Survive the labyrinth with EX-grade traits

“Gasp. Gasp. Avoid…”

Her voice was weak and her tongue was twisted, but the flames burning above her seemed to be even stronger.

I remembered seeing a trait called ‘Dry Kindling’ in her status window earlier.

As she approached a near-death state, she received a passive trait that boosted her fire-related abilities.

Whoosh!

Kwaaaaa!!!

A fire lion the size of a dump truck emerged from Shurika’s whip.

‘Huh, this is a bit much!’

Pat!

I quickly rolled to the side, taking advantage of the slowed-down moment.

Even with strong fire resistance, if it’s not complete immunity, there will still be some damage.

This was not an attack that could be avoided without harm.

Kwaaaaa!!!

The fire lion’s figure passed by my side, burning the air before disappearing.

Whoosh, whoosh.

Bang!

As her decisive strike was wasted, Shurika took a combat stance, swinging and striking her whip.

If I got close to take advantage of an opening, the rotating whip would hit me from the side, and if I didn’t move and waited, another powerful attack would come.

Attribute resistance doesn’t reduce the physical force of the weapon itself, so if I relied on my trait and got cocky, I would be killed in an instant.

‘Here… yes.’

I clenched my teeth in preparation for the incoming headache.

…Now!

‘Lightning!!!’

Fizz, fizz.

The lightning that was crackling above Shurika suddenly turned into a purple lightning bolt and struck her fiercely.

Kwaaaaa!!!

“Gasp!”

In an instant, the tip of the whip, which had broken the sound barrier, whipped towards me like a snake hunting its prey.

I struck the lightning at the exact moment I turned my wrist, and for a moment, I was electrocuted, causing the trajectory to change on its own.

“Gasp.”

Good. I managed to endure the second attack, despite the headache being quite severe.

I glanced at my watch.

How much time was left? …There were still 2 minutes and 50 seconds left.

Damn it! It’s not about how many minutes are left, what’s important is to move, not to despair!

I threw myself into the path shown by Chaos, regardless of the rocks and sand that covered me or the heat that burned my hair.

“Gasp!”

I did my best to move as Chaos’ eye directed, and the remaining time was 50 seconds!

“No, this won’t do…”

If I hold out a little longer, what kind of pattern will come next? I stared wide-eyed, but her words were cut off after ‘no’.

…Her eyes were unfocused. Had she completely lost her mind?

Crack. Crack.

‘What is this? All the possible things, like rampage and fusion, have already come out!’

Before I could get annoyed at this annoying situation, I finally saw it. Her skin was cracking in various places, and thick, lava-like flames were seeping out.

[The trait ‘Evil God’s Consumption’ has twisted Shurika’s magic power.]

[The trait ‘Pure Magic Power’ has been corrupted.]

[The trait ‘Dry Kindling’ has been corrupted.]

Kwaaaaa!!!

“What–”

Damn it.

A wave of fire. That’s the only word that came to mind.

The flames were much denser and more intense than anything I had seen from Shurika so far.

It completely covered my entire field of vision, rapidly closing the distance between us.

‘I can’t avoid it.’

It was a large-scale area-of-effect attack, so rolling to the side or jumping up wouldn’t avoid it.

Fortunately, I had instinctively drawn my greatsword.

“Gasp. Gasp.”

Chiiii–

I emitted cold from my entire body and protected my head and other vital areas with the blade of the greatsword.

The strong wave of fire pushed me back, and the hot flames melted my armor, despite the weak cold.

“Gasp. Gasp.”

It felt like I had endured an eternity, but in reality, only a few seconds had passed.

[The magic stone of the greatsword Lehagen is damaged.]

‘The greatsword given to me by the guild master is damaged?’

No! No, it’s damaged, so if I look for it, I’ll find a way to fix it. Don’t despair.

“How dare these mortals interfere with me! Not only the minion of the Evil God, but now even these lowly mortals! How dare they!”

Mortals?

Crack. Crunch.

As the mysterious voice rang in my head, Shurika’s body began to twist.

“Damn these annoying fates and gods!”

The voice, frustrated that things weren’t going as planned, spoke again.

[Chaos has finally received permission to intervene.]

‘Hmm. Direct intervention is crossing the line.’

This voice…

‘Since the stupid octopus-headed god has already taken action, I can’t refuse this time.’

As soon as the familiar voice finished speaking, everything went dark.

.

.

.

It wasn’t just psychological, but I was literally engulfed in darkness, unable to see a single inch in front of me.

‘Gasp. Gasp. Gasp!!!’

Suddenly, without any warning, my eyes began to hurt as if they were about to burst.

My body didn’t move at all as I wanted, and I couldn’t even breathe, so I had to endure the pain in silence.

[Chaos’ eye has been awakened by external intervention.]

The system log appeared, and the pain suddenly disappeared.

“Gasp. Gasp. Where am I?”

Fortunately, it seemed to be a temporary problem, as I was able to speak properly.

I panted heavily and turned my head to look around, but something felt strange.

‘It’s too clear. Let’s see, awakening?’

Even after transmigrating, my vision had improved beyond comparison to what it was on Earth.

But now, the world was even clearer and more distinct.

Space. Yes, the space I was standing in was like a vast and mysterious universe.

‘It’s too clear.’

The problem was that the upgraded vision was too much.

I rubbed my eyelids unconsciously when I heard a familiar voice.

“Ugh… I can’t do it…”

Yes, that was the voice I knew. I only knew one person with such a cute voice.

I turned my head sharply in the direction of the sound.

“Ho, Chaos?”

“Gasp.”

Chaos was startled.

“Mmm, ah! Why are you here?! Turn your eyes away immediately! Don’t look at me!”

“No. I’d like to ask the same thing. Why are you kneeling here with your arms raised?”

This is like a punishment pose.

Who was Chaos being scolded by?

…Could it be?

“Hmm. I knew it. You two have become very close, haven’t you?”

!

Chaos was startled to see me being scolded, and then I heard a familiar voice from behind and quickly turned around.

“Huff.”

This was truly an overwhelming display.

As soon as the feast of flesh came into view, I bit the inside of my mouth to regain my senses, but I couldn’t deny that I had been momentarily stunned.

“Y, Your Majesty. What is this?”

How could I forget her breathtaking beauty?

Ceres, the goddess of chaos.

She lay on a white disc, contrasting with the black space, and looked at me in human form.

With a languid expression, she licked her lower lip and spoke softly.

“Again.”

Again? Ah.

“Gasp, Ceres. What’s going on? I was in the middle of a battle.”

“Huff. Don’t worry about the outside. It will be stopped until your soul leaves here. The Evil God has directly intervened in the lower world, so I have a reason to call you here.”

Was the reason Shurika changed so drastically at the end because the Evil God, or something like that, intervened?

Now I understand why the voice in my head was angry earlier. But wasn’t Irmela the Evil God’s minion?

‘Ah. I guess they saw no hope against Sena and decided to intervene.’

“Hmm. It’s complicated if I explain it in detail, so just think of it as me giving you the power to deal with the intervention from the other side. You’re also feeling the changes, right?”

“Yes, my vision has changed a lot.”

The problem is that it’s too different. If it stays like this, it will definitely interfere with my daily life.

Fortunately, Ceres dismissed my concerns.

“Don’t worry. You’ll return to normal after you defeat your enemy. Asking for more would be against the laws of Karma.”

I didn’t expect anything anyway. By the way, what did she mean by defeating the enemy?

“I don’t need to go to kill Irmela, and I can just kill Shurika, right?”

I might struggle alone, but with the 10-minute spell cast, it should be manageable.

“No. What you need to do in the outside world is not to kill a mortal, but to cut off the traces of the Evil God that are attached to that human. You need to hit the main body.”

“If I cut it off… specifically, how should I do it?”

“You’ll know when you see it with your changed eyes. That’s all. I can’t keep you here any longer.”

Wait, I still have a lot of questions!

“Ah! Before you go, one more thing.”

Ceres raised her index finger and gestured towards Chaos.

“Remember that Chaos has worked hard for you.”

“Huh?”

“When the octopus-headed servant appeared, she insisted on helping you and was so excited that she used up her power. Hmm. She wasn’t always like this.”

So that’s why Chaos had been silent since the circus.

My heart warmed.

“Anyway, you two are so cute when you’re together.”

“Hmm.”

“Now it’s time to go back. I’m watching your every move, so don’t worry, okay? I’m always cheering for you!”

Ceres waved her hand.

Blink.

As I blinked to see her off, I saw the miserable interior of the Colosseum and Shurika.

‘Now I understand. I understand what it means to cut off the traces of the Evil God.’

As I stared at Shurika with my enhanced eyes, I saw things that were not visible before the awakening.

Her body was wrapped in dark energy, and tentacles clung to her limbs. Black threads connected to each joint.

Cut it off. Yes, there were countless things to cut off.

Kikiik.

Shurika, whose actions had been stopped due to the Evil God’s actions colliding with the laws of Karma, slowly raised her head, revealing a sinister light in her eyes.

I raised my sword to my chest and looked at my watch.

“Hmm.”

Three. Two.

One.

“—Freeze! Everything, freeze! Frozen Field!!!”

A 6th-tier area-of-effect spell, Frozen Field.

Crack.

The ground, made of rocks and sand, slowly froze.

“Haa—”

The breath I exhaled turned into white mist and dissipated.

Drip. Drip. Pitter-patter.

The cold rain colored the world.

[The trait ‘Blessing of Life’ restores life force.]

Enhanced vision and surging vitality.

I couldn’t help but smile.