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Chapter 571: The Lion and the Shadow Cat

“Why’s there a damn maze down here?” Gaius wondered aloud. His complaints were echoed in Leon and Maia’s heads.

“Because why wouldn’t there be?” Leon responded, his tone cynical and jaded. “Nothing can ever be simple, can it?”

“Simplicity is not for men like us, Leon,” Jormun replied, his voice echoing throughout the bare stone chamber that Leon, Maia, and Gaius were standing in. Each of them stood in front of one of the doors leading into the maze, trying to see what they could see. Leon and Maia were projecting their magic senses as far as they could, but there seemed to be no end to the maze no matter how far they both tried to see.

“You’re reveling in this, aren’t you?” Leon growled at Jormun, his golden eyes momentarily scanning the walls and ceiling around him, almost as if he thought he’d be able to see a window or something thar Jormun was using to watch them.

“In a way, I am,” Jormun readily admitted. “However, I think I’d like it a little bit more if I did this…”

An immense spike of magic power pulsed through the maze, more than enough for Leon, Maia, and Gaius to all jump back from their doors in alarm. However, this wasn’t an attack that Jormun was launching; as far as Leon could tell, the pirate was just activating something in the maze.

“What did you just do?” Leon demanded as he took a few tentative steps back toward his door.

He didn’t need to ask, however, for a moment later, he found out exactly what Jormun did. Leon projected his magic senses in an attempt to learn just what had changed, and his magic senses were immediately scattered as soon as they brushed against the door.

“Mazes aren’t any fun at all if you can just see the route to the end…” Jormun smugly stated. As Leon took a deep breath to keep himself under control, the pirate continued, “This temple is one of trials, and not all of them are built in worlds magically isolated from the rest of the plane. This one is more physical, and functions well enough as a defense that there weren’t many other defenses added to this area.”

Somehow, Leon doubted that statement.

“Choose your door wisely, you three,” Jormun said, his tone indicating that he wore a wide smile, “it will determine which of the mazes you get. Not that there’s that much difference between them, I suppose. Regardless, I wish you all good luck. I’ll be waiting for you at the end…”

Again, Leon felt doubt surge in his chest. Jormun was enjoying this way too much, he was going to milk this opportunity as much as he could. From another perspective, though, Leon supposed that how much Jormun was obviously enjoying himself was a good sign: it indicated that he probably wasn’t forcing them into a challenge that was beyond their skillsets.

Or maybe he was, Leon honestly wouldn’t be surprised if Jormun just teleported them all into the heart of the island’s volcano, killing them all instantly.

“Keep on your guards,” Leon ordered the other two. “That shadow cat is still around here, somewhere, and who knows what the hells else will be in these halls.”

“Got it,” Gaius replied.

Maia nodded in acknowledgment.

Before Leon chose a door, he examined each one as closely as he could. They were all scattering his magic senses, so he could only get the surface details and some vague impressions from the ambient magic that he could sense, but it was enough for him to see a subtle spatial enchantment placed upon each doorway. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to really do much about these enchantments, but he’d seen enough to know that this wasn’t exactly another trial world, but each of these doors were acting like portals to different parts of this maze—much like the spatial enchantments used in Xaphan’s prison.

When he was done with his examinations, Leon had to agree at least superficially with Jormun’s statement that there wasn’t much difference between the doors. So, he chose the middle one. There wasn’t much practical reason why, he just wanted to face whatever was ahead of them head-on. A terrible strategy for dealing with mazes, but in this, at least, he felt like making a concession for the philosophy of the act.

Leon strode through the door, Gaius and Maia not too far behind him. The door slammed shut behind them, leaving them in the incredibly dark and tight halls of the maze, the ceiling hundreds of feet above them while the walls were barely wide enough for them to raise both of their arms comfortably.

‘Just wide enough to fight in, if need be,’ Leon noted.

With nothing else to do, Leon began walking down the first hallway. As he did, he asked Maia, [I don’t suppose you have any tips for noticing something watching you from the shadows?]

Maia frowned as she answered, [Detecting someone while they’re hidden in shadows usually depends on the skill of the shadow magic user, not on your perceptions. If someone is arrogant and thinks themselves immune to being noticed, then they’ll usually be a lot less cautious and give off more magic power into the environment that can reveal their location to anyone paying attention. Or they won’t conceal their auras effectively enough… I don’t know all that much about shadow magic, to be honest…]

[You still noticed that one mage that Justin Isynos sent into Emilie’s palace years ago,] Leon pointed out.

[I did…] Maia replied as her frown was briefly replaced with a smile of pride. [That man practically walked into the palace like he owned the place, he obviously felt like nothing could touch him once he got past the outer wards. Maybe he would’ve been proven right if I hadn’t been there, though, who can say? Regardless, I noticed his aura, and it led me to the shadow he was hiding in.]

[Is finding this shadow cat going to be harder?] Leon asked.

[Much harder,] Maia replied. [Animals such as these don’t typically make the same mistakes that humans do. Besides, this shadow cat likely hasn’t worked all that much for its power—it’s an innate thing it can do, its magic is as natural to it as breathing. That makes its ability to hide far greater than that man I found in Emilie’s estate, even though that man possessed far more raw power.]

[Right,] Leon replied with a hint of bitterness. [Thanks for the information.]

Maia smiled and nodded at him, but throughout their conversation, her attention never once wavered from their surroundings. She was constantly scanning for anything that might threaten them, as were Gaius and Leon.

Despite this, in a single terrifying instant, a smoky black tentacle of darkness magic about as thick as Leon’s arm peeled itself off the wall as they walked past and whipped out at them. They were so close to the wall and it was so fast that any mortal would’ve been sliced clean in half without having ever noticed anything.

Maia and Leon, on the other hand, responded with equal alacrity. Maia projected a wave of water that stymied the tendril’s attack, while Leon blasted it with lightning, ripping it asunder. Gaius, while a fourth-tier mage, only flinched after Maia’s water wall flooded into place; he would’ve been seriously injured or killed if Leon and Maia hadn’t acted as quickly as they did.

Unfortunately, even with the destruction of the darkness tendril, the shadow cat didn’t reveal itself, and no follow up attacks immediately materialized. Leon, Maia, and Gaius stood in that hallway for several long moments after, though, their eyes darting from one deep shadow to another as they searched for their hunter.

“This fucking feline…” Leon muttered. He’d spent his entire childhood as the hunter, and he wasn’t appreciating the role reversal that the cat was subjecting him to right now.

But they couldn’t just stand there for long. When it was clear that the cat wasn’t going to attack again until it felt like it could surprise them, Leon led the other two onward.

They delved further and further into the maze as minutes turned into hours. It had been more than enough time that Leon was sure that word had been sent back to the fleets that they weren’t back, yet, but he did his best not to let that thought rule his emotions. Getting sloppy out of haste would only lead to disaster.

And he had a good idea what that disaster might look like, for as they explored the enormous, endless maze, they were attacked several more times by the power of the shadow cat. He and Maia defended them well enough every time, though Leon did suffer one minor wound when a tendril managed to slice his ankle. Nothing important was severed, but Leon was embarrassed and infuriated by it.

There were no other defenses they ran across in the maze. Leon led them on a logical, depth-first route, always taking the right-most path whenever they came to an intersection so that they could always find their way back. He tried to leave a few chalk markings, but the black stone of the maze walls resisted all attempts to mark them, leaving them with nothing to go on but their own memories.

Still, they found nothing but more endless paths. By Leon’s reckoning, they hadn’t ever overlapped paths—as they might if they took five rights, for example—so there were any more spatial shenanigans going on, but that hardly helped matters.

After the sixth time they were attacked by the shadow cat, Leon had them come to a halt.

“I can’t take this,” he said, his golden eyes practically glowing with how much lightning was coursing through his body, lightning that he’d built up in anticipation of a confrontation with the shadow cat or some other defense the maze might have that never came. “We need another strategy, otherwise we’re just going to be wandering around this place forever, constantly being attacked by this damn cat.”

“Do you have a suggestion?” Gaius asked, his tone worried.

“I… do, actually,” Leon said, surprising both Gaius and Maia, if the looks on their faces were any indication. He supposed he wasn’t too surprised, he wasn’t exactly portraying the picture of a calm and collected leader. “We need bait, we need something to lure this monster out of the shadows.”

“I don’t think there’s much that’s going to get it to do that,” Gaius pointed out. “I’m not much of a hunter, I’ll readily admit that, but this thing is sixth-tier, right? That means it has to be approaching human levels of intelligence. It won’t just drop out of its shadow and abandon all defenses if it sees a perfectly grilled steak just sitting on the ground…”

“No, and most animals wouldn’t, either, regardless of magical tier or perceived intelligence,” Leon replied. “No animal that lives out in the wild abandons their caution. If they ever do, they quickly become animals that no longer live in the wild, if you know what I mean. Besides, this shadow cat is probably constantly watching us. It’s stalking us, always waiting for a chance to strike.”

“Then what do you have in mind?” Gaius asked.

“We need some attractive bait…” Leon said as he quickly explained his plan.

Once he was finished, Gaius and Maia were silent for a long moment. Neither immediately disagreed with his plan, but the issue of bait was something that needed to be solved. Leon had some food in his soul realm, but none of it was the sort of fare that the shadow cat might be interested in: all dried meats and fruits, some bread, nothing to really grab the interest of a carnivore. Maia, it seemed, was similarly equipped, with little save for dried fish in her soul realm.

“We need something bloody…” Gaius muttered. “Something fresh. Anything else won’t get that thing’s attention, will it?”

“No,” Leon confirmed. “But, at the very least, wild creatures rarely say no to a free meal—anything they don’t have to risk themselves to obtain is usually welcomed. This shadow cat might be a bit too intelligent for that, though, so we have to make whatever we use appetizing. That’s why I was thinking that I should act as—”

“I should be the bait,” Gaius said, cutting Leon off. Leon was taken aback by the offer—he’d been in the process of suggesting that he be the bait instead, since as the person who thought up this plan, he wanted to be the one who shouldered the greatest amount of the danger. After all, the shadow cat might just attack whoever they leave behind as bait, so leaving behind the weakest member of their party wasn’t something Leon was keen on doing.

However, entertaining the thought for a moment, Leon had to admit that it made tactical sense, even if it put Gaius in great danger.

“Why do you want to shoulder this responsibility?” Leon asked him. “Honestly, it should be me, but if you think you’d make for better bait, let’s hear why.”

“I’m basically useless in this fight,” Gaius explained. “Doing it this way leaves the two of you open to kill this thing if it shows itself.”

Leon slowly nodded, agreeing at least with Gaius’ rationale. He also figured that having Gaius acting as the bait might also help to keep the shadow cat from striking at him when he was vulnerable. Cats had a tendency to play with their prey, torturing and tiring them out so that they’re safer to eat. The shadow cat, despite having darkness magic, would probably do something similar to Gaius, using comparatively gentler and less energy-intensive methods with the weaker mage than it might with Leon.

Still, Leon felt like a real asshole for agreeing, but agree to Gaius’ proposal he did. He then discussed the finer points of his plan with the other two, made sure the nobleman had a fresh stack of healing spells with him along with one that Leon hoped would be useful for insulating himself against lightning strikes, and then led Gaius and Maia onward in search of a good place for their ambush.

They found just such a place not too much further along, at a place where two four-way intersections nearly merged into one. Leon signaled to the other two that this was the place by slowing down and letting his expression drop into a scowl.

“You’re worthless Gaius,” Leon said, his tone a little stilted but dripping with contempt and aggression that he hoped transcended the language barrier between him and the shadow cat, who could very well be watching them even now. “You’re slowing us down. I can’t have that.”

“I’m not trying to!” Gaius responded, his expression and tone more energetic than Leon’s, perhaps even a little too much so; if they were trying to convince another person that this was a legitimate falling out, Leon wouldn’t have much hope that it would succeed.

He didn’t respond to Gaius verbally, and instead let his killing intent leak out into his aura.

Killing intent was essentially just what it sounds like: the intent and willingness to kill that colored an aura. Keeping it hidden was much like suppressing a smile or a scowl, physically speaking, and letting it out was much the same as letting a true expression shine through.

Leon had a prodigious killing intent; Artorias had made sure to instill in Leon a willingness to fight and kill from an early age. Even during his calmest and most secure moments, Leon could unleash his killing intent that was more than potent enough to instill great and potentially even paralyzing fear even in those who were somewhat experienced in dealing with such auras.

However, he did not want to kill Gaius, and so he had some difficulty in unleashing his killing intent. It was still potent, but he needed to push more than a little bit for it to approach the level it was at during his first fight with the shadow cat, and in those moments immediately after its repeated attempts to ambush his party throughout the maze.

Hoping to cover for that slight deficiency, he summoned his family’s sword from his soul realm, noting how Gaius tensed up in a way that was far too real to be an act, and then, hoping his decisiveness might help to conceal their true goal, lunged forward and drove the tip of his sword into Gaius’ abdomen.

Gaius was unable to stop himself from groaning in pain, and that sound alone was almost enough for Leon’ will to falter. But he held fast to his plan and drove his blade in deeper. He’d been incredibly precise with his thrust, striking deeply enough to draw a great deal of blood, but not damaging anything critical to Gaius. When he pulled his sword free, Gaius fell to his knees, blood soaking into his shirt as he looked up at Leon, a look of betrayal on his face.

A moment later, Maia summoned a small water dragon that surged forward and wrapped itself around Gaius, pulling him into its body as its shape collapsed into a formless blob of water. This blob flexed a few times, and Leon could see within that Maia was squeezing Gaius like a stress ball, forcing him to choke up all the air in his lungs.

Leon, doing his best to maintain a somewhat dismissive and derisive look as Gaius was seemingly drowned right in front of him, whispered into Maia’s mind, [Careful… We don’t want to push too far and actually drown him…]

[I’m keeping an eye on him,] Maia replied.

She held Gaius there for a few moments more, and then released the blob of water holding him there. Gaius sputtered weakly as he rolled onto his side and coughed up half a river. Once he was able to draw in a few ragged breaths, which calmed Leon’s nerves just a bit, he laid there on the ground, blood pouring from his stomach wound, his face pale from coughing, looking for all the world like he was on the verge of death.

“Let’s go,” Leon said to Maia, sparing Gaius only one more dismissive look before the identical rings on his and Maia’s fingers flashed with magical power and they quickly vanished from view.

Leon could still tell where Maia was through their connection, so he and she were able to coordinate even while invisible to proceed a few dozen feet down one of the paths of these two intersections and stop where they could monitor Gaius easily.

Leon felt horrible, and every passing second that went by made him more and more want to drop his invisibility and call this whole thing off. Gaius laying there, sputtering and groaning in pain didn’t help things; compared to their lackluster performance just a few minutes ago, Gaius was putting on a much more convincing show this time around.

They waited there a long time, long enough for Leon’s mind to start wandering as they waited for the shadow cat to make a move. Leon guessed either it knew they were still here and wasn’t going to do anything, or it was confused and wary with Leon and Maia having vanished and leaving Gaius behind.

But Leon’s mind soon turned to other things, such as speculating as to what Jormun was doing right now; the pirate hadn’t said a word since they’d entered the maze, so Leon wondered if maybe he couldn’t speak up in this situation. He wondered if maybe Jormun was just watching all of this like a play, just letting everything play out without his involvement.

Leon also wondered just how far he and Maia could go with their invisibility rings. It took a startlingly low amount of magic power to disrupt the rings’ invisibility, and with all the defensive wards around that inhibited magic senses, Leon wasn’t confident in going too far and maintaining their invisibility. But it was holding for now, so—

Suddenly, a deep black shadow began crawling unnaturally across the floor toward Gaius. It had been about twenty minutes, so the nobleman was absolutely covered in blood by this point, and had stopped writhing and groaning in pain. If it weren’t for the fourth-tier aura still emanating from his body, he would’ve appeared to be, at the very least, unconscious, if not dead.

But this was it; their bait had worked. The shadow cat smoothly slid out of the floor with all the grace of a dolphin momentarily breaking the surface of the ocean for a