Ascension: Online

After exploring the maze for a total of about five minutes, I had already given up. The place was just too damn big. If it weren't for my footprints on the floor of sand, I would've already been lost, unable to even find the entrance.

No matter how many turns I made, the maze just seemed to go on forever. In those short five minutes, I had already ran into eight dead ends, not to mention all the paths that I marked but hadn't full explored yet.

"There's no way… how the hell do I get through?" I muttered in frustration to myself, now back at the entrance of the maze.

I thought back to the signs I had read on the way here.

"Common sense is a fool's master."

"The counterpart of deception is not truth - it is more deception."

"Do not let the shackles of reality chain you down."

From this, I had already deduced I would need to think outside the box here, but it wasn't working. I tried punching through the walls, but they were made of solid concrete. Desperate, I even tried to take off into the air and fly, but naturally, all I did was get my whole body covered with sand.

"I've tried all the methods I can think of to go outside the box… all that's left is to do this the proper way…" I sighed in resignation. I guess those signs back there were just nothing but gibberish after all.

I brushed off all the sand from my clothes and stepped into the maze once more, this time with the goal of exploring deeper.

*****

- Meanwhile, Outside the Vault -

(Hina's Perspective)

"He's been in there for nearly an hour already…" I murmured quietly, looking at the tree Kaze-kun had jumped down into in worry. "Aisa-chan… will he be okay?"

"…" Aisa fell silent as she stared at the tree blankly, folding her arms.

"U-Um… that silence… I'll take it as a no?"

"… He is currently facing the last trial. If he can make it out of this one, then he will be fine."

"What's the last trial about?" I asked hesitantly, unsure whether or not I wanted to hear the answer.

"… It is called the Trial of Lies, a difficult one. He has to navigate his way out of a maze… but the means to do so are far from what anyone would expect."

"What…? How big is the maze?"

Aisa narrowed her eyes at me.

"Endless."

I covered my mouth in shock. "W-What?! If it's an endless maze, how does Kaze-kun beat it?!"

"Like I said, the method to beat this trial is something completely unexpected and crazy, unbound by the limits of common sense," Aisa said calmly, turning back to the tree.

"If your precious little brother can see past the lies, he will succeed. However, if not… he will be forever lost within the annals of reality."

*****

- Inside the Maze of Deception -

(Kaze's Perspective)

I slowly walked through the labyrinth, dragging my feet on the sand. It was completely silent, apart from the noise of me walking. I traced my hand on the wall. It was hard but cold, in great contrast to the soft yet hot sand that made up the floor.

It has been ten minutes since I re-entered the maze. I marked paths that led to dead-ends with an X shape on the ground during my first attempt, so I could skip over some passageways and save a little bit of time.

"Another dead end… ugh," I muttered, then retreated and returned to the main path, leaving an X mark behind at the entrance of the path.

I turned around. The entrance was behind me. I could still leave the maze right now if I wanted to, and try again later. However, time was short, and I didn't want to keep Hina-nee and Aisa waiting for too long on the outside.

Shaking my head, I forced myself to push forward, plunging into the unknown.

But the moment I did, I instantly regretted it.

CLANK.

Hearing this loud noise, I froze and slowly looked back. My eyes widened.

The entrance had been blocked off. The maze… had trapped me inside, through and through.

"Tch… damn," I muttered, but kept a cool head. "Well… that didn't change much, to be honest. If that's all you've got, maze, you're going to have to try harder to make me panic."

Unfortuantely, that wasn't all the maze got.

As if on cue, I heard the robotic sound of machines moving. They seemed to be walking on the sand, crawling with their mechanical legs and getting closer and closer to me. I gulped, unsure where to go.

The sounds got louder and louder, all around me. The unknown dangers edged closer and closer. Where were they? Where should I run to? I had no way to tell - I could end up running straight into one of them.

In my brief moments of hesitation, two grotesque spider-like machines with six armor-plated legs and glowing red eyes suddenly emerged from behind me. They opened their large, mechanical jaws wide, lined with rows of sharp metal teeth, and jumped towards me.

"Okay, now's the time to panic!"

I immediately spun around and ran in the other direction, passing by several other spider-like machines of the same design on the way. I skidded to a stop as I came to a crossroads, faced with two decisions - left or right?

I looked back slightly, and saw that the spiders were closing in fast.

"Screw it - right is always right!"

I took the right path in a hurry, dashing down the isle before quickly turning left again since it was the only way to go. The spider machines followed me, their agile bodies somehow scaling the insanely tall walls of the maze as they attempted to drop down on me from above.

CRASH!

One of them nearly fell right on top of me, but I used Vanishing Clouds to quickly dash away. However, another landed straight in front of me, blocking my path. I backed up a few steps, now pincered.

"Tch… Basic Pyromancy Art - Pyrosphere," I chanted as the spider prepared to leap towards me.

"SCREE!"

Right before it could tear me apart with its mechanical jaws, it was blasted away by my hidden art.

The spider behind me cleaved down with his sharp metal legs, but I managed to barely avoid getting cut in half by leaning to one side.

In a single instant, as the other spider was still sailing through the air, I pulled out my corrupted dagger and stabbed it into its outreached leg, directly into the wires betweeen its plating.

"REEE!" the robotic spider screamed as electric sparks flew out of its cut wires. The leg fell limply onto the ground as suddenly, a hologram appeared in front of me.

[Corrupt creature?]

[Yes/No]

My eyes widened. The power of Corruption… so it was built into Dokujin as well? I mean, it WAS a weapon I got from the Vault of Corruption, so it kinda makes sense, now that I think about it. As for why this prompt never popped up before when I killed other creatures, it was probably because I had killed them instantly with one strike rather than injure them.

I hurriedly tapped on 'Yes' without moving my dagger away, and immediately, the spider's originally-red eyes glitched out for a second, before being replaced by green ones.

Suddenly, I felt a quick and deadly movement behind me. I immediately turned around and saw the spider I had blasted away earlier, now jumping back and ready to cut me in half with its sharp legs.

I covered my face out of instinct since it was too late to dodge, but then, something unexpected happened.

"SCREE!"

The spider that I had corrupted rammed into its former ally, tackling it to the ground. The hostile spider screamed in agony, but its mechanical wails were cut short by the sound of metal piercing through metal - the corrupted machine had used its own leg to pierce through the other's head, silencing it forever. The lights blinked out of the dead machine as sparks flew out of its broken eye-display.

I blinked at this scene, jaw dropping in shock. However, there was no time to rest, as I heard the sound of the other spiders marching closer and closer. They must've heard the noises of the battle and the agonizing wail of their now-dead ally machine. Unfortunately, these newcomers weren't going to be as friendly as the one I had corrupted.

I quickly stood back up from the ground and looked both in front and behind me. Behind me would eventually lead back to where I came from, while in front were where the mechanical stomps of the other spiders were coming from. Ultimately, I decided to take the third option - right.

Trying to keep my footsteps as light as possible while maintaining my top speed, I dashed away into the endless Maze of Deception.

And as for my newfound robot spider ally? It, well… it followed.