"Did a truck just ram into me?" Krune grunted, floating to the air as he reeled from the impact. Thankfully, his Wisp Core wasn't damaged from it.
He then proceeded into the same path the brutish lady from before had entered. He had initially planned to choose this path, so he had zero intentions to avoid it just because of a hiccup at the start.
After all, the demon beasts had drawn closer by this time. Krune quickly entered the path, proceeding further by twenty meters when he saw a fork. Having observed the footsteps on the ground, he turned right.
Instead of risking himself through the unbeaten path, he might as well ride on the path braved by others. After all, the goal was to reach the other side of the maze.
Krune suddenly thought of something as he continued to move. 'Wait, I might get lost anyway. I should at least determine the general direction first.'
Saying so, he summoned the Soul Needle first, watching it spin in the air before pointing in a certain direction. 'Alright, this would be my basis. Since the term used by the voice was the other side of the maze, it means the exit is on the side of the maze forming a straight line, or somewhere along there.'
He determined the angle the pointed Soul Needle made with respect to the maze entrance, serving as the reference point for him to never get lost. He then took the path on the right, following the footsteps as he soon turned left, shrieking immediately when he noticed the brutish lady staring at him, expressing tremendous killing intent. "Oh shit!"
However, he suddenly noticed something strange, seeing the brutish lady stare at him without expressing anything else. It was only then did he notice the faint stream of blood streaming from her ears. Upon gazing at her eyes, he noticed that they were empty as if she was already dead.
He then peeked past her, noticing a faint trail of blood on the ground that abruptly stopped above a certain patch of grass. Of course, Krune knew very well that something was up with that patch of grass. After all, the blood trail started from there. Plus, the brutish lady seemed dead.
"Oh fuck! For heaven's sake! No!" Krune bellowed in disgust as he retreated alarmingly, noticing a worm drill out of the brutish lady's bleeding ear. It slithered over her body and landed on the ground, moving towards the patch of grass before plunging into it, disappearing from view.
It was a messed up scene, considering the fact that the worm spanned almost four meters in length, alarming Krune's disgust levels to the extent he retreated even more.
Right as the worm entered the patch of grass, its tail end exited the brutish woman, causing her body to tilt before collapsing on the ground, deflating like a balloon that had lost all its air. It was apparent that the worm had a feast in her body.
"Disgusting!" Krune was scared. But more than fear, it was his sense of fear that prevented him from moving. He then thought of something, using his Soul Needle to poke into the brutish woman's eyeball, lifting it as he threw it.
The eyeball made an arc and landed beyond the patch of grass, inciting no reaction from it. Thinking for a moment, Krune picked up the second eyeball and threw it, watching it land on the patch of grass.
What happened next caused him to escape from the path.
The patch of grass opened like the maw of a beast, revealing hundreds of worms within that squirmed ceaselessly. One of them jumped out and gobbled the eyeball before retreating as the patch of grass closed immediately.
Had Krune possessed his powers, he would have frozen the hell out of them. But now, he dared not trigger them. After all, even though he could fly, he couldn't rely upon the advantage too much. After all, the ceilings of the maze were at a height of three meters. That height was well within the range of the worm's reach. So, he had to be absolutely careful.
'Wait, there's no guarantee the traps in the other paths aren't as equally vicious. At least, I already probed through this trap. So, as long as I am careful, I can avoid it.' Krune returned soon after, pausing for a moment as he summoned his Soul Needle, intending to use it to strike the moment something tried to attack him.
He then accelerated through the air, attaining his top speed as he quickly crossed the patch of grass, sighing in relief when nothing happened. 'Thankfully, I have to touch it for it to activate.'
He then used the Soul Needle to pierce the eyeball he had thrown first, carrying it with him, intending to use it to probe for any other traps in the future. At least, the eyeball wasn't heavy enough. So, he could still carry it without suffering a drop in speed.
Soon, he passed through another fork, following the traces of human activity on the ground. The moment he vanished from view, a mysterious energy appeared, dissolving the brutish lady, condensing her into a tiny crystal before vanishing with it.
Unaware of what happened after he left the scene, Krune continued to make numerous turns, evading any and every trap he encountered. Thankfully, there were enough people that constantly streamed into the maze.
So, there was never a time when he had to proceed into danger on his own. He patiently awaited and only followed the paths that were tested and tried by others. There were quite a few that managed to obtain a Spiritual Mark. And this was only the second trial.
So, Krune knew with guarantee that quite a few would have passed it. That was why all he did was follow the traces left behind by other people. Even though it took time, it was faster than blindly scouring through the entire maze.
Moreover, thanks to the Soul Needle, he was aware of the general direction he had to proceed towards, never getting confused through the innumerous twists and turns the mazes had. Thanks to this, he always picked the routes that led him in the general direction of the exit, eventually reaching it.
"That…is?" Upon reaching the end, he was shocked to see only three people there. "But, there were thousands at the start!"
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