I've been trying to sleep for a while now, just to get some rest, but I can't manage it at all.
Every time I close my eyes, I see that monster again — the way she moved, like she was gliding over the world, like gravity itself didn't dare oppose her. I see Merya, Den, Roj — each one reduced to a slab of warm meat in less time than it takes to piss in an alley.
And above all, I see myself again, running like a dog, panting, pathetic, dragged into this rat hole by the soldiers, thrown in here like a sack of garbage too heavy to deal with on the surface.
If that were all, maybe I could still handle it… but I'm stuck in a cell with some guy in the shadows who doesn't even move...
And he doesn't talk either. At least not since our last conversation.
Like he's seen even more than I have. And since then, nothing. Just that stare — calm, too calm — like someone who already knows exactly how it's all going to end. The kind of stare you really don't want to meet when you're naked and all you've got left are piss and prayers.
He pretends to be some bum. But nobody talks like that. Nobody stays that serene in a filthy cell, sleeping on cold stone with the stench of death in the walls.
I don't see him move, but sometimes I feel his eyes on me — and that freaks me out even more than the demon girl.
I don't know who he is, but I've got a gut feeling he knows exactly who I am — and that it's going to cost me.
"So… what's your name?"
His voice finally breaks the silence — slow, steady, like it slides into my head instead of just speaking to me. I almost jump. It's been too long since he last said anything, and now he starts talking again like nothing happened, like we're picking up a conversation that never even began. I don't get this guy. He talks when you least expect it, and when you ask him something, he just stares at you like you're the crazy one.
"I'm Miyuki… but everyone called me Miy… well… used to."
I stammered like an idiot. Like some kid who just lost all his bearings. And I can tell he notices — doesn't say it, just stretches his smile a bit wider in the dark. The bastard enjoys watching me fall apart.
"Ah, right — your buddies? I saw them get slaughtered. Rough luck… but get used to it. Happened to me too."
I freeze.
What did he just say? He was there? During the massacre? He saw that thing — that horned thing — tear my guys to shreds… and he did nothing? Not a scream, not a move, not even a retreat? Just watched? And now he tells me like it's normal? Worse — he says it happened to him too. What the hell does that mean? That he saw another group get butchered by something like her?
I want to understand, but I'm not sure I want to know.
"I'm Keld," he finally says, rubbing his chin like he's telling a lazy story. "Long time ago, I went down into the Elroe Labyrinth. And that's where—"
"THE ELROE LABYRINTH?!" I practically leap up without realizing it, fear twisting in my gut again. "But that's… that's supposed to be the most dangerous place in the world, right?!"
He looks at me then. Not like a friend. Not like an enemy. Like someone sizing me up. Measuring the worth of my existence.
"If you think the labyrinth is the most dangerous place in the world, then you really haven't seen anything, kid. Well… that used to be true. Before—"
CLANG.
The door bursts open. A guard grunts something unintelligible and two metal trays are tossed into the cell, crashing onto the floor and splattering gray mush and pieces of burnt bread everywhere. Silence returns instantly — heavy, sticky.
Keld smiles.
And I start wondering just what the hell I've gotten myself into.
As I watch the gray sludge slowly slide down the wall to the grimy floor, I see him — Keld — leap at the pile of still-steaming food without the slightest hesitation, even licking the splashes like a starving dog, chewing with zero restraint, zero shame, and not an ounce of dignity.
I grimace.
"Jesus, do you realize how absolutely unhygienic that is?!"
He bursts out laughing, mouth full, yellow teeth flashing in the harsh light like he just heard the funniest joke in the world.
"Says the guy who tried to have his way with a kid under the protection of a monster."
I freeze.
I try to come up with something — a reply, an excuse, a justification… but nothing comes. Nothing credible, anyway. So I lower my eyes, ashamed, defeated, and mutter almost involuntarily:
"… You're not wrong."
He keeps devouring his disgusting portion like nothing happened, then suddenly turns to me, wiping the corner of his mouth with a filthy sleeve, the smile still glued to his lips.
"So, where was I? Oh right! The labyrinth. I went down there with a team, all the way to the middle stratum. And that's where I saw her. An Oni. Can you believe it? An Oni."
I almost spit out the water I'd barely managed to scoop up from a puddle in the corner. My throat tightens, my guts clench, and the words come out before I can stop them.
"An Oni?!"
He nods slowly, looking thoughtful—almost… wistful.
"Mmm. A real one. Horns, pale skin, killer's eyes. And a smile. God, that smile. You couldn't tell if she was going to rip your guts out or kiss you before devouring you."
I freeze again.
Because that description…
It fits too well with what I saw.
"You're thinking the same thing I am, aren't you?" Keld says, staring at me like he's reading my mind, like he already knows my answers before I can form them. "Personally, I think she's the same one who sliced up your buddies down there."
I stare at him, frozen. My heart skips a beat.
"Wait, what? You too… you saw your companions get killed by that… thing?"
He nods again, slowly, almost wearily, like he's reliving an old memory too familiar to be frightening anymore.
"Exactly. And let me tell you, it wasn't pretty. Same carnage, same silence, same macabre dance… She might've evolved since then, gotten stronger, changed appearance — but instinct doesn't lie. It's her. And the System thinks so too."
At that word, whatever hint of a smile I had left on my face freezes, cracks, and vanishes.
"You… you use the System? Seriously? I'm not saying it's useless, but in our world, outside of elves and monsters, it never really did much. For humans, it's just… something we barely look at, right?"
He laughs right in my face — a dry, sharp laugh, like a rusted razor blade.
"Of course I use it, idiot. Who would turn down a living database, a real-time mine of information? That's like refusing a knife when you've got a throat to cut. You'd have to be stupid… or way too confident."
He stares at me again, but this time, his gaze is… deeper. Darker. Like he's digging into my weaknesses, my fears, my cracks.
And I start to realize that this guy — with his filthy clothes and vagrant's demeanor — is nothing like a lost man.
"By the way… what were you doing in the Elroe Labyrinth?"
I expected him to dodge the question, or tell me to fuck off. But instead, he smiles. Not a friendly smile. The kind that tells you you just opened a door… and there's no way to close it again.
"Oh, that… If I told you, I'd have to kill you."
I raise an eyebrow. Really? That's supposed to scare me now?
"My situation's already so fucked, I don't see how it could get any worse."
He chuckles softly, shakes his head, and gestures for me to sit.
"You're not entirely wrong. Fine, story time. Sit down."
I sit in the corner, arms crossed, and listen. Because despite everything… I've always been fascinated by that damn labyrinth. What it hides. What it devours.
"It was the Queen herself who sent me down there," he says, like he's mentioning the weather, between bites of moldy bread.
"The Queen? You mean… Empress Sophia?"
He nods nonchalantly.
"Yep. She got word, a lead. According to her, the gallant knight — or what was left of him — was hiding deep in the labyrinth. And I was sent to find him… and bring him back."
I feel my throat tighten.
The gallant knight… He's not just a legend?
"And did you… find him?"
He laughs — a more bitter laugh this time.
"What I did find… was her. That creature. The Oni. Not quite like today. Maybe less evolved. But already way too strong."
He takes a deep breath, then adds, almost flatly:
"She committed a genocide. My group got torn apart. I ran. And long after, we found what was left of the knight's group. Or rather… what was left of their underground city. Burned to ashes."
I bolt upright.
"Wait, wait. That city… it was destroyed? The underground city?"
Keld looks at me for a moment without saying a word, then murmurs with chilling gravity:
"Yes. Not a single survivor."
At that moment, I see Keld slowly turn his head toward the door, as if he just heard a sound I hadn't noticed yet. He sighs, almost annoyed, like what's about to happen is both inevitable… and a hassle.
"It's time," he mutters, without really looking at me.
I frown.
"Time for what?"
I don't get a chance to press further. The door explodes under the force of a battering ram or some overpowered mechanism, metal ringing through the cell like a thunderclap, and half a dozen soldiers burst in, armed, helmeted, methodical. They don't speak. They open the cells one by one and drag out prisoners without the slightest care.
"You'll see," Keld says as he calmly gets up, hands behind his back. "And you're not gonna like it."
I'm yanked out of the cell without care, my feet slipping on the damp stone floor, my arms pinned behind me. We're pushed, one after another, down a long corridor that seems carved directly into the rock. A kind of cave… or maybe an artificial structure? I can't tell. It's dark, cold, and reeks of dried sweat.
Eventually, we're herded into a wide chamber lit by torches, with tiled floors marked by circles and lines. Several fully armored soldiers are warming up, punching the air, cracking their knuckles. They eye us like predators waiting for the cage to open.
"SOLDIERS! PREPARE YOURSELVES!" a harsh-voiced officer bellows.
I shoot a panicked glance at Keld.
"Keld, what the hell is going on?!"
He shrugs, then nods toward a prisoner who just had his jaw shattered by a brutal, direct punch from one of the armored soldiers.
The guy collapses like a puppet with its strings cut.
Keld smiles — a tired, worn-out smile.
"Welcome to daily training. Here, the prisoners are used as dummies. Human ones. Real training, real pain. No deaths… well, in theory."