The maze was built starting with the mother skeleton replenishing its magic.

(After reading everyone's comments, I've recovered my composure.)

(I feel like I'm in great shape again! Go for it!)

"The creator god Prell had a dream. He dreamed of the sky and the earth, of mountains and rivers. When he woke up, everything disappeared. In order to realize the vision in the dream, he created this world according to the scene in the dream. This is the origin of the world, the 'creation dream'."

"Later, He created sixteen beings of different forms to govern the world together. After that, Prell disappeared. Those sixteen people became the sixteen gods."

"Because of the struggle for power, an earth-shattering battle broke out between them. In the end, Prell had to reappear to separate them. The eight pillar gods transformed into the fundamental laws of the world, lost their physical bodies, and ascended to the realm of light. Although the eight demon gods failed to transform into laws, they were able to retain their physical bodies and went to Naraku."

"After the gods left, civilization began to slowly take shape, and the land, ravaged by the great war, bred many dangerous monsters. It wasn't until the appearance of the 'King of Labyrinths' that the monsters were subdued and the labyrinth appeared."

The image shows a blurry image of a creator god creating the world, followed by sixteen other deities, whose faces are also indistinct.

Lance interrupted the squid's passionate narration: "I'm not interested in the private lives of gods. Can we fast forward to the events related to this?"

"As you wish."

The view shifted, now showing an overhead view of Ascali.

The squid cleared its throat and continued:

"Ascali is the core of the labyrinth, created by the 'King of the Labyrinth' at the top of the White Gold Tower, and he also set the rules for this place."

"There are many natives created by the 'King of the Labyrinth' here. They cannot leave Ascali and will live here forever."

"The 'Dominators' are outsiders; they are heroic spirits who died in history. A part of their souls was extracted by the 'King of the Labyrinth' and placed in various labyrinths as their rulers."

No wonder it starts with creation; it's setting the stage for the Labyrinth Ruler's background.

Is it a part of the soul of a fallen hero?

Wait a minute... does that mean Bruce is also a Heroic Spirit?

"Are there fixed standards for 'Heroic Spirits'? For example, how many merits they have made, or something else?" Lance asked.

"no."

"Then let's change the subject," Lance continued. "I heard that after defeating all the rulers, you can go to the White Gold Tower to challenge the 'King of the Labyrinth'."

"That's what they say, but it's actually impossible." The squid coughed lightly. "Not every ruler will come to Ascali."

The implication is that there are those kinds of homebodies who spend their free time holed up in their own mazes and never bother to see what's behind the black door.

Since it's impossible to select anyone directly, the required number of players can never be reached.

But this was no problem for Lance.

To summarize Conley's words, the dungeon's mechanics were created by a "Dungeon King," including the fact that monsters are immortal and cannot leave the dungeon. As for why, only the "Dungeon King" himself knows.

Then, the lords of the labyrinth, the so-called "rulers," are all part of the souls of heroes from history.

However, based on the information Lance had, those whose souls were extracted did not necessarily become rulers; for example, Angelica became an ordinary little skeleton.

Therefore, Lance deduced that the labyrinth's mechanism was "to extract a portion of the soul of a dead creature and transform it into a monster."

Tsk.

Lance wasn't sure if there were any gods in this world who controlled souls; if there were, he'd probably be furious.

Who is the "King of the Labyrinth"?

"No one knows for sure, but what is known is that he has always been at the top of the White Gold Tower, and everything in the labyrinth is running thanks to his power."

"One last question," Langston paused, then continued, "Do you know about Edmund's background?"

"Who?"

"...It's alright now."

I thought I could solve all the problems at once.

That means we still need to look for clues from Glenn to see if his ancestor was the "first Edmund," and then we can take him to recognize his ancestors.

But he said Glenn was dying... Wait a minute!

In this situation, how can Lance possibly keep Glenn alive?

He himself is a "dead man"!

"Lord Lance, please stay alert."

The surrounding scene suddenly went black. As the squid's voice came, a giant black shadow appeared in front of Lance. Then, two eyes with a blue glow opened, which must have been the squid's eyes.

Its true form was hidden in the darkness, but its eyes revealed a size that was enough to make one tremble with fear.

"What do you mean?"

Lance said this while sitting cross-legged, head down and feet up.

"The chick sleeps soundly in its eggshell. When it wakes up, the chick will peck its way out of the shell, grow up, crow, and dawn will break, ending the endless night. But when the chick wakes up, the sheep will turn into wolves, and the wolves will eat the chick, and then the night will last forever."

The squid kept him awake, so the "chicken" refers to Lance himself?

Is this a sign that Lance will become the savior who ends the eternal night?

Just as Lance was about to ask what it meant, the surroundings gradually became brighter, until the light completely covered Lance. Before he could say what he wanted to say, he lost consciousness again.

Riddler, get out of the maze!

......

Lance woke up, feeling as weak as if he had just woken up.

I instinctively opened my mouth to yawn, but it was really just my jaw that opened.

Surprisingly, he actually took a nap after turning into a skeleton.

Lance slowly regained consciousness and then remembered that he hadn't finished asking his question. He got up from the ground and looked around... What the hell did I do here?!

The place in front of them was not the "Yorozuya" they had been in before, but a small alley.

Lance immediately got up and started asking people along the street for directions to the "Odd Jobs Shop," only to be met with the response, "Where is there an Odd Jobs Shop in Ascari?"

No?

The red lizardman, questioned by Lance, scratched his head, looking at the skeleton overlord before him with some confusion:

"You're probably looking for 'The Raging Rhino Tavern,' right? I know where it is. The owner is a real stunner... hiss."

"...Go by yourself."

Lance waved and left.

As he moved toward the black door of his own maze, he pondered what had just happened.

It seems that the squid sage Conley was likely guided by some higher-dimensional being, perhaps... a god?

After completing the guidance, he erased all traces of his existence, so much so that only Lance in the entire Ascali remembered that such a person had ever existed.

He revealed the secrets of the labyrinth to Lance, meaning that this deity and the "King of the Labyrinth" were on opposing sides, or at least not friends.

Lance strongly suspects that this being is very likely the god who governs souls in this world, and hopes that Lance can replace the old "King of the Labyrinth" and become the new king.

If that's the case, then the "King of the Labyrinth" must be at least a god.

The feud between gods... Only a fool would wade into such a muddy water.

And he's always spouting riddles.

However, His guidance did give Lance a lot of ideas. If the dungeon rulers are all heroic spirits from history, perhaps another way to conquer them can be unlocked: non-violent subjugation.

It seems I'll have to catch up on my history lessons with Angelica when I get back.

Speaking of going back.

Today is only the first day of my "imprisonment"...

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Inside the Kru Labyrinth.

Martin sat on the protruding rock, sharpened the arrow in his hand with a knife, and then sighed.

Two weeks have passed since he was resurrected, and he has gradually gotten used to being a skeleton.

No need to eat or drink, no need to rest, no pain or taste, and even the ability to be resurrected after death—frankly, this is far happier than being human.

I live a carefree life every day.

If there is any regret, it is that Mr. Lance never made any plans to conquer the "Kings' Labyrinth" in the capital.

He's still waiting to reunite with Elena.

"Perhaps I should give Mr. Lance a little reminder," Martin thought to himself.

Then, Martin slowly approached the lord's room at the deepest part of the maze, organizing his thoughts as he did so.

After deliberating for a long time in front of the goal, he finally decided to take a straight shot to express his strong longing for his lover.

"Mr. Lance, you... um? Where is Mr. Lance?"

Martin entered the room and was about to speak when he looked up and realized that the skeleton sitting on the throne was not Lance, but Angelica.

"Mr. Lance has been missing for a day and a night."

Angelica sat on the throne and spoke softly.

"Where did he go? Did he tell you, Miss Angelica?" Martin leaned closer and asked curiously.

"They went deep into the labyrinth."

"Deep within the labyrinth?"

"By the way, Mr. Martin, do you know..."

"Um?"

Angelica stroked the armrests of the throne with both hands, her tone sounding quite strange:

"Mr. Lance's seat is so comfortable."

"?"