UNIFIED W

Chapter 22: The Maze Of Truth, part 1

Zeru could hear the audience outside the maze cheering loudly as the gate closed behind him.

"Lets go"

"Clap....Clap"

"Cheer....Cheer."

Zeru entered the maze through the gate he chose, and it was pitch black inside until the enormous gate closed behind him, allowing the room to lighten up.

Zeru entered a square shaped room with high walls. The walls were 50 metres high and the entire room was bright white.

When the room's door closed, all Zeru saw was a white space.

Zeru walked around for what seemed like an eternity, yet he never arrived at his destination.

'This place has an odd vibe to it. I need to get out of here as soon as possible.'

A door gently opened behind Zeru as he was observing his surroundings and thinking for himself.

When Zeru saw the door, he grabbed his weapon and prepared to strike. It took a long time for something hairy to come outside.

Inside the room, a green short hairy creature approaches Zeru, eager to kill him.

There were enormous muscles underneath the creature's fur. The creature screamed and drew his metal spike mace, which caused veins to pop up.

Some minions entered the chamber as the creature was screaming, ready to attack Zeru. The minions were smaller, but they all appeared to be the same and were ready to tear someone to shreds.

'1..2..4. 8 in total, no problem.'

Zeru spun his chain knife and rushed towards the creatures.

Zeru launched his attack, but it had little effect. Instead, the chain knife became stuck deep within the creature's tough skin.

"WHAT? How is this possible?"

Zeru took a step back and kept his distance.

One creature rushed forward and flung his mace at Zeru.

Zeru rolled out of the way since the mace was too fast for him to block with his weapon. Two of the creatures then broke formation and attacked Zeru.

The two creatures who broke formation kicked Zeru in the kidney as Zeru avoided the attack, and Zeru could feel how powerful their attacks were.

The remaining creatures approached Zeru, laughing and kicking him violently.

'What the hell is going on? How come my powers aren't working?'

Zeru reached for his chain knife and wrapped the lower part of the weapon around his arm. He snatched the knife and sliced the creature that was kicking him.

He took advantage of the opportunity and moved away from them to a safe distance. Zeru uses up all of his strength in attempting to strike one down.

Nothing worked as Zeru closed his eyes and focused on fusing all of his crystal powers into the chain knife.

'Shit. Of all the rooms I could choose, I chose the one that prevented me from using my powers.'

"SCREEEEAMS."

"SCREEEEAMS."

"Gasp."

"Gasp"

'If I don't act now, it will be too late. It'll all be over before it even starts.'

The ground beneath Zeru's feet moved, and the maze rotated as the movement increased quicker and faster.

Zeru attempted to rise and avoid rolling around like a ball as he faced the creatures.

The maze came to a halt, and a boy who was older than Zeru landed between Zeru and the creatures.

Zeru and the boy met each other's gaze.

"Who are you?"

The boy was attacked by three creatures from the back before he could answer Zeru's question.

The boy chopped the creatures in half in a matter of seconds after removing the bandages that had been wrapped around his wide double-edged sword.

"How did you do that?"

"Retreat. These creatures hunt in packs."

"Packs? It's only a few ...."

As Zeru was about to finish his sentence, he spotted 100 bright red eyes looking at the boy from across the room, and they all poured into the room where Zeru and the boy were.

"How come they've all turned their attention to you?"

"Don't you see what I am wearing?"

When Zeru glanced at the boy, he noticed he was dressed in a clothing made from the fur of the creatures they were currently fighting.

"These creatures can be found deep inside Perigo Island."

"They aren't powerful individuals, but as a group, they can cause significant damage."

"You tell me."

Zeru cracked his neck and tried to play off the fact that he was hurt.

The creatures poured in one by one, and 100 of them were inside before the doors closed behind them.

Zeru and the boy were standing next to each other, ready to attack.

"You won't be able to use your powers in this room."

The boy smirked at Zeru.

"With or without my powers, I slaughter these creatures for fun, so stand aside and let me handle them."

Zeru could really feel his bloodlust.

'It's better to stay back for now while I am in this room.'

They could suddenly hear the commentators' voice inside the room.

"Your aim, Participants Zeru and Tox, is to eliminate the creatures in front of you."

"You are free to use any approach you like. In this room, killing is permitted."

Tox smirked disturbingly.

"All right, let's get started."

Tox rushed towards the creatures, who rushed at him. He stabbed through the bodies of the three closest to him. Tox spun his wide double-edged sword and chopped off a handful of heads while they were falling to the ground.

One by one, the heads he had sliced were dropping, and he kicked them back. He then took the creature and used it as a meat shield as he marched forward, chopping them down.

When he got to the center, he flung his meat shield aside and used his sword as a spear to slash the leader in the chest. He then moved on to hand-to-hand combat, where he killed a few more creatures.

The creature's leader attempted to remove the sword from his chest, but it was too deep inside his body. Tox reached for his sword and shifted to a dual wielding, slicing the leader's head off effortlessly.

Tox spin kicked one and then fell on top of another's neck, breaking it with his entire lower body twisting. After that, he threw a couple of daggers at them, killing a handful of them.

The remaining creatures attempted to regroup, but Tox continued to attack, slicing and dicing the survivors and showering in their blood.

The entire room turned a vivid red color. The creature's body turned purple and then disintegrated.

"What did you do to them?"

Tox grinned as he wrapped the bandages back around his weapon.

"The most poisonous material in the world is in my weapon." That's why they died so swiftly."

'What should I do now?' Are we going to get into a fight? If we fought here, I'd be at a disadvantage.'

The door to the opposite side suddenly opened, and the commentator's voice echoed around the room.

"Congratulations, Tox and Zeru. Now you may proceed to the next room."

Before following Tox to the next room, Zeru took one last look around.