299 Chameleon's Maze -8

Vexa walked a bit further away from us, and I stood a bit behind her with Erik and Aron.

'She actually doesn't give a shit about being scared, huh,' I thought, seeing her walk like she was in a park and not in front of a humongous ox.

Vexa formed a sphere of water, immediately turned it into ice, and threw the spell at tremendous speed, making a resounding explosion when it hit right between the ox's horns.

"..." I blinked dumbly. There was no hesitation for even a second—is she for real?

The ox's eyes shot open, and it stared at Vexa who stood in front of it for a second before it jolted forward, lowering its head towards Vexa.

'There it is!' my eyes went immediately to the place where the ox was sleeping. There was a metal trapdoor on the ground hidden by grass, making it hard to spot. It was sleeping on it.

I focused in front. Vexa had the ox so close to her that for a second I felt like she was done for before she jumped back—not to the side but back. It was a long jump that she landed just before me.

With a slight movement, she jumped to a side as soon as she landed, and now I was in the target range of the ox.

Roaring and raging, the beast ran in my direction, muscular and full of strength—one direct hit is enough to directly take out some of the strongest mages in this world.

I formed a small speck of raw mana, just small enough to get by unnoticed from everyone, and threw the spark away in a direction where no one was.

The bull immediately turned the trajectory of its horns by a few inches and then by a foot or so in the direction where I had released the mana.

I formed a strong compressed fireball—filled with explosive power—but instead of releasing it from afar, I dashed. The ox was humongous, so it took me a jump to reach its one knee on hind legs. I released the spell on the knee, and it exploded—tearing blood and flesh.

With a "thud!" The ox fell down on its side, wailing a weird but guttural noise, not pleasant to the ears.

I stood there by its lying body, then turned my face towards Aron, who had Erik in a princess carry and was standing a bit far from where the ox was now lying.

"Follow me now!" I rolled and ran towards the trapdoor.

Because... now, if we get in the hands of that creature, we are done for.

I ran while pushing mana into my legs and reached the trapdoor. It had a flat slot to open it. I shoved my finger through the slot and opened the gutter-sized manhole-like trapdoor. I saw a bundle of platinum blonde hair jump—it had to be Vexa.

Aron too immediately threw Erik from a foot or so before jumping himself into the hole. The moment his silhouette passed from my vision, I saw a shadow. I jumped in immediately without wasting any time, with my hand on the inner slot of the trapdoor to close it as I was on my way down.

"Ugh," I grunted. There was a breaking noise as I felt something stabbing my back. It felt like someone took an unsharpened rusty knife and dragged it on my spine in a vertical line from downside up.

With a plop, I dropped on the cobblestone floor, scattered with pebbles.

"Shit," I cursed, laying on my side while looking up. I saw a large... about... I don't even know what to compare that thing to. The horn had made it past the closed trapdoor, breaking it, and had reached right up to my face, covering the fifty feet drop.

"Haa haaa," There was a bit of silence, and the gigantic horn didn't move even an inch, but then slowly retreated back up after a few seconds, completely out of sight. From the hole where the trapdoor broke, I saw a red, almost bloody eyeball staring at me.

I spit saliva from my mouth. This would've been fricking awesome if not for the fact that I want that thing as a pet. Not like it's easy to kill it in its current form—it's just a bit weaker than Gorthan.

I managed to stand, feeling a bit... a lot fatigued. I used a lot of mana in that one sprint and trying to get my body mana strengthened, but the ox still managed to hurt me.

I touched my back and felt the blood seeping out of the wound, but slowly and steadily, it was healing immediately. I don't need healing potions for these surface-level wounds now, to be honest, because of my phoenix physique.

"Fuck this muscle brain," I cursed, then turned towards the others who were looking at me crazy.

"What?" I asked, distancing myself from the spot under the hole.

Under the trapdoor is the secret tunnel. Here, a passage made out of cobblestone and carved walls stretches out, just as big as the maze above.

It's more like a hidden level that one wouldn't discover until they challenge the Ox—whom obviously a player would avoid at any cost because of its insane strength, regenerative ability, and extreme rage.

After I took its knee off, it took about a few seconds for it to grow a whole another leg and then attack me again, while the horns were now twice the size as before, as was the body.

Anyways, it can't come down here. It'll stay enraged, attacking students that it smells now. Yeah, that thing has eyes only for decoration purposes to distract others—it can't see shit and relies on the smell of mana.

Yes, for some reason it's written in its description that it can smell mana. So when I threw raw mana to the side, it had a very strong scent for the Ox—and it went in its direction, giving me an opening.

"Are you crazy?" Aron stomped towards me.

"Hm?" I raised a brow.

"How'd you know about this door?" He questioned.

"Does it matter?" I just pushed him aside, trying to straighten up my hunched back.

"Yes, it does. How the fuck do you expect us to follow you when you do this reckless stuff—"

I turned and looked at him. "Expect? You followed me. I advised you—I didn't ask you to believe my advice." I made it clear, and Aron seemed to understand.

"And now, if anyone wants to go out of here on their own way, do it—go up and fight Adeles and that fucking ox." I walked past Vexa.

Aron's eyes flared with frustration, but he didn't say anything more. He knew arguing with me at that moment was pointless.

Vexa glanced at me with a mixture of curiosity, but she remained silent, seemingly lost in her own thoughts.

Erik, on the other hand, looked torn. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, his gaze darting between Aron and me, as if unsure whose side to take.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm the adrenaline still coursing through my veins. Despite my bravado, I knew we were in a precarious situation.

I walked forward, catching my breath, holding a small ball of fire to illuminate the surroundings. The maze under and the maze above the land have the same direction, but here the walls don't shift.

The Shadow Hound's not a problem, as it seems to be taken down by Nexus Institute's students, Nari's team.

And from here, I don't have to worry about any major creatures, just traps and illusions, and then I can get out at the third-to-

last circle.

"Haa, let's get this over with."