CHAPTER 59: YOU BASTARD!

The road to the Maze wasn’t really a ’road.’

Xenos walked on buildings that sat sideways through blood, jumped through the remains of stone bridges floating on the surface, where every few meters, the ground was swallowed whole by another pool of blood.

It was weird, chaotic, unpredictable, and, again... exactly how he liked it.

He kept steady, walking through it all with his sword on his shoulder, always ready for a fight.

Later on, he didn’t doubt that assassins would be descending on him.

Back in the Collesseum, he saw more Disciples than he did in that first and last lecture he attended.

Even if one were to assume some of them couldn’t make it, but that many?

No doubt those were allowed in at the last minute.

Perhaps they were watching him even now.

Still, Xenos wasn’t worried.

Their existence only added an extra flavor to this Dive.

So he didn’t rush and enjoyed the journey to the Maze...

Or tried to at least.

It was somewhere far ahead; he could feel it even without his Divine GPS.

Oh, and speaking of...

’Hey, Eris, this place has a Blood Rune, right?’

His Divine GPS didn’t answer.

’...Eris?’

Was She out of Divinity?

He could still feel Her, it was just that Her presence was weak.

’Hm.’

Usually, She was supplied with Divinity through him.

So maybe now that his Soul was here, it somehow messed up that process?

’Damn... the spell is that strong?’

Xenos didn’t really think about that before, as again, it was just a game, but now...

He couldn’t help but wonder who was responsible for such a sophisticated spell.

’I won’t be surprised if it’s Pluto himself—’

A blast of heat punched the air, interrupting his thoughts.

The cracked tiles in front of him melted.

Xenos stepped back as the ground split open.

When the fissure spat out blood, a boy in tattered armor pierced through!

Tilting his head, Xenos stared at the boy as he rushed to his feet while looking around in a panic, utterly afraid of facing any monster.

Yet, unfortunately for him, his eyes fell on something worse than most monsters.

"Hey there~!"

Xenos.

"Ah..."

The boy didn’t know that, though, so he smiled in relief, happy to have survived.

"Thank the Gods."

Chuckling, Xenos took a stance, his sword returning to his inventory.

"Oh, don’t thank Them just yet."

He wasn’t about to use his sword against a little kid.

"I’m surprised you survived being down there..."

Still, that didn’t mean that he wasn’t going to fight him.

"Duel me."

The boy interested him.

And though confused, his fellow Disciple took a stance.

He aimed his staff at Xenos, its veins glowing with orange light.

"I’m a Disciple of Magma..."

The boy was trembling, but that didn’t stop him from trying to sound cool.

"Face me, in the name of—"

Xenos raised a hand.

"Shh. I don’t want to know your name."

He pointed up at the eight parts of the sky around him.

"We’ve got an audience, so make this interesting, alright?"

Xenos’s grin widened, and the boy nodded his head.

"A-Alright."

***

Both Lothar and the crowd were speechless.

They could only watch as Xenos took over the commentator’s role.

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the Xenos Experience™!"

With both his hands raised, his eyes glanced at them.

"Watch closely, I’ll only do this once!"

And they did just that.

***

"...Are you serious?"

The Magma Disciple blinked, clearly regretting his life choices.

"Always."

Before those words could echo for even a second, the ground exploded.

A line of magma ripped through where Xenos had been, but he was already gone, sliding across a broken pillar, surfing over it with a rock.

"Up!"

Lava burst under his feet, and he jumped, flipping once before landing in a smooth crouch.

The boy snarled and hurled another spell.

This time, it was a ball of magma the size of a wagon.

Leaving his surfing days behind, Xenos ducked low.

It whooshed past and crashed into a dead building behind him.

The explosion made him stumble forward as debris rained down on him.

"Oh~ hot, hot, hot—still fun though!"

Another blast came, only for him to sidestep it by a hair.

The Disciple’s jaw dropped.

"Stop moving!"

"No."

Xenos backflipped onto a ledge and jumped up, using a dangling rope from the building leaning down above them to swing behind his opponent, and then, completely unnecessarily, he dropkicked him in the back.

"Urgggh!"

The boy fell screaming as magma sprayed everywhere.

"Come on, kid! You’re supposed to be a natural disaster, not a candle!"

Beyond frustrated, the Magma Disciple roared, raising both arms while still on the ground.

Two balls of Magma materialised only to transform into tiny rivers of molten flame that lunged forward.

"Finally!"

Xenos sprinted straight towards them.

The audience probably thought he’d lost it, running headfirst into magma.

But at the last moment, he jumped, the heat nearly roasting his boots, only to then twist midair, grab the Disciple by the arm, and use his own momentum to flip him upside down.

"Clench your teeth!"

BAM!

He slammed the poor kid headfirst into the ground, hard enough to crack the floor.

The magma spells sputtered out, and the Disciple groaned, knocked unconscious.

Xenos stood up, brushing dust off his clothes.

"That was great~!"

He threw his arms out dramatically to the invisible crowd.

"I give that fight a solid nine out of ten. What do you guys say?"

***

"WHOOOOOOOOOOAH!"

"YOU’RE THE BEST!"

"THAT WAS INCREDIBLE!"

The crowd had gone wild.

***

"..."

"..."

"..."

Given no response, at least none that he could hear, he turned around... only to stop.

Someone else was approaching his position.

Another Disciple.

Short black hair, pale face, and sharp eyes.

It was someone Xenos was familiar with.

Someone from the game.

"...you’re Ephialtes, right?"

The boy hesitated.

"Yes. How did you—"

Shing.

Xenos moved before the question finished...

And Ephialtes’ head fell before his mind registered it.

Watching it, he exhaled slowly, lowering his bloodied blade.

"Good. I thought I was mistaken."

He sighed and looked up.

"Sorry, everyone..."

His grin was gone.

"I’m retiring from commentating."

Just as he said that, he began to walk off toward the Maze, humming away.

***

Much like earlier, both Lothar and the crowd were stunned.

That headless boy was dead, and no...

Not only in the dungeon.

He was truly dead.

There was no Butterfly on his person.

Many questions floated around in their minds.

First among them was a simple why?

Why did Xenos kill Ephialtes so ruthlessly?

Though again, not all asked such questions.

They didn’t ask anything, rather.

One man out of that lot appeared enraged.

So enraged that his veins were nearly popping out.

And that, combined with their familiar appearance, could only hint at one thing...

This man was Ephialtes’s father.

"YOU BASTARD!"