The Characteristics of the Maze

Before their eyes stretched a world of pure white.

"Oh... this place kinda resembles the Ashen Corridor," Liyana remarked, curiously surveying their surroundings.

"Be careful. This is a newly emerged labyrinth. We don’t know its rules or what kind of monsters lurk here—it’s extremely dangerous," Xia Lun warned.

Liyana glanced at Xia Lun, then at Aina.

And promptly dismissed his words as nonsense.

She turned to look behind her—the rift remained stable, still connected to the Grand Cathedral. They could retreat at any time.

Currently, they stood in a courtyard.

Beyond it, several narrow paths branched out, leading to unknown destinations.

"Here we go! Time for the thrilling labyrinth conquest!" Liyana summoned a longbow into her hand. "Now this is what adventurers are meant to do... Mo Lini, you’re in charge of opening treasure chests later."

"Eh... Eh?!" Mo Lini flusteredly replied, "I-I don’t know how!"

"Oh, right, I forgot—you’re Mo Lini." Liyana pondered for a moment before asking, "Mo Lini, can you sing right now?"

"Eh?! Why?" Mo Lini looked utterly baffled.

"Your ancestor had the power to attract monsters with his singing. I think you might’ve inherited that ability," Liyana explained matter-of-factly. "After all, you look so much like him... which is honestly pretty bizarre."

"But Miss Mo Lini’s voice is very different from Moke’s. That effect should be lost by now," Musen interjected from his storybook.

"Ah, true enough." Liyana suddenly seemed to recall something, covering her mouth as she burst into giggles.

Mo Lini tilted her head. "Liyana, what’s so funny?"

"N-Nothing. It’s just... you’re better off not knowing why Moke’s singing attracted monsters... Pfft—HAHAHA!" Liyana doubled over laughing, as if recalling an inside joke.

"Mr. Musen... could you tell me? Why did my ancestor’s singing lure monsters?" Seeing Liyana’s reaction, Mo Lini redirected her question.

"Uh... I think you’d better ask Captain Xia Lun about that," Musen replied, sounding slightly awkward.

"If no one’s telling, then forget it." Mo Lini stuck out her tongue. She didn’t want to bother Xia Lun over something trivial.

Still, judging by Liyana’s reaction, she guessed the reason probably wasn’t... dignified.

"Let’s go, or Xia Lun will leave us behind," Liyana changed the subject, urging Mo Lini to hurry.

"Xia Lun, which path should we take?" Liyana asked, tilting her head up.

"Pick one yourself," Xia Lun replied indifferently.

He’d already realized—every path ultimately led to the same destination.

Liyana pointed at the branching paths, muttering under her breath.

"What’s that? A spell?" Mo Lini gasped. "I didn’t know you could divine the future, Liyana."

Liyana: "Nope. Just eeny-meeny-miny-moe, but in Elvish."

Mo Lini: "..."

She randomly chose a path.

The road was wide, stretching endlessly forward, flanked by dense vegetation... all eerily pale, as if the plants suffered from albinism.

Mo Lini pointed curiously at the roadside. "What would happen if we didn’t follow the path and just cut through these shrubs instead?"

"We’d die," Liyana answered gravely.

Mo Lini stiffened.

"First time in a labyrinth, huh?" Liyana began her rookie adventurer lecture. "Inside a labyrinth, you play by its rules—or die horribly."

Mo Lini blinked. "Labyrinth rules?"

"Those might look like ordinary shrubs, but technically, they are shrubs..."

"Uh..." Mo Lini felt Liyana was messing with her.

Liyana straightened up. "But beyond the shrubs, there’s nothing. Step off the path, and the labyrinth ejects you. If you’re lucky, you might return to the real world. If not... spatial turbulence shreds you to pieces."

"Why?"

"No reason. That’s just how labyrinths work," Liyana said. "Like how rocks are hard and cotton is soft—it’s their nature."

Mo Lini nodded, only half-understanding.

A gust of wind howled—a shadow descended from above, landing squarely on the path ahead.

A pale, humanoid monster, its body smooth as porcelain, wings spread behind it... its face featureless, like a peeled hard-boiled egg.

"Whoosh—"

Liyana drew and loosed an arrow in one fluid motion, piercing the creature’s head.

The head seemed to be its weak point. The monster shattered like fine china, crumbling into fragments.

Xia Lun stepped forward, plucked a red monster core from the debris, and tossed it to Liyana.

"So? Pretty impressive, huh?" Liyana flicked her golden hair triumphantly, radiating confidence.

"Mm." Mo Lini’s reaction was lukewarm.

After witnessing Xia Lun’s battles, Liyana’s feat felt almost trivial.

But in truth, Liyana’s reflexes and that flawless shot were far beyond an average adventurer’s skill.

"You two take your time. I’ll scout ahead." Xia Lun suddenly waved at them.

"Be safe, Xia Lun." Aina rose on her tiptoes, pressing a farewell kiss as if sending off her husband to work.

Then, Xia Lun vanished into the shrubs—taking the shortcut, of course.

Mo Lini stared at Liyana. Earlier, she’d insisted that straying from the labyrinth’s rules was deadly.

"What?" Liyana scoffed. "Since when does he count?"

...

Passing through the shrubs, Xia Lun’s foot met empty air as he stepped into the void.

True to Liyana’s warning, this was perilous—but his strength rendered such dangers meaningless.

If this world was a calm lake, then labyrinths were bubbles clinging to its surface.

Circling a bubble to reach the other side... or cutting straight through. Naturally, the latter was faster.

When Xia Lun’s feet touched solid ground again, he stood before desolate ruins.

White dominated the landscape—collapsed buildings, shattered pillars—yet the sheer scale hinted at its former grandeur.

A figure stood atop the ruins, motionless as a statue, as if it had stood there for millennia.

This was the labyrinth’s master—its strongest entity. Defeat it, and the labyrinth would be conquered.

Xia Lun grinned.

In the past, he’d never cleared a labyrinth this quickly.