traitor chapter 13

Diana opened her eyes on the cold stone floor, her back against the wall. Her longtime friend, thankfully, was still in her grasp. The chill of the stone seeped into her as the metallic scent of blood filled the air. Her divine power was gone, leaving her unable to heal him. The divine energy she’d imbued him with earlier would prevent death, but not the agony. 

It’s alright, she thought, steeling her stunned mind against the sudden shift in their situation. A burning sensation pricked at her eyes, the lingering remnants of a memory that had surfaced like a dream while she was unconscious—a past that now brought only the bitter sting of betrayal. 

He swore on his life… A hollow laugh escaped her as she pushed the past aside. She couldn’t recall how they’d landed; the dull ache throughout her body suggested it hadn’t been pleasant. Remaining still, she scanned their surroundings with her eyes.

Harsh white light illuminated the cold, stark interior. Gray, bleak, and undeniably a torture chamber, complete with separate cells, an array of instruments lining the walls, and ominous chairs placed strategically throughout. A chilling aura permeated the silence. They’d fallen from a balcony, yet somehow ended up here. The reason was simple: the Labyrinth’s creator willed it. Like a constantly shifting maze, even a fall could lead to a different location within its twisted passages. The creator controlled the maze, manipulating its structure at whim. Thus, their plummet from the balcony had delivered them straight to the torture chamber. 

This revealed one crucial fact: Leonhardt was the Labyrinth’s creator. He was the only one who knew her location at the last moment, the one who’d sent her plummeting with his sword aura, and consequently, the one who’d connected the torture chamber to the balcony’s fall. Mone was likely complicit, but Leonhardt held the reins. He was the one hunting her. He’d thrown her and Ruby into this chamber.

Her gaze sharpened, taking in every detail of the room. Sparsely furnished and simply structured, the chamber offered no hiding places. Silent and still, it felt devoid of life. For now. Diana looked at Ruby, slumped against her. His body was cold, his face pale. Pink eyes fluttered open and closed, shallow breaths escaping his lips. Though not fully unconscious, he was clearly unable to move. His white uniform was soaked in blood, his limbs heavy and limp. 

“Ruby, pull yourself together.” 

“…I’m sorry, Dian.” He groaned in pain, blood pooling beneath him. Even without a closer look, the wound on his back was clearly deep—a testament to Leonhardt’s attack. They were fortunate he hadn’t been cleaved in two, as she had feared. “You should lie down.” He managed a weak nod, pushing himself back slightly before bracing himself on the floor. 

With visible effort, he propped himself up. Diana removed her outer garment, spreading it on the floor for him to lie upon. The gash on his back was horrifying, deep enough to expose bone. The pain must have been excruciating. She, however, was powerless, stripped of her divine abilities. And they were trapped within the Labyrinth, with no access to medical supplies. 

Healing him, or even easing his pain, seemed impossible in their current predicament. Their entrapment within the Labyrinth was the crux of the problem—a maddening maze, shifting and reshaping under its creator’s control, imposing its limitations upon her. She needed a way out.

Diana meticulously recalled everything she’d learned about Labyrinths. 

A Labyrinth is forged from immense magical power and intricate connections, requiring intense purpose for its complete manifestation. Once complete, only the creator can enter or exit. Within its confines, the creator cannot be killed. Escape is only possible by destroying the Labyrinth’s core. The core takes various forms, its specific shape and location determined by the creator’s inner self. Destruction requires either a destructive spell imbued with the same amount of magic used in its creation, or the complete and irreversible destruction of the creator’s mind, eradicating the very purpose that birthed the Labyrinth.

The destruction of the creator’s mind…

Diana looked down at Ruby’s wound. Could she shatter Leonhardt’s mind? If so, how? And when the time came, would she hesitate? The image of a battered child flashed through her mind. She closed her eyes, then opened them again.