[KATXU'S POV]
Danryu had fainted.
He was now lying in my lap, his body motionless, his breathing heavy. Around us, other examinees were also catching their breath, exhausted from the chaos of the maze.
Danryu's clothes were torn, the fabric ripped from all the fighting and rough terrain. For the first time, I got a clear look at his physique—and immediately, a thought crossed my mind.
"He really has a weak body… His frame isn't even that built. How does he even fight with this?"
My eyes lingered for a second longer.
"...He's cute though."
Wait—what?!
I felt a sudden chill run down my spine.
I shook my head violently, snapping myself back to reality. Focus, Katxu. This is not the time.
I exhaled, trying to push the thought away. There were bigger problems to deal with.
I looked around.
There were new faces.
Some examinees here weren't from our original group. The maze must have dragged them into this area just like us.
The surroundings were dark, nearly pitch black. The only source of light came from the glowing stones scattered around the cavern walls.
I could barely make out the silhouettes of the examinees. Some were tending to their wounds, others sat in silence, and a few were helping each other recover.
Then, my eyes landed on Danryu's wristband.
It was blinking yellow—a signal.
If he pressed it, he'd be forced to withdraw due to his condition.
But… this also meant something else.
He wasn't fully unconscious.
Danryu was still in the game, just resting.
I sighed in relief.
Then—
A burst of light filled the cavern.
An examinee raised his hands, summoning a floating orb of golden energy above us. The Light Magic expanded, illuminating the area.
For a moment, I felt a sense of safety, like we were finally out of danger.
But then—
We saw it.
It wasn't glowing stones that surrounded us.
A massive swarm of spiders, their bodies made of jagged rock, clung to the walls and ceiling. Their glowing eyes pulsed like embers, reflecting the light cast over them.
And worse—
Right in front of us, resting at the center of the cavern, was something far more terrifying.
A giant, sleeping queen spider.
The air turned deathly silent as realization set in.
We hadn't escaped the nightmare.
We had walked straight into it.
As I sat there, still in shock from the sight of the giant queen spider, something soft and heavy suddenly snatched Danryu from my lap.
I barely flinched this time.
I already knew who it was.
I turned my head and saw Ren standing beside us, his small frame barely moving, his hollow dark eyes staring ahead like always.
"Let me take care of him. Grimm will heal him." Ren uttered in a quiet but firm voice.
The giant teddy bear, now in a human-size form, wrapped its arms around Danryu, pulling him into a tight, warm embrace.
A soft golden glow radiated from its fluffy body, spreading warmth around them like a protective aura. I could feel the soothing energy even from where I sat—Grimm was healing him.
For a moment, I felt relief. At least Danryu would be okay.
Then—
Ren's eyes flickered toward me.
"Don't worry about him. Worry about what's in front of us right now."
I swallowed hard and slowly turned my gaze back toward the swarm of rock spiders and the sleeping queen in front of us.
The small spiders began to swarm, their glowing rock-like bodies crawling out from the cavern walls and ceiling. As the light fully illuminated the space, they launched their attack.
They weren't just biting.
Thick webs made of hardened clay shot through the air, trapping examinees where they stood. Some tried to cut themselves free, while others used fire magic to burn through the bindings.
The spiders kept coming, crawling out from every crack in the stone, an endless wave of creatures, overwhelming us fast.
"Damn it, they won't stop!" an examinee yelled before slashing a spider in half with a flaming blade.
I dodged a web shot toward me, rolling to the side before throwing a Wind Talisman. A gust of air blasted the spiders away, but it wasn't enough to slow the endless horde.
Examinees all around me fought back fiercely.
"Earth Splitter!"
A boy wielding a massive hammer slammed it into the ground, cracking the cave floor and sending a wave of debris flying into the swarm.
"Blazing Arrows!"
A girl leaped onto a fallen boulder, firing a barrage of flaming projectiles that burned through the creatures.
Another examiner moved in close, opting for brute force, delivering rapid punches and kicks to crush the spiders under his boots.
I followed suit, ducking low and sweeping my leg, knocking multiple spiders off balance before crushing them with my heel.
One leaped at me—I caught it mid-air and slammed it into the ground, immediately following up with a Lightning Talisman, sending a jolt of energy through its body.
The battle was chaotic, but one thing was clear—this wasn't going to end unless we killed the queen.
"We really have to kill the queen."
The voice came from behind me—small, but firm.
I turned.
Standing there was yet another kid.
This one was chubby, with long fairy-like ears, but what stood out the most were the small fairy wings on his back.
I stared.
"Ahhh, another kid again?!"
I had meant to say that in my head. I definitely didn't.
The small figure raised an eyebrow.
"A kid? I'm 112 years old, Normal."
"...112?"
I blinked. He was even smaller than Ren, yet he spoke with a confidence that didn't match his size.
Then his words finally registered.
He called me Normal.
My body tensed. "How do you know?" I asked, my voice low.
The fairy-like figure smirked. "I've been watching you since we got here."
He gestured toward my hands. "That vine you're holding? It's from your friend, not something you summoned yourself. And the only abilities you've used so far are those talismans—no natural elemental control."
He grinned. "That's how I know you're a Normal."
I stiffened slightly, but before I could say anything else, he added—
"Although, I have to admit—your combat skills are impressive."
WHOOSH!
A spider lunged at us mid-conversation, its massive legs clawing through the air.
I barely had time to react.
But the fairy-eared boy?
He simply swung the massive stone pillar he had been casually carrying, smashing the spider into the ground with a single brutal strike.
The impact shook the cavern floor, leaving a deep crater where the creature once stood.
I stared.
What the hell is with these kids nowadays?!
The cavern trembled as the giant rock spiders swarmed from every direction. The small fairy-eared boy swung his stone pillar, crushing another group of spiders in a single blow.
I didn't have time to process his strength—I had monsters to deal with.
I grabbed a Flame Talisman from my pouch, activating it mid-air.
"Fire Dragon!"
A serpent of fire coiled through the battlefield, burning through the waves of creatures, but the horde didn't stop.
The heat scorched my eyebrows. My breath came out ragged. Still, I smiled. Burn, you ugly things.
"Wind Slash!"
I leaped into the air, twisting mid-spin, kicking away a lunging spider while launching a cutting wind attack with my talismans.
Around me, other examinees were giving it everything they had.
"Stone Barricade!" One of them slammed their fists into the ground, creating a wall of jagged rocks to block the spiders from overwhelming us.
"Ice Fang!" Another examinee launched a hailstorm of frozen spears, impaling multiple creatures at once.
Danryu was still unconscious, but Ren and Grimm were doing their part.
The giant teddy bear stood near Danryu's body, shielding him with its massive arms, healing him while swatting away any creatures that got too close.
The battle dragged on.
Ten minutes.
Twenty minutes.
Thirty minutes.
We fought without stopping, barely able to catch our breath.
The spiders never ended, crawling from the walls, from the cracks, from the very stone beneath us.
I was getting tired.
So was everyone else.
Then—
A deep, bone-chilling screech echoed through the cavern.
The ground shook violently, knocking some of us off our feet.
I turned my gaze forward.
The Queen Spider was waking up.
I barely had time to understand what was happening when I felt it—a shift in the air.
Something was wrong.
The glowing eyes of the spiders around us flickered, their movements becoming more erratic, more desperate. They weren't just attacking us.
They were trying to stop us.
Then, I realized—
The Queen wasn't waking up.
We woke her up.
Not by accident.
Not by coincidence.
She was being summoned.
I looked at the battlefield again—at the hundreds of spiders still crawling out of the rocks, at the ones throwing themselves at us recklessly, like they didn't care if they died.
This wasn't just a battle.
It was a ritual.
And we had been feeding it.
Every defeated spider, every spell cast, every drop of blood spilled—all of it was part of the summoning.
The Queen didn't awaken because of the noise.
She awakened because enough of her children had died.
And now, she was angry.
Her red eyes snapped open, glowing like molten fire.
The stone-like plates covering her body cracked apart, revealing something far worse underneath.
Her eight massive legs shifted, and the ground quaked beneath her weight.
The moment the Queen's glowing red eyes snapped open, the cavern's air thickened.
Her presence was overwhelming—a predator that had just awakened from a deep slumber.
Her massive stone legs moved in a blur, lunging toward us.
"SCATTER!"
I barely dodged as she crashed into the ground, sending a shockwave of debris and dust into the air.
Some examinees were thrown off their feet, others caught in the blast, hitting the rocky walls with painful grunts.
"Whip Vines!"
Danryu's vines were still wrapped around my arm—I lashed them out, grabbing an airborne examinee before he could hit the jagged ground.
But before I could react—
The Queen attacked again.
"Rock Prison!"
An examiner slammed his hands into the ground, and thick stone pillars erupted, encasing the Queen's legs.
But—
She ripped through them like paper, her strength unnatural, unstoppable.
"Blazing Lance!"
A massive spear of fire streaked through the air, striking her head-on—but it barely left a mark.
She was too strong.
Her legs whipped through the battlefield, sending examinees flying.
Her clay-webbing sprayed through the air, trapping fighters like prey.
We had been fighting for more than half an hour.
We were tired.
But we had no choice but to keep going.
The small, fairy-eared dwarf beside me cracked his knuckles.
"You're all too slow," he muttered before rushing forward.
With a single mighty stomp, the ground beneath him cracked.
He grabbed his massive stone pillar and spun it like a weapon far too light for its size.
"Titan Swing!"
He smashed the Queen's leg mid-motion, the impact sending shockwaves through the battlefield.
She screeched, stumbling slightly, her balance shifting for the first time.
"That got your attention, huh?"
The Queen snapped her head toward him, baring her massive fangs.
She lunged.
He didn't move.
He stood his ground, raising his stone pillar like a shield, letting her attack slam into him directly.
For a moment, I thought he was going to get crushed.
But instead—
He dug his feet into the ground, his small body absorbing the full force of the impact—and stopped her charge.
The Queen twitched, as if realizing her attack had failed.
Then—
"My turn."
He gripped his weapon tighter.
Then—
With a roar, he swung the pillar in an upward arc, striking the Queen's face so hard that her entire body lifted off the ground.
She slammed back down, her stone legs cracking from the impact.
That was the first real damage we had done.
"Damn," I muttered, blinking in shock. "You're actually insane."
He grinned but didn't look back. "Less talking, more hitting."
Seeing the opening, I rushed in.
"Fire Dragon!"
A serpent of flames shot from my talisman, coiling around the Queen's damaged legs.
"Thunder Snake!"
Lightning arced through the battlefield, electrifying the flames, amplifying the heat tenfold.
The Queen thrashed, trying to extinguish the fire—but she was too slow.
"Gale Force!"
I used a Wind Talisman, boosting myself forward at insane speed, twisting mid-air as I prepared my strongest strike.
"Iron Smash!"
The fairy-eared dwarf leaped beside me, raising his stone pillar high above his head.
Together, we descended upon her.
BOOM!
Our attacks hit simultaneously.
The entire cavern shook.
The Queen screeched in agony, her rocky exoskeleton splintering apart, cracks running deep through her body.
She staggered, her legs struggling to hold her up.
Then—
Her shriek cracked the air like thunder.
Then—collapse. A mountain falling. A nightmare ending.
Silence swallowed everything.
We stood there, half-broken, half-believing.
We won.
Or so we thought.