It happened so fast that he, who had his guard dropped, had not been able to react.

Just before they crashed into his thorny shield. Gray pause stepped along with the three of them before him. The jump was just to get them within twenty meters range required for it, otherwise they would have used it at the start.

The best way to cancel out an ability? Knock out or kill the ability user.

Unfortunately, Gray wasn't able to kill him and get exp to level up in the last attack, but at least he had been able to knock out the vine ability user, allowing for the path ahead to be opened up.

They glanced back only to see the other horned ones were about to reach them, without wasting any time the three rushed through the small gates which were now cleared of the small vines.

It led to another staircase. While the two ran down, Gray stretched his hand out towards the gate before muttering "Pause"

[Pause]

Even heavier pants than before could be heard as they rushed down the stairs, but there was no time to rest.

[Time remaining until quest failure: 02:39]

The three rushed down the staircase, Violet would have used her abilities to fly them straight towards their destination to speed things up but she was running out of stamina. There was also the chance they'd need her ability to escape out of the labyrinth.

Overall, their options were limited.

*Drip*

A droplet of water landed on Ria's forehead. She had just awoken from a dream. Inside of it, she was reunited with her Brother, and the two had many stories to tell one another.

For the first time in such a long while she had been filled with happiness.

'T...That was just a dream...?' She asked herself as she slowly got up. 'What a sad dream...' She thought to herself before peeking over the crack's edge.

Her mouth so dry that she couldn't even muster out any words. Dark circles rested beneath her eyes emphasising on just how little energy she had.

From where she was, she could see the entire floor's layout. She was inside of one of the cracks at the very top. At the bottom, she could see the monsters moving around.

Narrow amber eyes sat dreadfully within the monster's angular, bony skull, giving it a savage looking appearance. Several rows of crystal growths ran down the sides of its jawlines.

A short neck ran down from its head and into a large body. The top half was covered in rounded scales and the bottom in a row of small spikes running down its spine. Its bottom is covered in reptilian skin and was colored darker than the rest of it's body.

Sharp teeth poked out from the side of its mouth revealing only a fraction of the terror hiding inside. With those very teeth, they could be seen chomping and munching down on humanoid beings with horns on their head.

Truly a monster out of this world, they appeared to have been a mixture between a lizardman's humanoid body with the head of a dragon. It's appearance alone emited the sense of danger.

Although Ria had tried to save them, there was nothing she could do. She couldn't risk giving away her location, especially with the chance that they wouldn't have been on her side.

'Sorry... Sorry...' She apologised as they watched their bodies get torn to shreds.

Even if they weren't on her side, she still should have done something. Because she had done nothing, guilt had filled her heart.'

She had entered the labyrinth before they had invaded. Radio waves weren't able to enter the Labyrinth so naturally there was no way for her to receive further orders. Her water and food supplies had all ran out.

Tears began flowing down her eyes, as she came to terms with the truth.

'I-It's over... This is the end...'

The helpless feeling of being unable to do nothing as one strove closer to death was painful. Especially when she still had so much left behind.

She was snapped out of her thoughts however, as a loud growl resounded throughout the room. After leaning over once more to check what it was, she was surprised to find one of the reptilian monsters looking directly at her.

She was hidden in one of the cracks at the very top so how? How did they find her?

Her heart began to beat more rapidly as a cold sweat began to flow down her face. Her fear got the best of her making it harder for her to breathe.

At that moment, one of the bizarre looking creatures leapt towards the wall before slowly climbing up it. Seeing this, chills ran down her spine.

Labyrinth's Second Floor.

[Time remaining: 02:19]

Aside from the platform at the bottom of the staircase which currently stood on, most of the floor was covered in water. The water was dyed red, as corpses of large dead water monsters floated on top of it.

Moss ran along the walls and ceiling, leading to the other end of the room, where there was another platform and gate. The objective was most likely to swimi towards the other end whilst fighting the water monsters.

Something which would have been impossible for many. But for the three, it wasn't an issue at all.

Although Gray could barely use his pauses from the lack of Stamina, Violet could simply fly them over. And that was exactly as she did.

[Swoosh]

The water drifted to the side, as Violet propelled them all towards the next platform. They went at full speed as Gray explained that there was no time to waste.

He had no idea which floor his sister was in in the first place, because of that, he didn't even bother to get a look or analyse the monsters. There was simply no time to.

As soon as they landed, they instantly got to running once more. Once they crossed the small gates, their eyes widened in surprise as this time, ahead of them was simply a vast pool of water.

This floor's water was too dyed red, as a single large water creature far larger than those seen on the previous floor could be seen. Disfigured body parts could be seen all around this large creatures, it most likely belonged to the humans it had killed before it's death.

At the other end, was not a single platform, but simply a dead end.

"Where do we-"

"Take a deep breath."

Aurora was interrupted by Gray who suddenly grabbed onto them before leaping off the platform.

"The path is at the bottom." He muttered, his eyes glowing a bright yellow as they drew closer towards the large red pool of blood

*Splashhhh!!!*

--------------------- December Goals

250 - Powerstones - 14 Ch / Week

Golden Tickets:

Every 10 Golden Tickets - 1 Extra Chapter release, end of month.