"Welcome to—the Labyrinth of Domination!"
"Ladies and gentlemen! Don't hold back your gasps and applause!
"What you see before your eyes is the most magnificent creation of this century—built by the greatest magician, Vill-V herself, who spent three whole days crafting the most dangerous, durable, and entertaining maze in history!"
Vill-V's voice echoed through the loudspeakers.
The Herrscher of Dominance's first instinct was to destroy it.
However, when their attacks landed on the broadcasting devices, they were shocked to discover—it had no effect whatsoever.
"H-How… how is this possible?!"
The Herrscher of Dominance were completely thrown off.
Even if their offensive power was weak compared to other Herrschers, they were still Herrschers. How could they fail to destroy something as trivial as a speaker?
"Hehehe~! It's useless~ Destruction of the Labyrinth itself is prohibited! Not that it matters, anyway—this entire structure is made entirely of soulium. There's no way you, whose individual output doesn't even reach 1000 HW, could ever hope to damage it."
Vill-V's smug laughter carried on through the maze.
A massive labyrinth constructed wholly from soulium—this creation made Mei sigh in exasperation, while Mobius seethed in envy. After all, this level of extravagance was simply… too much!
"Now then, allow me to introduce the rules of the Labyrinth of Domination! All seven hundred seventy-nine of you Herrscher of Dominance have already been distributed throughout the maze."
"You cannot fly, dig, or break walls!"
"Your objective: Elias is located at the very center of the maze. Try to find him."
"But be warned—our hunters are ready as well. They've already entered the maze. If you happen to run into one of them… well, I don't think I need to explain what happens next."
Vill-V's excited voice reverberated across the labyrinth.
At this moment, Elysia, Sakura, Hua, Mobius, Kevin, Kalpas, Kosma, and Su were already within the Labyrinth of Domination as well. The Flame-Chasers were fired up, itching for action.
They could hardly wait to meet the Herrscher of Dominance in a battle of thrill and surprise!
In contrast, the Herrscher of Dominance were drenched in cold sweat—though one of them tried to stay composed.
"I-it's fine, I know how mazes work! If you start with one hand on a wall and never let go, you'll eventually find the exit!"
"Oh? This Herrscher seems knowledgeable. But unfortunately, I'm the great inventor of the savior—the greatest magician of this century! You think I'd make something that simple?"
Vill-V waved her hand dramatically.
"The Labyrinth of Domination constantly changes and rebuilds itself!"
In the next second, the Herrscher of Dominance froze as the walls around them began to move, shift, and reshape like living things. The paths they had memorized just moments ago were completely rearranged—in front of them, where there were once two paths, now there were three…
"So then, where's the exit to this maze…?"
"Exit? Such a thing doesn't exist~ This is a labyrinth with no exit!"
"!!!"
"Enjoy yourselves! You'll be running through this maze endlessly—until the last of you falls!"
Vill-V's words sent a chill down every Herrscher's spine. After all, what could be more terrifying than an inescapable labyrinth—and death lurking around every corner?
The Herrscher of Dominance went mad, pouring their full strength into attacking the soulium walls. Those who could fly rammed themselves against the ceiling panels—but their meager Honkai energy could do nothing.
Even the most basic soulium material required at least 3000 HW of Honkai energy to damage.
And then…
"Found you, Herrschers!"
"Eeeek!!" ×5
Five of the Herrscher of Dominance had the worst luck—they had just encountered the most terrifying hunter in the labyrinth.
From around the corner emerged a masked figure—his entire body wrapped in roaring red flames. A mad king of fire, exuding bloodlust.
The sight alone nearly scared the five Herrschers' souls right out of their bodies.
"This isn't a battle—it's a hunt! Now, Herrschers, run with everything you've got! Hahahahahahaha—!!"
Kalpas' blazing flames melted the soulium walls that even the Herrscher of Dominance couldn't scratch.
Four of them immediately turned and ran without hesitation—but one stubborn fool, whose ability was ice generation, foolishly charged straight at Kalpas.
Kalpas was amused. A Herrscher that not only refused to flee, but dared to strike back?
He casually melted the fragile ice and grabbed the Herrscher's neck with his burning hand.
"That's it? With this insect-level power, you thought you could assassinate Elias? Ridiculous! Absolutely ridiculous! Come on! Show me your dying struggle!"
"D-Don't you dare! I-I'm a Herrscher! I'm super scary!" ε(┬┬﹏┬┬)3
"Herrschers? You face me—Kalpas! I am the approaching calamity! I am the end itself! Hahahahahahaha—!!"
Kalpas rampaged through the maze, his laughter echoing like thunder.
The Herrscher in his grasp was already reduced to ash by the mad king's flames. Turning toward the fleeing enemies ahead, Kalpas' grin widened beneath his mask.
"Run, run as far as you can, Herrscher of Dominance—but every place you flee to will become nothing but ashes!"
...
Meanwhile, in the cozy villa at the center of the maze—
Elias sat comfortably on a sofa alongside Vill-V and Mei, watching the live broadcast. Each of them held a bucket of popcorn, happily munching away.
"Oh? Kalpas got the first kill."
"Looks like he's having a blast," Mei remarked.
"Of course he is. This maze is his dream hunting ground." Elias grinned, glancing at the 65-inch screen before them.
The thrill of discovering prey.
The excitement of the chase.
The satisfaction of crushing it at the end!
This battlefield suited Kalpas perfectly—he was clearly enjoying every moment.
At the same time, the other Flame-Chasers had started making their moves as well. The moment they encountered the Herrscher of Dominance, the outcome was already decided—death.
Because this wasn't a war, nor a mission of extermination.
It was a hunt. A game.
If all they wanted was to wipe out the Herrscher of Dominance quickly, Elias could've simply asked Vill-V to take a more efficient approach.
For instance, they could've placed a massive nuclear bomb on this island and detonated it remotely once the Herrschers got close, blowing them—and the island—sky-high.
Then Elias could've just watched from afar and asked the iconic question: "Why is the island flying?"
The reason they didn't do that was simple—by the time they found out, Vill-V had already finished most of the Labyrinth of Domination. Tearing it down would've been a waste of time and resources.
But the real reason?
Elias wanted to have fun.
"I've fought for so long," Elias said. "Can't I just enjoy myself for once?"
And he wasn't the only one who thought so. Once everyone heard about Vill-V's design, they were all eager to join in.
A labyrinth hunting game—with Herrschers as the prey? Just hearing it made their hands itch with excitement! For once, the tables had turned: those who had long terrorized humanity would now experience true despair.
"Oh? Everyone's smiling."
"Of course. It's the first time we've gotten Herrscher kills in ages. They may be weak, but a Herrscher's still a Herrscher," Mei replied.
Elias took a big gulp of soda. Though Eden's fine wines were displayed right before him, nothing hit quite like a chilled bottle of carbonated happiness at a time like this.
"Hm? Su and Kevin ran into each other? Wait—what?! They're fighting over kills?!"
Elias quickly zoomed in the feed.
On-screen, Kevin and Su—two brothers-in-arms—were each chasing three Herrschers through the maze. Then, turning a corner, they ran straight into each other.
And the moment their eyes met—
"Ice Burst—Freeze!"
"Kevin, you bastard!!"
Su reacted a second too late, forced to watch as that white-haired husky unleashed a wave of freezing cold that encased all six of the nearby Herrschers in solid ice—only for it to shatter moments later into glittering frost.
All that remained were six small Herrscher Cores on the ground.
"%￥#@!%￥!"
Even with Su's normally good temper, he had the sudden urge to give Kevin a good beating for stealing his kills.
Thanks to Elias' interference in the original sequence of events, Kevin hadn't turned into the deranged, hollow version of himself—he was still a bright, cheerful young man. And Su, instead of being the calm, half-monk philosopher of the Elysian Realm, had kept his playful, easygoing personality.
After all, anyone who could get along with Kevin probably wasn't very serious either…
"Hahaha! Sorry, Su! I didn't mean to take them all out at once. How about we team up? You handle detection, I'll handle the killing—we'll be super efficient!" Kevin grinned, throwing an arm around Su's neck.
"Get off! Kevin, stay away from me!"
A vein bulged on Su's forehead as he shoved the husky away. Does this idiot even hear himself?! Though… a 70-30 split might not be the worst idea. If I take 70 and he takes 30…
Truth be told, perception-type MANTIS like Su had the advantage in this labyrinth. Not only could he map out the nearby terrain, but he could also detect the presence of Herrschers across a wide range.
That was why, at the moment, Hua actually held the most kills.
Su might not have many direct offensive skills, but working with Kevin was still a loss—he could kill faster alone!
However, while Kevin might be a bit of an airhead, a Kaslana's stupidity often came with flashes of dangerous cleverness.
An idea struck him. Kevin immediately began following right behind Su.
"Su, my dear brother, whether I get MVP or not this time… depends entirely on you."
"Kevin, are you even human?"
"Aw, don't say that! We're brothers in arms, right? You detect, I kill—division of labor! With teamwork, we'll be number one together! Isn't that perfect? Besides, I know your detection range is even bigger than Hua's~."
Kevin spoke shamelessly, blasting another few Herrschers ahead of them into oblivion.
"..."
Su's eye twitched violently. He really wanted to hit him.
If he wasn't trying to save time—or if he had any chance of winning a direct fight against this husky—he'd absolutely take Kevin down first.
"Fine. Fifty-fifty split on kills."
"Seventy-thirty. I take seventy."
"Kevin, watch your back."
Su took a deep breath, deciding not to stoop to the husky's level. He'd just ditch him at the next turn.
But at that moment, something caught his attention.
"Hm? Kevin, where's the Judgment of Shamash?"
"..."
"Elias said he wasn't joining this time, so the weapon should be with you, right? Why haven't you used it yet?"
The massive sword's full power was probably overkill, but in handgun mode it would've been perfect for fighting in the labyrinth.
Given what Su knew of Kevin, there was no way this guy would pass up the chance to turn the maze into a live-action FPS game. Yet so far, he'd only been using ice powers.
"..."
"Kevin? Why aren't you saying anything?"
Su's eyes narrowed, noticing Kevin's frozen posture—literally frozen, like he'd turned to ice himself. A bad feeling rose in Su's gut.
"I… lost it."
"What?"
"The Judgment of Shamash… I lost it…"
Kevin looked away, sweat dripping from his forehead.
"You… lost the Judgment of Shamash?!"
"Shh!! Keep it down! Don't shout! I didn't mean to! It was still with me when I left earlier today, but when I came to my senses, it was just… gone."
"…And yet you still have the mood to play?"
Su sighed, both speechless and vaguely impressed. This idiot's nerves were made of steel.
"Ahem, we live once—we should enjoy ourselves, right? I'll just… find it later. Uh, Su, you think Elias will kill me when he finds out?"
Kevin scratched his head nervously.
Truth be told, he was panicking inside—but what good would that do now? Fortunately, all Divine Keys were equipped with trackers these days. They could definitely recover it.
What Kevin really feared was that Elias would never let him borrow the Judgment of Shamash again. That would truly break his heart.
Besides, he was convinced someone had stolen it—someone familiar. There was no way he could've just "lost" a Divine Key that Elias had entrusted to him!
The husky's eyes narrowed suspiciously toward his good buddy, but he quickly dismissed the thought. He knew Su's moral standards were too high for something like that. No—this had to be the handiwork of someone from Mei's team!
"As long as you apologize sincerely, Elias might forgive you," Su said. "But… Vill-V definitely won't."
"Ah, crap…"
"Yeah. You'd better watch out for your next mission loadout. There might be a little 'surprise' waiting for you—like a self-detonating bomb or something."
Su patted Kevin's shoulder with a smirk, clearly enjoying his friend's misery.
"Damn it! Whoever stole the Shamash, if I ever find out who you are, I swear I'll make you taste my fist the size of a boulder!"
"Heh, maybe it was Prometheus. You know, since it's fire and all…"
"Bullshit! Prometheus is still at HQ covering Mei's night shifts! Ughhh, Shamash… my precious Shamash… how am I supposed to live without you?!"
Kevin's grief-stricken wails echoed through the labyrinth, before he vented all that frustration on the nearby Herrscher of Dominance.
Su could only sigh helplessly—this husky wasn't even honoring their 70-30 deal anymore! Kevin was slaughtering everything in sight, not leaving a single kill behind!
"That's it! We're done! From now on, we're going our separate ways!"
...
Five minutes after the hunt began—
The number of Herrschers had already dropped from seven hundred seventy-nine to four hundred eighty-eight.
No matter how hard they tried to group up, cooperate, or strategize, in the face of the Flame-Chasers' overwhelming strength, there was simply no room to resist.
Some Herrschers attempted to self-destruct their Cores, hoping to take their hunters down with them—but…
Vill-V's voice rang out once more through the maze: "Additional rule~ No Herrscher Core self-destruction allowed within the Labyrinth of Domination! I don't care if you all die, but not a single Core is to be damaged! I'll need those later to forge Divine Keys for Elias. So… Imaginary Interferometer—activate!"
The next instant, a special anti-Herrscher system previously installed in The Deep End came online. The Imaginary Interferometer released a unique electromagnetic field that disrupted the connection between the Herrscher Cores and Imaginary Space.
By distorting the "channel" linking the two, it forced the Honkai energy inside their bodies into disarray—effectively preventing them from compressing that energy to trigger self-destruction.
Mei's calm, cold voice followed: "Trying the same trick again? Honkai, you're far too naive."