Hello again! Guess what? I lied! Last chapter, in my notes, I said a little flashback, but I had a lot of fun (and a lot of difficulties) writing this part, so I kinda decided to make a two-part chapter about Aurora and Julius' exploration and the second one would end with the captains and Marx POV. I'll try to do so anyway!

Honestly, it was kinda hard to write that part, I'm trying, but I didn't find my groove or something... I'm still pretty happy with how that turned out, but now I fear this story will be much bigger than I thought, so perhaps I'll make a two-part story. Unless you wanna read a 300k + words story u_u.

Well, that's for me to worry about, not you! As usual, I may not answer or be used to it, but I take the time to read each comment! Don't hesitate to review if you have an opinion or something to say about this story :)

Enjoy the chapter!

Earlier that day

"Enter." Aurora heard her father call from his office. Opening the door leading to it, she quickly closed it behind her.

"I'm here as we convened, dad!" She saluted her father like a Magic Knight should.

"And not a minute late. Good work, Aurora." Julius answered with an easy smile. "You do remember what we're going to do, yes?"

"We're going to see if your prediction from the other day is the real deal!" Aurora told him cheekily.

"It already has been confirmed," Julius said with a hint of smugness. "I've received word a new dungeon has been discovered near Tiulyu, in the Common Realm. We're going to explore it and conquer it. So that'll be your training for the week!"

"Wait, seriously?!" Aurora asked, taken by surprise. "That's so cool!" her whole face lit up, and her eyes suddenly shone.

"Right?!"

"Your prediction too! Awesome!" She said, literally bouncing in place.

"Heh. I'm glad it was worth it, considering how time-consuming it was!" Julius declared proudly, waiting for a reaction that never came.

"Let's go now!"

Because it involved not alerting Marx, Julius had warned Cob about coming to his office five minutes after Aurora - while making sure his faithful aide was away on a course.

"Cob-kun should be on his way. Let's wait patiently. Don't worry; he's used to this." Julius said to his daughter, who was bouncing with impatience.

"Okay, okay…" She tried to calm down, but it was useless. In the end, she was distracted when Gaius started to nibble on her cheek, and she was still giggling when Cob made his way into the office.

"I'm here as instructed, Wizard King. So, where to?" Cob announced. The last time Aurora saw him, she didn't pay much attention to him, yet his fluffy hair, easy smile, and soft music she could hear from him told her everything she needed to know about him.

He was a jovial and kind man who didn't have a deceptive bone in him, fitting for a mage her father trusted.

"Great! Cob-kun, I need you to teleport us near Tiulyu in the Common Realm." Her father told him, to which Cob smiled. 'The usual?" Her father nodded.

A bit lost, Aurora watched as Cob took his grimoire and cast his spell.

"Spatial Magic: Gates of Paradise!"

"Ohhh!" Aurora couldn't help the admirative gasp. A massive set of doors appeared out of nowhere. The entrance was shining, just like when she and her comrades used it to return from their first mission.

Julius nodded graciously to his mage. "Thank you, Cob-kun. Let's go, Aurora - and she's gone. I swear…" He chuckled and went after his overeager daughter.

"Whoa! We're actually in the middle of nowhere!" He heard Aurora exclaim as soon as he went out of the door.

They were in the middle of the forest, from the looks of it, in some sort of glade.

"So, where should we go then, Aurora?" Julius challenged her. "If I'm right and a dungeon appears or has appeared, you should be able to feel it."

"All right…" Just like Julius taught her, Aurora focused on taking hold of her magical power. It came far more easily to her than before, to the point she didn't understand why she was struggling so much at first.

She suddenly felt a change in her surroundings. It was like something unnatural was pulling the mana around and twisting it.

And it wasn't that far, either.

"Let's go, father! I felt something this way!" She pointed to her general left.

"And in a record time. You've made good progress, Aurora." He patted her on the shoulder.

"Kyuu!" Even Gaius seemed proud of her.

"Hehe… Well, let's see if I was right like you!" So she started to walk, focusing all along on the slight trail she picked up from the disturbance, her father just behind her. And the path grew more apparent as they progressed through the woods.

They finally arrived in front of what Aurora thought to be a small mountain, but it turned out to be some kind of ruined city, as she could still spot remnants of civilization here and there in the hills.

However, the most important and peculiar fact was the single entrance that seemed to lead inside.

"It seemed we truly did find it. Good work!" Julius said, closing his eyes. "Now…" He opened them suddenly. "Let us go explore some dungeon! Last inside is a looser ~" He ran excitedly towards it, eyes suddenly bright.

"Hey, wait for me!" Aurora ran after him into the dungeon.

Once they entered, both father and daughter stopped to look at their surroundings. They were in a corridor that led further inside. It was strange that the dungeon itself wasn't plunged in darkness, but rather a light came from inside, inviting them to proceed ahead.

"Well, I can't feel anything special here besides the fact that it's… Smelly … The mana here has a weird smell." Aurora commented as they walked side by side.

"How so?"

"Hmmm… It's like there is something from our side mixed in it. The whole place feels alien and like, it has a strong odor, but there is something that doesn't have the same smell… It's really faint from there. Does that make sense?"

"Her senses really got sharper since I've taught her how to control her power… But I can understand what she's talking about. Yet, I can only wonder what it will be like once she's fully realized." Julius thought to himself.

"Kind of." He told his daughter. "This smell you're talking about is probably coming from the dungeon itself - the mana is far denser inside rather than outside. As for the other thing… If this is true, that would mean that it came from an artifact - or something else of the same nature." Julius mused out loud. "In any case, if you can perceive a sign of something in particular in here, it must be quite powerful. But, of course, we still don't know if and how it can interact with and influence what's inside, so let's be careful, okay?" He told Aurora, who nodded in agreement.

Julius didn't think they'd encounter anything they - or he - couldn't handle if push came to shove. But he'd rather be wary and protect Aurora. The last time he sent her to investigate a ruin didn't bode well.

As they walked, they had to take circular stairs that led them down into the dungeon - and even then, they could still see where there were going.

This unnatural light distracted Aurora but didn't deceive her senses, as she felt something ahead.

Julius smiled when he saw her stop. "You felt it too?" She nodded. "There is a trap up ahead. Or something like that because I can't see anything besides stones. How can there be stones so white inside a mountain? And how can there be stairs, to begin with?" Aurora asked rhetorically, and Julius chuckled.

"There are many theories about dungeons, but to be fair, it's usually a remnant of past ages. Why did people build them? How did they build them? How did they hide them? What is making them appear? It is probably linked to Magic in some way. Such questions make it even more interesting, wouldn't you say?"

Aurora acquiesced. "You're right!" she said. "And… About the trap, it felt like it was coming from the ground up ahead…."

"Hm." Julius stayed where he was, checking the terrain before muttering a quick incantation Aurora missed. Letters appeared in the ground before them, suddenly fracturing themselves to make platforms.

Suddenly, a voice resonated in Aurora's head. "His name is power, buried deep inside the earth. A new time is coming. Proceed in the footsteps of our Lord."

"... An enigma?" She muttered. Her father looked at the ground, then beyond it, pensive. "What are you looking at, father?"

"I wanted to check if we could bypass it, but it seems not a good idea. My instinct told me the entrance is gonna get sealed." Julius explained, and Aurora looked at him, disconcerted.

"Why do you want to bypass it? Don't you want to try and answer the enigma first?"

Julius turned towards her and raised an eyebrow, and his eyes widened in understanding. "Yes. But if we're wrong, it's better to have a plan. Do you know what I mean?"

"Better safe than sorry!" Julius nodded. "And about that…." He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "I'll admit I didn't get everything." Aurora looked at him dumbfounded. "The mana was somehow talking through us, but I don't have your sensibility. I could only make, 'Proceed in the footsteps of our Lord.' Unfortunately, there's a large selection of Lords and masters through the ages… Hence why I'm preparing countermeasures if we are to fail. Unless you got everything, and we can guess the answer, of course." Julius challenged her with a slight smirk.

"The elf told me that being able to read the mana was something only they could do it… And Father can do it a bit… Huh… Mother probably taught him!"

"Yes," Aurora repeated the whole thing to Julius, who nodded. "I see… Given that there are letters on the ground, I'd guess we're supposed to walk on each letter composing his name. But for the rest… What do you think?"

"Well… The last time someone asked me for his Lord's name, it was back during the disturbance when I was attacked.."

"Really?"

"Yeah… the door at the entrance was weird, but I managed to pass it thanks to Ga-chan."

"I see… And what was the answer?"

"Janus. And somehow, I feel this will be the case here too."

Julius didn't say anything, scratching his chin absently with his thumb while gazing around. Then, he acquiesced slowly. "I think it's a good guess, honestly. This whole place feels weird… Overwhelming. Then, there's the fact that only you were able to understand the message… Just like I couldn't get anything out of that door too…."

"Eh? Were you there? Wait, you were the one who saved me?!" Aurora asked him in disbelief.

"Yes, it was an emergency, so I didn't hesitate to vaporize it when I couldn't get anything out of it," Julius answered matter-of-factly. "Anyway, just like I said, you're on the right track. Still, 'new time,' eh…."

'He had to save me twice in one week… Uwaaaaa…." Aurora thought as she blushed, embarrassed. She quickly shook her head. It wasn't important right now. "All right, so I'm going to try now!" Aurora said, and she quickly put her feet on "J" before Julius had time to say or do anything.

"Waaah!" And the floor promptly fell under her. As she felt herself falling, she couldn't think of anything besides the fact that she was an idiot.

And she fell further down, down, and down. But the end never came, even when she closed her eyes.

She was an idiot who died even though her father took the time to save her twice-

"Aurora, are you all right?" She could hear her father's voice.

She opened her eyes. The feeling of falling had left her, and she felt disoriented. "Wh-what happened? I was falling because I'm an idiot and-."

"Calm down." She looked up and was met by Julius's concerned and unamused face. "Why did you rush like that? Because you felt embarrassed that I saved you twice?" He asked her, and she lowered her head in shame.

"Well…I mean… Who would like to have a daughter that needs to be saved every other day because she got involved in situations she can't handle herself? I'm just so lame…." She finished, mumbling.

Julius crouched to her level and patted her head. Scolding her for her rashness could wait.

"Hey, look at me." His daughter raised her head. "Twice, you were in danger, and twice I wasn't there to protect you. You should not be ashamed of yourself, and certainly not for that. That's on me."

"Wha- but Father, no -" She didn't seem ready to let go of it. Julius sighed internally; he should have known she'd feel so… insecure, especially given his position.

"Listen, Aurora. What I'm about to say is the truth. I love you, and I've made many bad decisions, and I'm ashamed of them too. You say you needed to be saved twice, and I say I wasn't there to help you twice. And how many more times I wasn't there when you could have needed a father?" He let the question linger, even though they both knew the answer.

"Father…"

"I'm proud of you, Aurora. I really am. Don't you ever doubt that because I've never felt anything akin to shame from the moment you were born. On the contrary, I'm very glad to be your father." Julius declared truthfully to his daughter, who was staring at him. She started to sniffle, and his face got softer.

"And just because you didn't know that Janus started with the letter 'I' in Elvish and that I had to save you a third time because of it, well, it doesn't mean that will change anything." He added, teasing a laugh amidst the tears.

She hugged him tightly, and he returned it. "Now, ready to go at it again?" He felt her nod. "You bet!" she said as she wiped her tears.

She rose to her feet, breaking the hug as Julius followed suit and took a deep breath. She looked at her father and then jumped on the letter I.

And this time, nothing broke. Aurora turned towards Julius with a big smile, then jumped quickly on the rest of the letters, elated, clearing the first trial.

The ground trembled once more, and the wall by her left expanded to form another entry which led… somewhere else in the dungeon but wasn't there at the beginning.

"A dead-end for cheaters… Interesting. I would not be surprised if there were a nasty surprise up ahead." Julius muttered as he followed suit, walking on the letters forming the word Janus. "Good job, Aurora." She glowed at his praise.

They both turned towards the side entrance and, as one, walked through. The light was still unnaturally present and helped them navigate the straight corridor.

"Why the letter 'I' thought…?" Aurora asked no one. "I'll admit I never stopped to ask. Elves weren't that welcoming with me. Could you imagine me walking towards a random stranger who hated my guts to teach me the subtility of their Alphabet?" Julius said, a pit peeved just thinking about it.

"But it happened, right? And then, you probably asked Mother?" Aurora guessed, and Julius was the one feeling ashamed now.

"Well, yeah. And it's just because 'J' doesn't exist in their Alphabet. A word starting with 'I' in Elvish is pronounced like the 'J' from our own Alphabet. There's a lot of amusing nuances like that." Julius explained to his daughter, who looked quite interested.

"Yes, I want to know! Tell me more, Father!" Aurora asked him eagerly.

Julius nodded, and while they were heading further beyond, he regaled his daughter with the finer points of the difference between the two alphabets.

"... So that was the first trial and the first answer," Marx said to the screen as Aurora told him a summary of what happened. Several captains were standing just ahead, and others behind, curious about what kind of character Aurora Novachrono was.

"Yes! You just have to spell IANUS with your steps, and it should be fine! Then, take the opening on the left, not the one straight ahead!" Aurora said with a smile.

"Cob had done an excellent job. As expected of him." Marx said as he saw the new dungeon in front of him. Some seemed mesmerized (Riel), and others were utterly bored (Yami). "And how many more enigmas are there?" he asked the young mage as they made their way into the dungeon.

"Oh! Well, two more! As for the second, you don't have to worry about this! Father and I have already dealt with it, so all you have to do is go straight toward the next one."

"All right. We'll get moving then."

"And you're lucky because it was easily the worst of the three." Aurora thought glumly.

"So the door is closed," Julius commented. After walking for a while, they made their way to a large room with a short ceiling, to the point he nearly had to bend a little. There were entries to the room's left and right, and the door opposite where they arrived was closed at the far end of the room.

"And there are two entries; should we test them?" Aurora suggested. "Once at a time, in case it's dangerous."

Julius nodded. "Let's do that; I'll open the way." So they made their way to the entry on the left, and just after he passed the doorstep, a sudden wall of red light rose to block the way before Aurora could pass.

"Wha! What is this?!" She exclaimed, surprised. She yelped when she tried to touch it with her hand, and the heat made her hand recoil. "It's hot!"

Julius, however, was feeling kind of excited. "I've never seen something like that before! I wonder how it works. How did the light appear? From the ground? Is it a magical mechanism? I'm curious!" His eyes were shining as he tried to understand the working of the wall of light.

"Uwa, what a nerd…" Aurora muttered, ignoring the pure hypocrisy of that statement. "Father! I'm curious too, but we should try to get you out of here first, no? Do you know any spell to take care of this?" She asked the adult in front of her, who strangely calmed down quickly.

"I'd say yes… But right now, it seems I can't use any magic. Something is interfering in the immediate vicinity."

"Wait, what?!"

"It's true; this was a trap, and we walked into that one. Hahaha!" He laughed at his joke, and Aurora giggled too.

"Ahh, that's not the moment to laugh!" She recovered after a bit. "Isn't the situation pretty bad?"

"Well… We didn't have much choice to begin with. And I'm sure the other side will be more or less the same thing; that means this trial has been made that way; I wonder why it was made like that, though…." Julius's thoughts trailed off, but Aurora picked on his meaning.

"Why would they give us a chance to progress? Why not seal it and make sure no one can access it?" She wondered out loud, but Julius answered her.

"Perhaps they wanted to keep it safe, but in a way which would be trivial for particular people; those who were intended to receive this dungeon boon, I'd wager. But, of course, it's not important right now, as we are on the threshold of that adventure." That was his theory, at least.

"That'd make sense. Well, we won't get anywhere if we don't try it. So I'll be going on the other side." Aurora said before making her way to the entry on the right. Predictably, a wall of light appeared as soon as she walked past the doorstep.

She felt strangely heavy, and when she musted any magic power, it was canceled as soon as she tried to summon even a bit. Even Gaius couldn't maintain his usual invisibility spell.

"Are you alright, Aurora?" Julius asked her, a frown on his face.

"Yes! It's a weird feeling, but I'll be fine! let's explore and see if we can find something useful!" Julius nodded at her words and turned to start his investigation. "Well, the only way is forward, as they say." So after walking a bit, Aurora had to take a turn right, then left after walking into a straight line, then she had to take a long spiral staircase that led upstairs.

At the top of it was a small room that overlooked the whole space under it; Aurora understood why the ceiling was so small when they entered the room in the first place, this place was allowing her to overlook it, and apparently, just above the top, there was a whole labyrinth. She could spot the entrance, and the exit, the latter of which was behind many nasty surprises. Dead-ends, traps, Deads-end leading to traps, and from the looks of it, something even nastier.

"There are monsters too! They don't exist anymore nowadays!" Aurora exclaimed. "What kind of place is this?" She asked rhetorically. "Oh, right… The kind that makes no sense."

And, coincidentally, she saw her father making his way up the staircase that led to the labyrinth's entry from a corridor. She couldn't even warn him!

"Am I supposed to watch…? This makes no sense!" She said frenetically as she paced the area. It was bare except for a single black button on the wall.

Meanwhile, Julius had stopped just at the entrance. Aurora couldn't see it, but she guessed he was frowning.

She decided to press the button. Pushing it with her thumb, she heard a loud buzzing voice and then nothing.

"It did noth-uh?" At first, she thought nothing had happened, but when she started to talk, her voice resonated all around the room, and her father was looking around him to try and pinpoint it.

She immediately grasped what she was supposed to do here. And it didn't please her one bit. On the contrary, she was scared and incredibly so.

"Father? Can you hear me? If so, raise your right hand!" She talked, and her voice was so loud. Asta would be mute in comparison!

Julius raised his right hand. "All right, I can see you, and you can hear me. At least, that's something. But, listen, father, there is a labyrinth in front of you, and there is a mechanism by the exit; probably to open the closed door, and I can - have to guide you to it; Can you tell me anything on your side?" Julius nodded and turned on himself one time, pointing at his eyes. Then, he made a cross with his index, making a turn once more.

"Are you telling me you can't see inside it?" Thumb-up. "Okay, so let's take this situation calmly." She said more to herself. "To make things easier, show me one step of yours." Julius took a regular step, stopping just shy of the entrance.

"All right, so, hum, because traps are awaiting, I'd say what you showed me is a step; try to always cover the same distance with each one of your steps." Julius nodded. "Also, when I say turn, I'll probably think about a quarter of a turn any time. Do you understand what I mean?" She received another thumbs-up in return.

Aurora took a breath to calm herself down. Her father's life depended on her. She had to step up and be courageous.

It was easier said than done, anyway.

But she had to do it.

"Took two steps in front of you, then turn right." She started with razor-like focus. She had to anticipate and plan ahead to make sure her father wouldn't run into anything as he was virtually defenseless right now.

"Take five steps straight ahead, stop, take half-a-turn to the left, and then keep going straight for… nine - no, ten steps."

Her father proceeded, and she had to retake a large breath. In any other circumstances, it could have been a fun game, but here, she wished it to be over. To be responsible for her father's life like that…

"Now, turn left, just like this… Walk five steps. Then, turn right."

Aurora shivered. She kept guiding him that way until he arrived at the first hurdle.

"Take, er… Seven steps? Yes, seven steps. All right, we're at the first corridor. But, hum, things will be far different from now. Listen, father, from now on, there'll be… Well, monsters are patrolling in the surrounding. If I tell you to run, run! And what I told you before regarding turns still counts." Julius blinked, then he nodded, smiling. He trusted her, and that was more intimidating than anything.

The labyrinth wasn't really big nor long; in fact, from what Aurora had been able to understand, it was divided into three different parts: the first, where she simply had to guide her father towards the next corridor; the second, the same thing, but the monsters were patrolling in that part.

Those things were probably some of the most disgusting things Aurora had ever seen, and she had been living with Yuno and Asta before becoming a knight! Some pallid-looking something that looked on the verge of decomposition, more dead than alive. And, of course, Aurora guessed they could see in the dark if they were here.

But right here and now, as they were starting the second hurdle, the one thing necessary was to make sure her father would pass these two disgusting things he could usually fry in a flash.

And yet, even though Aurora tried her best to guide her father as best as she could and managed to outwit several couples of patrols by skillfully telling him to hide in the multiple nooks this part of the labyrinth had ( definitely on purpose), it came to a point where the next corridor which led to the next part was blocked by a massive stitched up creature like it had been sewn from different corpses…

It looked vaguely human-like, as if a human could be 8 feet tall and wielded a large cleaver in his right hand.

Aurora shivered at the thought. Who could have been crazy enough to create something like this?

And there wasn't any nook for Julius to hide.

But there was a barrel. An empty barrel from the looks of it. Big enough for an adult to hide into, probably.

Aurora didn't hesitate. "Father, there is a huge... Thing... guarding the entry. I've never seen such an abomination before. On your immediate right, there is a barrel."Julius nodded as he felt it with his hands. "Is it big enough for you to cover with?"

Julius froze. He blinked as if he tried and failed to comprehend what she just said, then said something Aurora couldn't understand.

Then, he lifted the barrel and turned it over to cover himself, effectively creating the best camouflage ever. Aurora giggled at the sight and urged her father onwards.

From then, it looked like a game of grandmother's footsteps, where the monster played the unwitting grandmother.

"All right, father, you can go… Stop! He's coming this way!". The thing came closer to the barrel and started to inspect it. Aurora held her breath. For a while, she had forgotten it wasn't a simple game but a situation where she was playing with her father's life.

However, something's strange happened. Aurora was panicking and debating whether to tell her father to bolt it when the creature suddenly backhanded the barrel - and Julius, who was inside, before being on his way to where Julius had come from.

Aurora gasped in fright.

The barrel - and the one inside - flew a bit because of the monster's unnatural strength before rolling away straight towards the exit.

Aurora looked at the scene, dumbfounded.

"Are you all right, father? The thing is gone and somehow sent you straight to the exit!" Aurora said, still bewildered. After a short while, Julius managed to slip away from the barret, disoriented but amazingly unhurt. He was holding his cheek as if he was in pain.

Even though he connected his right index and thumb in the universal sign of being okay to tell his daughter he was fine.

"Aaaah… I don't know if we were lucky or not here… Anyway, once you're ready, turn left and walk ten steps. "

The last hurdle in the labyrinth wasn't guards or monsters but traps that activated at set intervals.

"It's like a terrible and dangerous game… Who could be so twisted to create something like that?" Aurora thought before warning Julius. He nodded, raising his thumb.

"All right, stop, father, there is some kind of stakes popping out of the grounds… How does it work? Anyway, get ready to run… Now!" Aurora commanded her father to run as soon as the stakes things got out.

They had to do that some more times until something broke their rhythm. The next corridor Aurora guided Julius towards was suspiciously more significant and sloped.

Julius walked on something he shouldn't have stepped on, and an enormous rock appeared several feet behind him, rolling toward the unsuspecting Wizard King.

"FATHER! RUN! AND JUMP RIGHT WHEN I SAY SO! HURRY!" Julius was startled to hear Aurora shout so suddenly, and yet he did as told, but the rock was faster,

"Come on, come on, run!" But unfortunately, Aurora was too stressed to realize her mistake.

Because she didn't see things every time from the same angle as Julius, she always took the time to make the mental gymnastic to tell him the direction as if she was at his side. But because this trap had been entirely unexpected, she made a simple mistake.

From her point of view, her right was his left. And she had meant to tell him to jump that way.

But because of the urgency, Julius had put his hands on the right wall as he was running, and before she could tell him anything, He lept to his right. Then, with no way back, the rocks kept coming in steady intervals, just like the rest of the traps.

"Ah." And Aurora realized the problem. "Damn it! Sorry, father, because of this, I did tell you right, but I was talking about my right… Which was your left." Aurora said, embarrassed. "It's not so bad! It just means we're gonna avoid more traps! It's a long way instead of the shorter one." She tried to play it cool, but she'd been terrified, and she had the nagging feeling this trap was meant to be activated.

In short, just like earlier with the monster, things were going a bit too smoothly, despite the close calls.

"We're playing right into the hands of the creator…." No doubt her father had realized that too.

"We are being strung along right now," Julius remarked loudly after that last close call. If he was being honest, he was getting tired of it. Being blind was an inconvenience, and being a dead weight to his daughter was displeasing, to say the least. And yet, Aurora had done a fine job guiding him, as it must be quite taxing on her, and thanks to her good work, it had given him leeway him to try and determine if he couldn't use magic.

If fact, it's not like he couldn't use it. It was like his magic was being sucked away. So, while he trusted her and followed Aurora's direction blindly (literally), he took his time to temper his mana to ensure it was too tough to be drained.

It took a while, but he was nearly there. And then, they'll be able to skip the rest of this little masquerade.

His daughter guided him as best as she could toward their goal until she stopped him in front of another room.

"It's strange… Father, this room is uselessly large, yet I can't see anything in it. There's a door you'll have to open to go in, though." His daughter kept at it even if he could feel her apprehension at the unusual happening. That was understandable, and he was proud of her; had the roles been reversed, he would have been hard-pressed to keep his cool.

Something inside him wouldn't have allowed him to.

"To guide my daughter through this maze as if I was her only lifeline." The irony wasn't lost on him, and he didn't like it one bit.

This whole place had a sick sense of humor.

"Perhaps it was meant to be this way? So... Our coming here would have been anticipated?" Julius thought, slightly unnerved by the thought. "It would have been centuries ago!"

After putting a reassuring smile on his face for Aurora hopefully see and to hide his disturbing train of thoughts, he opened the door and went inside.

He hadn't made two steps inside when the light suddenly shined inside the room, blinding him…

And her father was promptly run through by a stake that pierced him horizontally before exiting his body from the other side. Then, multiple stakes popped out of the ground, stabbing his body everywhere else before retracting, leaving him a bloody mess on the floor.

It didn't even take a second.

It was the last thing Aurora, who stood there dumbfounded, saw before the labyrinth was plunged into darkness from her point of view.

As his consciousness started to leave him, Julius gritted his teeth, feeling the coppery taste of blood in his mouth and something else stirring inside him…

And he summoned his grimoire.

Well, spoiler, he not dead... Or is he? I'm trying to foreshadow something here... I hope I'll be able to keep this one thing hidden for as long as I can while teasing it here and there!

I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I'll try to finish this arc sooner rather than later, but there's Dragonflight coming out, and I may try my hand at it... Casually, of course. I don't have enough time to just... Plunge into a game for hours and hours... And now I'm sad. Give me my youth back! u_u

Hope you enjoyed the chapter! See you next time!