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Chapter 45 - Chapter 44 Alma

[Isaac's Side]

The cold stone scraped against Isaac's skin as he groaned, his vision still swirling from the impact.

'What just happened…?'

His fingers clenched instinctively against the ground. That force—whatever it was—had blown him back with the intensity of a cannon blast. The last thing he remembered was Dan smashing through the wall…

Isaac staggered upright, rubbing his temples. "Did everyone get separated? Or is it just me…?"

He took a step forward—then froze.

Crack.

Pain exploded in his skull.

"Argh! My head—!" Isaac fell to one knee, gritting his teeth as the migraine drilled into his brain. It felt like his thoughts were being carved apart by glass.

Step.

The pain vanished, as if snapped away by an invisible thread. He opened his eyes.

A black boot.

Isaac's eyes followed it upward—his breath caught.

"Dan…?" he asked, but something was wrong. The figure before him wasn't the clumsy golden retriever he knew.

Dan raised his sword high, his grin twisted, almost playful.

"Dan? What are you doing? Are you okay?"

Dan's voice dripped with faux innocence. "Oh, I'm perfectly fine now."

No.

Isaac backed away.

"You… who are you?"

The thing wearing Dan's face chuckled, then slowly raised a single finger. With a casual swipe, it slit its body in half like paper.

The illusion fell apart.

Before him stood a gaunt man dressed in a sharp black suit, thick curls coiled atop his head like snakes. His eyes—slits of emerald with no warmth—glinted with cruel amusement.

"Let's drop the mask, shall we? I am Devo de Alma, but you may call me Alma."

He spread his arms, mocking a gentleman's bow.

"I am the highest-ranked Devo in Scorpion. It's a pleasure."

"Devo...?" Isaac murmured.

Alma's smirk widened. "Ah, I see you're curious. Then allow me to explain your doom."

He began pacing slowly, hands behind his back like a lecturer. "Scorpion operates on five layers. At the bottom? Us Devo—responsible for trash collection like this. Above us, COOP—the heart of our operations. Next, the Masters, ten monsters with distinct fighting styles. Above them stand the Left and Right Vons. And finally..."

Alma stopped and looked down on Isaac.

"The Grand Master. The one who puppeteers this entire twisted world."

Isaac remained calm, eyes sharpening.

"And I presume each of us got paired with a Devo before the maze began. You're here to eliminate us, aren't you?"

"Bingo!" Alma grinned. "You're sharper than your tiny limbs suggest."

He stepped forward, menace seeping from every motion.

"Now then, hand over your soul like a good boy. I promise, it'll only hurt a lot."

Isaac's smirk returned. "Maybe you should be the one worrying."

Alma frowned. "Huh?"

SHREEEE!

A shadow crashed down from above—razor claws glinting under dim torchlight.

A giant cicada, easily the size of a truck, screeched and sliced its forelegs toward Alma.

SLASH!

Blood sprayed.

Alma screamed as the cicada tore open his chest. He twisted back, dodging another strike.

"Where the HELL did this insect come from—?!"

Isaac didn't wait for an answer. With the precision of a veteran rogue, he darted past Alma while he was locked in combat.

His breathing was ragged, but his mind was sharp.

Dan… was a Devo all along. Bastard. All this time I thought he was just a meat-headed golden retriever…

The walls around him shimmered with an eerie sheen. The deeper into the maze he ran, the colder it got.

This maze is more than a test. It's a slaughterhouse.

Isaac narrowed his eyes.

I need to find the others. Before Alma does.

[Llyne's Side]

Blood soaked my clothes, weapons clanked on my back like trophies, and my boots squelched in a crimson trail.

"Oui… this place is SICK. I mean, monsters after monsters? I've gotten more weapons than a Black Market smuggler. But come on, not even one clue about the others?"

My shout echoed, swallowed by the maze's eerie silence.

Bloop.

Several skeleton warriors slid through the mirror walls, their bones clacking in rhythm. They raised rusted swords and marched toward me.

I stared at them in the dullest possible way. 

"I was calling for my friends, not your bony behinds."

They hissed, raising their rusted swords like they meant business.

I yanked a bomb from my belt—a relic from a goblin's stash—and lobbed it. The skeletons caught it, confused.

They circled around it, heads tilted, clearly trying to figure it out. 

"Idiots."

I flopped onto the floor and covered my ears.

BOOM!

Bones showered around me.

I stood, brushing a femur off my shoulder. "Easy peasy."

I had barely moved five steps forward when I noticed something bounce out of a mirror.

Boing.

A small green slime, barely the size of my palm, hopped into view. It chirped softly, staring at a blank wall.

A slime? Looks harmless.

Boing. Boing. Boing.

I approached it like one would a stray cat and gave it a gentle poke.

"Hey, little fella."

"?!"

The slime flinched. "Blu!" It faceplanted into the floor.

"Whoa—you good?" I scooped it up gently, cradling it in my palm like a baby chick. It wiggled, trembling.

I giggled and stroked its head with my pinky. "That tickles, huh?"

Suddenly, the slime froze.

"Hmm?" I poked again.

The slime looked up, eyes brimming with watery panic. "Bluuuuuu!!"

It leapt off my hand and splatted on the ground.

"AH! Did you die?!" I cried out.

Pop. It bounced back to form.

"Ah… thank God."

I picked it up again.

"Hey, I've got a favor. I'm lost. My friends—poof, gone. Could you help me find them?"

The slime tilted its head. Then it puffed its chest.

"Blu!"

I grinned. "You'll help? Awesome!"

I placed it atop my head. "Okay, slime compass. Lead the way!"

The slime nodded with determination.

[Rona's Side]

Ronald slammed his fist into the wall. "AARGH!"

The maze twisted again. No matter which path they chose, they always ended back at the same cursed fork.

Meanwhile, Rona sat cross-legged, happily chewing on dried monster meat.

"This place is cursed!" Ronald growled, collapsing to the floor. Rona waddled over and patted his head with her sticky hand.

He froze. "…You're right. Violence won't solve anything."

He closed his eyes to meditate, trying to control his rage. Rona's eyes, however, blinked as she caught something—

A soft crying.

"Hm? Rona hears a girl crying..."

She turned toward the dark fork that hadn't been there before.

"Rona don't see anything…"

Her gaze flicked to Ronald, still meditating.

He won't notice if Rona leaves for just a bit. Rona will help the crying girl and come back super fast.

Rona hopped into the darkness.

She never noticed the way the shadows shifted after she passed, or the malevolent shape that slithered behind her with a grin full of jagged teeth.

[Ronald's side]

"Mmm... peaceful…" he sighed.

Silence.

"Right, Rona?"

Silence.

"...Rona?"

He turned.

Nothing.

"RONAAAA!!"

His heart exploded in panic and he blacked out.

He awoke seconds later, shaking. "No time to faint! I need to find her—!"

His foot landed in something sticky.

"Huh?" He looked down. A trail of half-dried goo.

Rona's snack.

"This smell… That's the stuff Rona was eating earlier…"

He turned.

A path that hadn't existed before. A fork in the wall.

His instincts screamed.

"...So the maze moved again. Or someone made it move."

Ronald clenched his fists.

"I promised I'd protect her. So even if she's gone to the abyss, hell, or wherever—"

He took a deep breath.

"I'm going after her."

Step by step, Ronald vanished into the darkness.

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