Samuel's POV
I stood on the edge of a scorched cliff in the remnants of Goaliath's shattered realm. The sky here was cracked like broken glass, bleeding voidlight through fractures in reality. The wind whispered like dying gods, but all I could feel was the silence... and the hunger.
A hunger for more.
Not food.
Not rest.
Battle.
Something inside me—twisted, evolved, primordial—craved the next challenge. The next conquest. The next war.
My hand twitched near the hilt of my blade as if it, too, longed to taste the scream of souls again.
And then—
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION – PRIMORDIAL ALIGNMENT DETECTED]
A cold pulse ran through my spine. My eyes flared violet as the system's voice—calm, mechanical, yet laced with something that now trembled—echoed in my mind.
---
[New Quest – Legacy of the Black Thrones]
The System registers instability. You have exceeded limitations once thought unbreakable.
Paths once sealed are now trembling before your presence.
🜏 Objective 1: Invade the Crimson Labyrinth (Forbidden Tier World)
🜏 Objective 2: Locate the remnants of the Black Thrones Pantheon
🜏 Objective 3: Face the System Wardens – [3/7 Awakened]
Rewards:
– Mythic-Class Upgrade Token (x1)
– Throne Fragment: Crown of Nullity
– ??? (Unknown – Roselle Interference Suspected)
---
I narrowed my eyes.
System Wardens…
The ones who maintained the balance. Who kept Primordials like me in check.
And three of them were already awakened.
"Finally," I whispered, smirking as the familiar fire ignited in my blood. "Something worth killing again."
And then I heard it—a whisper. Not from the system. Not from the wind. It was her.
Roselle.
Not words. Just presence. Just that seductive, maddening thrum of her influence brushing against my soul like silk dipped in venom.
Even the system couldn't block her.
---
[WARNING: Foreign Entity Interference Detected – "Roselle, Goddess of Darkness"]
Attempting suppression… Failed. Passive link remains.]
---
Of course.
I sighed, looking at my reflection in the void below—silver-white hair tousled, eyes glowing like cursed stars, armor cracked from battle but still pulsing with power.
"Roselle," I murmured under my breath, "You still want a piece of me, huh?"
I cracked my neck and stepped forward, void swirling beneath my boots.
"Let's see what happens… when I take on the Labyrinth—and tear it apart. Warden or God, System or Goddess… I'm not stopping."
I reached behind me, summoning Obsidian Requiem—the blade humming with soul residue from Goaliath.
The hunger inside me growled again, louder this time.
"System," I said calmly.
"Open the gate to the Crimson Labyrinth."
And in response, space ripped open in front of me—crimson mist and screams bleeding out from the crack like a welcome mat of madness.
---
[Crimson Labyrinth Access – Confirmed]
Warning: No return until Objective Complete.
Survival Rate: <0.01% (Adjusted to 47% due to user profile – Status: System Favored · Marked by Roselle)
---
I smirked.
"Good. That means I won't be bored."
And without hesitation, I stepped through the gate—
—into a realm no man, god, or system had ever escaped from.
________________________________________
[Samuel's POV – Crimson Labyrinth Arrival]
The moment I stepped through the gate, everything changed.
There was no sky.
There was no ground.
There was only red—a swirling ocean of crimson mist, stretching into an infinite expanse of suffering incarnate. The air crackled with madness. Every breath I took felt like it carried the last dying thought of something ancient, something that had begged for death and was denied.
---
[System Alert – Dimensional Shift Completed]
Location: CRIMSON LABYRINTH
Warning: Realm Unstable. Spatial logic suspended. Time irregularities present. Hostile entities: ≥∞
---
I looked down. There was no earth beneath me—only floating fragments of bone, shattered marble, and bloodied gears, forming unstable platforms drifting in a void of red mist and gravity-warped space. My boots landed with a soft crunch—on a skull still whispering curses in a forgotten language.
Something growled from behind me. I didn't turn.
Instead, I just smiled.
"Looks like the welcoming committee's early."
From the mist emerged the first wave—twisted creatures draped in priestly robes, their faces stretched like melting wax, hollow eyes leaking black ichor.
---
[Entity Identified – "Acolytes of the Red Echo"]
Tier: Nightmare+
Behavior: Ritual Predators
Objective: Consume intruders to stabilize the Labyrinth's Womb
---
I raised Obsidian Requiem, its edge glowing faintly violet as it tasted the corrupted air.
"Let's see if you scream like Goaliath."
They screeched and charged in unison, blood-symbols erupting beneath their feet. I didn't move—until the last second.
Then—Voidstep.
I vanished and reappeared midair above them, twisting mid-spin—
"Blade Tempest – Chaos Variant!"
My blade became a storm, a whirling halo of violet slashes and void pulses that ripped through the first three like paper. Their bodies didn't fall—they disintegrated, leaving behind warped time echoes screaming in reverse.
One tried to summon something—some kind of blood-bound godling—but I kicked its chest, snapping its ribcage inward, and then drove Astral Rend through its eye socket.
"Too slow."
The last one, smarter than the rest, tried to flee. A mistake.
"Devourer's Pulse."
Black energy surged from my hand, latched onto the fleeing creature, and drained it dry mid-run, leaving behind a husk that fell and shattered like porcelain.
The mist pulsed around me—angry now.
The Crimson Labyrinth had noticed.
---
[System Alert – Labyrinth Core Consciousness Engaged]
Warden "Xir'Zul, The Architect of Pain" is aware of your presence.
Initiating Response Protocol: Domain Reformation
---
The ground shook. The crimson mist condensed, twisting into spiraling hallways, shifting walls, and endless red corridors etched with screaming runes. The realm was rebuilding itself—to trap me, test me, consume me.
Good.
"Come on, then," I said, lifting my blade and smirking at the living maze forming ahead.
"Let's see if this labyrinth can bleed."
I took my first step forward—and with it, the maze trembled.
The hunt had begun.