When Grey’s vision cleared he found himself in a land of foggy vastness. At first he thought it was the Fog of Chaos again, but that was far from the case.

A swipe of his hand across the air told him pretty clearly that it was normal fog, the heavy, watery, humid kind.

He squinted trying to see past it, only to lay eyes on tall hedges.

In fact, just describing them as tall felt like more than a little bit of an undersell. They felt like mountains, and something about the greenery that matched them felt...

Eerie.

—

[Welcome, Challenger, to the Maze of Champions!]

—

’The maze of champions? Corny ass name. And what the fuck is that supposed to be?’

—

[Claim your first kill to be remembered in shining glory!]

—

[Select a Name.]

[ _ ]

—

Grey grinned.

—

[Challenger "Udon’s Daddy" has joined the Maze of Champions! Look alive, participants!]

—

**

In a corner of the maze, Thi Lan held an Amunet who was only shallowly breathing. Her face was so pale it looked like she was already amongst the dead, but from time to time Thi Lan would put up her dagger to Amunet’s nose just to check if there was any breath left.

At some point, Thi Lan began to wonder if the condensation that formed on the blade was really Amunet, or if it was all the thick moisture around them.

But she could only be thankful that this and the maze were here. If not, they would have died a long time ago.

It was a miracle they both still drew breath at all, and while some of her own breakthroughs were related, there was no doubt that Amunet had carried a heavy burden.

If not for her...

Thi Lan closed her eyes as the ground shook in the distance. She shrank further into their little nook, but then she grit her teeth. They were closing in again, she had to move.

—

[Challenger "Udon’s Daddy" has joined the Maze of Champions! Look alive, participants!]

—

Thi Lan almost ignored it. From time to time, a new name would pop up and her heart would sink to rock bottom.

If it was a "Challenger has been slayed" message, she couldn’t get behind it at all. But she did a double take at the name for a moment and then her eyes brightened.

There was only one person that could have been.

’He’s here.’

Thi Lan didn’t know why... but there was a bright light of hope in her eyes for some reason. Remembering that look in Grey’s eyes when he challenged her back during their first meeting...

She couldn’t help but trust him to pull it out.

**

Duko looked up at the notification with narrowed eyes.

He sat on the ground, his blackened, rocky skin a deeper hue than ever before. He winced a bit as an echo of lightning writhed in a few cracks along his flesh, but he kept his noise to a minimum.

He knew that that could only be one person as well.

’I’ve almost expelled the rest of it. Soon I’ll be able to move... and take his head.’

**

There was no discernably obvious difference between male Syrn and female ones, at least not physical ones. They had the same, sickly pale, almost translucent skin, the same noseless faces and lanky, bony bodies, the same long, bladed tails.

But their walks were entirely different.

This one moved with an almost exaggerated sway of her hips, her tail slithering behind her in wide arcs like the least efficient snake of the century.

If she was back on Earth and one could ignore her horror movie type looks, she moved with the grace and elegance only the best runway models could match.

Even when there was a flicker of surprise in her eyes and she came to a sudden stop along her prancing prowl, none of that elegance was wiped away.

Instead, it almost added to her charm as a flickering violet-black light echoed beneath her translucent skin.

A scythe with a long pole arm formed of a single bone structure rested on her shoulders.

"It seems that the real prey has finally arrived. I can finally stop killing the others for rewards, then."

She licked her lips, a forked tongue as black as night slithering out.

**

The Volthari hovered in the air. This one didn’t have leg armor at all, so the bottom half of his body was formed of nothing more than black clouds and streaking blue lightning.

The moment he saw the notification...

BANG.

The ground shattered and the skies above rumbled with thunder.

He shot up streaking higher and higher until he was past even the tops of the impossibly tall hedges.

Unfortunately, the fog blocked his vision. This was the only reason he hadn’t already slaughtered every single being here and freed himself from this hellscape...

That and the fact that he had been waiting... waiting for Grey Temolt to appear.

He knew the fool would come. The Great Udon had promised him that he would, and it seemed that he was correct.

Now, trapped in this Instance and unable to escape, there was nowhere for Grey to escape to, no hidden tricks he could take advantage of, and nothing but death waiting at the end of his road.

The Volthari’s roar spread through the entire maze, shaking the hearts of every soul that heard it, but then something even more shocking than that happened.

His lightning began to spread. As though using the mist as a conductor, it jumped from molecule to molecule.

Yet, this was doing nothing to stop the fog. The only thing it did was make the surroundings hotter, and by the time the lightning dissipated enough that it reached the surface below, it was little more than a static shock to those that it touched.

But that was the thing...

It touched everyone.

Including Grey Temolt.

"There you are." A voice that could have been Zeus from on high spoke aloud.

The Volthari locked eyes with a corner of the vast maze and shot forward like a bolt falling from the skies.