The tremors grew more intense with each passing second, alarming the group that had just came here. It almost looked like they weren’t even allowed a few minutes to breathe after all the running they had done.

’I fucking hate this!’

Cillian pushed himself up and extended both of his hands to Phillip and Vin. The two of them were still confused about the sudden earthquake.

Rumble—!

"Is it another Runic Gate?"

Vin asked in a frown.

The timing couldn’t be so bad.

Cillian turned his back to Kash, signaling for a piggyback as he spoke honestly to Vin.

"I don’t know, but we need to go. Whatever that earthquake is... it either comes from outside or inside. Either of them will only bring us trouble. What we need to do is get away from here, so we should run as far to the middle as possible. We don’t want those walls falling on us."

Kash accepted Cillian’s request for piggybacking him with an embarrassed face before Aster did the same for Clove.

From behind, Clove laughed in a discouraging way as he watched everyone prepare.

"Haha, we’re absolutely goners. After coming this far, we’re going to die after being crushed by the walls? That sucks... I haven’t even dated anyone yet."

Gary and Dary both smashed Clove’s head together as if trying to put him back to sleep, since he was only demoralizing everyone.

"This guy is saying shit."

"Shit!"

The two sighed before looking towards Cillian.

"Everyone ready to run?"

Cillian spoke after telling Kash to hold his bow and quiver. After watching everyone ready themselves, they started sprinting back into the maze, fully aware of what awaited them this time.

Rumble—!

The group easily entered the maze’s entrance, still feeling the intensity of the tremors beneath their feet.

Crack—!

The edge of the maze began to crack, starting from the bottom and spreading upward like a web across each pillar. Each crack was loud enough for everyone in the maze to hear.

The wall structure was on the verge of collapse.

The group pushed themselves to create as much distance as possible. They felt the urgency to keep running and the will to travel the maze again to avoid being crushed.

Rumble—!

However, the walls that stood strong on the edge of the maze wouldn’t allow them such a breather.

One of the walls crumbled down, slowly slanting towards the bone maze before crashing into it.

Baaaaang—!

The bone walls of the maze, that was almost towering as far as the eyes could see, were no match for the edge of the maze that stood much higher.

It crashed slightly farther away from the group.

Even without seeing it, the sheer impact alone made them realize that a single wall would be enough to crush them if they couldn’t destroy it.

"Shit...!"

Vin cursed as his body trembled. The others also felt the same oppressive pressure coming down as if it was watching them.

Running back was one thing, but the impending doom of walls crashing down was another.

Yet another problem arose the moment they saw the maze walls themselves cracking, as if they were unable to withstand the weight of the walls collapsing from the edge of the maze.

No, the walls of the maze had weakened.

There was nothing to confirm it, but the previous hardness of the bone pillars of the same couldn’t be felt before.

Crack—!

[A scent of Death is within you.]

’I get it, fuck!’

Cillian hissed before warning Aster.

"Hey, you need to get ready! There’ll be no breaks starting at this moment!"

Aster, glancing at the walls surrounding them, clicked his tongue before throwing Clove into Vin’s back.

The Ruiner with the Buddy Piece grumbled, but he didn’t complain, knowing Aster’s going all out was what was going to save them.

"I know, you can trust me."

That reliable face, as he glanced at the group, almost reassured everyone about Aster’s unwavering confidence and the sense of reliability one can feel in a natural leader.

But only one person didn’t believe shit.

He had read the novel and how Aster used the absurd power to a dangerous degree.

’No, I don’t trust you at all! I know you can’t control the overwhelming power of those swords just yet. That’s why I plan to throw you at the dangerous enemies we face to go all out, but once you go crazy while we’re here... we’re fucking done!’

Cillian included himself among the people who were about to feel the wrath of this overpowered main character.

That’s why Cillian had to remind him.

The words Cillian used when he acquired Faceless and almost fell into a vegetative state, which belonged to Aster.

"Aster!"

Aster looked back.

He saw Cillian giving him a nervous look as his lips twitched.

"A Piece shouldn’t be the one who swayed, but something that should be swayed. It is something to be guided, not be the one doing the guiding."

Aster couldn’t help but be surprised to hear the words of a familiar guide, something he followed each time he acquired a Piece. And it came from someone who shouldn’t have known about it.

After all, it was a taught guide by his master, the strongest Ruiner Aster knew.

Aster smirked and added the last words of the guide.

"The person should be in control and not the person being controlled."

Cillian’s crooked, almost nasty smile made Aster turn his attention ahead. While he did, a laugh erupted from his mouth.

The smile on Cillian’s face got stuck as he watched Aster laugh.

’Are we deadass? Why the fuck are you laughing?!’

Baaaaang—!

Another wall crashed into the maze, this time on the opposite side of the group from the first crash. Now, they could only hope their route continued straight, as there were no longer any other paths for them to take.

"T-the walls! Oh my god..."

Willow couldn’t help but exclaim in a defeated voice as she looked at the walls of the maze beside them that had turned into nothing but fragile pillars.

She readied her magic just in case.

Crack—!

"Sword of Doom."

Aster leaped forward, creating quite a distance away from the group behind. A grey sword with an immense aura then appeared in his hand.

"Ugh!"

A surge of power entered Aster’s body, both of his hands being enveloped in grey energy. He clenched them with his two hands before placing them above his head, assuming the stance of a slashing position.

Then he slashed it down with gritted teeth.

Baaaaaaam—!

A directed wave of power exploded forward.

The walls that were supposed to block them were obliterated.

Crack—!

However, the problem wasn’t over yet.

Aster looked at the collapsing walls surrounding him, then he assumed a stance as the group moved past him.

He raised his sword again.

And brought it down with all of his strength.

Baaaaaam—!

The wall that had almost fallen in their path ahead was reduced to nothing, leaving behind only pulverized debris.

With his hand tightly clenched at the grotesque grey energy, Aster followed behind the group, only to find one person glancing behind and not looking forward to the path he made.

[Mimicry Failed]

Only one person understands the opportunity of witnessing that sword being displayed at the front. Mouthful Eye was watching silently from his shoulder.

"Mimicry."

[Mimicry Activated]

[Mimicry Failed]

No matter how many times his mimicry failed, the moment Cillian saw Aster using his Sword of Chaos, his eyes flashed with greed.

The strength he had only seen in novels was now being displayed before him, completely destroying the walls he once thought were unbreakable.

Even though the walls had become weak and fragile for some unknown reason, which must be connected to something, without Aster showcasing his power and using it well, the group might not even be confident in destroying some of those walls.

’I want it.’

Cillian flashed a greedy smile.

’I want to copy it or...’

[A scent of Death is within you]

’Can I just kill you, main character?’