CRRRRAAANNNKKK!!
The golden doors groaned loudly as Ren pushed them open. He stepped over the threshold and into a dome shaped chamber. Unlike the claustrophobic obsidian corridors of the labyrinth, this room was vast, resembling the inside of an old cathedral. There were no pillars, traps, and hiding spots.
Levitating petrified in the center of the room, locked to the floor and ceiling by shimmering chains of blue energy, there was the Labyrinth Core.
HOWL!!
It looked like a large, thudding human heart made of jagged blue crystal. Every time the crystal thumped, a shockwave of raw mana crawled over the room, making the air thick and hard to breathe.
Ren rested the handle of his crimson scythe against his shoulder, walking slowly toward the beating crystal.
"So this is what keeps the maze running," Ren muttered. "Break this, and the scenario ends."
He stopped ten feet away from the core, and slowly raised the Severance of Destiny, preparing to cut the crystal in half and go home.
Suddenly, the room's temperature soared. The blue chains holding the core shattered into thousands of shiny sparks. The crystal heart stopped beating. The blue light within it began to vehemently churn and spasm, turning into a dark shade of purple.
[WARNING! SYSTEM ANOMALY DETECTED!]
[The God of Magic is interfering with the Scenario!]
[A Sovereign's Will has descended into the Labyrinth Core!]
A voice echoed through the cathedral. It didn't come from the air. It was heard inside Ren's skull. It was a voice filled with arrogant fury.
"You dare... a mortal rat dares to slaughter my Chosen Avatar?" The voice of the God of Magic was roaring. It carried the weight of an ocean. For a normal awakened, just hearing a Sovereign's true voice would cause their eardrums to burst and their minds to fracture.
Ren just narrowed his shimmering crimson eyes. The midnight black coat, Embrace of the Weaver, came into life. The crimson threads pulsed rapidly, forming an invisible barrier around his mind that blocked God's overwhelming pressure.
[The God of Fate is hissing in rage.]
[God of Fate]: Get out of his head! Do not touch his mind, you pathetic trickster! Only I am allowed to speak in his mind!
"You are wearing the Weaver's silk," the God of Magic said, ignoring the chaotic red text flashing in Ren's vision. "So that psychotic witch finally took a dog of her own. It does not matter. This is my domain. You will not leave this maze alive."
The crystal heart expanded. The purple mana crystallized, transforming the core into a forty foot, tall golem made of jagged arcane glass. The monster had no face, only a burning purple swirl where its head should be.
[System Warning: SS-Rank Guardian 'The Arcane Colossal' has been generated!]
[Lethality Rate: 100%. Evacuation is impossible.]
"SS-Rank," Ren said softly. His voice was calm, and almost bored.
The colossal raised a massive, glassy fist. Runes of destruction lit up along its arm. The golem slammed its fist down where Ren was standing.
BOOM!
The entire cathedral shook vehemently. The stone floor cracked and shoved in, sending debris flying like shrapnel. The God of Magic's cruel laughter echoed across the chamber.
But as the dust slowly settled, the laughter stopped. Ren was standing inside the crater, unharmed. He had simply raised his left hand and caught the golem's wide fist. His boots had stuck deep into the stone from the force, but his arm hadn't buckled an inch. The crimson threads of his coat shining like hot iron, absorbing the impact of SS-Rank punch.
"Is this it?" Ren asked, staring up at the monster. "You throw an overgrown piece of glass at me, and you think that's enough to kill me?"
Ren tightened his grip on the Severance of Destiny.
"Let me show you," Ren whispered, his voice turning ice cold, "why she chose me."
Ren poured his newly acquired A-Rank mana into the weapon. The crystallized blood blade erupted with the red energy. The air around the scythe warped, screaming, torn apart.
"Activate Skill," Ren commanded. "Severance of Destiny: Second Form - Thread of the Guillotine."
Ren slashed the scythe horizontally. He simply cut the empty air in front of him. A thin line of pure crimson light lunged forward. It expanded infinitely, passing through the forty-foot colossal, passing through the walls of the cathedral, and slicing through the ends of the dimension itself.
Total silence fell over the room. The Colossus froze, petrified. The burning purple abyss in its head flickered and died.
CRACK!!
Slowly, a red line appeared across the golem's waist. A horrific sound of shattering glass echoed through the chamber as the top half of the SS-Rank monster slowly slid off its bottom half. It hit the ground and exploded into a billion pieces of harmless blue dust.
Hidden inside the dust was the shattered remains of the Labyrinth Core.
"Impossible..." the voice of the God of Magic whispered, fading as his connection to the domain was severed. "A mortal cannot wield that... you..."
Ren lowered his scythe. "Tell Kaelen I said hello."
The blue system screens obscured Ren's vision, draining out the dying echoes of the God of Magic.
[The Labyrinth Core has been destroyed!]
[Main Scenario: The Blood Moon Labyrinth has been cleared!]
[Clear Time: 2 Hours, 14 Minutes. (New Global Record!)]
[Calculating Rewards...]
[You have received: 5,000,000 Karma Points.]
[You have received: S-Rank Relic Box.]
[You have Leveled Up!]
[You have Leveled Up!]
[You have reached Level 50!]
[Your Mana Core is preparing for evolution...]
[Scenario collapse initiated. Teleporting all surviving participants back to the origin point.]
The cathedral began to shake. The obsidian walls crumbled, and the bruised purple sky above cracked like a broken mirror. A pillar of warm blue light rushed down from the heavens, swallowing Ren whole.
****
The Roppongi Penthouse.
Ren blinked. The smell of blood and old stone vanished, replaced by the clean air of his luxury apartment. He was standing where he had been standing two hours ago.
Outside the windows, the neon lights of Tokyo still glittered brightly. It was barely past 3:00 AM.
The news of the scenario ending so quickly was going to send the entire Awakened Association into a frenzy. An S-Rank Labyrinth usually took top tier guilds at least two weeks of gruelling combat to clear. Ren had walked in, strolled past the traps, slaughtered the boss, and walked out before the sun even came up.
He willed the Severance of Destiny to vanish. The scythe disappeared into red mist, sinking back into the palm of his hand. He was physically fine, but mentally, he was exhausted. The constant killing, the arrogant guild members, and the clashing of gods... it was draining.
He walked into the pristine kitchen and poured himself a glass of cold water. He drank it in one long gulp, leaning against the marble counter.
PING!!
The sharp sound of the chat box notification echoed in the quiet kitchen.
Ren closed his eyes, letting out a tired sigh. He didn't even need to look to know what it was.
The hovering Omni-View camera rushed into the kitchen, its constant red light marking onto his face. The crimson screen popped up right in front of him.
[The God of Fate is panting vehemently.]
[God of Fate]: The way you cut that golem... the way you defied that pathetic trickster god. You were magnificent. You are a flawless weapon, my sweet Ren.]
[God of Fate has donated 10,000,000 Karma Points!]
Ren stared at the screen. His bank account of Karma Points was growing exponentially. He was richer than most small nations, but he felt like a pet performing tricks for treats.
"The scenario is clear," Ren said, his voice calm. "I'm going to sleep."
He turned and walked toward the master bedroom. The hovering camera followed right behind his shoulder, like a loyal stalker.
[God of Fate]: Sleep? No. You are covered in sweat and monster blood.
[God of Fate]: You need to bathe. You are filthy.
Ren stopped in the hallway. He looked back at the camera. "I'll shower in the morning. I'm too tired."
The temperature in the hallway instantly plummeted. Frost began to form on the wooden floor beneath Ren's boots. The crimson text on the screen stopped scrolling smoothly and began to glitch, the letters reverberating with anger.
[WARNING: Constellation 'God of Fate' is emitting killing intent.]
[God of Fate]: I did not ask you.
[God of Fate]: I gave you the thread to walk the maze safely. I gave you the coat to block the S-Rank magic. I held your sister's heart together while you played hero.
[God of Fate]: You owe me, Ren.
Ren clenched his fists. His jaw tightened so hard. The sudden shift from obsessive praise to controlling threats gave him a whiplash. She never let him forget who held the leash.
"Fine," Ren spoke, his voice thick with tiredness.
He turned and entered the massive glass-walled master bathroom. He didn't bother turning on the lights. The neon glow from the city outside provided enough illumination. He started to unbutton his dark shirt. He reached out and grabbed the hovering Omni-View camera, turning the lens toward the blank wall.
"I said fine," Ren muttered. "Just give me ten minutes of privacy."
The camera suddenly hummed loudly. It ripped itself out of Ren's grip, levitating backward until it hovered in front of the glass shower doors. It rotated, and the red recording light staring into his eyes.
The crimson screen flashed so brightly it illuminated the dark bathroom in a bloody red glow.
[The God of Fate is glaring at you.]
[God of Fate]: Do not ever turn the camera away from me.
[God of Fate]: I am your only viewer. I am your only God.
[God of Fate]: Take your clothes off, Ren. I want to watch you wash the blood away. Every single drop.
Ren froze, his hands darting over the buttons of his shirt. A primal sense of humiliation and dread washed over him.
This was a psychological power play. She was stripping away every single boundary he had left. She wanted him to know utterly that he had no secrets, no privacy and control over his own body.
He looked at the unblinking red lens. He could feel her gaze passing through the glass, through the lens, burning into his skin from far away.
Slowly, with trembling fingers, Ren unbuttoned his shirt. He let it drop to the cold floor.
[The God of Fate is smiling warmly.]
[The God of Fate has donated 1,000,000 Karma Points!]
[God of Fate]: Good boy.