"Bastard...!"
Although Raive was trying to convince the muscle man peacefully, he ended up standing up with rage, looming over the little guy, seething.
"You can only say that since you didn’t see those monsters! They... They ate everyone...!" He growled, his voice agonized and in pain.
"Monsters...?"
Raive didn’t hear about those. After all, he was just figuring out the maze itself. He thought there might be traps, but a monster blocking their path was outside of his expectations.
He frowned for a moment before raising his head, staring straight into the muscle man’s eyes.
"Then, should we just stay here to die from the rising magma?"
"That...!"
Of course, the man understood Raive’s point.
Even if they’re scared, even if they’re traumatized, they have to move. Their only way to survive is to reach the finish line, to escape the maze, after all.
Thankfully, only three paths were left, and there were ten of them. They could split up and check the paths much more carefully this time.
However...
"I don’t want to group up with you."
The team split up 5-4-1, with the muscle man’s group being five, the second group being four, and Raive left alone. It felt a bit unfair, since more numbers means a higher safety margin... but Raive already predicted this.
The fact that he didn’t move and waited for everyone to return was enough to make them doubt his reliability, after all. Worse, they don’t even know his ability.
Grouping up with those they’re familiar with, or those easy to get along with, was for the best.
"Then, I’ll choose the center path," Raive said. "You two, choose whichever hell you want to check. It’s a one in three chance, so no hard feelings."
Without waiting for their choice, Raive walked across the narrow floor leading to his chosen path and entered.
After a few minutes, seeing that Raive didn’t return, the two began to move.
The three paths were side-by-side, anyway, so there was even the chance of them heading toward the same location.
In the end, the muscle group headed to the right side, and the other moved to the left path.
"...Phew."
And as soon as they disappeared, Raive came out of the path he entered.
Of course, he’d rather not risk a 67% chance of death or injury, so his plan was simply the same as before. Wait for the sacrifices to return and show him the correct path.
If any of them returned, that meant that path was a dud—thus, increasing the chance of picking the right one to a 50% chance between the last two paths.
If none of them returned, then he’d follow either path.
Knowing that both parties are aware of danger, unless they get wiped out instantly, then someone should be able to run away.
Nobody returning means they either found the exit, or simply got wiped.
And as soon as Raive confirmed which it was, he could then choose the correct exit and leave the maze safely. It was a foolproof plan.
However...
"Damn... what’s taking them so long?"
18 minutes had already passed.
The magma was just inches away from reaching ground level, making the temperature so hot that his sweat was literally evaporating.
Waiting any longer would mean he would get burned by magma once more.
"Tsk...!"
Time was out.
Having no choice, Raive chose to follow the right path where the muscle man went. As soon as his feet touched the entrance, he heard something ominous.
The sound of splashing... loud and heavy.
"..."
Looking behind, Raive discovered that magma started falling from the railings on the ceiling. It was accelerating the rise of the floor’s magma, making it chase him into the path he just entered.
"Shit!"
Raive didn’t want to get cooked well-done a second time.
Thus, although he lacked stamina, he ran as fast as he could. He watched the walls, checking for signs where the group passed. But to his surprise, it was just a single path with bends but no forks.
He ran desperately for a minute, his breathing so ragged, and his legs already moving slower than a jog. The magma wasn’t visible anymore, but he could feel the heat coming from it, approaching fast.
There’s no time to rest.
"Oh, you’re finally here."
Walking a bit more, after turning the last corner, Raive found a door—presumably the exit. The space was circular, about 50 meters in diameter. From the floor to the pillars, or the ceiling, everything was made out of smooth, white stone.
Even the "wall" that slid past behind him, closing the return path, was of the same material.
However, that wasn’t what caught his eye.
He could see there were five "thrones" spread equally around the walls. On four of those, figures "sat" on them, slumped down. Below them, a pool of black liquid could be seen.
"T-This is..." Raive squeezed out.
"Ah, this?"
The man smiled, wiping the drop of blood stuck to his cheek.
"To open the exit, five people had to sit on those thrones. The door wouldn’t open unless all five were seated, so none of us could escape. The door closes instantly once one leaves their throne!"
Of course, Raive understood the meaning of this immediately.
"A... sacrifice." He whispered.
Five people needed to sacrifice themselves to open the exit, knowing that they wouldn’t be able to leave. And Raive was sure that nobody would be willing to sacrifice themselves just to save strangers.
Everyone would want to live.
Thus, this solution.
Raive stared at the four unmoving members and frowned. "You killed them."
"Yes." The man answered instantly. "And you’ll be the last one. So just stand there and let me squeeze your neck; I won’t make it painful for you, at least."
The crazed smile covering his lips was more than enough to tell Raive that the man was serious. He already killed four; what’s one more added on top of that?
The man stepped forward, carefully, as if savoring the fear that Raive was displaying.
Raive pressed his back against the wall behind him, knowing full well that there was nowhere to escape to. He either killed the other party, or would die in his hands.
And unfortunately, he lost out on the physical side.
The muscle man had Physical Strengthening as his unique skill, so he could easily crush Raive’s skull with a single hand.
There... was no escape.
[User’s Heart had Stopped Beating.]
[Auto-Load activating...]
[Success.]
And thus, he died... And returned to the beginning of it all, once more. Along with the pain of having his head crushed slowly, like a vice grip getting cranked.
"That bastard..."
Raive gritted his teeth, staring at the man who was looking straight at the archangel, and scoffed.
"Don’t think my life is so cheap as to come for free...!"