Once the affection level is maxed out, the rivalry begins!

"I can't find my way..."

Unexpectedly, this was the first problem I encountered after entering the anomaly.

Rewinding to the moment after being captured by the feeling of weightlessness, Bai Ze immediately activated the symbiotic mode of the Judgment Blade.

Like liquid light enveloping the entire body, deeply implanted in the flowing blood, it eventually manifested as silver-white armor.

The blade sprang from his right arm, carving deep marks on the towering wall like a climbing axe. After reducing his falling speed to zero, Bai Ze jumped off the wall and landed gently on the ground.

He was standing in the middle of a spacious corridor, surrounded by towering purple walls on both sides, extending in an arc forward and backward. As far as the eye could see, there were several forks in the road leading in different directions, making it look like a giant maze.

Before coming in, Lu Xingyao seemed to want to explain the nature of this anomaly, but he acted too quickly and didn't have time to listen.

Is this the consequence of skipping dialogue?

The clothes that accompanied him in were blown away somewhere during the fall. Can an ordinary person really withstand such a brutal way of entering?

It's likely that the Holy Trinity Order, which summoned the anomaly, used other methods.

Bai Ze focused his attention on listening.

In the symbiotic mode of human-machine integration, his senses were also enhanced in all aspects, like a sophisticated sonar capturing the faint sound waves echoing between the high walls.

Heavy footsteps, violent explosions... and human cries.

You can determine the general direction, but your path forward is blocked by walls. The normal strategy is probably to find the correct route out of the maze.

But Bai Ze had a bold idea.

He clenched his left fist, stepped back in a lunge stance, and as his entire body gathered strength like a stretched spring, he swung a powerful blow at the high wall in front of him!

The power, enough to rival a combat-specialized witch, tore through the air. A cloud of sonic booms exploded at the wrist, and the point where the fist landed was instantly covered with dense cracks, rising upwards as if it were about to soar into the sky.

But in the blink of an eye, the seemingly crumbling wall began to writhe as if it were alive, and the cracks instantly healed, as if it had never been damaged.

As expected, the buildings here also have unusual characteristics, making it impossible for intruders to pass through by trickery.

Bai Ze looked at the marks he had made with the Blade of Judgment when he made the forced landing—but there was no reply.

Does the [Fantasy Collapse] ability also work on other anomalies?

He simply let the blades grow out from both arms, forming a double-sword stance—and then slashed down with force!

A series of sharp, crisscrossing flashes of light appeared, and a huge cross-shaped gap appeared in the wall. A pair of dim, yellowish pupils embedded in the bull's head met Bai Ze's gaze.

It seemed it hadn't anticipated the situation either. Its beast-like eyes stared blankly at the tiny human, its muscular humanoid body remaining motionless for several seconds before it remembered to swing the heavy double-edged axe it was holding and let out a low roar.

"Moo—"

The next second, the bull-headed, human-bodied monster was split in two at the waist, the sound of gushing blood even drowning out its dying roar.

Who would bother navigating a maze if it could cause environmental damage?

Bai Ze charged past the minotaur he had cleaved in two and swung his sword at the high wall blocking his path.

As a result, a continuous column of smoke and dust rose from the vast, incalculable maze, converging towards the center at an extremely high speed.

After speeding for an unknown period of time, the faint sounds in Bai Ze's ears gradually became clearer and more distinct, and he could even hear the sounds of humans talking through walls.

"You guys deserve a lot of credit for sticking this out until now, you hounds of the Disaster Management Agency."

It was a man's booming voice: "The witch of war is currently being held back by our comrades. Don't expect reinforcements—the ritual is complete. Now, let the true master of the labyrinth crush you!"

In the center of the maze is a circular flat area resembling the ancient Roman Colosseum, with a stone throne placed in the center. Two groups of people are facing each other, with the throne as the dividing line.

On one side was a seriously injured man in a suit and a blonde woman wielding a chainsaw, while behind them, a terrified crowd huddled together, comforting each other.

On one side was a man dressed in priest's robes, holding an obsidian dagger in his right hand. At his feet lay a corpse with its eyes gouged out and its bright red internal organs fully exposed.

The man dressed as a priest cast a fanatical gaze toward his side, where stood a minotaur, far larger than any of the creatures generated by the maze, covered in white fur.

It roared to the sky, and the sound waves alone formed a tangible shockwave, stirring up a fierce storm.

"Damn it, number 199 can generate far more high-risk individuals than 199-1. Its number level should be upgraded."

The blonde girl, supporting herself with a chainsaw, muttered a curse and looked at her companion.

"I will try to use the [Void Chainsaw] to create an export route. You take the ordinary people first and go contact the War Witch..."

"You actually think that anyone can escape from here?"

The priest withdrew his gaze and sneered.

This operation was meticulously planned by the Order, which had already transferred the highest combat force of the Spirit Disaster Bureau from Fumina City, so there was no possibility of any mistakes.

He's just playing with his prey like a cat toying with a mouse.

The blonde girl pulled the chainsaw's hook, sending it hurtling towards the throne with a roar.

But the white minotaur—the Minotaur, anomalous appendage number 199—teleported in front of her, dodging the chainsaw blade crackled with black fissures with an agility completely disproportionate to its size. It then swung its broadsword horizontally, blasting the girl's lithe body away.

"Ugh!" she cried out in a short, mournful cry, falling like a sparrow with broken wings, bouncing off the ground.

"That's right, exactly! Don't rush to kill. Apply enough pressure and torture, and the value of your souls will be greater."

The priest's lips curled into an odd grin as he gave orders to the bull-headed king he had already subdued.

"As a priest of the Holy Trinity Order, I will conduct your baptisms after death, so that your souls may be put to good use—where is that voice?"

He suddenly stopped his incessant preaching and looked at the high wall at the edge of the circular flat area.

Due to the unusual nature of the Minotaur Maze, there is only one correct path to reach the central area, but the exit of that path is completely silent.

However, explosions, resembling demolition, could be heard from the surrounding area.

"Minotaur, go check on the situation over there."

Just to be on the safe side, he gave the order.

The latter exhaled hot breath from its nasal cavity, silently approached the long wall, and even gently pressed its ear against it.

The next moment, the silver blade pierced through the wall, narrowly severing the horns on the bull's head.

Almost simultaneously, the high wall protected by the anomalous properties suddenly cracked open, and a figure rushed out like a derailed train, crashing heavily into the Minotaur's arms.

"boom!"

As if struck head-on by a large-caliber artillery shell, the Minotaur King's massive body soared into the air, tracing a graceful arc.

The priest suddenly felt his body enveloped in a large shadow, and as soon as he looked up, he saw the Minotaur falling.

"What...?"

Under the crushing weight of the vastly different mass, a pool of blurred flesh exploded with the sound of bones cracking.