“Don’t you all find this really strange?”
As they moved forward, Lavinia suddenly spoke up.
“Strange how?” Liyami responded to Lavinia’s question.
“What else could it be? Of course, it’s these rooms! Why do all the rooms we’ve passed look exactly the same? And there’s only ever one path. What was the person who designed this labyrinth thinking? Does this even count as a labyrinth? This is the first time I’ve ever seen a maze with just one path!”
At her words, Liyami was somewhat speechless. She had expected Lavinia to point out something important, but it was just this.
Liyami herself knew this labyrinth was odd—not only was there only one path, but the rooms were almost identical except for their size, and inside were only those “Bronze” armored figures. Forget treasures or documents, not even a single stool was present! It forced her to rest sitting on the floor!
Lavinia’s question was indeed important, and if she could, Liyami would want to know the answer too. But this wasn’t the first time Lavinia had asked about this; she had raised similar concerns before.
The conclusion was always the same: keep moving forward. After all, they had no other choice. Neither the Holy Order nor the Blossoming Stone Beads that Sifni mentioned could be found by standing still. They could only keep going and hope to find what they sought soon.
“Alright, haven’t we already talked about this? What’s the point in bringing it up again? Better to keep quiet and save your strength.”
Sifni’s words closed the topic, but Lavinia remained somewhat dissatisfied. She muttered softly, “I know… but this is just too boring. We’ve been walking for so long and it feels like nothing’s changed since the start. It might already be afternoon outside! If only there were more things in these rooms—like stools or something…”
Liyami secretly agreed with Lavinia’s wish. She also hoped these rooms held more than just sameness.
Perhaps the gods had heard their small wish, because Colin was surprised to find that the room they entered this time no longer had just one exit.
But this was hardly good news, as this room was full of accessible holes, and it seemed each hole had a path, making it hard for Colin and the others to choose.
Seeing this, Lavinia suddenly regretted her earlier thoughts—now she wished it had been just one path all the way.
“…Great, so which path do we take now, noble elven lady?”
Sifni mockingly addressed Lavinia at just the right moment, while Liyami shifted her gaze aside.
Thankfully, she had only agreed with Lavinia silently in her heart; otherwise, she’d be the one getting teased by Sifni now.
Still, Sifni only mocked Lavinia that one time, then turned back to study which path they should take.
Colin frowned as he looked at the dozen or so holes, then turned to Elinor.
“Elinor, can you pray to the ‘Holy Light’? Can you ask it to guide us on the right path?”
At his words, Elinor immediately began praying. But this time, her prayer was different from usual. It was solemn and serious, as if she were still inside the grand cathedral of the sanctuary, not just praying beside her companions.
Colin had asked Elinor to pray to the “Holy Light” because it was a special ability only she possessed. She could make a unique prayer to inquire simple things from the “Holy Light,” like which path they should take next.
She could do this because Elinor was the current Saintess chosen by the “Holy Light.” It was a power no one else could wield—not even Colin, the strongest Holy Knight of their time.
A faint light gathered around Elinor’s body, and her prayer took on a holy, ethereal quality.
But this phenomenon lasted only a few seconds. Then Elinor stopped praying and opened her eyes again.
“We take that path.”
Elinor pointed to the path in the center of the room—the largest one, which looked like the main thoroughfare.
“Is that so? Then let’s proceed along that route.”
With that, Colin strode forward without the slightest doubt in Elinor’s choice.
Watching Colin’s back, Liyami couldn’t help but wonder: did Colin trust Elinor, or was it the “Holy Light” he trusted more? Or maybe both? Whatever it was, fanatics were a terrifying breed.
Liyami felt somewhat relieved. Although the Shadow Veil Society forced assassins like them to believe in “Destined Death,” they did not demand depth of faith—only that they believe and don’t change their allegiance.
In this sense, the Shadow Veil Society might even be better than the Sanctuary. As far as Liyami knew, the Sanctuary never just required followers not to switch beliefs; they demanded deep faith in the “Holy Light.”
Looking at Colin’s back, Liyami suddenly thought: If Colin knew she wasn’t faithless but worshipped an unknown deity, would he still treat her like he did now?
She didn’t know the answer, and didn’t want to know. Thinking about it reminded her of her true mission: to assassinate Colin.
Liyami did not want to assassinate Colin, so she chose not to think about it. She hoped their current companionship could continue.
But nothing in this world stayed the same forever, and Liyami understood that well.
Though she wasn’t ready to accept change yet, she would eventually have to.
…
But that was a matter for the future. For now, she didn’t have to worry about it.
Following Elinor’s guidance, they passed through several rooms. Though they encountered many forks, Elinor would pray and point to the largest path each time.
Could it mean that only by taking the main path would they meet the Holy Knights? Liyami wondered.
Unfortunately, that was only a guess. Soon, Colin stopped at the entrance to a very large room.
Rather than a room, it was more like a long, wide corridor. At the end stood a massive door, its color matching the walls—likely made from the same material.
Breaking the door by force seemed impossible. Worse, the door was shut. Opening it didn’t look easy, at least Liyami doubted she could manage it.
But Colin didn’t need to push it open, because at the very bottom of the door was a strange gap. It looked like it had been shattered by something, just large enough for them to pass through.
Still, none of that was why Colin stopped. He had sensed an enemy presence.
Sure enough, several “Bronze” armored figures appeared, stepping out from behind the pillars lining the corridor.
Seeing those “Bronze” armored figures, everyone realized that if they wanted to get past the giant door, they first had to deal with them!