Warlock Ch 283. Maniac [Part 2]
Damian chuckled. "You say that like it's a surprise."
She gave him a pointed look. "It doesn't bother you?"
He shrugged. "Of course it does. But getting pissed won't change anything. The rules are the rules. If we want to win, we play along." His eyes flicked to her. "Or do you want to back out now? Well, it's too late though."
Selena let out a small huff. "I already said I'm not backing out."
"Then stop thinking about it so much." Damian shot her a grin, his tone light despite the tension in the air. "You're wasting brainpower on things you can't change."
Selena rolled her eyes but didn't argue. Instead, she kept her pace steady beside him, scanning their surroundings for any movent. The deeper they went into the labyrinth, the quieter it beca. No sounds of battle, no distant echoes of spells clashing. Just the faint hum of the shifting walls around them.
"Too quiet," she muttered.
Damian humd in agreent. "Which ans either we're ahead of the pack… or walking into sothing nasty."
Selena glanced at him. "You say that like both options are equally bad."
"They usually are." He let his fingers trace along the cold stone wall as they walked, his pace casual, as if they weren't in the middle of a death ga. "If we're ahead, that ans we're closer to whatever fresh hell they have waiting. If we're behind, it ans we'll have to deal with whatever's left of the competition. And trust , desperate contestants are the worst kind."
Selena exhaled sharply. "I hate that you make sense."
"I get that a lot." He shot her a wink.
She rolled her eyes but didn't look away. "You're really not bothered by all of this, huh?"
"Oh, I am," Damian admitted with a lopsided grin. "I just hide it better than most."
Selena studied him for a mont before shaking her head. "You're either incredibly brave or incredibly reckless."
"Why not both?"
They continued in silence for a few more minutes, the labyrinth eerily quiet around them. No signs of monsters, no distant sounds of battle. Just the occasional shifting of the walls as the structure rearranged itself.
It was unsettling.
Selena slowed slightly, eyes narrowing. "Sothing's not right."
Damian let out a slow breath. "Yeah, I noticed."
The air was thick, heavy with sothing unseen. Not magic, exactly, but a presence. Like they were being watched.
Then, the ground beneath them shifted.
Damian barely had ti to react before the stone under their feet gave way. He grabbed Selena's wrist as the floor disappeared, pulling her with him as they plumted downward.
They landed hard in a lower chamber, dust and debris kicking up around them. Damian grunted as he rolled to his feet, keeping his grip on Selena's wrist to steady her.
She coughed, waving a hand in front of her face. "What the hell just happened?"
"The labyrinth happened." Damian dusted himself off. "Guess we triggered a trap."
Selena exhaled through her nose, clearly annoyed. "Fantastic."
Damian's eyes flicked around the chamber. The walls were darker here, covered in strange markings that pulsed faintly. A deep red mist clung to the ground, thick and unnatural.
That wasn't a good sign.
"Stay close," he murmured, his tone losing its usual playfulness.
Selena nodded, moving in beside him.
Then, the mist shifted.
It coiled unnaturally, as if responding to their presence, before sothing stepped out from within it.
No—sothings.
Three figures erged, each one moving with unsettling precision.
Masked warriors.
Their armor was sleek and form-fitting, their weapons sharp and clean. But there was sothing off about them. The way they moved, the way their heads tilted slightly, as if studying their prey.
Damian's grip on his weapon tightened. "Well, shit."
Selena's eyes sharpened. "This isn't random, is it?"
"Nope." Damian exhaled, his stance shifting into sothing more battle-ready. "These guys were waiting for us."
Selena's fingers curled, her muscles tensing. "They're after the sigils?"
Damian's lips pressed into a thin line. "Doubt it."
One of the masked warriors took a step forward, tilting his head slightly, and then—
They lunged.
The fight exploded in an instant.
Selena was already moving, her agility putting her ahead of the attack. She ducked low, her speed making her a blur as she spun around one of the warriors, striking at his side with brutal efficiency.
Damian, on the other hand, didn't bother dodging. He t the first attacker head-on.
His fist cracked against tal as he slamd his knuckles into the masked warrior's face, sending him stumbling back. The mont of stagger was all he needed—[Dark Bolt] crackled to life in his palm, a swirling mass of pitch-black energy before he launched it straight into the warrior's chest. The impact sent him flying, crashing into the stone wall with a sickening crunch.
Without missing a beat, Damian twisted, sweeping his leg under another's feet and bringing him crashing down. The assassin rolled mid-air, recovering too fast. Too precise.
"Don't let them surround us!" Selena called, her voice sharp as she blocked a strike with her forearm before retaliating with a brutal kick to the ribs. The force sent her attacker staggering, but again—no hesitation. No flinch of pain. Just imdiate retaliation.
"Wasn't planning on it." Damian's smirk widened as he caught another warrior's wrist mid-swing, twisting it with a sickening pop. The blade clattered to the floor, but the warrior barely reacted. Instead, he stepped in closer, attempting to grapple Damian like an unfeeling machine.
Damian narrowed his eyes. 'That's weird.'
Selena was already piecing it together. "This isn't normal." She ducked another strike, her movents sharp and precise. But there was sothing wrong with their opponents.
No wasted movents. No emotion. Just pure, thodical violence.
"They aren't fighting to win," Damian muttered. His gaze flicked to the subtle markings on their armor, barely visible under the dim lighting. "They're fighting to eliminate."
Selena's heart pounded. "This isn't just an ambush." She dodged a precise strike aid at her neck. "This is an assassination."
The three masked warriors moved in perfect sync, shifting seamlessly from offense to defense. One fainted an attack on Selena before pivoting to Damian, his sword slicing through the air.
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