Leo and Paul did not waste any time. Leo sent Paul ahead to help the others, then stepped onto the king's fallen body. Even after unleashing two of his most powerful techniques, the deep indentations from Paul's punches still marked the king's back. That lingering force alone kept the monster pinned to the ground.
Leo knelt and raised his palm over the king's head. A small black orb began to form, dense and silent, pulling at the air around it. As it took shape, the image of the massacred village surfaced in his mind, burned tents, broken bodies, and the blood that never faded.
"I hope this is enough to keep you gone forever," Leo said.
He pressed the orb down.
The black sphere bit into the king's head, collapsing it inward piece by piece. Bone, armor, and flesh vanished without resistance until nothing remained. When the king was completely gone, the orb disappeared.
Leo stared at the empty space for a brief moment. One thought settled clearly in his mind, with enough mana and the right knowledge, there would be very little in this world that could stop him.
He turned and ran back toward the others.
By the time he arrived, both queens were already down. Leo looked at Paul, surprise flickering across his face.
Paul shrugged. "Don't look at me. They were already dead when I got here."
Leo smiled. "Let's go."
Together, they moved toward their destination.
…
Elna, Briva, and Arthur had set their camp just outside the ruined city, the same place where they had once fought, now transformed beyond recognition. A massive tree stood at the city's heart, its trunk thicker than a tower and its branches spreading far overhead. Life poured from it. Vines crawled over broken stone, and soft green light seeped through layers of leaves.
The land around them no longer resembled the Shadowland they remembered. Grass covered the ground beneath their feet, dense and alive, dotted with glowing mushrooms and small flowers that pulsed with faint color. The air smelled clean, almost fresh, as if the land itself had begun to heal.
Elna stood at the edge of the camp, unmoving. Her eyes stayed fixed on the city's entrance, the dark archway half-swallowed by roots and vines. She didn't look away, not even to blink for a long time.
At any moment, Leo could walk out of it.
…
After another hour of walking, they finally reached the vast open space. The maze widened here, the walls pulling back into darkness as if the place itself was holding its breath. Leo stopped and turned to face the others. His expression was hard and focused.
"No matter what happens," he said, his voice steady, "don't panic and don't run. Stay with the group at all times."
Everyone nodded without hesitation.
Leo turned forward again. Everything led to this moment. He had prepared for it for twelve years. From the very beginning, as he walked, every hundred steps he placed a spell onto the ground, invisible and silent. These were a new kind of trap, something he had created using the knowledge he gained from the automaton.
At its core, it was an Explosion Trap, but he had modified it. He added two additional magic circles. one to continuously feed it mana so it could remain active for years, and another that allowed the trap to respond directly to his call. When he wished, they would activate.
On average, he placed one trap every five minutes. Excluding the time spent resting or inside the camp, there were already more than a million traps buried throughout the maze, waiting.
Leo took a slow, steady breath and lifted his gaze toward the endless darkness above.
"Mad God," he said, his voice carrying across the empty space, "I want to ask my questions."
He remembered the promise clearly. Three questions.
A face formed in midair, made entirely of shadow. When its eyes opened, two glowing red points burned through the darkness.
"I see you killed my king and injured my pet," the face said, its voice echoing from nowhere and everywhere at once. "Well done, kid."
Its gaze swept over the people standing behind Leo.
Paul and the others who could fight tensed instantly, mana rising as they prepared for battle. The noncombatants trembled, fear written clearly on their faces.
Leo looked at the shadowed face and smiled.
"When you brought me here, you told me I had to find a door to escape," he said calmly. "So my first question is this, is there really a door to find?"
The face stared at him for several seconds. Then it laughed, the sound sharp and mocking.
"That's the second time I've heard that question," it said. "No. There is no door."
Shock rippled through the group. Anger, hatred, and fear spread among them like a wave. Everyone reacted, everyone except Leo. He stood there, calm, still smiling.
"As I expected," Leo said. "This place is your domain, but not even the gods know it exists." As he spoke, his hand slipped into his bag and closed around a small vial he had saved for this moment. "So here is my second question. This domain exists inside Ethereon, doesn't it?"
The shadowed face stiffened. The red eyes narrowed. "That is correct."
Leo's smile widened. He brought the vial out into the open. "Then here is my last question."
He uncorked it and poured the blood into his palm. The liquid spread across his skin, warm and heavy. "You cannot directly interfere with what happens here," he said. "That is one of your rules, right?"
The face did not answer.
The ground shook beneath their feet. Deep cracks tore across the stone, spreading outward like veins, and from every direction monsters poured in, their roars echoing through the darkness. Vanessa and the others raised their weapons at once, steel and mana ready, while the noncombatants pressed closer together, fear tightening their formation.
Leo raised his free hand. His smile turned sharp and cruel. He did not need an answer. He already had it. With a single motion, he called them.
Millions of traps answered his will.
Explosions erupted across the land, one after another, until the world drowned in fire. The blasts rolled outward for tens of thousands of meters, tearing the ground apart and turning everything into ash in seconds. Flames climbed into the darkness like a second sky.
Leo did not wait for the fire to fade. That destruction served only one purpose.
Protection.
He lowered his voice and whispered, "Obscurae."
No one knew about this place because no one had ever returned alive. If a god entered from the outside, they would have no idea who truly ruled this land. Especially not the corrupted fragment of the Guardian of Earth, now sitting in the territory that belonged to the Goddess of Nature.
Ignorance meant aggression.
At that moment, the Mad God's shadowy face tilted upward. The sky cracked like shattered glass, spreading outward in jagged lines. A second later, a massive hand covered in thick fur pushed through, forcing its way down into the domain.
Everyone except Leo and Paul froze.
Right before their eyes, Leo was turning a god's own game against him.
"How dare you enter this place," the Mad God roared. His voice echoed from every direction as his forces surged upward, rushing to intercept the intruder.
This was the moment Leo had been waiting for.
He focused inward, and just as he expected, he felt it, his domain answering him. White and red mist poured from his body, spreading outward and wrapping around everyone with him, shielding them from the chaos.
"You will go nowhere!" the Mad God thundered. "The only way out is madness!"
The vines of the maze surged through the fire, racing toward them, but they were already too late.
Leo and the others vanished as if they had never existed.
The Mad God's scream tore through the world, shaking everything that remained.
"Aaaaaa!!!"
…
Leo didn't pull everyone into his domain. Instead, he used it as a doorway. To the others, it looked like a curtain of white mist rolling over them. A moment later, they stood exactly where he had first entered, beneath the massive tree.
Leo scanned the area, counting faces. When he confirmed that everyone was there, relief loosened his shoulders, and he smiled. He knew the Mad God wouldn't follow them. Not yet. First, the Mad God had a new intruder to deal with inside the maze. Second, this place belonged to Lilith, and they stood beneath Ilandra's Tree of Life. Third, Leo had found a way out without breaking any rules. If the Mad God chased them now, it would only expose his weakness.
Leo wanted to move them quickly. But when he saw the looks on their faces, relief, disbelief and quiet joy, he stopped. For the first time in years, they weren't surrounded by death. He gave them a moment to rest.
After a few minutes, Paul walked up to him. "You really did it."
Leo nodded. "Praise the Creator."
Paul raised an eyebrow. "The Creator? That's your god?"
"Yes," Leo said.
Their exchange drew attention. Conversations faded, and eyes turned toward Leo. He didn't hesitate.
"My god, the Creator, is here to save this world. He is the only one who can stop the end of times. The Goddess of Nature has already pledged herself to him. The rest of the world will follow."
Shock spread through the group. Everyone knew who the Goddess of Nature was. If she had pledged herself, then the being she followed stood beyond any god they understood. Leo had been sent into another god's domain, survived it, and brought them back alive.
In their eyes, the Creator was no longer just a god.
He was the God of Gods.
Vanessa stepped forward and knelt before Leo. "Please," she said, her voice steady but filled with emotion, "let me join the Creator's believers."
She had barely finished speaking when others followed her, dropping to their knees one by one. Only Paul remained standing. He stayed near Leo, watching the scene unfold with open surprise written across his face.
Leo smiled. "You are all welcome," he said calmly. "Come with me. We'll return to the City of Hope. The people there will guide you and teach you what you need to know."
The group rose and followed him through the city. As they walked through the streets, Paul spoke without turning his head.
"Can I join the believers too?"
Leo glanced at him. "Are you willing to pledge?"
Paul frowned slightly. "Why are you only asking me?"
Leo slowed his steps. "Because this is an opportunity. You can stand among the others, or you can pledge yourself fully and become one of the ten devoted. The future angels of the Creator."
Paul stopped walking. "You're serious? I could really become one?"
Leo nodded. "The Creator already knows everything you've done. When the time comes, I'll give you the prayer."
Paul said nothing after that. He simply nodded once and continued walking beside Leo, his thoughts heavy with what lay ahead.
…
Elna stood at the edge of the camp, her eyes fixed on the city's broken entrance. Then she saw movement, more than one figure, slowly emerging from the shadowed streets.
"He's here," she said, her voice shaking with relief and joy.
Arthur and Briva followed her gaze.
"Who are those people?" Briva asked.
Elna didn't answer. She focused only on the figures, her heart pounding as she searched their faces. The moment she recognized Leo, she broke into a run.
Leo saw her at the same time. He surged forward, pushing himself faster than exhaustion should have allowed.
They met halfway. Elna leapt into his arms, and Leo caught her without slowing. He held her tight, one hand pressed firmly against her back. She felt the tremor in his grip, the strain he hadn't let anyone else see.
"I missed you so much," Leo said, his voice rough.
He pulled back just enough to look at her, then closed the distance again and kissed her, holding on as if letting go might pull him back into the maze.