Chapter 20: Maze Realm Part 2

Agemo narrowed his eyes as the group of twenty surrounded him, their steel swords pointed menacingly. Pulling back his hood, he brandished Rain Slayer and pushed them back with his spirit force, letting his spirit energy flow through his body. Wisps of baleful aura coiled around Rain Slayer, instilling fear in those closest to him.

"You came at the right time. I didn’t get to kill any magical beasts yet. Well, there was a bat, but I smashed its head into a wall. I forgot to take its demonic core, but your storage bags will be sufficient compensation," Agemo said.

They cried out in alarm as Agemo transformed into a black shadow, speeding out of their encirclement. All twenty of him ended up on one side, while they had their backs to a dead end. He had used his dark spirit technique, Phantasmal Sky, and those at the first stage couldn’t hope to react in time.

"Be glad I’m sparing your lives. I would kill you, but I might not be able to proceed to the center of the maze. Be grateful for that. I don’t kill because I enjoy it. Circumstances force my hand," Agemo said.

The twenty sect members cried out in pain as Agemo swung at them with the side of his blade. His tyrannical strength sent them crashing into the steel wall. Some had large bruises, while others had fragmented bones. He stomped on their heads to knock them out as they writhed in pain. He took nearly everything from their storage bags and laid them against the wall in the maze, leaving behind the demonic cores, regular armor, and weapons, as he had no need for them.

"Hmm?" Agemo frowned as he sorted through the scrolls he had taken after walking about a mile away and resting while the maze began to shift. "A scroll on how to make a golem? Meh, that’s a mage thing. An encyclopedia on alchemical plants and materials, ten volumes in total. I don’t need it, but it could help me identify materials and trade them like demonic cores. Diamond Body Technique: enables the Practitioner to have a body as hard as diamonds... I have the Eclipse Indestructible Body Technique. I could auction this one for spirit pills."

Agemo smiled when he spotted the thirty-two Kasara participants he had seen before. If he defeated them and took their storage bags, he would acquire more items and wouldn’t have to worry about the maze ending early. Why? If he defeated them and added their count to the twenty he had already beaten, their total would be fifty-two. As long as two or more didn’t die, he could take his time sorting his loot while heading to the center. The two-headed dragon would be distracted by the other participants, especially the princess, who was at the third stage, while the freckled boy and her guard were at the peak of the second stage.

"So far, so good. We finally reunited our members."

"I know. I was so worried the dragon would kill me."

"Right? But our numbers scared the dragon. We’re safe."

"AGH! Help me!"

"Agh!"

"What is tha—!"

The rest of the Kasara group stared in shock as they saw one of their own flying and smashing into the steel wall. They looked in the direction from which the body had flown and saw a black trail of shadows darting left and right, sending people flying and unconscious before they even hit the walls. They thought it was a demon and desperately tried to escape, but their frantic movements only urged the shadow to move faster. It appeared before them in a flash, sending a wave of bodies back as it smashed into the front group.

"Stay together! We must stick together!" the leader, a boy of the second stage, cried. "Don’t run!"

"My sword! It broke! That’s impossible! That is—!" a girl cried out, but was silenced as she was also sent flying.

Agemo punched left and right, slightly rotating his fists to increase their power. He didn’t care whether they were male or female, though he avoided striking a girl in the face. He knew spectators were watching, and he would feel bad later if he saw a bruise on a girl’s face caused by his actions. He smirked as the leader tried to rally the others.

First, he targeted the weakest, punching them with enough strength to avoid killing them. Seeing their friends being smashed into the steel walls so easily would instill fear and create panic. This allowed him to easily find isolated individuals to knock out. The leader tried to rally the group, but Agemo focused on anyone who looked back at him. This caused them to disregard the leader and flee in terror, thus preventing any challenge from overwhelming numbers.

"What are you? What are you?" the leader cried as he swung his Practitioner sword but kept hitting empty air.

In the end, Agemo merely scared the leader. The leader cursed and pursued him helplessly as Agemo gathered the bodies and piled them on top of the previously beaten ones. When the last person was taken, he circled the leader, creating a small tornado of shadows. He chuckled, chilling the boy, as he lightly pushed him in the direction where he would find the others.

"They’re, they’re alive!" the leader cried and turned back to the shadow to say something.

"Make sure they don’t get killed by the dragon," Agemo said, ceasing his technique and materializing before the leader to knock him out.

"Not a bad haul today. Not bad at all," Agemo nodded as he looted their storage bags and left them in the maze. "I’ll just take their loser’s fee and leave them with the items I don’t need."

Like with the previous group, he only took magical artifacts, scrolls, books, and spirit pills. Everything else they could keep. Money? He could practically buy a decent-sized kingdom already. Demonic cores? Meng Ce had warned him that they would impede his progress from the third stage onward. Weapons and armor? He had his dark purple cloak with sand-colored clouds and Rain Slayer. Why bother with things he didn’t need? Unless he could sell them for a high price at an auction, he didn’t see the point.

"And here we are," Agemo smiled as he entered the center of the maze after passing through a barrier.

"We did it! We made it. Oh gods, I thought we were going to be eaten for a second there," Eric gasped as he walked through the barrier and collapsed on his knees.

"Are you alright, princess?" Marcus gasped as he and Juliet burst through.

"Yes. That was tough. Who knew uncle would bring a variant species of dragon?" Juliet gasped, noticing Agemo was practically unaffected by the maze. "Huh? We’re not the first?"

"What the hell? It’s you! You made it!" Eric grinned, his eyes widening as he inspected Agemo. "Huh? You don’t look harmed in the slightest."

"The dragon didn’t come my way," Agemo shrugged.

"You must have been on the same path as the two large groups. Did you see them?" Juliet asked.

"Yeah. You could say that," Agemo nodded.

"Did you kill them?" Marcus asked, drawing his sword and standing in front of Juliet.

"Hey, easy. If I wanted to kill them, I would have. They’re just unconscious and should be waking up bruised and battered soon. But there’s one thing I need to address. I don’t kill because I want to. However, you pointed your sword at me, which makes me uneasy. When I’m uneasy, I get anxious. And when I get anxious," Agemo said, turning into a trail of shadows.

He appeared faster than Marcus could move and delivered a high kick to the left side of Marcus’s face. Marcus flew to the right, but Agemo appeared next to him in a flash and executed an axe kick, smashing him into the ground. He kicked Marcus’s weapon away and flipped him onto his back with a final kick. Marcus groaned and coughed as Agemo stomped on his chest, grinding his foot slowly.

"I do that," Agemo said, materializing before Marcus. "I don’t particularly enjoy violence, but I have the strength to kill a man with my fists. I don’t like being threatened, and I don’t want to die again."

"Again?" Juliet asked as Agemo gritted his teeth.

"Ah, it’s nothing really. Slip of the tongue," Agemo shrugged. "Anyway, no hard feelings? You pointed your sword at me, and I retaliated. You made the first move. I made sure there would be no further ones."

"Thanks, and sorry about that," Marcus said as Agemo helped him to his feet.

Agemo grunted as his head began to ache. He saw images of his former self: a Japanese scientist working in a lab. He could see a large tank with a strange green and blue liquid. The scientist was lightly caressing the tank as he looked upon what lay within. Agemo unconsciously screamed as he returned to reality.

"Whoa! Are you alright?" Eric asked, running over as he saw Agemo sweating and leaning against the wall, panting.

"Just had a flashback. My memories come back to me randomly," Agemo said. "Sorry for scaring you all. We should head through the teleportation array before someone gets killed."

"Sorry about earlier. Good day," Marcus said as he led Juliet into the array.

Eric nodded and waved at Agemo before walking into the array. Agemo waited until his breath returned to normal. What had he seen? What was in the tank? Was it that

alien life form the old scientist mentioned before in the dream? Why had he been caressing the tank? Did it mean something to him? Why had he screamed? Agemo scratched his head in annoyance and shook his head before entering the teleportation array.