[Isaac's POV]

  Lying on my back, heat slowly bled from my body into the cold stone. A groan escaped my throat. The ground scraped against my skin. The world spun lazily above me. Where am I? What is this place?

  My fingers clenched instinctively against the ground. My head hurts. I rolled to my side. It sent a violent shock through my body. A hiss slipped between my teeth as I curled inward, clutching my ribs. Why does everything hurt? Fragments drifted through my mind like broken glass. Dungeon. Fight. Someone swinging a sword. What are these visions?

  Slowly, I dragged myself forward on all fours. Each movement shook my breath loose from my lungs. The world blurred at the edges. The wall finally met my back. Cold. Solid. Good. Support.

  Dust floated through the air. The corridor lay silent. Why do I have a bad feeling about this? Nevermind. My head tilted sideways. The weight of exhaustion pressed down on my eyelids. Staying awake became harder by the second.

  Stay awake. Dad still needs me. Energy drained from my limbs like water leaking from a cracked bucket. Just a minute. Just...

  Darkness crept in. Then something stabbed through the fog in my mind. Memory. The dungeon. Meeting Llyne. Rona. Dan smashing through the wall. Eyes snapped open. Rona.

  Placing a hand on the wall, I pushed myself upright. My legs staggered. Knees buckled twice before I steadied myself, rubbing my temples. My gaze drifted down, my hands searching for any other injuries. Only my back. I stretched my hand to the back.

  The moment I touched my back, I hissed. I pulled my hand back. Scraped. No open wound. Good. I dug my thumb into the web between my fingers until a sharp pulse shot up my arm. The sudden sting forced the rest of the pain into the background.

  Through the thinning fog, the space revealed itself. No sound, nor shadow. Safe for now. My gaze drifted back to the wall. It's no longer a mirror maze. It might mean something even worse is about to appear.

  My gaze dropped low. "Did everyone get separated? Or is it just me…?"

  I took a step forward then froze. Pain exploded in my skull. "Argh! My head—!" I fell to one knee, hands gripping my head, gritting my teeth as the migraine drilled into my brain. A mind attack?

  Steps vibrated on the floor. Slow. Deliberate. Then, the pain vanished, as if snapped away by an invisible thread. I opened my eyes. The first thing I saw was a shiny black boot. Reflecting my face.

  My eyes traced upward. Breath caught.

  "Dan…?" I narrowed my eyes. No. Something is wrong. This person has his looks but...

  Dan raised his sword high, his grin twisted, almost playful. "Almost."

  The sword swung down, air cut. I rolled to the side just in time. The sword hit the wall, and a loud bang echoed through the place. Dust exploded. A deep cut marked the wall where I had been. Still leaning against the wall, I took a few steps back.

  "You… who are you?"

  The thing wearing Dan's face chuckled, then slowly raised a single finger. With a casual swipe, it slit its body in half. The skin fell to the ground.

  Before him stood a gaunt man dressed in a sharp black suit, thick curls coiled atop his head. His eyes, slits of emerald with no warmth, glinted with cruel amusement. The broad sword morphed into a rapier.

  "Now the mask is off, let's formally introduce ourselves, shall we? I am Devo de Alma, but you may call me Alma." He spread his arms, mocking a gentleman's bow. "I am the highest-ranked Devo in Scorpion. It's a pleasure."

  "Devo...?" Isaac murmured.

  Alma's smirk widened. "Curious. Human nature. Then allow me to explain your doom."

  "Scorpion has layers," Alma said, pacing slowly. "At the bottom? Devo. Collectors of trash." He pointed at me. "Above us, COOP. Then the ten Masters. After them, the Left and Right Vons."

  He stopped and looked down on me.

  "And at the top… the Grand Master. Puppeteers of this entire twisted world."

  My eyes remained calm, eyes sharpening. "Each of us was assigned a Devo before the maze began." A pause. "A controlled hunt."

  "Bingo!" Alma grinned. "You're sharper than your tiny limbs suggest." He stepped forward. The tip of his rapier hovered inches from my throat. "Now then, hand over your dying soul. I promise, it'll only hurt a lot."

  A mocking laugh escaped me. "How about next time?"

  His fingers tightened around the handle. Ready to strike.

  SHREEEE!

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  A shadow crashed down from above, razor claws glinting under dim torchlight. A giant cicada, easily the size of a truck, screeched and sliced its forelegs toward Alma.

  SLASH!

  Black ink sprayed. Alma screamed as the cicada tore open his chest. He twisted back, dodging another strike. "How dare this worthless insect—?!"

  I turned behind me. Solid brick wall. The only way out is the front. My throat tightened as I scanned the chamber. Too narrow for a clean escape.

  The cicada shrieked again. Its right foreleg slashed downward. Alma parried. The left followed immediately after, a brutal cross strike that forced him back. Then the wings flared. The body lifted slightly. A pause.

  There it is.

  The pattern repeated. Slash. Counter. Cross strike. Alma was forced to parry every move. Then the wings lifted for a heartbeat. That moment left Alma exposed. And the creature blind behind its back.

  I moved. A foreleg slammed into the stone inches behind me. Dust exploded across my back as I slid through the gap. I darted past Alma while he was locked in combat.

  My breath was ragged, but my mind remained sharp. Dan was a Devo. I completely misread him.

  The walls around me shimmered with an eerie sheen. The deeper into the maze I ran, the colder it got. This maze is a slaughterhouse. We weren't meant to succeed.

  Realization dawned on me. That blood shot eye prick. Rona!

  [Llyne's POV]

  Sweat clung stubbornly to my skin, refusing to join the pool of blood beneath my boots. Weapons clanked against my back like trophies I never asked for. Each step squelched through a crimson trail.

  "Oui… this place is SICK. I mean, monsters after monsters? I've gotten more weapons than a Black Market smuggler. Come on!" My shout echoed, swallowed by the maze's eerie silence. "Where is everybody!"

  Then a sound I heard too many times, I felt like puking, rang. Bloop.

  Several skeleton warriors marched through the mirror walls, their bones clacking in rhythm. They turned to face me. With their raised rusted swords, they charged toward me.

  I stared at them with the energy of someone who had just discovered disappointment has a physical form. "I was calling for my friends, not your bony behinds."

  Their jaw clattered, swinging their rusted swords. One swung too hard. Its arm popped clean off and smacked the skeleton behind it. I shook my head. See you... never. I yanked a bomb from my belt, a relic from a goblin's stash, and lobbed it. The skeletons caught it, confused.

  They circled it, heads tilted, clearly trying to figure it out.

  "Idiots." I dropped onto the floor and covered my ears.

  BOOM!

  Bones flew up into the air, and some even landed on me.

  "Easy peasy." I stood, brushing a femur off my shoulder. My gaze swept through the scattered bones. Worn-out leather armor, shoes that were worse than mine, broken swords. I rubbed my chest and bit my lip until iron filled my mouth. Easy peasy, huh.

  The maze stayed silent. Too silent. No footsteps. No growling. Only my breathing bouncing between the mirrors.

  I took a step forward. Then another. Five more steps. Something bounced out of a mirror. My hand moved to my belt. I edged closer to the mirror, knees bent, body ready. What will this one give me?

  Boing.

  A small green slime, barely the size of my palm, hopped into view. Its whole body turned left and right, then stared at the bone in front of it. It hopped back. Its whole body shook, pupils spiraling.

  A slime? Looks harmless. I wonder what it would taste like. Saliva gathered in my mouth. I swallowed it before it poured out of my mouth. I approached it from its back and gave it a gentle poke. "Hey, little fella."

  "?!" The slime flinched. "Blu!" It leapt and faceplanted into the floor.

  "Whoa! You good?" I scooped it up gently and stroked its head with my pinky. "Don't worry I won't eat ya." On cue, saliva escaped at the edge of my mouth.

  The slime froze. Water began pouring out of its eyes. "Bluuuuuu!!" It leapt around my hand. I tried to grab it, but it leapt out and splatted on the ground. I looked at it, and it reminded me of the Slime Blaster game Ma used to like to play. The memories faded away as fast as it faded in.

  I panicked and cried out. "AH! Did you die?!"

  The splattered slime trembled. The edges twitched. Then, Pop.

  It bounced around, cheerfully back to its original form.

  "Ah… thank goodness. Your core didn't break." I poked it one more time. With more force. The slime quivered as my finger nearly poked its core. I quickly retracted my finger. "Oof! I nearly kill you. Sorry."

  The slime froze as my fingers approached it. Using my thumb and index finger, I picked it up again. "Hey, I've got a favor. I'm lost. My friends. Poof, gone. Could you help me find them?"

  The slime tilted its head. Then its eyes sparkled and puffed out its body. I mean chest, wherever it was. "Blu!"

  "You'll help? Awesome!" I placed it on top my head. "Okay, slime compass. Lead the way!"

  Because right now, I really need a rest.

  The slime bounced excitedly. "Blu... Blu... BLU!!!"

  [Rona's Side]

  Ronald slammed his fist into the wall. "AARGH!" The maze twisted again. No matter which path we took, we always ended up back at the same cursed fork.

  Meanwhile, Rona sat cross-legged nearby, happily chewing on monster meat.

  "This place is cursed!" Ronald growled, collapsing to the floor, leaning his back against the wall. Rona waddled over and patted his head with her sticky hand, smearing monster blood all over his hair. "There, there."

  He froze, mind blank. Is Rona consoling me? She's so kind. I shouldn't make her worry. He looked up and smiled. "…You're right. Violence won't solve anything."

  He closed his eyes and sat cross-legged on the cold stone, hands resting awkwardly on his knees as he tried to steady his breathing. In… out… Calm down.

  Rona's ear twitched. Something drifted through the maze. A faint crying.

  She leaned forward, cupping a hand behind her ear. "Rona hears a girl crying." She turned toward a dark fork in the corridor. Rona tilted her head. A new path? She strained her eyes. "Rona don't see anything…"

  Her gaze flicked to Ronald, still meditating. RonRon won't notice if Rona leaves for just a bit. Rona will help the crying girl and come back super-fast.

  Rona hopped excitedly into the darkness. She never noticed the way the shadows shifted after she passed. Something descended slowly from the ceiling behind her. Too many legs.

  [Ronald's side]

  "Mmm... peaceful…" he sighed. The tremor in his chest eased. I wonder how Rona's doing.

  "Right, Rona?"

  Silence.

  "...Rona?" He turned. Nothing. "RONAAAA!!"

  His heart hammered. His vision blurred. Then everything went black. Seconds later he jolted awake, gasping for air, fingers shaking. "No time to faint! I need to find Rona!" He rolled to the side and pushed himself up.

  His foot took one step and felt something sticky. "Huh?" He looked down. A trail of half-dried goo. "This smell… the slime Rona was eating earlier."

  He traced the goo, and it led to a path that hadn't existed before. A fork in the wall.

  "...So the maze moved again. Or someone made it move."

  Ronald clenched his fists. "I promised I'd protect her. So even if she's gone to the abyss, hell, or wherever..." He took a deep breath. "I'm going after her."

  Step by step, Ronald vanished into the darkness. The web above the corridor trembled.