301 Amphiptere's Maze

Ren pushed the door without even looking back once. The door had a barrier of plain purple energy, still but illuminating like a screen. He stepped forward, and then the screen immediately went into a spiral information motion and sucked him in.

Behind him, Vexa immediately put Erik inside the coffin she had made and ran behind Ren. For her, she'd been on a spree that—Ren doesn't lie much, he just says and lets it up to people to believe him or not. Since coming down here, there had been more incidents of him being right than him being wrong at all. So if he walked in before them, then there was nothing to worry about. At least, that's what she thought.

Aron saw Vexa running, he took a glance at Erik—eyes rolled up and a weird passed-out look on his face. He checked his breathing again.

"Ugh," he grumbled, struggling on what to do. Just like Vexa, he also knew that Ren might be right about leaving Erik here, but still.

"I just can't," he didn't know what he couldn't do—leaving Erik here? Or trusting Ren—who has been pushing people for his own interest without a single expression on his face.

Aron looked around and saw that the door they had come from was still open, so he walked all across the chamber towards the bulky door and pulled it close—it had handles from the inside, unlike the outside.

"How does he know everything?" he questioned himself. It's weird seeing someone like Ren—who has no background or special thing about themselves—work so effortlessly in such situations. If not for him seeing Ren in an injured state once, he might've thought of Ren as... Adam's equivalent.

"Well, both of them are annoying in different kinds of ways," closing the door, he turned around, giving a look to Erik.

"You seem silent for a while Alder," Amrose said,fixing his glasses.

"Oh.. nothing sir, Just observing." Alder replied dryly,his eyes seemed like they were lost but Amrose ignored it to focus on the screen.

"Haaa dude, I did my part—closed the door so no one comes in. Your friend...or whatever you both are says that you'll be safe, so I guess you're on your own for now." Saying this, Aron dashed out of the door while spiraling, and the next thing he knew—

THUD!

He was thrown by force as if chewed and then spit immediately on the ground.

"Here comes the clumsy one!" Ren's voice boomed in his head. "Why don't they keep the soft prince in his royal bedroom!" He sounded annoyed.

Aron opened his eyes, he saw a big shadow coming crashing down at him. He turned his palm under him and, using the wind, propelled himself to a side—fifty or something away from his spot, and he heard a loud explosion of something—the dust arose above them.

"AND PRINCE OF THE HESTIA EMPIRE! Aron! ADIEL! VELCROW! HAS ENTERED THE GROUND JUST NOW! LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! WILL THIS BE THE FASTEST CLEARANCE OF CHAMELEON'S MAZE IN HISTORY EVER!?"

An announcement was made under the floating island, by a guy standing on a wooden box—people had their eyes on the screen floating above and their chests in their throats.

"W-wha-what is happening!?" quivered a man while holding his ten-year-old boy's hand hard.

"What happened, dad?" the boy questioned.

The man couldn't take his eyes off the screen, nor could anyone else. A lot of adults had seen some of Chameleon's Maze before, but this was the first time such a creature was brought out.

Ambrose Nexus stared at the screen and sighed. "Haa, they really think that thing is a great idea to test these little kids?" He shook his head—not that he himself was opposed to locking the creature away a century ago, but seeing it here now made him worried about the chances of his team winning.

He stared at the monstrosity that had been banned from entering the grounds again after it killed about thirty of the students, hunting them down after it had dispatched those who dared to challenge it. Its scaled body coiled in an ominous display of wrath, casting menacing shadows that danced upon the trembling ground. The creature's piercing gaze, ablaze with fury, fixed upon him with an intensity that chilled him to the core.

Its wings, stretched wide like a canvas of impending doom, quivered with suppressed rage, ready to unleash a storm of vengeance upon its hapless prey. Each breath exhaled ripples through the air like a harbinger of destruction, filling the senses with a suffocating dread.

With a primal hiss that echoed through the cavernous space, the amphiptere reared back, poised to strike, its venomous fangs bared in a silent promise of agony. In that fleeting moment before the onslaught, Aron could feel the weight of its wrath bearing down upon him, a merciless force of nature unleashed in all its terrifying glory.

An amphiptere, a subtype of dragon, hovered menacingly in the air. Just a bit below Eastern Dragons and a bit above wyverns, they were by nature aggressive to everyone, even their own children.

The amphiptere surveyed its surroundings before ascending into the air. The atmosphere immediately heated up, and as it opened its mouth, a spinning ball of fire appeared, ready to be unleashed.

"FUCK YOU LIZARD!"

Aron's eyes widened as he witnessed the chaotic—and idiotic—

scene unfold before him. Ren Hilton, a boy with nothing but a lot of attitude and ego in his eyes, unleashed a fifteen-foot-

long spear of pure energy. It was no ordinary fire; it was white and seemed capable of pulverizing anything it touched.

Ren's hand released the spear, and as it spun through the air, Aron recognized the raw and crazy power behind the throw. Being a spear user himself, he knew there was no finesse involved—just sheer force. The throw sent shockwaves rippling through the ground, and in the next moment, a guttural roar echoed followed by an explosion of such magnitude that even with the dragon in the sky, it plummeted to the ground, its gigantic body crashing and creating a massive hole underneath.

Before Aron could fully process what had happened, he saw Ren's silhouette darting away. There was no hesitation or contemplation—just swift action, much like how Ren had entered the maze.

Despite the shock, Aron managed to get himself back on his feet. However, he soon realized that the Amphiptere had also recovered.