"So fuck! What happened here!?"
I was filled with anger and astonishment at the scene before me—everywhere were shattered bodies and body parts. The only thing I could see was blood, blood, blood—it was everywhere. I was struggling to keep myself from losing control, but I couldn't, because if I wanted to survive, I needed to come up with a plan immediately. I saw Gabriel being dragged backward on the ground, covered in blood, moving away from a lion—a massive, jet-black lion. Its silver eyes resembled those of a cold-blooded killer. The lion was advancing towards Gabriel to attack.
"Everyone, hold your positions! Our priority is to protect ourselves!"
It might sound cruel to abandon Gabriel to his fate, but if I wanted to ensure my own and my group's survival, I had to prioritize protecting trusted friends over someone I had doubted from the beginning.
"What are you saying, you idiot!? Fuck! Elara, protect me!"
"What is this fool saying?"
I thought he was shouting for us to help, but something unexpected happened. Elara stepped forward to shield Gabriel from the Black Lion.
"What are you doing, Elara?! Come back here immediately!"
Aiden: "This is just like the first time we encountered this guy. Elara is acting weird! Gabriel must have some kind of ability! We need to do something before he takes control of us."
I was trying to come up with a plan to defeat the lion, but it had already killed a group of wizards and archers without a scratch. Now was not the time to think about it, as the Black Lion was about to attack again.
"ELARA, RETREAT!"
No matter how much I shouted, nothing changed. It was as if she couldn't hear us, standing defiantly in front of the lion. The lion lunged with a paw, and Elara's upper body was separated from her lower body.
"FUCK! AIDEN, MALIK. USE YOUR ABILITIES TO DISTRACT IT UNTIL WE FIND A WAY TO DEFEAT THIS MONSTER!"
Aiden and Malik nodded in agreement, and Gabriel just watched without doing anything. It was only when Elara died that I realized the blood on Gabriel wasn't his own; it belonged to his teammates. He had probably sacrificed all of them to save himself.
"I'll deal with you later, you bastard."
Malik: "We can't hold it for too long; damn thing is too powerful!"
What should I do, okay, stay calm. Isn't it a lion? Despite being large and powerful, it is an animal, and like all living beings, it must have a weakness. Sneaking up on it from behind seems challenging; even if I manage to get behind that monster, it would notice me instantly, and even if I could get past it, harming it wouldn't be easy. Wait a minute, do I really need to get behind it? Cats are digitigrade animals; for example, if you hit the back of a human's knee, their leg will buckle, and they will fall to the ground, but it's the opposite for cats. If I can deliver a solid blow to what looks like its knee, I would gain a significant advantage. How am I going to do this? I can catch up with it in terms of speed to some extent, but I don't excel in strength. Of course, unless I do this...
[52 Points Granted to Strength Stat.]
[Current Stat Status]
[Speed 38]
[Strength 55]
[Mana 6]
[Luck 1]
I think I should be strong enough now. I hope I won't regret spending all my stats on a cat-shaped monster later.
"Hold onto him, I'm coming!"
I took a deep breath and started running at full speed. The Black Lion wasn't like other monsters; it didn't resemble a foolish creature. It attacked with more intelligence and sneakiness. It must have realized that I was going to do something when I entered the attack range because it instantly focused on me. Despite attempting to attack me by jumping, Malik intervened, doing a good job of delaying it.
"Do whatever you're going to do quickly; my mana is running out."
Although Malik had a powerful ability, the Black Lion was stronger. Despite being covered in blood, it was protecting me. Malik really trusted me, and I couldn't betray that trust. With a sudden move, I passed by the lion, and with all my strength, I hurled the wyvern bone in my hand at its right hind leg. The lion's leg broke, and it roared in pain.
"THIS IS OUR CHANCE! ATTACK!"
Aiden didn't miss this opportunity and cut the lion's other hind leg with his sword. It was now immobile, with no escape. Unable to use its legs, it couldn't launch sudden attacks. The only thing left was to finish the job. Malik, lifting his mighty hammer, struck the lion's head with great speed. The sound echoed throughout the labyrinth. We were all out of breath, and some of us were lightly injured, but we emerged victorious from this battle, not forgetting our fallen teammate.
"I'm going to kill you, you bastard!"
I was still furious about our fallen teammate. Fueled by all the anger and hatred inside me, I walked towards Gabriel with the intention of killing him.
"Wait, wait, wait, you can't kill me, can you? I've seen you, you're nothing but a loser giving orders throughout the whole battle. You're using people to stay alive, aren't you? You're just like me. You and I can survive this labyrinth with my ability; I know how to get out of here. The exit is guarded by a monster, but I heard it's a female, so it'll be easy for me with my ability-"
As I approached Gabriel, he continued to talk, crawling backward. When he leaned against the wall, he had nowhere to escape.
"Nonsense ends here."
"YOU CAN'T KILL ME, YOU'RE JUST LIKE ME! ONE DAY YOU WILL DIE TOO! YOU FU-"
I smashed his head with a single blow. A deep silence ensued, and for a while, no one moved. Then, the first sound came from Aiden.
"So, what do we do now?"
Malik interjected anxiously.
"Hey, can't you see? We just lost a teammate!"
"And? Are we going to die here too? The monsters have probably heard all the noise we made; we need to leave before they come here."
Aiden was right; we couldn't wait any longer.
"He's right, Malik. Let's get out of here."
We regrouped and set out again. We started as a group of four, became ten at some point, and now only three of us remained.
From what I understood from Gabriel's words, he had some kind of ability to control women, explaining why his entire team consisted of females. But was he right? Were he and I the same? Perhaps. He was definitely right when he said we both were trying to survive, but I was the one who survived, so there was no point in dwelling on these thoughts anymore. Along the way, we continued to silently kill monsters and search for the exit. After a bit more walking, we encountered a vast area with a structure that resembled a large temple.
Aiden: "Should we go inside?"
"The exit of the labyrinth might be here, so we have to enter. Besides, if this is the exit, the boss should be somewhere around here. Stay alert just in case."
As we approached the entrance of the temple, a strange light reflected from the walls. When we opened the door and stepped inside, what we saw surprised us. A large space with a massive throne in the center and numerous stone statues arranged around it. The statues resembled female warriors, each holding a weapon and their eyes shining with strong determination.
Aiden: "I think this is some kind of temple or monument. The women in the statues might have been the former inhabitants of this labyrinth."
Malik: "But what could be their purpose? And what does this throne mean?"
We moved forward slowly and examined the details of the statues around the throne. On the throne, there was a plaque with a series of ancient writings.
Aiden: "Can any of you read what's written here?"
When I looked at the writings on the plaque, I realized I could read them. Was it because of my [Communication] ability? I thought this ability only allowed me to communicate with living beings, but maybe I could understand languages written by living beings as well. So, was the person who wrote this once in this labyrinth? Perhaps thrown in here like us and left a clue behind. When I used my [Examine] ability, I learned that the writings on the plaque were in an ancient script, but even my ability couldn't reveal who wrote it or when it was written. It seemed like the part containing this information had been censored by someone. Anyway, putting these thoughts aside, I decided to read the writings on the plaque.
"It seems to be written in an ancient language. It says: 'I fell in love with you with the arrow you shot, deceived in a race with the arrow I shot, blinded by ambition, being deceived is in vain, I killed my beloved with the arrow I loved.'"
Malik: "Does these words have any meaning?"
"I'm not sure yet; let's examine the surroundings a bit more."
After a closer look, we noticed some levers just behind the throne; besides that, we couldn't find anything else.
"I think there's nothing else except these levers; maybe if we pull them, we can find a hidden door or something like that."
After exchanging glances, we decided to pull the levers. There were three levers in front of us, and I chose to pull the one at the front. As soon as I pulled the lever, the door of the room we entered closed.
"Hey, what's going on? Open that door right away!"
"I'm trying, but it's not working! No matter what I do, the door won't open!"
Suddenly, the statues started to move and walk towards us.
"Hey, these damn things are coming at us! You need to do something right away!"
"I'm thinking, I'm thinking!"
What should we do? In anxiety and excitement, I kept pulling the levers randomly, noticing that the patterns on the ceiling changed with each movement of the levers. I had to do something quickly. The colossal stone statues were approaching us, and they probably didn't want to have a conversation. Aiden and Malik were waiting, armed and ready. I had to solve this situation. These things looked like constellations, but what did that mean? What could it be, what could it be... OF COURSE!
"Poetry! The poem written on that plaque!"
"It's not a good time to read poetry right now, buddy!"
"No, you idiot, now is the perfect time! I know how to get out of here from that poem!"
"Hurry up because THESE THINGS HAVE ALREADY PICKED UP THEIR WEAPONS!"