Chapter 12: The Theft of Vengeance
The Achaean Labyrinth was not constructed of stone and mortar, but of light and temporal paradox. As the Vanguard stepped through the Ascension Gate, the air around them became crystalline and confusing. The pathways weren't fixed; they were reflections of previous choices, shimmering and shifting with every step.
Aiden held the golden Oracle scroll, its prophecy a searing weight in his hand, and stared at the kaleidoscope of paths ahead. Even with his Arbiter of Chronos class, the temporal chaos of the Labyrinth was overwhelming. Time wasn't flowing normally here; it was layered, folding back on itself.
"The Oracle gives us the path sequence: North-West-East-East-South-West, and the key phrase, 'The Sun Rises Twice'," Aiden stated, his voice clipped and entirely impersonal. "But the paths are dissolving every three minutes. We move as a single unit, and we move fast."
He looked directly at Rin, ignoring Master Wei's glare. "Hunter Rin, you move directly behind me. You are the first line of defense. Wei, you cover the rear. Your Qi is the only thing stable enough to repel the Labyrinth's chaotic energy."
Rin wanted to argue, to take the lead and deny Aiden the satisfaction of command, but the fate tether pulsed with a warning. This maze was specifically designed to defeat the Arbiter's power, forcing him to rely solely on intellect and the single Oracle—a desperate gamble.
I need him to live, Rin thought with a terrible bitterness. And he needs me to follow.
"Fine," Rin snapped, drawing his sword. The Blade of the Rending Gale instantly stabilized the air around them, creating a small, safe zone of pure, focused kinetic energy amidst the chaos. "But one mistake in that sequence, and I gut you before the Labyrinth does."
Aiden didn't flinch. He led them into the shimmering maze, his eyes glued to the Oracle, his mind working at impossible speed to match the cryptic prophecy to the constantly changing reality. He was a flawless machine of strategy, powered now by a life-saving information advantage.
They had followed the first three instructions—North, West, East—when the air above the path tore open with a screech more mental than physical.
Six monstrous birds descended, their bodies thin and translucent like stretched silk, their faces a nightmare of distorted feminine beauty. These were Apollo's Harpies. They didn't carry talons or beaks; they carried an aura of absolute spiritual suction.
The closest Harpy swooped low, its spectral body passing directly through the two Hunters behind Wei. The Hunters let out a simultaneous, guttural cry, falling to their knees. Their eyes went blank, and their faces softened into the bewildered innocence of children. Their combat stances vanished; their weapons clattered to the floor. Their memories were gone.
"The Harpies steal core memories!" Master Wei roared, unleashing a wave of emerald Qi that momentarily pushed the phantoms back. "Don't let them touch you! They drain the life from your mind!"
Rin felt the cold, insidious touch of their aura reaching for his mind. It was targeting the deepest, darkest, most painful part of his soul—the source of his renewed purpose.
The hatred. The betrayal. The memory of Aiden's cold, calculated choice.
He couldn't lose that memory. It was the only thing standing between him and succumbing to the love he was forced to suppress. He wouldn't risk returning to the blissful, naive ignorance of their past life.
Rin spun his blade, unleashing a full Rending Gale barrier around himself and Wei. The Harpies shrieked as the kinetic energy hit them, but the phantoms only suffered minor damage. They were not physical.
"Rin! They are spiritual constructs!" Aiden yelled, calculating the time remaining until the path dissolved. "The Gale is a blunt force! Don't waste your mana!"
Aiden, positioned two steps ahead, suddenly stopped, his eyes widening. A Harpy, impossibly fast, bypassed the Rending Gale barrier entirely, targeting Rin from the side.
Rin tensed, ready to meet the blow, knowing his spirit would be violated.
"Temporal Shield: Rin, five feet right!" Aiden screamed, expending a brutal burst of his recovered mana.
It was a cold command, but the Temporal Shield flared instantly. It didn't stop the Harpy, but it slowed the creature down just enough for a fraction of a second.
Rin, trusting the strategist he hated, executed the command before he understood it. He darted five feet right, just as the Harpy's incorporeal form passed through the empty space he had occupied.
The Harpy missed, letting out a frustrated screech.
"They target the emotional nexus!" Aiden shouted, consulting the Oracle for a split second. "Rin, your rage is drawing them! Think of nothing!"
"Impossible!" Rin snarled, deflecting another Harpy with a desperate thrust of his blade. "I am nothing but memory! If I empty my mind, I lose the vengeance that makes me whole!"
"You lose everything if you lose your life!" Aiden countered, his voice cutting through the panic. "We need the next path! Rin! West!"
The ground beneath them began to dissolve, the current pathway fading to nothing. Aiden began running backwards, pulling Rin and the remaining Vanguard toward the new West path.
Rin was still fighting, the memory-draining Harpies circling, desperate to extract the pain of betrayal that was Rin's current fuel.
A Harpy lunged, its shadowy claws sinking into Rin's shoulder. A wave of ice-cold dread hit Rin's mind.
He saw a flash of his past—not the betrayal, but a cherished, painful memory of Aiden kissing him under the stars on a quiet night, promising forever. The Harpy was attempting to steal the love, knowing the loss would destroy his will to fight.
Rin screamed, pushing the phantom memory away with raw spiritual force. The Rending Gale intensified around him, becoming a furious, protective shield.
Aiden, seeing Rin stumble and knowing he was losing the psychological fight, made another tactical decision. He dropped the Oracle scroll on the ground and pulled out a small, crystal dagger—a ritual blade he had kept from his past life.
"Wei! Keep them off him!" Aiden commanded, ignoring the two Harpies now focusing on his own mana-depleted core.
He turned the ritual dagger toward himself and drove the point into his own thigh, ignoring the gasp of pain. He didn't need to cut deep; he needed the pain—a clean, sharp, physical distraction from the Chronos feedback.
He reactivated a modified Chronos skill. "Temporal Static: Self-Applied."
He didn't slow the world this time. He slowed the processing speed of his own cerebral cortex. He forced his mind to go blank, suppressing the pain of the temporal feedback and, more importantly, eliminating the flow of vulnerable memories the Harpies sought.
Aiden looked like a statue, frozen in the middle of the shifting Labyrinth, but his eyes were sharp and focused. The Harpies, unable to steal a memory from a mind that wasn't processing anything, shrieked in confusion and backed away.
"Execute next sequence: East!" Aiden's voice was detached, metallic, and devoid of all emotion, a cold, surgical instruction ripped from a paralyzed brain.
Rin watched, horrified, as Aiden turned himself into a self-inflicted zombie just to gain five seconds of uncompromised control. He was destroying himself, again, just to ensure the Vanguard followed the prophecy.
Rin killed the Harpy that had targeted him, the memory of the kiss replaced by the fresh, agonizing sight of Aiden's deliberate self-harm.
He's willing to sacrifice everything, including his mind, just to maintain the plan.
Rin grabbed the frozen Aiden, pulling the Oracle scroll from the ground, and dragged the strategist's limp, bleeding body toward the newly formed path.
"You're an infuriating bastard, Arbiter," Rin muttered, half to himself, as he carried the man he hated but whose life he was bound to protect.
The Labyrinth twisted, and the path formed anew. They were safe for the moment, but the cost was mounting. Rin carried the weight of Aiden's cold strategy, and Aiden carried the pain of a sacrifice that only Rin truly understood.
The first Harpy encounter was brutal and has solidified the agonizing dynamic: Rin needs Aiden's mind, and Aiden needs Rin's strength.