CHAPTER 370: CHAOS

The thick scent of death and decay had intensified even further. Tracy frowned hard when she realised that the ragged and broken edges of the magical spells started to clash against her skin, like an electric storm. The magic was weaker than before, but still strong enough to lash against her existence.

"Don’t get too close to the wall," Tracy said when she noticed that the men behind her took a step closer to the wall, as if following the curves of the wall would keep them safe. As if. The labyrinth changed every second. Even if they clung to it, they wouldn’t be able to guarantee their safety. Instead, if they touched the uncontrolled magic with their bare hands, they might end up losing a piece of their soul. The last thing she wanted was to make that woman even stronger than she already was.

She glanced over her shoulder. "Unless you want to get sucked right into it and taken to god knows where."

They wouldn’t be sucked into the wall literally, but there was not much difference. Even if it was a part of their soul, in the end, it was a part of them.

Tao yanked his hand right back; his face turned pale instantly. He had been jumpy since the moment they entered the labyrinth; maybe it was because of the sharp edges of spells rubbing against their skin or—she raised her head and glanced at the man who was the cause of rising tension in the corridor. She said to him, "Just what are you trying to do?"

"What?" The man turned and looked at her as if he didn’t understand a thing.

"Control those damned alpha vibes of yours. I don’t want this corridor falling on top of us. If it falls and you all get buried under the rubble, I am leaving you all to die." she made a gesture of explosion with her hand, with her eyes wide to emphasise her meaning.

Dominic glowered at her, but he seemed to have realised that she was not the same kind of doormat Inez was, because he restrained his alpha vibes.

"Well, that’s like a good boy."

The man snarled at her, but Tracy didn’t care about him. She glanced at the beta of the lycan heir. She thought that he would be all jittery and nervous. But he was rather calm. His eyes, however, were a different story. Even with his face facing the front, his eyes kept moving left and right sharply. With focused precision, he found the array created with blood. His shoulders were tensed with worry, and they became even more tense every time he saw a skeleton lying on the side of the corridors. Every turn or twist made his eyes flash beast.

He and the rest of the lycans knew that there was something wrong with this place, but they were not going to stop and question her. Smart.

Veronica, who was dragged by her to this labyrinth, was, however, terrified. What? It was a necessity. Who asked this woman to play with the strings of fate for fun? Did she think that it was absolutely fun to turn people into pigs for research just for fun? It wasn’t. So, Tracy dragged her here to show her the ugliness caused by her. And given that this girl was the follower of the goddess of love, Tracy was not even surprised that she was unaware of the ugliness of the world. It was their major fatal flaw.

They were too engrossed in their own sunshine and daisy world that they couldn’t see things carefully.

And even if they could. They would ignore it.

Love did it all the time. It made them blind. Or maybe it made all of us blind.

With every step that they took, Tracy could feel that they were getting close to the centre, the main core of the labyrinth. And with each turn, the air changed around them. It thickened with something. Something ugly and unwanted.

And suddenly, just as they took a sudden left, the stench hit them with full impact. Tracy had to clench her teeth to stop herself from hurling her dinner from last night. Her stomach churned in distress, and her throat worked twice as hard as she tried to swallow her nausea back.

However, the others were not as lucky. Ajax threw up. He crouched down and vomited everything that he had in his stomach. Laxus seemed a bit better, but he too looked sickly pale as he patted Ajax on the back, trying to help his best mate.

Tao staggered back and knelt to cover his face with his knees. They were wolves, so it was not a surprise that with their strong sense of smell, they were having an even harder time than her.

Ajax straightened up as he wiped the thick line of saliva from his lips and questioned, "Just what the hell is that?"

The scent was simply beyond anything that even he, as an enforcer, could withstand.

Rotten blood and flesh, along with something sinister. Like there was something alive inside this labyrinth. Ancient and dying. With each inhale, they could feel the stench clogging up the back of their throats. They wanted to spit, hurl and throw up because with each swallow they could taste the decay in their mouths. But Tracy knew that this was not any ancient being; it was the labyrinth itself. Having sucked so much life essence plus blood, along with it being alive for centuries, it was not a surprise that it was decaying just like its owner.

Fuck that bitch.

"What kind of labyrinth is this?" Laxus asked, looking utterly sickened. His voice was tight with disgust as he stared at the bloodied arched walls.

"The kind that is linked to its creator." Tracy stepped over the puddle of black blood. "This labyrinth is not only her research ground; it’s her sacrificial one as well. The more blood and soul she collects, the more energy she collects to keep her vessels alive. Since her magic is not pure."