At this moment, the four of them stood at the entrance of a massive labyrinth.
The walls were built from red, blue, green, and yellow crystals, and every black stone slab on the ground was engraved with different runes.
“Hmm… so this is the first floor? It doesn’t look like there are any enemies around…” Kiz glanced around.
But the moment she finished speaking, a deep, rumbling roar echoed from deep within the labyrinth, shaking the entire structure.
‘Is this what they call an immediate face slap?…’ Elia twitched the corner of her mouth, then cleared her throat and said in a low voice, “There’s something in there. More than one.”
Lisa closed her eyes and sensed the surrounding magic fluctuations. “There are many life signatures… and they’re all spread throughout the labyrinth. That means the labyrinth itself is a trap.”
Vian blinked and asked, “So how do we get through? Dig a tunnel?”
“Oh, dig a tunnel, huh, sis… Well, since it’s a trial, there must be a pattern to follow.” Elia crouched down and studied the stone slabs. “Hmm… these runes… they seem to be some kind of sequence.”
Kiz also crouched to look. “Can you crack it?”
“Let’s try first.” Elia reached out and pressed her hand against the nearest stone slab, infusing it with Holy Light to make the rune glow.
The next second, the entire labyrinth trembled slightly, and then a passage ahead suddenly lit up, looking very much like an exit.
“Is that the right path?” Vian asked.
“Not necessarily… but either way, we have to give it a try.”
After saying that, Elia led the four of them along the illuminated passage.
They hadn’t walked far when three forks appeared ahead. At the center of the intersection stood a humanoid creature formed from flames.
As soon as it saw them, it let out a piercing shriek and lunged.
“Watch out!”
Kiz swiftly condensed her Blood Abyss Scythe and slashed across its body, cutting it in half… but the two halves didn’t dissipate. Instead, they recombined into two smaller flame creatures.
Kiz froze. “Uh… it can split?”
Elia raised her hand and fired a Holy Light Ray at the two creatures, making them vanish in endless agony and screaming… though maybe they didn’t feel pain.
“Oh? Is it afraid of Holy Light?” Kiz raised an eyebrow.
“Or it might be weak to what counters it. From what I can see, these creatures are Elementals, and we need to use opposing forces against them.”
With that, Elia looked at the three branch paths. Each glowed with a different color: red, blue, and green.
“Hmm… if you put it that way, considering the elements… those three colors represent fire, water, and wood. And we need to choose one path now,” Lisa analyzed carefully.
“Let’s try water then,” Elia suggested.
The four walked down the blue passage for a few minutes and discovered what looked like an underground lake ahead. There was actually an underground lake here!
Plus, something seemed to be glowing on the island in the middle of the lake.
What was that? Well, following the usual pattern, either it was a trap set by someone, or it was the key to clearing the trial.
Elia crouched and touched the lake water… it was quite cold, but she didn’t sense anything unusual. Probably safe.
“What do you think? Swim over?” Elia looked back at Kiz and the others.
Vian stared at the water and shrank back. “I… I can’t swim… Can I use magic to cross?”
“No, we can’t waste magic power on something like this now,” Kiz said.
Seeing Vian make a face like she had eaten something foul, Lisa sighed. “Fine, fine. I’ll take you across.”
She scooped up Vian by her slender, pale legs in a perfect princess carry, then spread her black wings and flew toward the center island.
“Huh… The Lasombra Clan makes its heirs cultivate Black Wings, and this is what they get used for? Interesting, very interesting.” Kiz nodded lightly from behind.
No one noticed that Vian’s cheeks had slowly flushed red while being carried by Lisa, and she was even slightly curling her lips.
Then Elia and Kiz exchanged a glance and jumped into the lake together.
But halfway across, the lake surface suddenly churned, and a massive figure rose from the depths.
‘Holy cow… why does danger only show up when we come down?’
Elia grimaced as a huge serpent formed from water shot out and opened its gaping maw toward them.
“Ugh… everyone! Watch out! The monster’s back!” Elia raised her hand and carved a Holy Light Blade, striking the serpent’s body.
It writhed in pain but didn’t disappear.
And for some reason, the magic Lisa and Vian used had no effect on it—their attacks didn’t even scratch it.
“Elements! Remember elemental counters! We need earth magic to suppress this big worm!” Kiz shouted.
Elia gritted her teeth.
The problem was she didn’t know any earth magic at all! She only knew Light, Holy Light, and all kinds of miscellaneous light.
Wait! Holy Light itself isn’t exactly a light element… it’s supposed to be a higher existence than elements… meaning maybe it can…
“Forget it! Let’s just go all out!”
Elia took a deep breath and pushed her internal magic to the limit. A burst of Holy Light exploded from her body, transforming into countless arrows of light that pierced the giant serpent, causing its body to start breaking apart.
But it didn’t disappear. Instead, it reformed into dozens of smaller snakes that continued lunging at them.
Sure enough, Holy Light could damage it but couldn’t kill it.
Just then, Lisa dove down from the air and shouted, “Leave it to me! Ninth Step: Earth Collapse!”
The previously calm lake suddenly shook violently as countless giant earth spikes erupted, annihilating all the smaller snakes.
After killing the monsters, Lisa withdrew her magic, and the lake returned to stillness.
“Whoa! You know earth magic?” Kiz’s eyes went wide. “I’ve known you this long and I’ve never seen you use it!”
“Oh, don’t even mention it. When I was a kid, I was forced to learn all kinds of strange magic. Every session only ended when my magic power was almost completely drained…” Lisa rubbed her forehead wearily.
Then the four climbed onto the small island.
There was nothing else on the island—just a crystal pillar, and the glowing thing was probably this pillar…
No, wait. There was a blue gem inside it.
“Oh? What’s this?” Vian leaned in curiously.
Elia reached out to take it, but the moment her hand touched the crystal pillar’s edge, the pillar cracked open, and the blue gem fell into her hand… At the same time, the entire labyrinth began to tremble violently.
A flash of light passed over them, and when they opened their eyes, they had already left the water area and stood before a massive stone door. Engraved on the door was a line of text: “Congratulations on passing the Water Trial, challenger.”
“Wow! We passed the first stage?” Vian exclaimed joyfully.
But Lisa shook her head, dousing her enthusiasm. “This is just the beginning… The true first trial should be the entire Element Labyrinth.”
Beyond the stone door lay another area… where flames shot up toward the sky.