The man, who looked as though he hadn't slept in decades, stood before the control console, his eyes darting anxiously across the countless water screens.
One of the screens suddenly shattered. He hurriedly looked toward it, but before he could even remember where that surveillance point had been placed, another screen shattered as well. There wasn't enough time to move troops around. Left with no other choice, he shifted his attention to the exit of that floor.
The main force had reached the area near the exit far faster than he had expected. He immediately lowered several gates and activated every pitfall in the area, but in the blink of an eye, they had vanished again.
"Damn it!" he cursed in frustration.
His family had built this labyrinth with their own hands. As the current heir, he knew every inch of it and could freely control every mechanism within. And yet, he still couldn't catch the prey trapped inside his own cage.
"Barga-chan, still haven't found the Brave?" a lazy voice suddenly spoke behind him. "Valletta-chan's already getting impatient."
"Tell her to screw off!" The man called Barga turned around, glaring with bloodshot eyes.
"Whoa... don't tell me you actually lost them?"
The speaker was a handsome young man with long black hair. Despite being male, he possessed an almost breathtaking beauty that would captivate most men at first glance. Only the gloomy, worn-out air surrounding him dulled that beauty, casting a permanent shadow over his striking features.
"Wait, seriously?" Seeing Barga suddenly fall silent, the young man froze. "No way. We only just started the attack. They shouldn't even have figured out the layout yet. Tracking them should've been easy."
The artificial labyrinth, built from super-hard and ultra-hard metal, wasn't something anyone could map out in just ten or twenty minutes. In fact, Barga had deliberately left one route open for his own people to move through. Combined with the underground waterway gate being jammed open by White Corundum, the Loki Familia technically did have a path to escape. But that route was supposed to be known only to their own side.
No matter how quickly the Loki Familia reacted, they should never have found the exit in just a few days. Unless there was a traitor, the odds of the Loki Familia escaping were practically zero. Wasn't this supposed to be like catching turtles in a jar? Nothing more than the desperate struggle of trapped beasts?
So how had they slipped away?
"You're asking me?" Barga shot the young man a cold stare. "I don't know why. But judging from the surveillance points they've destroyed, they've already found the route leading into the Dungeon. They're probably not even inside the labyrinth anymore."
The artificial labyrinth Knossos had far more than just the entrance beneath Daedalus Street; there were well over a dozen entrances altogether. Most of them were connected directly to the Dungeon itself, with openings on the fourteenth, sixteenth, and eighteenth floors, among several others. The Loki Familia's main force had most likely found the passage leading to the sixteenth-floor exit and escaped already.
"They actually managed that? Barga-chan... don't tell me you've switched sides," the gloomy young man looked at the scruffy man in astonishment.
"Idiot." Barga gave him a look usually reserved for complete morons before turning back to the water screens.
Of course, the accusation was just a joke. Barga had practically never left this place, so there was no way he could have secretly contacted the Loki Familia. Besides, they'd moved far too quickly. Even if there had been an insider, they wouldn't have been able to help. As expected of the strongest Familia in Orario, they really were full of extraordinary people.
"This is troublesome..." The gloomy young man sighed. "We deliberately lured them in so we could wipe out the Loki Familia here... but the biggest fish slipped out of the net almost immediately."
"So, Thanatos," a childish girl's voice suddenly interrupted him. The masked loli goddess entered the control room, speaking in the tone of an old veteran. "You kept assuring this one over and over that everything would be fine."
"This one's Familia has already been taken away by the Guild. If you can't give this one the ultimate pleasure, this one won't forgive you." The Goddess of Slaughter smiled, her grin dripping with bloodlust.
"Ahaha, of course not," Thanatos answered with an unusually bright smile. "I won't disappoint you. Barga-chan, hurry up and think of something!"
"Get lost."
"Is that really how you talk to your own chief god?" Thanatos sighed dramatically.
Still, the situation really was becoming troublesome. The operation had gone nothing like planned. They had exposed the existence of the artificial labyrinth, yet hadn't even managed to eliminate a single Loki Familia executive. The losses outweighed the gains.
"Tell Valletta-chan and Revis-chan to step up the hunt for the remaining prey."
"Revis has already pinned down the Sword Princess. Killing her is only a matter of time."
"Revis-chan's amazing!"
"The Kali Familia's Argana is completely ruining things! She insists on fighting the Wrathful Serpent one-on-one."
"Huh... what about everyone else?"
"The elf trio..." Barga's eyes suddenly widened. "Impossible... why do they know the only escape route?"
His gaze locked onto one of the water screens. It showed Riveria, Lefiya, and Filvis making their way through the passages. What shocked him was that they were following the hidden route Barga had left behind with perfect accuracy. They climbed level after level without making a single wrong turn. At this rate, they'd reach the entrance to the underground waterway in less than half an hour.
"...There's a traitor?" Thanatos stared in disbelief at the three elves, one dressed in emerald green, one in gold, and one in pure white. "Barga-chan, you..."
"Shut up."
"...Okay~"
"They can't be stopped anymore." The crimson Type-D mark in Barga's left eye glowed brightly. "But the Amazon twins and the Sword Princess will definitely die here."
"Three executives..." After a moment's thought, Thanatos nodded reluctantly. "I suppose that's acceptable."
"Oh, right. There's one more thing." Barga suddenly looked up. "Our sponsor entered the labyrinth with a key not long ago. She should be arriving at this control room any moment now."
"Huh? Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"Would it have made a difference?"
"Barga-chan, you really don't understand how people work," Thanatos complained. "That goddess is incredibly difficult to deal with! You should've warned me earlier so I could prepare myself!" Just thinking about her arrival made his exhausted posture slump even further.
"You dislike seeing me that much, Thanatos?"
The control room doors slowly opened, and a calm, unreadable voice reached Thanatos' ears.
'Oh no...' He silently groaned. 'She's here. Our troublesome sponsor.'
At the entrance stood a dark-skinned beauty wearing an extremely revealing dress that accentuated every curve of her body. As she entered the control room, she cast Thanatos a seductive smile, leaving him visibly uncomfortable.
"Ahaha... Goddess Ishtar. What brings you here today?"
(End of Chapter)
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