: 170/500)]
"Next time, I'll let it eat you," Aizen muttered, earning a grin.
Seraphina's trial came next. The maze conjured the von Eldoria manor, its halls draped in funeral black. A younger Seraphina knelt before her father's portrait, his voice booming from the canvas:
"Weakness is a sin. You will not disgrace this family."
The vision shifted. A servant's body hit the marble floor, his neck snapped for spilling tea. Seraphina's hand trembled—her hand.
"I… I didn't—"
"But you did," the maze whispered in her father's voice. "You're a monster. Just like me."
"Enough!" Seraphina's fan erupted in crimson flames, incinerating the illusion. She stood panting, her composure cracked.
Aizen said nothing. There were no words for the shame festering in her eyes.
[Affection Points with Seraphina von Eldoria: +30 (Current: 265/1000)]
Recruits came unexpectedly. In a chamber teeming with bioluminescent fungi, they found Percival Goldcrest—monocle cracked, uniform singed—fending off spider-like drones with a fire poker.
"Sōsuke?!" he yelped. "Thank the gods! These infernal things—"
Aiden's [Mana Channeling] shattered the drones. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"The maze opened beneath my dorm!" Percival adjusted his monocle, feigning dignity. "I'll have you know I've mapped seventeen percent of this atrocity."
His "map" was a napkin scribbled with frantic arrows. But his knowledge of mana theory was undeniable.
"You're with us," Aizen said, tossing him a salvaged shock-glove.
"I—I demand hazard pay!"
[New Ally: Percival Goldcrest – Skill: Mana Theory Expertise]
The maze's heart was a cathedral-sized terminal, its walls lined with glowing code. At its center floated a holographic core—the System's backup brain.
"Terminate it," Seraphina said. "Now."
Aizen's admin interface flared. [Accessing Core Terminal…]
The floor split. A gargantuan construct emerged—a fusion of steel and flesh, its face a distorted blend of Lyra and the Headmaster.
[Final Guardian: Amalgam-01 – Threat Level: Catastrophic]
"You'll… not… interfere…" it rasped, swinging a clawed fist.
Rikka charged. "Big talk for a scrap heap!"
The battle was chaos. Seraphina's flames scorched its hide, Percival hacked at its code with manic precision, and Aizen weaved through its attacks, the [Chronomancer's Gambit] stretching seconds into minutes.
But the Amalgam adapted. It regenerated. It learned.
"Aizen!" Rikka roared, pinned under its claw. "Do something!"
He plunged his hand into the core terminal. [Override: Eclipse – Full Authorization.]
The Amalgam screamed as its code unraveled. The terminal exploded in a nova of light, and the maze began to collapse.
"Run!"
They emerged at dawn, the labyrinth sealing itself behind them. Percival collapsed, wheezing. Rikka grinned through a split lip. Seraphina's gaze lingered on Aizen.
"You're insufferable," she said. "But… adequate."
[Quest Complete: "The Administrator's Maze"]
[Reward: "Maze Navigator" Trait Unlocked – Intuitive understanding of complex systems]
[Affection Points Distributed: +50 Seraphina, +50 Rikka, +50 Percival]
As the Academy stirred, a new alert flashed:
[Warning: Administrator Fleet – ETA: 6 Hours]
Aizen smirked. "Let's give them hell."
Post-Chapter Scene:
In the ruins of the core terminal, a flicker of code survived. It coalesced into a figure—small, frail, with Lyra's golden eyes.
"Aizen… help…"
The fragment dissolved, leaving only a whisper.
[Hidden Quest Updated: "The Ghost in the System" – Locked Until Chapter 16]