---
The air was colder now.
As Lian's group patched themselves up inside the crumbling shrine, the path ahead twisted and writhed.
A new System Alert appeared:
---
System Alert
> [ You are entering the second level of the Nest: Maze of Blood and Bones ]
Warning: Visibility limited to 10 meters.
Random Blood Mist events will occur, triggering hallucinations and panic.
Standard maps and guidance disabled.
Threat Level: Tier 3 Entities detected.
---
The moment they crossed the threshold, the world changed.
The walls were made of countless skulls fused together with dark magic, bleeding from their empty eye sockets.
The ground was soft — too soft.
Every step they took was met with a sickening squish, as if they walked on muscle tissue.
Far above, the "ceiling" of the maze pulsed like a living heart, raining down sticky crimson mist every few minutes.
Jayce shuddered, whispering:
"...this is hell."
Elyra, already pale from earlier wounds, muttered spells under her breath, trying to keep herself steady.
Demist leaned heavily on his axe.
Lian took the lead.
No time to mourn.
No time to fear.
Only forward.
---
First Blood Mist Event
---
It hit without warning.
A thick wave of blood mist rolled down the maze corridor, swallowing them.
The system screamed:
> [ Blood Mist Event: Hallucination Phase ]
Roll for Mental Resistance.
Those who fail will experience vivid hallucinations of their worst fears.
> Success Rate: 40% (modified by Fear Debuff)
---
Lian gritted his teeth as the mist crawled over his skin like thousands of tiny insects.
Suddenly—
He wasn't in the Nest anymore.
He was back on Earth.
Home.
Except... everything was burning.
He saw his parents — screaming, reaching out — before crumbling into ash.
"No—!"
He almost dropped his weapon, almost fell to his knees.
But a sharp pain at his side, where his infection pulsed, snapped him back.
Blood dripped from his bitten wound.
It hurt.
It was real.
The hallucination... was fake.
He roared, slashing his weapon at the mist, forcing himself forward.
---
Jayce and Elyra weren't so lucky.
Jayce froze, eyes wide, muttering something about losing all his jokes, becoming forgotten by everyone.
Elyra fell to her knees, sobbing — seeing her past teammates from another world, all dead.
Demist, despite his wounds, stood tall and smashed the wall beside Jayce, jolting him awake.
"Move, damn it!" Demist barked.
It worked.
Barely.
Together, staggering, they pushed through the mist.
---
Mini-Boss: Blood Revenant
---
At the heart of the Maze, guarding the path forward, was the Blood Revenant.
A towering knight, armor dripping black ichor, wielding a massive two-handed blade made of stitched-together bones.
System Alert:
> [ Blood Revenant ]
Tier 3 Elite
Immortal Form: Will resurrect endlessly unless purified with Ritual Flames.
Bone Splitter: Heavy cleave attack (can instantly cripple limbs).
Fear Aura: Constant -15% Attack and Defense to all enemies within 20 meters.
Weakness: Destroy the Ritual Sigils hidden in the Maze to weaken him.
---
The battle was instant and brutal.
The Revenant charged with unnatural speed, swinging his blade in wide arcs.
Jayce ducked just barely, losing a chunk of his jacket (and almost his head).
Elyra fired bolt after bolt of holy energy — the Revenant shrugged them off like rain.
Demist roared and clashed with the Revenant, but even he was being forced back.
Lian realized:
They couldn't win like this.
They had to find and destroy the Ritual Sigils first.
The problem?
The sigils were hidden randomly across the Maze.
And the Maze itself was alive — shifting, reconfiguring.
Traps triggered everywhere — bone spikes shooting from the ground, acid dripping from above.
They had no time.
---
The Plan
---
Lian shouted:
"Jayce, Elyra — split up! Find the sigils! Demist and I will hold him!"
Risky.
Deadly.
But necessary.
Jayce grinned through his fear.
"You owe me dinner after this!"
Then he vanished into the mist.
Elyra followed, chanting spells to shield herself.
Leaving Lian and Demist to stand alone against an undying monster.
---
Holding the Line
---
The Revenant roared — a sound like a thousand dying screams — and attacked.
Demist took the brunt of the blows, his broken body barely keeping up.
Lian used every dirty trick he had:
Trapping the Revenant's feet with chain loops.
Firing shots from the rickshaw's auto-turret.
Luring it into spike traps to slow it down.
Still, it wasn't enough.
The Revenant cleaved straight through obstacles like paper.
At one point, it slashed at Lian — only for Demist to block it, taking a brutal gash across his chest.
Blood sprayed.
Demist stumbled.
But stayed standing.
"DON'T YOU FALL!" he barked at Lian.
Lian growled, fury igniting inside him.
Not again.
He wouldn't lose anyone else!
---
Jayce and Elyra's Mission
---
Meanwhile, Jayce and Elyra fought through illusions, demons, and deathtraps.
Elyra found the first Ritual Sigil — a pulsing mass of black veins on the wall.
She blasted it with holy fire.
It exploded — a pulse of pure light ripping through the Maze.
The Revenant staggered for a moment — visibly weaker.
Jayce barely dodged a swarm of blood beetles to reach the second sigil.
Shooting it with enchanted bullets, he destroyed it.
Another pulse of light.
The Revenant screamed, cracks appearing in its armor.
One left.
But it was deep within the Maze's core.
Time was running out.
---
Lian's Desperate Decision
---
Demist finally collapsed, unable to stand anymore.
The Revenant turned its dead gaze toward Lian.
Lian barely dodged a killing blow.
His infection flared.
His strength faltered.
And then—
The system flashed an emergency prompt:
---
> [ Emergency Option Unlocked ]
Sacrifice 50% of your Coins Multiplier Talent temporarily (1 month duration) to unleash a Purge Wave, stunning the Revenant for 30 seconds.
> Warning: Major setback to your growth if used.
---
Choice Time:
Sacrifice massive future power for a chance to save the team...
or risk dying here.
Lian made his choice.
He roared:
"I CHOOSE TO FIGHT!"
He accepted the cost.
The Talent burned inside him — golden coins erupting from his chest in a brilliant explosion of light.
The Revenant screamed, falling to one knee.
Stunned.
Wide open.
---
Final Strike
---
Jayce and Elyra, hearing the blast, found the final sigil.
With no hesitation, they destroyed it.
The Maze itself trembled.
The Revenant's armor shattered.
Lian, barely standing, charged.
With every ounce of strength left, he stabbed his blade into the Revenant's black heart.
The Revenant howled one final time —
— and exploded into a storm of ash and bone.
---
Aftermath
---
Silence.
The Maze stopped shifting.
The blood mist began to fade.
They had won.
Barely.
Broken, bleeding, exhausted — but alive.
Demist, carried between Jayce and Lian, smiled weakly.
"Still standing... heh."
Elyra, tears mixing with blood, laughed softly.
Jayce collapsed onto the ground, arms outstretched.
"Okay... we're definitely getting massages after this."
For the first time in hours, they truly laughed.
Bitter. Broken. But alive.
The road ahead led deeper into the Nest — toward the final battle.
Toward the Demon King.
---
End of Chapter 36
---