MTLNOVEL Chapter 283: Race Against Time
The soul energy platform glowed softly as it skimmed above the water, its light reflecting against the water and to the moss covered walls, creating a rainbow like effect around them.
If they weren't inside a maze specifically designed to kill them, they'd have taken time to admire the beautiful sight, but at this point in time, they had other things on their mind. Things like making it out in one piece.
Ren stood near the front, eyes locked on the direction Zuzu had pointed.
"The current moves deeper that way." Zuzu confirmed, crouched at the edge of the platform. Her fingers twitched from strain, water still dripping from her hands.
Fortunately for them, it had been more than ten minutes, but they still hadn't seen any signs of the red snakes.
"It's faint, but it's there." Zuzu said, concentrating. "It's trying to hide the trail, but it can't wipe it out completely. At least, not while I still have a connection with it."
"Good. That's where we'll go." Ren said, nodding. "Keep your focus. Everyone else, be ready. We still don't know what's waiting."
They drifted along in silence, the maze walls feeling like a prison they couldn't escape from. The corridors felt like ribs of some massive beast, swallowing them into its body.
Despite the glowing moss all around them, the light somehow felt dimmer than before. As if the light was hiding.
Elias stood on the platform with his sword drawn, the fire wreathing it kept low and hot, barely flickering as he kept his eyes for anything.
Thorn, despite his missing hand, had his hand on his sword, his cape covering every part of his body except his head.
And Lilith stood at the rear, guiding the platform. She'd been at the rear while she'd been shooting arrows at the giant snake but hadn't moved to the front, having confidence in her abilities.
"How long do you think the Deep will let us follow this current?" Thorn asked, his voice light, as if he was trying to crack a joke.
"Long enough to set another trap, maybe." Elias said grimly.
"Why is it always a trap with this place? Just once, can it be a helpful detour?"
"I don't think the Deep even knows how to be helpful." Ren said with a chuckle.
Then the water stirred.
"Lilith! Up! Now!" Ren shouted.
Lilith guided the platform higher, with Zuzu scrambling to the middle, removing her hand from the water immediately.
The surface of the water churned red and as if they'd been lying in pursuit, the snakes surged from both ends of the corridor.
There were hundreds of them. And somehow, they're movement was more aggressive and synchronized. They didn't just swarm. They moved with intention.
As they raced towards the platform, they smoothly merged into each other, becoming bigger snakes. Their eyes glowed brightly as they hissed, their fangs gleaming.
"Fuck."
Lilith raised the platform higher just in time as the first wave launched.
"Brace!" She barked, flinging the platform up with a jolt.
The snakes collided against the platform's edge, snapping and slapping the surface. The translucent energy of the platform rippled from the impact.
"We're surrounded!" Elias warned, swinging his blade as one serpent vaulted toward his face.
"Keep them off Lilith!" Ren ordered. "She's our wings right now!"
Ren drew two normal swords from his pouch and whirled, catching a snake in midair and driving the blade through its spine. Elias stepped up onto the edge, cleaving two more with arcs of fire.
"Behind us!" Zuzu screamed, summoning orbs of spinning water and flinging them at a trio of serpents. They exploded on impact, flinging red mist into the air.
Thorn stood at the center, sword extended. His weapon uncoiled like a snake of its own, binding a snake mid leap and slamming it against the wall.
"Watch your sides! They're trying to corral us!" Elias shouted.
"They're too many!" Zuzu shouted. "They're guiding us toward something!"
"We hold our route! Don't let them steer us!" Ren yelled, eyes darting across the corridor.
Lilith gritted her teeth, focusing on steering the platform with erratic bursts of speed and sudden turns. She dove under an arching tunnel, then tilted upward to avoid a collapsing section of ceiling as a snake collided with it while trying to attack them.
"They're adapting again!" She said. "They're boxing us in!"
"Not if I slice them apart first!" Elias roared, hurling a wave of fire toward an incoming line of snakes.
Zuzu summoned a barrage of water blades, throwing them like her life depended on it, which it did. One by one, the snakes were struck down, but more kept coming.
Ren caught another snake and drove it into the ground with a slash of his blades, blood misting the air. "Keep fighting! We can't stop now!"
Thorn, panting and bloodied, managed to snag a thick snake by the neck as its head snapped towards him. "Somebody hit this thing before it bites my face!"
Lilith twisted and a throwing knife whipped towards him and embedded itself straight into the snake's eye. It went limp in Thorn's grip.
"Thanks! I owe you—"
"Focus, idiot!" Lilith snapped.
After a frenzied few minutes, the last snake was finally skilled and as usual, the body dissolved into the smaller snakes, which disappeared.
Silence filled the corridor.
"Zuzu! Now!" Ren barked.
Zuzu wasted no time. She crouched and plunged her fingers into the water. Her eyes fluttered closed.
"There it is." She whispered. "It's strong now. I can feel it. It's the way out of here and towards the heart. I'm sure of it."
Relief spread briefly across their faces.
Until Thorn looked up.
"Uh… we've got a problem."
They all followed his gaze.
The ceiling.
It was much closer.
"No." Elias said slowly. "It was way higher before."
Ren stared upward, eyes narrowing. "The maze. It's compressing."
"As in—" Thorn began.
"As in it's trying to crush us." Ren finished.
"Fantastic." Thorn muttered. "Really adds to the charm of this place."
"Zuzu, mark the direction. Lilith, full speed. No turning back. We follow the current and pray we're faster than the ceilings."
"It's now a race against time. We either find the way out of the maze, or we die, crushed between the floor and ceiling."