The Labyrinth of the Yoke.

This was an ancient structure built by Fulgardt many years prior to his death. It held countless treasures that he had found in his lifetime.

It also held his prime legacy, the power that he cultivated on his own. The power of the Insurgent Magnus. The power to wield both purity through [Just Light] and evil through [Evil Darkness].

This was as much as most who challenged this dreadful place knew. All this was to them a place where they could party up and obtain riches and power while exercising some manner of caution.

Of course, the majority if people that hunted these legacies were reckless or desperate warriors, their deaths guaranteed.

However, the situation within the Labyrinth was vastly different.

The Labyrinth was larger than most would even know. It was incredibly vast and filled with many stages and rooms that held specific purposes beyond the thoughts and dreams of mortals.

Even the purpose of a such the brutal and seemingly unending killing spree that all challengers were subjected to was unknown as no one had been able to reach the legacy of Fulgardt which prompted for many to feel discouraged, their yearning for his treasure waning with time.

Many didn’t know anything about this man and his machinations save for a handful of beings but Fulgardt wouldn’t have made such a fuss of it._.

One of them happened to be a bald giant that was peaking at Benzard with terrifying red eyes that bound the poor soul’s will to fight.

Sause crawled into the dark space where a beheaded humanoid creature lay silently in a pool of blood.

Benzard shook as he saw the giant that held Reon its hand reaching in and its cheeks puffing up to blow away the darkness within the space!

Soon, the room was clear, Benzard seeing clearly the image that made him drop his sword.

‘What was this thing?! What is it doing with Reon?! Is it another opponent?!’ Benzard bombarded himself with a barrage of questions as the situation before him was not at all clear.

He had slaughtered four opponents from four different paths that he had chosen in a span of several hours.

It had been a tough fight.

Ever since he had discovered that he could manipulate the thick darkness which gave him a very eerie feeling, defeating the man-beast had been easy.

After defeating it, he found his comprehension of the element to grow drastically. He could sense it with greater detail than before which prompted him to spend a few hours familiarising himself with it and incorporating it into his fighting style with the sword.

This was the essence of a swordsman.

A Truebright Swordsman, Benzard’s advanced class.

Light and lightning made up the core of his arsenal for elements and wielding their combination in conjunction with his sword was supposed to be a top tier package, yet…

He had been failing to accommodate light into his attacks and maximising the core of his class.

If he used it, it was usually a fluke.

Him using darkness and finding it easier to use than light made him think that perhaps he may have been given a class that wasn’t suited for him.

He relished in the feeling, gaining more confidence about his ability to cut down enemies now that he found out that using darkness was extremely effective.

Unfortunately, even with that… even with his opponents’ handicapped, he couldn’t win so easily.

“Interesting. So you’re the one with the blue thread,” Sause said. “Why don’t you introduce us, Reon?”

Reon who was within the giant’s grasp still wore a pale face as the speed with which he had been moving while being in the giant’s captivity was ridiculous!

He could barely see anything even when the giant took a momentary pause.

Hours had felt like seconds just from when he saw the surroundings warping by like an endless stroke of dark colours while the giant would sometimes easily slaughter a ridiculously powerful opponent bound by a yoke for no reason.

Even with all this, when Sause gave a command,  Reon would still answer.

“Don’t worry, Benzard. Sause here is a good acquaintance of mine.”

‘What?!’ Benzard exclaimed in his thoughts. ‘Acquaintance my ass!’

“Indeed we are,” Sause said as he gave Benzard his full attention. “Reon told me lots of things on our way here. Do you happen to have a Key?”

Benzard was going to avoid giving an answer until he fully understood the situation but…

“Yes I do.”

…!

His mouth moved on its own!

“I see. So the other Key is with the other one, right? Aha ha! He’s pretty far from this side unfortunately. You two seem to have already been in the same quadrant of the Labyrinth, which is why it was so much easier to find you. However, this one will be harder to get to so let’s have a chat,” Sause with a carefree expression while using Reon as some kind of gesture tool to emphasise his points.

The giant’s large frame sat down with its knees facing the ceiling.

Its private parts had been dangling ever since its appearance, but its unsettling air was even more terrifying than the picture of its huge private goods.

“Hmmm. You have quite the able body. Potential is practically leaking out from you like a river. It’d be waste to kill you. You’re more refined than this friend of yours. Tell me, why are you here?”

Benzard’s mouth opened wide and he rendered an answer that he did not wish to hear.

“My town was destroyed by a few bandits who wanted to escape from a nobleman they had offended. They were many of them, but my people, my friends and family fought against them to protect themselves but it wasn’t enough. The bandits set fire to my town, aiming to distract their pursuers long enough for them to escape. Everyone died except me who was picked up by the Knights of that nobleman. I was made strong but I never forgot the helplessness I felt that day.”

“Unreasonable criminals and fiends only need the sword to be put down. I need adequate power to stop such people from doing whatever they want with precious lives.”

Sause shifted in excitement.

“This was a lengthier explanation than I expected but very efficient. You want strength? Good. I can see it from that tenacious body and spirit,” Sause gazed at Benzard’s wounds that oozed of blood, the skin showing ruptured and shredded muscle tissue.

Benzard wore a massively shocked face after he had just blurted out his background like some exhibitionist protagonist.

Reon also looked at him with a surprised gaze, wondering in his mind if this was truly drove Benzard.

“Let me make you an offer. I’d simply compel you to agree but that doesn’t work when I need a rock solid answer fashioned from your own resolve,” Sause said.

Benzard’s breath was staggered as he heard this. His heart thumped as the situation had turned into something that almost made him regret his actions.

“Since all you need is power, how about giving up on Fulgardt’s Class and letting me impart you with a very powerful one of my own, aha ha?” Sause said with a grin.