The person attacked Ryo, but Ryo easily dodged and flipped backward.
"Who are you?"
Yui: "Wait, Zalarosa, he's not an enemy!"
Zalarosa (still gripping her sword): "Are you sure?"
Yui: "With all your mind, do you really think a kid under fifteen would be able to face us?"
Zalarosa: "Even if he's a child, caution is still necessary."
After a while, Zalarosa was convinced that Ryo wasn't a threat. Then Ryo gave them food, but they pounced on him like wild beasts.
Ryo didn't mind and kept uncovering some things.
Ryo: "System, that guardian… how could its charged attack shake the entire floor?"
System: "Reason: That guardian is the protector of the maze, and also of this floor. The core of this floor created it. Every time the guardian charges its attack, it consumes a huge amount of energy from the floor's core, causing some tremors because of the heavy energy consumption. Also, the maze is currently fragmented."
Ryo: "What about Yui's attack? It was unbelievably strong."
System: "Yui's attack was indeed strong but not strong enough to break the wall between the two floors. You know, each floor in the maze is like an independent dimension, and the walls are barriers between dimensions. With her current power, Yui cannot break through that barrier."
Ryo: "Then how did her attack just now penetrate the wall?"
System: "As I mentioned earlier, the maze is currently fragmented and its full energy is concentrated in one place rather than being spread across all floors and walls. Because of this, the maze has started weakening and tries to find a suitable shape. The wall Yui attacked held no energy—it was worn down and about to collapse eventually. Yui only accelerated its destruction, and her attack came from the Great Fire Spirit, which gave it that immense power."
Ryo activated his spirit eye "Regan," and indeed found that the walls on this floor had no energy and were dilapidated. In a few years, they would collapse along with the floor.
Ryo: "Poor maze… it will collapse soon."
System: "The maze will not collapse as long as you are alive."
Ryo: "What do you mean?"
System: "It is true the maze has become an independent entity from you, but it still needs your energy to avoid total collapse. Also, the reason you can't use all your skills at full power is partly because you slowed down time around Yui and Zalarosa and haven't canceled it yet, which drains your energy. Secondly, the maze itself, now an independent entity, wants more energy to create a new form, so it's draining a lot of your energy."
Ryo: "How? Isn't it independent of me? Shouldn't it get energy from other sources?"
System: "The maze is independent of you, yes, but your energy is vast enough to cover a whole planet. Natural energy sources on the planet aren't sufficient to maintain the maze's continuous change. So, the maze hasn't cut its energy connection with you completely—there's still a thread it draws from. If you try to cut this thread, it would be disastrous because the maze will go into a frenzy. The maze's spirit won't maintain its form and will keep absorbing the planet's energy, but that won't be enough. It might start consuming the entire planet until nothing remains. Over time, it could take on a human form and begin devouring planets, growing into a new creature that consumes solar systems and galaxies. Eventually, it might create multiple universes, timelines, and new worlds inside its floors, which are separate dimensions—effectively crafting independent new worlds beyond the systems of this universe."
Ryo: "That's a real disaster. So I have to keep giving it my energy?"
System: "Your energy is finite. If it runs out, the maze will consume you and then start eating planets, then galaxies, and possibly an entire universe in the future."
Ryo: "So what can we do?"
System: "Leave it to fate. There's nothing we can do. Also, the maze won't kill you easily. It knows that if you die, it dies too, even if it's an independent entity."
Yui: "Ryo, come here quickly."
Ryo: "Okay, I'm coming... We'll talk later, System."
System: "As you wish."
To be continued...