And after days of travelling in the cold, snowy, and hostile Southern Mountains, finally seeing and arriving at the the valley of the old gods' ruins came as a much needed pleasant surprise.
It was as if all the snow vanished, and what replaced it is this verdant paradise valley, and in middle of this mountain valley, there is a huge tower that touched the clouds. The biting cold too, somehow vanished, and there was a gentle warmth that emanated from the valley, that made them feel warm and fuzzy inside. Even the breeze felt alive, and smells of leaves and flowers that reminded them of spring.
"So… warm." Tia of the Blue Roses, spoke admiringly of the valley.
It's an entirely different from the snow and ice before, and it's an odd sight. How could all that ice and snow dissipate away to this warm, pleasing little piece of paradise.
"Eh… It wasn't like this... many, many years ago." Evileye commented in another surprise for the rest.
Huh?! The entire team reacted together.
"It's as cold and as snowy as the mountains that we saw before this. Well, at least it was that way. Those ruins… were all partially covered in snow."
They gazed at the radically changed place, now a verdant valley, and what was formerly old ruins are now covered in overgrown vines and bushes. It seems that some of the ruins has been restored as well. If what she said was true, how did such change happen so quickly?
"When's the last time you came here?"
"Many many years ago. I can't even remember how many years." Evileye honestly did not remember when did she come here, other than the fact that she did. "Maybe it's my memory then."
"We've not heard of this place…"
"No one has any reason to come here. Except whoever that kidnapped our evil boss, it seems."
Lakyus's name reminded them, that they were not here for a holiday. They mentally braced themselves for combat, remembering that they were caught unprepared when Lakyus vanished suddenly. Whatever or whoever that kidnapped her, they expect, will have some defenders prepared as well. So they moved carefully towards the tall structure that now overlooks the entire valley, sensing subtle but strange energies coming out of it.
And it didn't take long for the defenders to appear.
From the bushes, two massive furry rabbits appeared. Though they are large and somewhat chubby, so can be considered quite cute to look at, they clearly are not to be messed with.
*Swipe*
The swipe came, as they expected, and the twin assassins blocked it.
Then a large owl appeared, and launched an array of high speed swipes with its two long claws. And Gagaran intercepted, and parries the attacking owl.
[Fireball] A large ball of flames emerge and flies like a missile towards the owl.
The owl though, flicked it's wings, and diverted the fireball to another side, where it exploded without harming anyone.
"Wow I've not seen a giant owl do that!"
Tia and Tina closed it on the owl, but before it could stab the owl, one of the earlier rabbits managed to land a kick on Tina from the side, and pushed the two assassins away.
"And we've not seen rabbits attack that way."
The rabbits jumped and started kicking at high speeds with their incredibly strong hind legs, and Gagaran used her massive warpick to block. She then swung her warpick, and it landed on the rabbit's body, and she heard some bones crack.
The massive rabbit let out a roar of pain.
The Blue Rose, is merely surprised at facing a new foe. But in terms of strength, they still had a significant lead.
Gagaran closed in to finish the rabbit off, but the other rabbit leaped in to defend, launching more kicks, forcing Gagaran to block whilst the other rabbit recovered. Tia and Tina brought out larger knives from their arsenal, better suited to fighting rabid beasts.
Outnumbered, the two rabbit suffered a few cuts and gradually lost its strength. They attempted to flee, but Gagaran managed to land a decisive hit on the rabbit's head and killed one instantly. And the other rabbit then collapsed, weakened by the assassins' poisoned blades, and it too died soon after.
Evileye on the other hand was preoccupied with the owl. The owl tried to swipe Evileye with its two claws, but she kept dodging, and eventually found an opening to stab it in the heart with a knife.
And the owl fell on the floor, like a puppet with its strings cuts.
"Large animals giving us a good fight. We're severely out of practice." Gagaran joked.
"I don't think they qualify as animals."
Tia laughed, and proceeded to cut the owl's claws.
"I"ve not seen this kind of owl before. If this was a regular adventure I'd spent some time to skin the three animals, probably sell for quite some money."
"Let''s move before more of them come."
"You're right, though." Tia winked.
The group of four moved quickly, following a rough path towards the tall building in the valley, figuring that most villains will probably be at the top of that tall tower.
"Wololo-sama. Our guests are here." Aura magically pointed at a mirror that displayed the approaching Blue Rose. Throughout the valley, there were various items known as the "Eye of the Magi", that forms a kind of surveillance network, and is linked to the [Mirror of the Magi] in the tower's main hall.
The mirror shows the four Blue Rose folk running and jumping across obstacles, dodging the fury rabbits and great dire owls along the way.
"Ah… I see they are more than a match for the natural critters. Are our defenses ready?" Wololo sat on a massive wooden throne, made of living wood. The throne itself was connected to a large multi-story high tree behind it.
"The defenders are ready.. Should I activate them now?"
"Good. But let's wait them to enter the labyrinth first."
"Alright! Will set a warning to pop up once they pass one of those doors." Aura spoke cheerfully, eager to put some of her monsters to the test.
The entire tower has been set that all external doors lead to the labyrinth. All windows as well. The trap has been set, and it was up to the Blue Rose to fall for it.
It took a lot of work to construct the labyrinth, if it was built via conventional means. But Wololo-sama had at his disposal, a massive army of golems and dwarven workers. So it took about a week for the labyrinth and the entire tower to be reconstructed.
"Wouldn't be long now." Aura smiled.
"Let's go check on our other guest."
They didn't understand it. They passed the door, and suddenly they were somewhere else. Somewhere deep underground.
"That door activated some kind of magic that was enchanted into it."
"I've not seen that sort of magic."
"Well, Lakyus magically disappeared too, so I suppose this is a similar thing." Tina made an unusually clever association, which the others nodded in agreement.
Evileye touched her weapon, ready to jump at whatever that may come. They were in enemy territory now, and whoever captured Lakyus probably had expected them to come.
They looked around, and noticed they were in some kind of enclosure, with only one exit. Tia and Tina cautiously approached a sign that was next to the exit, armed with their best weapons and ready to cast defensive magic.
Then a magical spirit sprite appeared.
[Fireball]
And Evileye swiftly reacted by blasting a fireball at it, which passed through the sprite and exploded on the labyrinth walls. The labyrinth was undamaged, though.
"Fear not, visiting adventurers! I mean you no harm. I am merely here to explain the game." The sprite spoke, while glowing in various colors at irregular intervals. The sprite looked like tiny little fairies, or perhaps a little bit like Tinkerbel from Peter Pan, except she wasn't gold in color.
"Game?"
"Yes. My name is Sprita. This is the Maze of Doors." The sprite conjured up a floating image of an empty room with three doors.
"Every room you step into, will have a few doors. Outside each and every one of them, will be a symbol. Open each door, and step through them to go through another door, and you will then face the outcome of your choices." The doors glowed red each time Sprita spoke of the word, 'door.'
"Huh."
"Some rooms will have enemies for you to fight. Some rooms lead you back to where you started. Some rooms will heal you. And eventually, one of those doors, will lead you to the main tower. Some doors… lead you to death."
Evileye looked at Sprita, keenly observing the image that she conjured.
Gagaran though, was more interested in saving their evil boss, so she asked, "How do I get to my friend? Have you seen her?"
"Oh." Sprita looked at her and seemed to think for a while. "I believe your friend, is with the master. Get to the main tower, and you will be one step closer to the master."
"Is the door arrangement fixed?"
"I do not know for sure, but should be…" Sprita answered.
"So outside is the first room?"
"Yes."
"Any other rules? Can we go backwards?"
"No, you are not able to go backwards. But from each and every one of room, there is a certain order of doors selected, that will eventually lead you to the main tower. There are no dead ends. Some routes are harder than others."
"Are all the doors visible to us?" Evileye smiled at Tia's sharp question. She didn't think of it herself.
"Maybe."
"What's the point of this?" Gagaran wasn't really keen on games. "Why is my friend being captured? Is she alive?"
"It amuses the master. I don't know, but I think your friend is alive."
The four girls suddenly felt they are now in some sadistic game. But they have no way out as Evileye's teleport can't seem to get past the walls. So they had to play it.
"Are you coming with us?"
"No. I'm afraid that's all I can tell you." And Sprita vanished into dozens of tiny little floating lights that eventually faded away. It looked like a mini explosion of fireworks.
The four looked at each other, and all breathed a sigh. "What have we gotten ourselves into."
"More like, what did Lakyus get us into."
"Now now, let's move on." Gagaran tried to defuse the tension.
They stepped into the room, fully armed and ready for combat.
"Oh… nothing here."
And the first room was absolutely empty. It had white walls on all four sides, and facing them were three wooden doors. On those three wooden doors, there was a symbol. The one on the left had a symbol resembling a sun, the one in the middle had a symbol representing a moon, and the last door on the right had a symbol representing a star.
"Sun, moon and stars."
"Do you think this is a puzzle of some sort?"
"Should we split up?"
"No. That lady said there's probably enemies. If so, it's best we fight them together."
"True, if they are stronger than the rabbits and the owls, we'd have a way better chance facing them together."
Gagaran cracked her knuckles, eager to go. "Let's go with the sun."
"Fine with me."
They opened the sun door, and what was before them was a water-like substance, almost a mirror. It revealed nothing of the path beyond, and they had no choice but to go through it anyway.
The Sun Room, is a larger chamber than the previous room, with still white walls, and 3 doors in the distance. It's significantly taller too, with the ceiling being easily 10-15 meters high. In the middle, stood their foe, a fire elemental, it's flames flickering.
They felt the heat it emanated, even though they were at least 70 meters away.
"So this is one of those 'battle' rooms."
The fire elemental saw them, and raised its arms as if to signal them to come at him.
Tia and Tina sheathed their knives and daggers, and brought out specially made bombs, that contains stored water element magic. Gagaran casted a few buffs on herself and her teammates, and Evileye went ahead with a few spells.
[Crystal Lance] A crystalline lance materialised next to Evileye whilst she was charging at the fire elemental, and then shot ahead like a missile leaving a speeding fighter jet, flying quickly towards the elemental.
The fire elemental dodged the lance, but that was merely the setup, as Evileye flew above the elemental and casted [Stone Wall]. Two walls of stone appeared from the floor and attempted to crush the fire elemental. The fire elemental pushed at the walls with it's two hands, and the heat from its hands caused the stone wall to glow.
The force of [wall of stone] overpowered the fire elemental's arms and crushed the fire elemental.
Yet the two collapsed wall of stone kept glowing, and in exploded, revealing a weakened fire elemental. It's fires are dimmer, suggesting it took some damage. Tia and Tina though, predicted the elemental's survival and thrown two balls at the wall, causing a burst of water from the small balls, that exploded like a pressurised burst pipe.
The burst hit the elemental at point blank and this time, the fire elemental's flames were extinguished, and it vanished.
"That was easy."
They could then hear the 3 doors at the other side of the room unlock.
"Battle rooms, huh." Gagaran grinned. "Sounds fun."
Little did they know, it was just warm-up.
Lakyus woke up in an unusual place. She was in a bedroom, and it was surprisingly well lit. It's almost like a quaint little village inn. There were sounds of chirping birds and insects in the distance.
It's strangely calming.
"I'm… alive."
She looked at her two hands, and they were perfectly unhurt. Last she recalls, she was still encased in some kind of crystal prison, fighting some crazy squirrel. What sort of bad dream was that!
"Of course you are." A voice came from the side.
Lakyus turned, and saw a squirrel on top of a chair. It was that squirrel again!
"You!" She tried to jump out of the bed and attack the squirrel but somehow all her strength vanished. So she was still on the bed.
"You shouldn't be moving."
She felt an intense burning sensation spread through her body.
"What.. what do you want." Lakyus asked, but her voice was weak. The burning feeling made her feel feverish, and her thoughts a little muddled.
The squirrel seemed quiet.
"Is this… revenge?"
"Nah. I'm not that petty."
The squirrel jumped around the house.
"Rest." Wololo spoke, subtly activating [sleep].
And Lakyus fell back into her bed, drained of all her strength and fell into sleep.
The 3 rooms had 3 different logos on them, one of them was a symbol of an arrow pointing "UP", and one of them was the symbol of a "DOWN". The last door had the symbol of a circle, perhaps suggestion remain.
"Which one should we take?"
"Up."
"Why?"
"We're underground, surely we want to go up."
"What if Lakyus is underground?"
"Oh come on! I don't think so."
"I think these symbols are just here to mislead us."
"Well, we still have to make a choice."
"Anyway, I say we pick UP."
"Fine. Up it is."
The door with up leads them to a small room, with three other doors. And in the middle of the room was a small blue crystal, floating in midair.
Then a small fairy appeared, similar to the fairy before.
"Welcome to the room of healing."
And a [full heal] was cast on all of them, restoring them all to their full strength. Somehow, the magic restored Evileye as well, and so she secretly wonders what sort of magic it uses. It was much needed healing though, as Lakyus was the healer/priest of the team, and without her, they had to rely on an odd mix of potions
"This really is a game, isn't it?" Tina quipped, comparing it to some kind of checkpoint.
They examined the 3 doors that is now before them, each door in a different color, red, yellow and green.
"Uhm… any ideas?"
"Yellow. Lakyus's hair is blonde, so yellow."
"Really, that's how we're making decisions around here..."
"It's not as if there's any consistent rule to this game."
They tapped the yellow door, and all of them were sucked through the door and appeared in a vast room that simulated a desert environment, where the floor is made of sand and cracked earth, and the air is hot and dry.
And a massive cactus stood in the middle of the room, about 6 stories tall. It's so tall, that it looked like it was going to hit the artificially illuminated ceiling. On top of it was a large red flower.
"We're fighting a cactus?" Gagaran asked, probably half-serious.
The cactus fired out a wave of needles at all directions.
Evileye reacted by summoned up a stone wall in front of them, and it seems Gagaran's hunch was right after all. The needles exploded, damaging the stone wall, but the Blue Rose was unhurt.
"Seems like we are."
Evileye sent out [Fireball] towards the Cactus, but another wave of needles went out, and when the needles touched the fireball, it exploded midair. The cactus, remains undamaged.
"Huh."
Another wave of needles were fired at all directions. This time, the petite vampire was more than ready, and blocked with the stone wall again.
"Are there any doors on the other side?" Evileye asked. "That cactus looks like a passive tree that releases some kind of attack periodically."
Tia and Tina tried to use their special skills to survey the other direction while Evileye's stone wall protected them from the periodic wave of needles being fired by the massive cactus.
"It fires a wave of explosive pins every 15 seconds." Evileye suggested. "So we should be able to time the waves?"
"Can't we just chop off the cactus? This timing the attacks thing is really troublesome."
Evileye conjured up a crystal lance and fired it towards the cactus, and it somehow shattered right before it hit the cactus. Evileye briefly saw a massive needle appeared before the cactus that made contact with the crystal lance.
"Protective magic around the cactus itself it seems. Or some kind of nasty self defense system"
"There's 3 doors on the other side." Tia commented.
Another wave of cactus needles went out, and the stone wall remained.
"I'm so tempted to hack it down." Gagaran ranted.
"That's assuming if you can get near it." Another wave of pins flew out.
On top of the massive cactus was a large red flower, and it started to glow.
"That flower is doing something. And let's get out of here it comes." They prepared themselves to react to the flower, and all of them casted some protective magic on themselves.
Another wave of pins flew out, and they were blocked by the wall.
Then the flower stopped glowing, and it released a cloud of pollen.
"What is that."
"I don't want to know. Let's run for the door."
Evileye created a wall of stone all the way to the doors, and the Blue Rose fled, whilst the pollen still floated up in the air, falling really slowly.
The wave of needles kept coming, whilst Evileye created a protective sphere-like wall of rock around them and the nearest door. On the door was the mark of a small crescent.
Regardless, there wasn't much time to choose which door, with the flower's strange pollen falling. They opened the door anyway, and it sucked all them of through.
Lakyus looked at her plain long white dress, and wondered how they got her size and cut just right. It's long enough to reach her knee, yet allowed her to walk rather freely. The texture of the cloth was quite pleasant too, and it seemed like high quality cotton. When she twirled her body, the dress followed smoothly, and she couldn't resist a girly smile.
She looked at the tomboy-ish dark elf that brought her the dress.
"Wololo-sama offers these clothes as a replacement for your armor and weapons."
"Oh…" Lakyus nodded. She just noticed the dark elf's dual-colored eyes, wondering where had she seen that before. It's a rare quirk, not something she forgets.
There was 3 more sets of the same dress on the small wooden cabinet at the side, and two simple shoes. She slipped her feet into one pair of shoes, and looked at the dark elf again. She wasn't too sure whether she was looking at a boy or a girl.
"I'm Aura, and I am a humble servant of the great supreme being and master creator, Wololo-sama… And you look like you must be wondering about my gender, I'm actually a girl."
A girl. A petite but confident girl. There was a radiance that she emitted, of competence, of vigour, of a kind of confidence. It's a rare energy, not something seen often in the New World. Not amongst girls, at least.
"I'm… Lakyus. Am I a prisoner?"
Aura chuckled, and tried to cover it with her mouth.
"Yes. You are Wololo-sama's prisoner." Aura then stepped towards the door of the room.
Wololo-sama. Is she referring to the squirrel?
"And he's expecting to see you downstairs in a while. Don't make him wait, will you?" Aura then stepped out of the room.
Lakyus looked at her surroundings. The quaint little room that resembled an inn, was not an illusion, though it disconnected to what had happened to her over the past weeks. First she was in Re-Estize, then teleported somehow to a battle in some frozen snowlands, and then in an inn. She felt like she had pretty much lost track of time and where she is already, and felt like she was in some surreal dream.
Lakyus walked over a window that allowed some soft sunlight in, and looked out. That was when she realised she was very high up, as the view stretches far into the snowy mountains beyond.
She took a deep breath, and decided all she could do now, is to go along with this "dream". So she walked through the door and went down the spiral staircase into a large hall, that had a throne made of wood and a huge tree behind it, that seemed to glow ever so slightly.
On that throne she saw a squirrel, the same squirrel that attacked her, and next to it, Aura.
"You look much better now." The squirrel spoke.
"Yes." Lakyus didn't know how to answer her captor. She was physically in much better shape, she felt like her strength has returned, and so has her magical powers. But un-armed, she was in no position to fight. And what an odd question, showing concern for her. It's just so suspicious.
"And you must be hungry."
A table of wood emerged from the ground, formed of rapidly growing vines that were magically summoned. Four wooden chairs too appeared from the hall floor, appearing in the similar magical manner as the wooden vines. It's as if the growth of the vines were accelerated by magic, and guided by some hidden hand to form usable furniture.
A small iron golem appeared, carrying a wooden plate, with grilled meat, vegetables and bread on it.
"Eat some."
Lakyus looked at the squirrel quizzically, wondering whether it's some kind of trap. But after looking at Wololo and Aura for about 5 seconds, she grabbed the bread and took a bite.
It tasted a little bland, but she finished the bread anyway. She's somehow hungry once she started eating.
"So, Lakyus. I'll get to the point."
Lakyus looked up and stared at the talking squirrel, and wondered what is going to happen.
"I want you."
*cough* Lakyus almost choked at the statement.
"What.. What do you mean?" Lakyus wondered whether it was possible to mate with a squirrel.
"I want you to serve me."
Oh. Lakyus wondered for a moment, and looked at the slab of grilled meat before her.
"How about… No." Lakyus wondered where she found the courage and the snarkiness to respond.
"Why not?"
"Because I prefer to be free to act as I please."
"Your friends are going to be here, by the way."
"That's a threat, isn't it..." Lakyus's eyes stared at the squirrel.
"Yes. How you choose to act, will determine whether they live or die."
Lakyus pondered the squirrel's threat for a while, wondering what his intentions are.
"What… What do you want me to do, if I serve you? What are your goals?"
"Hahaha! You're a bright girl after all." Wololo glowed and shapeshifted into a more imposing werewolf form. "Let's make a deal. You serve me for three years with unwavering loyalty, and I spare all four of their lives."
"You haven't told me what is my role, or my goals…"
"Let's just say your role is anything I want you to do."
"I would not do things that bring my kingdom and its people to harm."
The werewolf laughed again.
"Some collateral damage is expected. No harm to your country… is not something I can promise."
"Then no."
"So hasty, but I'll give you a few days to think about it."
Lakyus froze. What was he going to do to her friends.
"What about my friends?"
"They are my problem. You'll just have to watch the consequences of whatever you decide."
Lakyus wanted to attack Wololo then, even if she knew how pointless and futile that was, but the vines from the floor grabbed and restrained her.
"Do behave, will you? You should appreciate you are in no position to struggle, so eat up, and think wisely about your future."
The room after the cactus had barely any light and appears generally dark, and with limited visibility it seemed exceedingly large. They couldn't see a wall anywhere, and as such, no door either.
"What the hell is this place! We've been walking for hours and we have not gotten anywhere."
But they kept walking.
They couldn't see the end, or any door. Any flare or light they attempted to conjure was somehow eaten up by the darkness above. It seemed like they were in some kind of endless abyss.
"Is there an end to this room?"
"I'm tired. I feel like I've been walking for a whole day."
"Let's rest."
They looked at each other, and nodded at the suggestion. It seemed like it was going to be a very, very long journey. They unpacked some sleeping bags and placed them on the ground, and then sat around.
"Do you think there is an end to this room? Or there is some kind of trick to it?" Tia wondered aloud, while having a bite of her preserved bread.
"I'm pretty sure there is. Maybe it's something to do with the ground we are walking on. I feel like we've been walking around the same place."
Evileye placed her head on a small pillow she pulled out of her magic inventory, and muttered under her breath… "Walking in the same place, huh.."
Gagaran on the other hand dozed off already, exhausted from the long walk.
Tia and Tina set up some defensive traps and detectors, and took turns to sleep. As the two assassins, they both had the best surveillance abilities, so on long trips this was their role. Evileye had a magical inventory so she took all the heavy stuff and creature comforts.
The darkness in the room gave no indication whether it was night or day, and it was only their watches that gave them a clue.
The next day…
"We've been walking for four hours. I really don't think this dungeon or building is that big…"
"It isn't."
Tia took out a compass. And she stopped at her place.
"I really think this is a trick room."
"They intend to starve us, huh…"
The compass needle moved slightly.
"Hmm."
Tia resumed walking, and kept looking at her compass.
"Will that tell you anything?"
And the compass needle moved again.
"I think this room… Is moving."
"Huh?"
"Or maybe the ground is moving. I don't know. The compass is moving even though we are not. It shouldn't behave this way."
The compass needle moved a little again.
"Is the ground moving against us?"
"I think so."
"So… If we move very fast… We will reach the end?"
"Well. Lets try it."
They all burst ahead, running as fast as they could.
And still there was no end in sight.
"What if we are not fast enough?"
"What?"
"The room must be quite big, that it can take us moving at that speed."
"What if the door isn't at the end?"
An imaginary lightbulb appeared over Evileye's head.
"Wait, let me try something."
Evileye touched the ground, and with all her energy tried to manipulate the ground. And the ground cracked, and through the cracks, they could catch the glimpse of some colors at the end.
"We… we are inside a huge sphere like structure."
More appropriately, the portal brought them into a huge hamster ball, and as long as they remained inside it, it would seem endless to them.
"So we've really been walking in circles."
"Yes."
The crack Evileye created somehow healed itself, and closed.
"Now that I know what I'm looking for, all of you just run behind me. I'm going to create a hole and run out of this sphere."
"Great!"
Evileye blasted a hole in the ground using her early magic, and created a gentle sloping tunnel, and though they couldn't see very far, they eventually got to the doors.
In that small crevice there were three doors. Once again they were red, blue and yellow, but they had a logo of different animals in front of them.
And Evileye just opened the first one anyway, sucking the entire team through.
"They made it out of the trap, Wololo-sama."
"They have an earth mage with them, I would be surprised if they couldn't figure that out."
"Wololo-sama, can't we just crush them?"
"We can, but maybe later. Let's have some fun and have them go through the trick rooms first. I spent so much time designing them!"
Aura nodded.
Lakyus on the other hand, wasn't happy. She was seated on a wooden chair, restrained by the vines. She, together with Aura and Wololo was watching the Blue Rose figure out the puzzle on their large magical mirror.
"Let my friends go!" She protested.
"Oh, but they are in my territory now, so I might as well play with them." Wololo grinned.
"Why are you doing this!"
"Because of you..." Wololo walked over in his werewolf, and bent over to stare into her eyes with his two glowing eyes.
"Let them go." Lakyus summoned all her willpower to resist.
"So, serve me, and I will spare them." Wololo grinned, and walked towards the massive screen. He then brought out some kind of book out of nowhere, and flipped through it, seemingly looking for something.
"That's madness…" Lakyus muttered under her breath, wondering what options she has.
"Well…"
"Wololo-sama, they are now entering the next room." Aura intervened, and then walked over to Lakyus, who's struggling in her seat.
Aura leaned over to Lakyus, and whispered.
"Please don't make this difficult for everyone."
Lakyus looked at Aura's eyes, and sighed. "I just want to be set free."
"You will be, eventually. It's just three years in service of Wololo-sama. Surely you recognise that it is a great honor to be chosen by my lord."
"No. Its slavery."
"Being a slave to a great master, is often better than being at the whims of nobility."
Lakyus looked at Aura, and just sighed.
...
The next room looked like a small training room,with all sort of weapons displayed on the walls. The quality appears to be relatively basic, and seems to be used as a practice weapon.
"You four are my opponents. I will defeat you."
The four girls turned to face a young teen, barely 15.
In his right hand was a wooden sword and on his left was a small wooden buckler shield. He tightened his grip of his wooden sword and charged ahead.
He swings his sword. They could tell he had no experience with it.
Still, Gagaran blocks with her warpick, cautious of the tricks this maze has presented so far.
And the wooden sword failed to hit its mark.
The child attacked again, and Gagaran once again blocked easily.
The child did not give up, and swings his sword repeatedly, trying to land a hit. All were deftly blocked by Gagaran's warpick.
It seemed they really were fighting a child.
"Why are we made to fight a child?"
Tia and Tina was at the three doors in the room, and tried to open them. They are locked.
"Well, we can't move on without it."
"Forcing us into killing a child. That's brutal."
The child was still swinging his sword repeatedly, flailing and screaming.
Tia and Tina fired a lasso at the child, and disabled him.
"How do we open the door?"
"Going by the past few rooms, killing him should work."
"There must be a trick."
The child is tied up in Tia's rope, unable to move. He struggles and flops around like a fish, trying to break free.
"Hey kid… how do we open the door."
"I'm not helping you!" He screamed, while flopping around like a fish.
"If you help us, we'll set you free." Evileye said, though she suspects that they actually have no power to do so, as they can't even get out of the room.
"I. Don't. Believe. You!"
"Let's kill him. We gotta get out of here." Tia said. There was a strange coldness in her words, harking back to her younger days as an assassin. She withdraws a dagger and attempts to stab him in the heart, but Evileye stopped her.
"There must be a trick." Evileye insisted.
They searched the room, figuring that a clue, if any would be in it.
Tina examined the door, wondering what the locked doors mean.
"We should kill the kid." Tia insisted.
"Have we become monsters?"
Gagaran grabbed one of the practice weapons, and swung it around.
"These things are light."
"Gagaran-san, will you focus? We're trapped here." Tia added.
"Yes, yes. Should we try hitting the door?" Gagaran walked over to one of the locked doors, and hit it with all her might.
And nothing happened.
Gagaran then walked over to the struggling, restrained child, and asked. "How do I go on to the next room? I don't want to kill a young defenseless child."
The child struggled, and flailed. The strong, muscled Gagaran tapped the child's head lightly with her knuckles, and somehow he lost consciousness.
"I knocked him out with a bit of magic, since him screaming isn't exactly helpful. But he's alive."
The three locked doors changed colors then, and they heard the doors becoming unlock.
"Well… we should've knocked him out earlier." Evileye joked, and walked over to the three doors.
The three choices presented to them were numbers. Ten, twenty, or a hundred.
"I say we take ten." Tia spoke.
"I prefer a hundred." Gagaran said.
Tina looked a little puzzled, and looked at Evileye for guidance.
"Why not the three of you play a game and figure out which number?" Evileye said, and the other three nodded. They played a game of rock, paper and scissors, and in the end, Tia won.
"So ten it is."
Lakyus was sent back to her room, and she was no longer restrained. Aura had sent her back to her room, telling her to think about Wololo's offer.
She collapsed onto her bed, and wondered should she accept the offer, to save her friends. Is she so selfish, that her freedom matters more than the lives of her friends?
She recollected to scenes she saw, where her friends struggled against monsters and camped out in the darkness. They have made the long journey, just to save her. And as she thought about it, tears started to stream down her face.
"I've got great teammates… and friends."
Would she be wasting their efforts, if she agreed to Wololo's terms? Made the journey so far, just to be told that she would serve this strange new master for three years. It was crazy. Gagaran would've smacked her for being delusional and naive to believe this crazy person.
But does she have a choice, if she wants to save her friends? This person obviously could kill them if he wanted to.
She hugged the stuffed bolster on her bed, and rolled around, wondering what to do.
"Sigh..."
Ten.
That was the number of enemies they faced. Ten large fifteen feet tall giant ogres, each armed with a massive club about 10 feet long.
Arriving in the room, they were greeted by their attacks that they barely managed to block, thanks to the swift reaction time of the two assassins' and their magical shields.
But no time to rest, as the clubs came again and again. Outnumbered, Evileye summoned a crystal wall, hoping to separate some of the ogres from the rest of the pack, and fight them on more even terms.
Gagaran, Tia and Tina swiftly used the advantage created by Evileye's walls to gang up on two of the separated ogres, landing a few hits on the massive ogres bodies.
"GRAHHHHH" The ogres yelled in pain.
Tia and Tina's large daggers were laced with strong poison, meant to weaken physically stronger enemies such as ogres.
But they didn't have much time to let the poison act, and they soon closed in again, slashing the two massive ogres while avoiding their heavy clubs. A single hit from those clubs would probably be fatal, but the two assassins' sharp and flowing movements easily dodged them.
Another slash.
The ogres bleed, but they are still stand, and managed to parry Gagaran's warpick.
Time was running out, and they could hear the cracking and crumbling of a portion of Evileye's crystal walls.
"The walls will last another minute. Kill it now."
"Trying!" Tia and Tina said in unison, landing two more slashes at different parts of the ogres. The poison should numb them by now, and Gagaran could probably land a heavy killing blow to their skull.
And as predicted, their movements became sluggish enough that Gagaran could land two killing blows on each of the ogres.
CRACKKKKK
The crystal walls collapsed, and five ogres now faced them.
"The walls lasted shorter than I expected, but whatever."
[Crystal lance]
A slab of crystal flew towards the ogre, which it parried with their massive clubs. Though it didn't manage to harm the ogre, it did bring enough force to cause one of the ogres to stagger a few steps backwards.
Tia, Tina and Gagaran dashed, with the two assassins landing multiple cuts on each of the ogres, intending to inflict poison on each of them, so that Gagaran and Evileye would have an easier time.
One of the ogres roared.
[BATTLE FURY]
The five ogres radiated a strange reddish glow, and Evileye immediately screamed.
"Get back!"
The ogres' clubs seemed to swing at significantly faster speed than before, and even with the assassins' deft reflexes, they barely dodged it.
Gagaran, unable to dodge, parried one of the clubs, activating her martial arts to take the massive hit. [Fortress]
Still, the furious ogre's swing was strong enough to push her back.
"Their fury state won't last forever, let's trap them!" Tia yelled.
Evileye activated [Crystal Wall] twice, attempting to entomb the five ogres. And it seemed to have worked for about half a minute, giving her teammates precious time to recover.
When the crystals exploded from the ogre's smashing, Tia and Tina's exploding traps activated, and right in front of the ogres, burning the ogres skin.
The red glow around the ogres faded a little.
Evileye activated [Crystal wall] again, mentally calculating how many more uses she has for the walls.
Gagaran grabbed her warpick, and activated a chain of ability boosting skills, and when the ogres broke free of the crystal wall again, she dashed in and slammed her warpick into the ogres with incredible force, smashing two of their heads.
"Three left."
"No, six. There's another three that's breaking free of their walls soon."
Tia and Tina, observing the somewhat disoriented ogres weakened guard, placed a lot more explosive traps around the three ogres and activated them.
And it went KABOOOOOOOOOOM, causing their blood to splatter everywhere.
"Should've used the bombs earlier." Tia joked.
"There's still three more." Tina smiled at her twin sister.
The crystal wall holding back the other three collapsed just in time, and Gagaran slammed her ability-boosted warpick into one of them, blasting it backwards, flying into the walls.
"Wow, you monster! You managed to hit an ogre so hard that it flew!" Evileye joked, but now that she didn't have to maintain the crystal wall as they were only facing three left, she was free to participate in closer combat.
She seemed to have teleported close to one of the Ogres, and multiple crystal lances appeared around the ogre, and impaled it from multiple directions.
"Show off."
Tia and Tina, eager not to be outdone, dashed in on the last remaining ogre, and tapped a few explosive traps around its body.
And blasted the ogre to oblivion.
There are no ogres left.
"Lucky we didn't pick a hundred."
"True." Evileye wondered what were their odds if they faced a hundred ogres, but decided not to calculate too much halfway.
Lakyus cheered, clapping her hands and a fistpump when her teammates killed the last ogre.
"Your friends are pretty good." Wololo commented.
"Of course. We're the Blue Rose, one of the adamantium ranked adventurer teams in Re-Estize!"
"Not bad indeed, but let's increase the difficulty." Wololo laughed.
Lakyus gave Wololo an intense stare. "Let us go already. You had your fun!"
"Oh no, I think I'm just getting warmed up." Wololo then did some warm up exercises, flexing his arms and legs a little. "Aura, I'm going over to say hello. Watch over our guest, will you?"
Aura bowed, "As you command, Wololo-sama."
Lakyus had a horrified expression on her face.
Their next room was a vast, open field. They could even see the stars. And there was no enemy as far as they could see.
"We're… outside!" Tia exclaimed.
"Yes, we are. But there's supposed to be a door, isn't it?"
Then a beam of golden light came down from the sky, a special effect-laced teleportation spell, meant to create a slight effect at the targeted area. It was meant to mimic the presence of gods in old Greek or Moman movies, where the god's appearance often was accompanied by a brilliant ray of light.
Wololo appeared in the form of a fully armored leonin, in glowing golden armor adorned with little carvings, complete with an animated flowing cape similar to Touch-Me, but only yellowish in color. His head was that of a regal lion, with beautiful golden mane and fur, his eyes a bright yellow. In his right hand was a beautifully crafted hammer, and on his other hand, a yellow-golden gauntlet, with a few gems slotted in.
This was Wololo's "Golden Lion" form, a form inspired by the gloriousness of Touch-Me. Wololo underwent a phase in the guild wanting to be like Touch-Me, but having selected a whole set of levels that went in another direction, and having none of his superb technical combat knowledge, realised he would not get anywhere near him in strength. So, he designed a form as a shapeshifter that allowed him to look the part (without actually having the combat prowess of Touch-Me), just so that Wololo can placate his sorrow.
In the darkness of the night, his presence glowed bright.
"Look! There's a cute giant walking cat!" Tia commented.
CUTE?! Do they not know what a lion is?
"It's a giant cat, but cats don't have such long hair around its head." Tina responded to her twin.
Wololo mentally wondered why they weren't intimidated.
"I've never seen such a big cat." Tia commented.
"It's really cute."
RROOOOAARRRRRR
Wololo let out a deep roar.
The four ladies though didn't flinch, and merely looked with some kind of strange eyes.
"The cat even sounds cool!" Tia added. "How is that possible, cute and cool at the same time!"
Wololo wondered where did his prior assessment go wrong, as there was no indicator that the assassins were cat-fans. Is a walking armored lion not intimidating enough?
"Enough." Wololo spoke, with a deep voice.
Tia went on though, "Whoah the big cat can talk too!" Tina looked helpless, and smacked Tia on the head.
"We're in a mission, sis! Get a grip."
The four then entered a combative stance.
"Who are you, our next opponent?"
Wololo grinned. "I'm not your next opponent." A portal then appeared next to him.
"This is outside of the Maze, as you all would have realised. Whereas here, this portal leads you to the next opponent."
Evileye looked at the giant walking cat keenly.
"So I present you with a choice, retreat now and save yourself. Or proceed through this portal and face enemies stronger than you can imagine."
Evileye blinked ahead appearing right on top of Wololo, and blasted a huge crystal lance at him. But the crystal dissipated the moment it got anywhere near the giant cat.
She however didn't flinch and blasted a few more crystal lances.
All of them however vanished the moment it got anywhere near the cat.
"Such petty magic cannot harm me."
The golden armor came with a passive skill of nullifying all magic attack below Tier 4 and physical attack skills at Tier 5. It is sort of a substitute to Ainz's superior Tier 6 nullifying skill, since Wololo doesn't have that skill himself. The golden armor was therefore absolutely useless in Yggdrasil since at the Level 100 gameplay, very very few people use Tier 4 skills. But in the new world, such powers are pretty much godly.
The two assassins jumped in, attempting to stab him in the head. Similarly, their attacks bounced off an invisible magical wall.
"The game is simple."
Wololo spoke, despite constant magical attacks from Evileye.
"Defeat the opponents beyond the portal, and I will free your friend. Lose, and all of you will be my servants. Or flee, and never come back! So choose wisely. Muahahahahahhahaha~"
Wololo's evil laugh contradicted the noble appearance of his Golden Lion form. For the 4 ladies that have never seen a lion in their lives, they could only stare at the strange creature.
"Good luck, mortals." Wololo then vanished, in a beam of light, in the same manner as he came.
All four of them looked at each other.
"So…"
"We're doomed if we go through that portal." Tia commented.
"Wait. What's that supposed to mean." Gagaran said.
Tia looked at Gagaran and Evileye, and sighed. "You saw how our attacks didn't work against the giant cat. We struggled against our earlier enemies, and if he is our opponent, we don't stand a chance."
"Are you saying we should give up, Tia?" Gagaran was bewildered. "We came so far!"
"Yes. But to go further is to walk blindly towards death." Tia insisted.
"Then what about Lakyus? She's our friend and she needs our help!"
Tia looked really uncomfortable, her face obviously torn and conflicted. "I know.. She's our friend. But I feel we're out of our depth here…"
"Tia's right." Evileye walked closer to the portal. "Is there an alternative, I wonder..."
"You bastard." Lakyus screamed out. The entire conversation was shown via the viewing mirror, and the blonde adventurer struggled all the way, watching what was happening at her seat. She winced when she heard the conversation between the rest of her former teammates.
Wololo approached the adventurer, and bent down to stare at her.
"It's either you serve me, or they die. And you'll serve me anyway."
"Then what's the point of this torment!"
"Aura, what do you think?" Wololo looked over to Aura, and noticed the elf flipping through some books.
"Oh… I believe it's to teach them a lesson."
"A lesson?! What kind of lesson? Don't shit around with me!" Lakyus struggled, trying to shake off the vines that tied her up. She kept struggling, as she has in the past, but it doesn't really work. It's an exercise in futility, trying to escape from those magical vines.
"Now, now, young lady. Maybe I'll let your friends choose instead. Let's see whether any of them are willing to sacrifice themselves for you."
"You crazy, mad, ridiculous, insane, giant cat-squirrel creature!"
"I'm a shapeshifter, I take whichever form I please." Wololo grinned, and tapped her on the head. And then Wololo transformed into Lakyus.
"What do you think if I go to see them…. As you?" Wololo spoke, this time complete with a copy of Lakyus's actual voice.
"You… crazy… bastard." Lakyus broke down. Seeing a copy of herself, somehow she cried.
"What if I become you?"
"So… let's go?" Evileye asked. "All of you made up your mind?"
"Yes." The other three ladies replied. Earlier they went through a long discussion and finally decided that no matter the odds, it was not for them to abandon a friend. And so, through the portal they go.
The next room was a large room that looked like a torture chamber. There were various equipment of pain hung on the wall, chains and restraints, clamps, locks, cages and more. It was a room designed by a torture specialist, with almost every means of torture available.
Tia and Tina felt a strange chill run through their body.
"Greetings."
The Blue Rose turn to face four tree-like creatures, each of them about ten feet tall. One of them, looked like a burnt out tree, with glowing yellow eyes, and had branches for arms and roots for legs. The other three were not burnt, but each of them had different type of leaves and fruits on their top.
"We are Wololo-sama's Evil Ents, and you will be defeated here." They spoke with a strange, hollow and wispy voice.
Evileye instantly knew what they faced was at least a league above what they faced before, from the malice and combat aura it emitted. One of the trees emitted a kind of spore from it's branches, and blasted it out, filling the room.
And the other ent put it's roots into the ground, that appeared as vines to restrain the four adventurers. Evileye and the two assassins manage to dodge the vines, but Gagaran was entangled by the vines, as they emerged way too fast for her to react in time.
"Gagaran!" Evileye yelled, and blasted multiple crystal lances at the four ents, hoping to free her friend. But with 4 ents, that was pretty much wishful thinking.
Another ent retaliated with a whole lot of seeds, deflecting the crystal lances mid-air, and causing them to miss.
Tia and Tina took the chance to charge in, and placed a few explosive traps on the ents, and activated them, causing an explosion in the room.
But the roots that bind Gagaran only gotten stronger, and her face started to turn a little blue. Tia then tried to cut the roots off with her knife but the bark was too thick, so it only made a small cut.
From the smoke of the explosion, a few fireballs were sent their way.
"Whaaaaaaaaaaa~" Tia dodged, but Tina was too near the smoke and didn't manage to react on time, and the fireball hit her back, causing her to fly across the room and smacked into a wall. She then struggled to get up, a little dizzy from the impact.
As the smoke clears, it's now clear that the head of the four ents are now on fire. But, that meant the [Evil Ents] have transformed into [Burning Evil Ents].
"Oh shit." Evileye yelled, as she dodged a few more fireballs.
Tia ran over to help Tina up, while Gagaran activated a few skills and attempted to wrestle the roots.
A few more fireballs, and Evileye created a huge crystal wall to block it. The fireballs blasted the crystal away, sending crystal shrapnel all over the room.
"Darn."
Gagaran's attempts to wrestle the roots were not good, as more roots appeared, and overpowered her. She was then slammed to the ground, tied up by the many roots.
Tia and Tina, both dodged a few more fireballs, but somehow realised their reaction time was slowing.
The spore earlier was a slow poison that was inhaled. Evileye being a vampire was immune, but the two of them felt the world started to spin.
Evileye, realising that her three comrades now in no position to fight, pulled in all her energy into her next spell, and blasted a huge wave of crystal out at the four ents. Then it all went black for her too, as a huge wave of vines appeared all around her.
"Stop! Stop it already..."
Lakyus was crying… she wasn't really used to crying, but here she was. Her hair was messy, her eyes red.
She couldn't bear the torture of watching her friends suffer, and not be there with them.
"Stop… I'll do it. I'll serve you. Let them go already." Lakyus said, her face looked like a total wreck.
Wololo looked over at the weeping adventurer, and waved his hand. The vines that restrained the blonde adventurer then withdrawn itself into the floor, releasing her. Lakyus collapsed to the floor, weak from the struggling against the vines.
She tried to push herself up, but her hands were weak.
"I'll… do it. Just let them go..."
Wololo walked over and tapped her on her head, casting a healing spell on her. Lakyus felt a warm sensation course through her body, restoring strength to her limbs.
"Stand up, and say it again."
Lakyus stood, her physical strength returned, but her spirit still remain broken.
"I'll serve you." And just as she stood, she quickly knelt down again, before the lion.
"Good."
Wololo waved his hand, and the screen changed. The four ladies, trapped in various torture instruments. They were screaming and struggling, and their voices were clearly pained. It seemed they've just went through a few sessions of torture.
Lakyus gasped. "LET THEM GO!"
Wololo smiled, "Put this on, and I will let them go." He pulled out a small necklace with a glowing blue gem at the center, and passed it to her.
The blonde adventurer grabbed it and quickly put it around her neck. No longer asking much questions, as seeing her friends in so much pain snapped something deep within her.
"Good. Now let's go meet them."
Lakyus gasped. "Uh…"
A teleportation ring appeared around Lakyus, Aura and Wololo, and in an instant, their surroundings changed and they are now in the torture chambers.
Lakyus called out to her friends, all tied up by the magical torture devices. She saw them gagged, unable to talk.
"Free them!" She turned at Wololo.
"Alright." Wololo laughed, and waved his animal hand. The chains somehow magically loosened, and the gag balls fell off their mouth. The two assassins who were dipped in some kind of insect tank was pulled out by the chains, and the insects vanished into some magical tunnel below.
"Lakyus…" Tia called, but Lakyus didn't let her continue and embraced her tightly, while crying. There was a weakness in her eyes that Lakyus had not seen before.
"Looks like you'll need some time. Lakyus, you have an hour." Wololo looked over to Aura, and a teleportation ring appeared again.
They left.
The other three girls, Tina, Gagaran and Evileye crawled over with their remaining strength, and joined their embrace.
"Lakyus, you idiot…" Evileye said.
Lakyus held them tightly. And they remained in embrace for a good two minutes, before one of them spoke.
"So… what sort of deal did you make?" Evileye was first to ask.
Lakyus, now slightly recovered from her earlier crying, couldn't quite answer her. "Are you all alright?"
Evileye hit Lakyus on the head lightly, "Don't avoid the question."
Lakyus sighed and looked at Evileye in the eye. "I… agreed to serve that guy."
All the four girls looked at her and gave her a smack at about the same time. "You. IDIOT!"
"I did it to save all of you. I couldn't stand watching the pain and torture they were putting you through."
Tia and Tina nodded, as the pain they felt earlier was pretty horrifying. The pool of insects left, the constant scratch of their skin with pain amplifying knives. Gagaran had needles pierce many parts of her body and some of the needles hung over her eye, almost touching it. Needless to say the thought of going through it made her shiver.
"So… What now?" Tia asked. "What else did you agree to?"
"I… Don't know."
They all looked at each other. "Can we bust you out?"
"I don't think we should, or we could. We don't know what he'll do to us."
It was then a teleportation ring appeared around all of them.
They were brought back to the main throne room, where there is a massive tree in the center, and a throne made of that tree's roots and vines.
Sat on the throne was Wololo, flanked by Aura.
"So, have you girls said your goodbyes already?" The dark elf asked. "There is much to be done."
Lakyus shook her head. "No. I'm not ready."
"You have another 15 minutes. Once that is up we will forcefully separate you and send the rest of your friends, and send them through the portal." Aura spoke.
They could sense a fearsome aura being projected on them, as if there was someone bearing down on them. This was Aura's [Force Projection] used to manage creep's hate and aggression.
"Will we ever see each other again?"
"I don't know…" Lakyus answered, and she looked like she was going to cry.
They hugged each other. Gagaran though was not ready to part with her friend, and charged at Aura, attempting to punch her.
But a wall of wood appeared, blocking her punch, and from the walls, a huge bunch of vines appeared and ensnared her. And she screams in pain, as vines were covered in thorns, cutting her as it tied her up.
"Time's up." Wololo spoke. "Maybe you'll get to see each other some day."
Glowing magical rings appeared around the other four Blue Roses, as Lakyus still tried to hold on to them.
"You'll be sent back to border of Re-Estize, so say your goodbyes."
"No. Wait." Lakyus begged.
Tia and Tina managed a weak smile and nod, and softly whispered their goodbyes.
Gagaran touched Lakyus's palm, and said, "This isn't over. We'll see each other again."
"Bye, Lakyus." The four girls glowed bright, and then vanished, disappeared without a trace. Lakyus fell on her knees, and wept.
Note : Hope it's not too long for you readers. Cheer!
Hope you enjoyed it. I really enjoyed reading your reviews, and they really do motivate me to keep this going. :)