Apocalypse Baby

Ella froze.

A violent shiver ran down her spine as she snapped her head toward the sound.

Nothing.

Just the dark, twisted walls of the maze.

Her breathing quickened.

Freya, noticing the druid's sudden distress, leaned in:

"What's wrong?"

Ella's lips barely moved as she whispered:

"I heard a voice."

Freya's brows furrowed, her heart hammering at the words.

A voice?

But she hadn't heard anything.

Was it a trick of the mind? Or something worse?

Ella shook her head, trying to convince herself.

"Maybe I was mistaken."

Her voice wavered.

But then she took a step forward—

WIEEEEE!

A piercing shriek ripped through the maze.

Freya's body locked up.

The sound was so sharp, so unnatural, it felt like knives stabbing into their skulls.

Ella, Jeremy, and Freya clutched their ears, wincing.

And just as suddenly as it came—

Silence.

Jeremy whirled around, his voice edged with alarm.

"What the hell was that?!"

Ella froze.

A cold, sickening feeling crawled up her spine.

Something was moving.

Beneath her feet.

It wriggled.

Ella's gaze snapped downward and her breath hitched.

A face.

Plastered onto the ground.

Its eyes were wide with terror, mouth frozen in a silent scream.

She let out a bloodcurdling shriek, stumbling backward and crashing onto the cold stone floor.

Freya's entire body locked up.

Her heartbeat pounded in her ears, an erratic drumbeat of fear.

What… what is that?!

Then Freya saw.

A flicker of movement.

Behind them.

Her breath caught in her throat as she slowly turned and saw shrouded figures.

Standing motionless at a distant corner of the maze.

Featureless. Faceless. Watching.

*

Meanwhile...

One of Alex's clones darted through the twisting corridors.

Arrows whizzed past him. Blades swung from hidden slots in the walls.

Landmines? Avoided.

His inhuman speed kept him ahead of every trap.

But then he reached a dead end.

He skidded to a stop.

Crap.

Just as he turned to retreat—

THOOM!

A stone wall slammed down behind him, sealing the path.

Alex's clone gritted his teeth.

The wall in front of him wasn't just a dead end.

It was alive.

Rows of grinding teeth jutted out from the stone, gnashing together in a slow, relentless churn.

The monstrous wall lurched forward.

Crap.

He thrust his hand forward and snapped

BOOM!

An explosion erupted on the wall.

Dust and debris burst into the air, shattering some of the grinding teeth.

But more teeth grew in their place.

The wall kept coming.

Alex's eyes darkened but then he stood firm.

No more holding back.

The grinding wall of teeth lurched closer, its jagged edges gleaming under the twin moons' eerie glow.

He raised both hands, sparks of energy crackling between his fingers.

Explosions lined the entire wall.

One by one.

Each charged to the max.

This was it.

If he miscalculated, there was a high chance he'd be shredded.

But that didn't matter.

He smirked, watching the swirling orange smoke of his explosives in this colorless, lifeless maze before he died was certainly worth it.

With a sharp snap of both arms, he detonated the blasts.

KA-BOOOOM!

A deafening explosion erupted.

The tunnel shook violently.

A shockwave ripped through the air, sending chunks of stone flying in every direction.

A blinding flash of fire and dust filled the space.

The grinding teeth? Gone.

The wall? Obliterated.

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Chunks of stone and teeth scattered in every direction.

But, Alex's clone was gone.

Even with his barrier up, the force was too much.

Yet, in his final moment, he saw something.

A hole.

A massive gap was torn into the moving wall, its once impenetrable structure now broken.

Then there was darkness.

Alex, still seated at the starting line, suddenly grinned.

The knowledge from his clone rushed back into him.

He chuckled, eyes gleaming.

"Oh… so that can work."

He'd found his path.

Straight ahead.

Alex rose to his feet, eyes locked on the towering wall before him.

His hand lifted, fingers steady as he conjured multiple explosion disks in the air.

One after another, they lined up in a deadly sequence, glowing with raw energy.

But he wasn't done.

He amped them up, pouring power into each disk until they hummed with intensity, their edges crackling with unstable force.

Then he stepped back.

One.

Two.

Three.

He kept moving until his back pressed against the invisible barrier that trapped him inside the maze.

With a deep breath, he summoned [Aegis Arcane].

A shimmering, translucent shield unfolded around him like an indestructible shell.

He exhaled.

And snapped.

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

The explosions erupted in a chain reaction, each detonation sending shockwaves through the maze.

Flames roared upward.

The entire structure shook violently.

Shattered stone and metal launched in every direction, like razor-sharp projectiles.

But inside his Aegis Arcane shield, Alex stood firm, untouched as the force of the blast rushed past him, a furious windstorm of destruction.

As the dust settled, he lowered his shield, a smirk tugging at his lips.

"That should do it."

The smoke cleared.

And then he saw it.

Not just a hole.

A massive opening, carved clean through the towering wall, stretching upward like a doorway to the sky.

Alex's grin widened.

"I guess my path is indeed straight."

The walls around the hole quivered, cracks pulsing with energy as they slowly began to mend.

But not fast enough.

Not fast enough to stop him from walking through.

Without hesitation, Alex strode forward, his boots crunching over bits of shattered stone.

As he was about to reached the opening, he lifted his hand again.

Another explosion disk formed, glowing ominously against the next wall ahead.

He was about to snap his fingers, but then...

He felt it.

A shift in the air.

Unnatural. Wrong.

Alex's instincts flared.

His body tensed.

Slowly, he turned his head—

And there it was.

An undead vendor.@@novelbin@@

No longer grinning.

The hollow amusement in its skeletal face was gone, replaced by something... else.

Something worse.

Its eerie, lifeless eyes locked onto him, unblinking.

For the first time, it looked serious.

And Alex couldn't decide which was more terrifying—

The vendor smiling.

Or the vendor not.

"What are you doing, Player 666?"

Alex paused.

Okay, now that he thought about it—what was with that number?

Out of all possible numbers, he just happened to be 666.

That sounded suspicious as hell.

The undead guide took a step forward, its hollow eyes locked onto him.

"Player 666. What you intend to do is not allowed. Go through the maze-like the rest of the players."

Alex scoffed, cracking his knuckles.

"Ever heard the phrase 'Work smarter, not harder'? That's what I'm doing."

The undead's bony face twitched.

It frowned.

Alex didn't even know it could frown.

It had always had a plastered grin on it's face.

"Player 666, if you continue with this..."

"Enough."

Alex snapped his fingers and the undead head exploded, pieces of bone and dark mist scattering in all directions.

Its body stood there for a moment as if it hadn't realized what just happened.

Then it collapsed.

Alex exhaled and walked forward, stepping over the fallen guide without a second thought.

"Not allowed?"

He snorted, his lips curling into a smirk.

He strode toward the gaping opening he had blasted into the maze.

"Who's going to stop me?"