* * *

“According to you, does that mean the maze targets intruders who are alone?”

While waiting for Cadel and Garuel, who had set out to find Yozen, Van, who had been contemplating Kash’s words alone, asked. Kash scratched his head and rolled his eyes in response.

“Maybe.”

“Does that mean it might not be true?”

“I can’t be sure that it’s the right answer……”

“Do you want to die?”

“That, that can’t be it!”

There were no humans here to hide or rely on. Kash, feeling completely intimidated, showed discomfort at the hostility from the humans around him. But, even so, there was no one to defend or support him.

“……If the maze targets intruders who are alone, then why did that demon move by itself? Demons wouldn’t hide information from each other. Was it one that was being ostracized?”

Lumen asked, almost like an interrogation, and Kash nervously shrugged his shoulders. He knew that no proper answer would come out. Despite knowing that, Lumen continued to throw questions.

“What’s the difference between the demon that escaped alone and the demons that moved in groups?”

“Difference……? Why are you asking about something like that all of a sudden……?”

Nothing came to mind. Kash broke into a cold sweat, trying to come up with a usable answer. He was afraid that if he kept saying “I don’t know”, he wouldn’t survive until Cadel came back.

After a long moment of desperately trying to recall something, Kash’s eyes lit up as if something had come to mind.

“Come to think of it, that demon seemed to have run out in a huge hurry.”

“Ran?”

“Yeah. And besides saying ‘I almost got eaten’, I think I also heard the words ‘meal time’. Well, of course, this isn’t a definite memory. I might have dreamt it!”

“Meal time……”

It seemed like they were about to get a clue, but it was still vague. If Kash had proper information, this curiosity would have been easily solved. With a sigh, Lumen glared at Kash and looked down the path Cadel had taken.

‘It’s about time they should be back.’

With Garuel around, nothing dangerous should happen, but whenever Cadel wasn’t in sight, Lumen always felt uneasy. Should he go look for him? As his anxiety gradually grew, Lumen took a step forward.

“Commander Ector!”

“Com, Commander Moritol!”

Urgent cries from the knights in the rear reached his ears.

“Wow, this is interesting. What a fun maze, huh?”

Lydon’s eyes sparkled as he noticed something intriguing. Reflected in his red eyes was a wall that had popped out. The straight path they had been following suddenly curved as the wall in the rear protruded. The shape of the path had changed in an instant, but what was more problematic was what came next.

“Hey, young master. That……”

“……Yeah. It looks like this maze really does eat intruders.”

The knights who had been standing near the protruding wall were now absorbed by it instead of being pushed aside by the shifting wall. Heads, hands, legs, feet—parts of their bodies dangled out, struggling on top of the wall. Their comrades nearby tried to pull them back, but it was useless. Their bodies were rapidly absorbed into the wall.

The knights who instinctively placed their hands on the wall while pulling their comrades also got sucked in, as if someone had yanked them through the other side. Even attacks aimed at the wall left no mark on it. Amidst the panic, the wall, having freely changed its structure, had finished its satisfying meal.

A moment of silence spread across the allies who had lost dozens of knights in an instant. The sounds of confused breaths and swallowed saliva lingered in the air.

In the gap created by the shock-stricken allies, Lumen quietly drew his sword and stabbed the wall beside him. However, the wall, which had been absorbing everything just moments ago, had hardened again, bouncing the blade off.

The expressions of Van and Lydon, who had been watching the scene, stiffened. Quickly sheathing his sword, Lumen turned to Lydon and said.

“Find Leader, Lydon. Send a signal as soon as you find him. We’ll search the area as well.”

The maze, devoid of any will of its own, changed its structure at will, absorbed the humans present into its walls, and after completing its actions, shamelessly returned to its original form.

This was the maze’s ‘feeding method’. And Cadel, Garuel, and Yozen, who had left without knowing this fact, were certainly not safe from becoming its next meal.

“I’ll handle Kash. Hurry and go.”

Hyron untied the rope from Lydon’s body and wrapped it around his own waist. Lydon, who had been briefly watching Hyron, immediately took to the sky and began searching for Cadel. He needed to fly at a suitable altitude, as flying too high would obscure his vision due to the fog.

“Stay safe, Cadel. You have to…… you must……”

Lydon had been speaking with an odd sense of amusement about the maze’s ‘feeding’ even as he witnessed knights being consumed up close. But when it came to Cadel, Lydon’s expression was filled with fear and unease, as if to say ‘When did I ever laugh?’.

Lydon, flying desperately, eventually stopped at a certain point in the sky. It wasn’t because he had found something—it was the sound. A sharp, piercing strike, as though something solid was being hit, echoed constantly. As Lydon adjusted his position to find the source of the noise, his eyes widened in realization.

“Garuel! What are you doing here?”

“……Sir Lydon.”

Garuel, who had been raising his sword toward the wall, stopped and turned his stiff neck. His mask lay carelessly discarded on the ground. His breath was ragged, and his eyes were a whirlwind of confusion, despair, fear, and anger.

Just from his gaze, Lydon understood.

“……Is Cadel in there?”

“……”

“Did he get eaten?”

At Lydon’s cold question, Garuel slowly lowered his sword. A murderous emotion flickered in Lydon’s eyes. Drawing on his mana in an instant, he stepped toward Garuel, as if he were about to attack him and hold him accountable.

But Lydon didn’t strike Garuel. His clenched fist slowly opened, and several ice butterflies fluttered out. The butterflies immediately flew through the maze, heading toward Lumen and Van.

“Tell me everything that happened.”