Extraordinary Voyage-Chapter 603 - 530: King vs. King at the Bottom Level

The four people stood still and waited for a little while longer.

The ethereal and distant singing that surrounded their ears had gradually dissipated, but the ghostly girl had never reappeared.

Then, Aiven unceremoniously pulled the coward hiding behind him out:

"A ghost girl asking for help? Have you also seen that Atrean ghost?"

Milan awkwardly smiled sheepishly:

"Yeah, you don't know, it really scared me when she suddenly talked to me."

After Milan and Aiven exchanged information about witnessing the ghostly girl, the Wizards in the team couldn't help but develop some interest in her.

A ghost that still maintained a clear sense of self was inherently of great value to Wizards, and might even offer another shortcut to achieve eternal life.

Moreover, this ghost, who claimed to be a Priest of the Feathered Serpent God and Saintess, unlike her Atrean compatriots, still retained a human appearance. From the meaning conveyed by her singing, not all the upper echelons of the Kuma Empire (the Priests being part of this elite) turned into "Blasphemous Cultists" in pursuit of eternal life.

Some people still chose to retain their human identity and faith in the Feathered Serpent God Kukulkan.

At least... they did so before their deaths.

By normal logical reasoning, if these individuals were preserved, the once-flourishing Kuma Empire could not have vanished without a trace.

The song also conveyed several key messages.

First, we worship the noble Snake God, who governs sunlight and rain, sowing and harvest, life and civilization...

This explains the series of divine positions and powers of the Feathered Serpent God.

Second, abhorring live sacrifices and blood sacrifices, so long as the people give back with kindness and wealth...

Indicating that this Main God does not bear the blame for the prevalence of blood sacrifices in the Kuma Empire.

Third, the most interesting part is coming.

The God in the mist stole a pair of wings from the Snake God, the great father could never return to the heavens...

"I" am born from the mist, from the goodwill of my people, from a feather of the God... to return "life" to the earth, continuing to protect the people on that land.

"The God in the mist" is evidently either the Maze God Aihote or Loygor, the master of the Mist Sea.

Looking at the current situation, the former seems more likely, but the latter is not completely free from suspicion, and it is even possible that both conspired together.

However, whatever they stole from the Feathered Serpent God is hard to guess. Additionally, it is unknown whether due to some concern about Aihote's territory or simply not wanting to tell them, the ghostly girl did not directly say, instead using a metaphor.

But it can be determined that this is something extremely important, so significant that it prevents even a Demigod from returning to "the heavens."

Finally, in conjunction with the intention of seeking help, the ghostly girl clearly wants this group of people to help carry something referred to as "life" out of the "Mist Sea" and return it to the continent.

Aiven and the others were also unsure if this intelligent ghostly girl had only approached them or had sought help from everyone who entered the maze.

However, this was, after all, a typical Evil God's territory, where although strong combat prowess allowed them temporary unrestricted movement, even such powerful individuals as Tier 3 Anita and Aiven were self-aware.

In the eyes of a Tier 5 Evil God, beings below Tier 4 are probably indistinguishable.

Their hope of escaping alive lay in the "game rules" set by Aihote himself, not in the force they relied upon, so any unnecessary actions were best avoided.

"Let's ignore her for now, and consider other matters after safely leaving this damned place."

The team unanimously agreed.

Subsequently.

By the time they had cleared the second floor at the fastest speed, they had seen no sign of the ghostly girl reappearing.

The second floor of the maze was much smaller than the first, consisting of a crisscrossed group of underground mining tunnels.

Everywhere here were "Burrowing Demon Worms," each capable of filling an entire tunnel on its own, their size comparable to small Sea Monsters.

Presumably, these intricate mines may have been their handiwork.

The "Burrowing Demon Worms" had dozens of streamlined tentacles on their heads, resembling a slimy octopus, with soft gray-black bodies like elongated cloth bags. They emitted ear-piercing sound waves before appearing, likely an adaptation to perceive in the dark underground environment.

Some of these gigantic worms themselves replaced tunnels, forming various indistinguishable, dead-end tunnels with their bodies.

To deal with these enormous yet slow-moving Demons, Aiven's "Flesh Destruction Technique" worked brilliantly, easily creating passable paths through the walls of flesh.

Approaching the exit of the second-floor maze.

As the "Blasphemous Cultists" said, every group needed to undergo random trials of strength, wisdom, and luck. Having passed the test of strength in the previous maze layer, they now faced a test of wisdom at the end of the second floor:

Two farmers brought a total of 100 eggs to the market to sell. They both earned the same amount of money.

The first one said to the second, "If I have as many eggs as you, I could sell them for 15 copper plates." The second one said, "If I have your eggs, I could only sell them for 6 and two-thirds copper plates."

How many eggs did they each have?

For this world, where literacy rates in various countries are generally below 1%, math is absolutely an advanced knowledge.

Outside, this problem would be a nightmare for countless people, but for Aiven, it was just elementary school level.

Within just a few seconds, he snapped his fingers.

"Got it."

Showing off his IQ in front of everyone, the next in the group of four to get the answer was Olivia, then Milan, and... ahem, in short, they cleared it with ease.

They arrived at the much smaller third-floor maze.

Aside from the various target-specific monsters, the main feature of the maze itself was that it was composed of all sorts of indestructible mirrors—flat, concave, convex, and funhouse mirrors with uneven surfaces.

The bizarre and twisted architectural style had mostly disappeared. It was replaced by various straight and curved lines, which, although still chaotic, were designs that certain frenzied artists among humans might create.

In the mirror maze.

Some mirrors reflected images that would leap out to attack their owners, while others connected to a complex mirror world, where one could easily get completely lost.

Fortunately, with the "Golden Compass" always pointing the way to safety, they managed to proceed without any real danger.

The final challenge involved a series of planar mirrors that might teleport them to various desperate situations, but there was no need to hesitate. They simply followed the currently incredibly lucky Milan and won effortlessly.

Throughout the process, they also confirmed that every corner of this maze was governed by established rules, and that the Maze God Aihote had transcended their inherent chaotic impression of ancient gods.

Starting from the second level, the scent of order in the maze grew stronger, and by the third level, it was almost completing the transformation from chaos to order.

This increasingly confirmed Aiven and Olivia's initial suspicion that the Maze God Aihote was intentionally conducting this ritual to reshape his divine position and realign from a chaotic ancient god towards order.

This was a silver lining amidst bad news for them.

Because.

With their powerful team composition, the challenges of the first three levels hardly posed any obstacles to them, taking less than three hours altogether. They were soon to face the final challenge, which the blasphemous cultists called the "Final Choice before God"!

To ensure the accuracy of their information, they took the opportunity to ambush a few waves of blasphemous cultists, finding that the results were no different from the first level.

A mighty being capable of discerning patterns is far superior to a maddeningly bizarre indescribable one.

Whoosh—

Riding the wind that rose inexplicably from beneath their feet, the four of them slowly descended to the fourth and final level of the maze.

To this point, the little girl evil spirit had not shown herself again.

She would sing that song once every time they reached a new level of the maze, yet the determined party never responded to her.

"So... what do we do next?"

Looking at the scene on the fourth level, Milan surveyed the surroundings, feeling somewhat at a loss.

Because the fourth level was utterly opposite to the previous three levels. Even the simplest path before now would be wound with eighteen folds, while on the fourth level of the inverted pyramid maze, it was a stretch of smooth water surface where one could immediately see the boundary.

It appeared about as large as the initial 5 or 6 square kilometers of the small island outside.

Even the walls surrounding and above them were entirely made of flowing water; there was nothing else but water.

However.

Just as Milan's words fell, the ripples stirred by their steps disrupted the serenity of the water surface, triggering the response mechanism here.

Whoosh...

A massive stone archway, perfectly conforming to human aesthetics, slowly rose from the water, with clear seawater cascading down its surface.

The archway's every curve, every engraving, every detail seemed crafted according to the most precise design standards, perfectly aligning with human geometry, and even the exquisite golden ratio.

A solemn and stately structure stood erect amidst the emerald water, and anyone who saw it could feel the intense beauty of mathematics, like a national monument or a sacred cathedral.

One couldn't help but hold their breath.

Moreover, the material changed from the grayish-white rock that initially formed the maze to pure white marble, as if symbolizing a profound transformation.

Once the transformation ceased, the four of them collected themselves from this extreme contrast.

Drya—

In the resonance with the water world, a curse word full of vitality.

The water under the four burgeoned, forming a round head, a long tail, and in a blink, transformed into an adorably clumsy big whale.

[Witchcraft: Sub-elemental Spirit]

"Let's go over!"

Aiven gently waved his hand, and the whale formed by water waved its tail, carrying the four of them to that grand archway.

In golden-like fonts above, spiritual texts recognizable to any extraordinary being were inscribed:

"Offer a sacrifice, as you wish.

——Ruler of all labyrinths, fair rule maker, great and generous God Aihote."

This was the most direct hint they'd seen since delving into the maze, yet it was still as concise and ambiguous in the style of Aihote. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"Gulp..."

Milan involuntarily swallowed; he had already learned from Aiven and the others of the importance of this "Final Choice before God."

Aiven raised his hand.

With the water manipulated by the Water Elemental Whale, the water archway gradually opened a crevice.

It was at this moment.

"Stop!"

A sudden shout echoed from mid-air, like a thunderclap, making their eardrums buzz.

Whoosh—

Still carrying the scorched combat aura from the battle, and now with reduced numbers, only three of them, the "Oathbreaker" Bradley descended from the sky.

Evidently, their final test was: strength!