Chapter 69

Chapter 69
## Chapter: 69
Chapter Title: The Abyss Labyrinth

The sentiment was identical for Oliver.

He was such a devoted supporter of Phantom that he tracked every single one of his exploits and hardships.

‘Stay calm. Just mimic how I handled things with Hudson.’

Oliver inhaled deeply, doing his utmost to steady his nerves.

He was determined not to appear like a frail invalid.

The thought of Phantom fretting over his physical condition was unbearable to him.

If that occurred, his betrothal to Serengeti back in Pangeniar might be jeopardized.

He had yet to confess to her that his lifespan was an uncertainty, or that Pangeniar wasn’t truly his home.

There was simply no way he could find the words.

Luckily, Phantom didn’t appear to have detected his failing health yet.

‘Behave as naturally as possible.’

But what defined “natural” anymore?

He had been sequestered from society for such a long duration that the nuances of normal human contact had slipped his mind.

Even so, the experience wasn’t unpleasant.

Standing face-to-face with the figure he had so intensely idolized.

He fought to suppress his anxiety, yet a tremor ran through his frame regardless.

It felt like a hallucination.

He was in disbelief that Phantom was actually there, standing right before his eyes.

‘I will assist him. Even if I have to incinerate every last bit of my soul!’

How many years had passed since he felt this level of drive in the physical world?

Up until this moment, Oliver had been the one receiving Phantom’s grace.

It was Phantom who had shattered the shell that kept him a prisoner.

Without that intervention, a reunion with Serengeti would have been impossible; he would have perished in a cycle of eternal sorrow.

Acquiring a spirit and finding a glimmer of hope, while forging his own grit by observing Phantom’s massive presence and relentless drive—it all remained as sharp in his mind as a recent memory.

The champion who never faltered or flinched, always pressing onward without hesitation.

He yearned to mirror that.

He wished to possess that same unbreakable spirit.

Now, the roles were reversed; it was his turn to provide support.

A fierce fire of determination ignited in Oliver’s gaze.

《Your Archery mastery has reached 10Lv (maximum).》

《To progress to higher mastery tiers, the appropriate class is required.》

《The rank of ‘Rapid Growth’ has evolved to 2.》

《Your ‘disciples’ have received a substantial boost to all attributes.》

《Your reputation has grown by 50.》

I remained at the fortress for several days, traveling back and forth to Pangeniar.

All of this was in anticipation of the maze palace.

I also made sure to maintain rigorous training sessions with Isaac and Isabella.

Finally, once every arrangement was settled.

《The ‘Abyss Labyrinth’ has become active.》

《The ‘Abyss Labyrinth’ is now linked to every warp point.》

《Access necessitates 1h of Fragment of the Broken Golden Rule.》

The Abyss Labyrinth was finally open for business.

Simultaneously, ‘warps’ manifested across the surface of the Earth.

These were tethered by force to the pre-existing warp points in Pangeniar.

This ensured that any seeker could journey to the ‘Abyss Labyrinth’ from any gateway.

A multitude of contenders, myself included, had completed their preparations.

There wasn’t a second to lose.

《Deducting 1h of Fragment of the Broken Golden Rule.》

《Remaining duration: 968h 38m.》

《Entering the ‘Abyss Labyrinth.’》

《A randomized ‘behavioral restriction’ is applied upon entering the ‘Abyss Labyrinth.’》

《You will be ejected from the maze by force if your head remains tilted downward for 5 seconds or longer.》

《‘Behavioral restrictions’ rotate every twenty-four hours.》

A rule imposed on every soul that stepped into the maze!

‘Complicated.’

It sounded simple at first, but without constant self-monitoring, you’d likely find yourself tossed out.

And in a maze where threats could emerge from any shadow, having to juggle one more mental burden was a significant handicap.

Particularly because the rules shifted daily and could limit even the most instinctive movements, potentially leading to dead-end scenarios.

‘Actually, this is better.’

However, I wasn’t troubled.

In fact, I welcomed the challenge.

Because I possessed a way to bypass it.

《The ‘Heart of the Eternal Lord’ nullifies one random restriction from the Abyss Labyrinth.》

《‘Behavioral restriction’ has been purged.》

Let’s begin by clearing the board of one obstacle.

Labyrinth Merchant

The ground underfoot made a wet, sucking sound against the stagnant water.

A heavy, putrid scent of rot saturated the atmosphere.

Fwoosh! I struck a torch and scanned the surroundings.

“……!”

Isaac was stunned by what he saw.

Isabella and I shared his shock.

The Abyss Labyrinth.

I had braced myself for a location as brutal as the name implied, but this surpassed my expectations.

‘This place… is literally the void.’

Colossal stone walls climbed toward infinity, boxing us in.

And protruding from those stones were countless varieties of ‘hands.’

These limbs twitched with a grotesque life of their own, clawing at anything in reach and trying to pull it into the masonry.

The path was choked with the remains of those who had been slaughtered while fighting against those grasping fingers.

It was a spectacle of horrific majesty. But we couldn’t afford to linger.

“What are the rules governing your actions?”

“I cannot clasp my hands together for longer than 3 seconds.”

“I must not move my head from side to side……”

Convoluted, just as I suspected.

The one relief was that our ability to walk remained unhindered.

“What is your restriction, Successor?”

“I don’t have one.”

“Is it possible to have none?”

Isaac looked at me with a confused expression.

“But I will pretend that I do.”

“Ah. To mislead others?”

I gave a silent nod.

Action restrictions. Based on what I knew, most were of the ‘prohibited action’ variety.

My penalty had been erased by the Heart of the Eternal Lord, but no one else was aware of that.

I could weaponize that ignorance to create a tactical advantage.

After a moment of deliberation, I spoke.

“I cannot swing my right arm in a repetitive motion. That is my rule for the day.”

With those words, I had manufactured my own self-imposed behavioral constraint.

Limitless walls loomed on either side.

We trudged through the filth filling the gap between them.

Shiiiiiik—!

Thuk!

A projectile tore through the air and buried itself in my flank.

‘Guh!’

I nearly let out a cry of pain.

“Successor……”

“Shh.”

I quickly raised a finger to my mouth, signaling them both to stay quiet.

The wound in my side pulsed with a burning agony, but managing the threat took precedence over the pain.

I had heard the whistle of the arrow.

It moved with such velocity that it struck me before I could fully evade.

If I hadn’t pivoted on pure reflex the moment I heard it, the bolt would have found my heart.

‘An ambush.’

It hadn’t been fired by a living hand.

It was a mechanical trap.

Peering toward the source of the shot, I spotted a crossbow fixed into the stone wall.

Who would be crazy enough to set up a siege weapon on a wall in this place?

Even with my caution, I hadn’t foreseen a trap at that angle.

“There is a trapper positioned ahead of us. A highly skilled one.”

A Trapper.

That device was definitely the work of a human hand.

It wasn’t built for volume, but for precision—designed to execute anyone who stepped into its sights.

Gurgle, gurgle!

I wrenched the arrow from my flesh and downed a potion I had kept ready.

The flow of blood ceased instantly, and the skin began to stitch itself back together.

“How did they manage to get in front of us?”

Isabella inquired while she wrapped the wound in bandages.

We had crossed the threshold the moment the maze opened, so we assumed we held the lead.

Yet here was someone already ahead, laying down snares.

Someone capable enough to evade all our sensory checks.

“Unless they appeared further in or utilized a mount……”

Isaac replied.

Arrival points within the maze were randomized.

Naturally, no one started at the absolute center, but there were variations in distance.

‘This is a nuisance.’

Trappers were among the most aggravating archetypes to deal with.

Particularly in cramped corridors like these, where their influence was absolute.

An expert trapper could deploy time-delayed mechanisms that triggered in sequences, rather than just on contact.

“Isabella, watch our back. Isaac, take the lead.”

“Understood.”

“Yes.”

The path was riddled with hazards.

However, once you are actively looking for them, they cease to be lethal.

These weren’t placed with precision; it was a desperate attempt at slowing us down.

Which meant they realized we were closing the gap.

Because we were clearing their obstacles faster than they could arm them, they were throwing out sloppy traps just to buy themselves seconds.

‘Found you.’

A small party appeared in the distance.

We had finally caught up to them.

Two individuals were frantically setting traps while a single fighter stood guard.

“T-They’re already here?”

“What is this? Those freaks!”

The two trappers cried out in alarm.

They had realized quite a while ago that their traps were being neutralized, so their shock was expected.

“That is the price you pay for relying solely on gadgets. Believe me.”

A dark-complexioned warrior stood there, bare-chested.

His hair was cropped in a sharp, horizontal line across his brow, and he gripped a heavy war-axe—a classic barbarian image.

【Lv.9】

A top-tier combatant.

But that specific haircut identified him as a great warrior of the wastes.

That straight fringe meant he served as a personal guard for the Desert Queen’s inner circle.

That was the reason they were labeled as barbarians.

“……Wait a minute. I recognize that face.”

The barbarian’s eyes locked onto a specific target.

Isabella.

Once he verified her identity, he erupted into a roar of laughter.

“Hahaha! The Snake Princess! So the turncoat was hiding here!”

“Butcher Yagumo……”

“You found a spark with that Star Awakener or whatever he is, deserted your post, and this is the hole you crawled into?”

“What brings you here?”

Isabella’s voice was like ice.

She couldn’t wrap her head around it.

Why would a barbarian bound by oath to guard the queen in the desert be found here in the Abyss Labyrinth?

“This place will be your tomb, Snake Princess. You are a traitor who turned her back on Her Majesty!”

There was no further room for conversation.

As the barbarian began his bulldozing charge, Isabella spoke.

“……I will deal with him.”

“Go ahead.”

They were both level 9.

In the past, I might have held her back, but she had evolved since our last encounter.

“Snake Princess! You were no match for me in the wastes—do you really think things have changed?”

“I am no longer the Snake Princess. You filth.”

As the two of them collided, Isaac and I surged past the barbarian at the same time.

He didn’t care about us anyway.

With their protector occupied, the two trappers fell into a state of panic.

“W-What!”

“Yagumo! We paid you a fortune—do your damn job!”

“SCREW THIS! Log out!”

“Log out now!”

They attempted to trigger the rule where logging out results in immediate ejection.

Unlike the warrior Yagumo, these two were players.

Their physical forms began to shimmer and fade.

They flickered between their Pangeniar avatars and their Earthly selves.

A warp portal began to manifest behind them simultaneously.

It started to pull their essence inward.

Kyaa?

Hel, who was now resting on my shoulder, tilted its head curiously.

Then, the mist surrounding Hel shifted into a deep crimson.

Drip!

The warp that was supposed to extract them suddenly froze in place.

“W-What’s happening? Why isn’t the log out working?”

“Why is it stuck? Are you kidding me?!”

It was a strange sight.

A log out should have guaranteed an exit from the maze.

The portal that appears behind you is supposed to drag your consciousness back to your physical body.

Yet the two remained trapped on the floor in their trapper personas.

‘Hel is capable of controlling warps within its proximity.’

That was the proof I needed.

Hel didn’t just destroy portals—it could grant or deny passage.

Though it couldn’t simply erase any warp at will.

From my tests, Hel could sever ‘unclaimed warps.’

But if a portal opened within its field of influence, it could override it.

Just as it was doing now.

Hel had ‘rejected’ their entry into the warp.

‘You cannot exit the Abyss without a warp.’

I had also learned something new.

This was the Abyss.

Unlike the main continent, the influence of the goddess was feeble here.

You couldn’t successfully log out without physically riding a warp back to the continent where your real body resided.

That was why the system generated a warp for you automatically.

Step.

Step.

As I moved toward them with slow, deliberate strides, the eyes of the two trappers filled with pure dread.

“P-Please, have mercy!”

“What the hell is this……!”