—-

Although the system revealed that the party could now enter the hidden part of the secret dungeon, it didn’t reveal its difficulty. However, Kieran didn’t need the system to show the difficulty of this isolated area. Until now, the only difficulty that had yet to appear was Insane. Moreover, areas that were kept hidden usually meant it was of the greatest difficulty.

“Are you feeling what I’m feeling right now? It’s like I’m back during my army days, standing before the most feared instructor. What type of gaze is enough to make it difficult to breathe?” Altair murmured beside Kieran.

Even the Lesser Cyclops, a monster that was graded as a Unique Boss, couldn’t invoke this feeling in the party. Truth be told, half of them had a mind to turn back if that was possible. After all, hidden areas were usually optional and allowed a party to choose whether they wished to attempt or ignore it.

But, Kieran felt differently. While it was correct that this monster gave off an insurmountable feeling, Kieran couldn’t ignore the rewards that could come from this fight. Still, it wasn’t a decision he could make without knowing how strong the enemy was.

Alas, that left him in a dilemma. The only way to gain information on this monster would be by walking into the hidden area. But, at that point, it would be registered as Kieran agreeing to take on the challenge. Once that happened, retreat would be impossible without death.

Bang!

Suddenly, a heavy explosion sounded on the other side of the wall as the entire wall shook. “Come on, puny humans, I can smell your fear! Are you too afraid to trespass into my domain after coming all this way?”

After listening to the beast talk, Kieran frowned. ‘It’s far too sentient… Could it be an Epic Boss? But… for an Epic Boss to appear so early on, they’d be essentially undefeatable due to the lack of Epic Items,’ Kieran thought.

Epic Bosses were incomparable to Unique Boss despite only one level separating the ranking. Comparing the power disparity between the two was akin to comparing a caterpillar to a butterfly who had just broken free of its cocoon. The transformation effectively turned it into an entirely different being.

To even consider going up against an Epic Boss, it was advised that player’s possessed at least full unique-grade gear and surpassed the boss by five levels. Level penalties could be ignored as long as the enemies fulfilled the respective criteria. For a boss, that meant the challengers couldn’t be more than ten levels above it.

After considering his options, Kieran raised his hand and looked toward the others. “Hold on before we make a decision.” This order wasn’t directed at the beast; it was for his party. Since the beast’s sentience seemed to rival humans, Kieran felt he could at least reason with it to establish some agreement.

“You goad us to enter your domain, but why do I feel as if you won’t let us do so safely? Do you intend to eat us, or is it a battle you seek?”

“Battle? I seek to be free!” The beast snarled on the other side while slamming its hand above the opening in the wall. While the Lesser Cyclops damaged a considerable amount of the wall, only a hole large enough to barely fit a human through remained.

Additionally, whenever the beast hit the wall, Kieran could see a few formations ripple with extremely pure Mana. ‘So that’s it. It’s being restrained Mana Formations. It can’t free itself even if it wished to.’

“Unfortunately, we don’t have that power. If that is all, then I guess we better just leave you here,” Kieran remarked.

“Preposterous! You dare walk away from me? I may not be free, but this was once my Labyrinth. I am the lord of this place! Defying me while inside this zone is impossible!”

Suddenly, Kieran’s eyes widened when he felt a force drag him towards the entrance against his will. The same happened with his party members. In his experience with Zenith Online, he had only experienced such a phenomenon three times before, but each occurrence transpired when he was well over Lv.50 and then Lv.100.

“What the…? This is abuse! I’m being forced against my will,” Bastion exclaimed in shock.

In response, another burst of eerie laughter sounded on the other side. “There is no will inside my domain. But, you there, the boy in the lead. I sense something on you that can help free me from my restraints. I’d be a fool to let you go without claiming whatever that may be.”

‘An item? Does he mean?’ Kieran subconsciously looked towards Crimson Ashrune. He had heard of weapons of extraordinary origins capable of cutting through certain types of binds in the past. But, as far as Kieran knew, those weapons should be Legendary Items at the very least.

A sword like Crimson Ashrune, which was considered a Unique Weapon, shouldn’t have that power. Plus, aside from this blade, Kieran didn’t have any other significant items. The symbol obtained from the Arcane One was only responsible for locating the scattered Realm Fragments.

Kieran also considered the two Rare Grade Treasure Chests in his possession. But, those were bound by special laws that made it impossible for monsters or denizens to sense because they weren’t items fabricated by this world. Chests that originated in this world were regarded differently and heavily guarded because they were linked to revered figures or even family legacies.

Afterward, Kieran then thought of Velliolx’s Exiled Chain Blades. Because they were a Quest Item, in Kieran’s view, they had no rank. However, that didn’t mean they were rankless. And, because they were linked to Wildes, an area devoid of Mana, it was quite possible it carried the Anti-Mana properties of some of the Wildes’ core materials.

If this guess turned out to be accurate, then Kieran was in quite a bind. Losing that blade would be synonymous with forfeiting that future quest―a quest that may lead to untold advantages! After all, the number of quests linking to the Wildes were very few in number.

As they came before the opening, it then hit Kieran. There was indeed something else of value in his possession, but he overlooked it because he had no way of accessing it for the time being—the gift given to him by Agrianos! Given that this gift could even power a technique as powerful as the Ancient Crimson Aegis, Kieran couldn’t afford to lose it.

What if it was something vital to his class?

Upon realizing this, Kieran attempted to break away from the invisible grasp that continued to reign them in. But, his struggle was to no avail as the beast continued to chuckle in amusement while ultimately pulling the entire party inside.

The sensation they felt was like being pulled into another dimension of sorts. What greeted the party’s sights was a blackened world with what seemed to be a grey sun hovering high in the sky. The bones, shrubbery, and dew growing on tower stone walls told Kieran they had undoubtedly stepped inside a grand labyrinth.

What confounded him was that they were teleported to the center with six conjoining paths, four of which rested in each cardinal direction.

Setting aside the environment, a minotaur stood before Kieran, who surprisingly wasn’t as giant as Kieran expected, given his earlier opponents.

Although the minotaur was only six meters in height, just over three times Kieran’s size, its body, especially its hooves, were robust. One step crushed the ground beneath its feet while swinging its large, menacing axe over its shoulder caused a minor earthquake. Its defining feature was the scar over its completely missing right eye that extended well until its mouth. The wound was unmistakably old because it had already healed for some time.

Now that the entire party was before the mysterious beast in question, they paled.

「 Lv.30 Rautori, One-eyed Minotaur (Unique Variant Boss)

Special Boss

Beast Type, Humanoid Type,

Health: 1,000,000

/1,000,000(100%) 」

“Puny,” Rautori said. His voice was deep, menacing, and sounded extremely cruel. His deep black eyes, filled with intelligence and brutality, scanned the party. Afterward, his snout moved imperceptibly as disgust filled his eyes. “No good!”

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Kieran couldn’t even sense Rautori make a move, but he did. A shadow sped past Kieran, and almost ten large thuds sounded behind him. Kieran didn’t need to turn his head to understand that every party member had been hit because it was shown in the party interface. Save for Kieran, all of their Health bars dropped to the red.

If Rautori willed it, he could have very well finished them off in one strike. However, his focus seemed to be on Kieran as he slowly turned his head back towards him.

“I want whatever that power is that you possess, or else I will trap you all here with me until we perish,” Rautori said. After an eerie pause, he grinned. “Or… I can kill your friends here.”

‘Kill them?’ Kieran smirked. It wasn’t like they were denizens of Zenith Online; they weren’t given a single life. If Rautori killed the others, it’d be fine. The only question was how brutally he would do it. It could potentially scar their psyche beyond repair, especially since he was a Variant.

“I don’t know what power you speak of-“

“LIES!”

Boom!

Before Kieran could finish, Rautori’s large axe cleaved through the air while carrying frightening power. Kieran’s pupil constricted as he lifted Crimson Ashrune and activated Hardened Skin to defend.

Despite his actions, Kieran was similarly forced into the opposing wall while looking at his party members. Was this really worth a Gold Adventurer Badge anymore? With a Unique Variant Boss in the mix, the difficulty skyrocketed exponentially.

Still, the word yield wasn’t in Kieran’s vocabulary. Before responding, he spat on the ground, looked at everyone else, and spoke in the party chat. “Don’t interfere no matter what happens. This is a Variant Boss, so any death inflicted by him is unusual. I didn’t account for this when accepting the request, so it’s on me to deal with it.”

From his words, it was clear that Kieran intended to solo this boss. But, to do so, he’d have to pull out all the stops to stand even the slightest change. One million Health was indeed an enormous burden to overcome.