"What?!"

"Ain't no way Prince Voren was killed!"

"He died half an hour ago. Was killed by a chef."

The death of Prince Voren was a big deal. He had made a big splash in the Labyrinth City Nightcape a year ago, creating a record and having his name on that labyrinth's overall leaderboard—ranked 2nd.

He was also going to be the next representative of the Stygian Dynasty, and there he was, dead. Not even a speck of his ash remained.

At the moment, Dylan and Sofia were sitting in the Vice Tower Master's office.

"Tell me everything you know about him."

Dylan and Sofia glanced at each other.

"He is…" Sofia paused briefly before she continued. "Strong. Talented beyond measure. And rich in heart. If anyone can bring back Master Yelvina and Senior Lilian, it is him."

"We should not go against him," Dylan spoke next. "He has secrets, and I have a strong feeling that no matter how many Lord-rank powerhouses go inside, they will never be able to kill him."

The middle-aged man sitting across from them with flaming red hair nodded. "I saw that clearly. He instantly vaporized Voren, and a domain flickered right at that time."

Pausing a bit, he continued, "He has SSS-rank Fire Manipulation, and it is a variant. He has already evolved his Fire Manipulation by infusing a Mystic attribute into it."

"But he has more."

"Ainen said he was going to tell us a secret once we entered the labyrinth, but we didn't get the chance," Dylan sighed.

"By not taking the two of you with him, he already showed his character. But he took Ruoin and her kids with him, who you said are soul-bound with Ainen—and his siblings." The Vice Tower Master's eyes glinted. "Those people are closest to him, and he took them with him, which means he has confidence to survive in the Labyrinth no matter how many people go after him."

"But what about when he comes out?"

Dylan and Sofia were worried precisely about that.

Outside would be an army and multiple Emperor-rank powerhouses of the Stygian Dynasty.

He would have to leave eventually because this Tier-5 Labyrinth would never allow him to breakthrough to King-rank.

"The Stygian Dynasty has already contacted all top forces of the continent and asked for every force's top Lord-rank powerhouses. They would pay the price of this employment substantially as well."

Sofia and Dylan were taken aback.

"Senior Rabin, are we also going to send them?" Sofia bit her lips. "We shouldn't do that."

"That's right. We'll be sending them to their deaths." Dylan frowned. "Please think about it."

"You brats don't need to tell me that." Rabin snorted. "We are not going to assist the Stygian Dynasty in anything. We'll stay neutral."

"But answer me this," Rabin's expression turned somber. "Is Ainen worth our Mistbound Magic Tower going against the Stygian Dynasty and forming clear enmity with them?"

"Can we help him escape successfully once he emerges from the Labyrinth?!" Dylan exclaimed.

Sofia and Dylan looked at him with hopeful eyes.

Rabin wryly smiled. "I am asking you if he is worth it."

"He is!"

Sofia and Dylan answered simultaneously with vehemence.

"If we help him, he will never forget it. He gave hope to Master Yelvina and Senior Lilian and took them out of the well of despair. Heck, he's the kindest person I've seen in my life."

"But he is also decisive because he doesn't let those he considers his enemies live. We've seen that in the Labyrinth. No amount of begging and crying worked. After he extracted information from those people, he ended them."

…

A day had passed, and the atmosphere of the entire city had entirely shifted.

The Labyrinth had just reset, but the entry was prohibited for everyone.

In the sky surrounding the Labyrinth gate, platforms with seats were present where all top powerhouses of the continent had gathered.

There were twenty-eight Emperor-rank powerhouses belonging to the Stygian Dynasty and the forces that decided to assist them.

Over a hundred King-rank powerhouses, and more were on standby.

But most importantly, five hundred Lord-rank powerhouses were standing on the ground across from the Labyrinth entrance.

Eighty percent of the human forces had sided with the Stygian Dynasty in this task of hunting Ainen, the person who killed Prince Voren.

The remaining twenty percent of the forces consisted of Mistbound Magic Tower, Stardust Magic Tower, and Lotus River Magic Tower from the southeast. These three Magic Towers were allied, and Mistbound Magic Tower convinced the other two that it wasn't worth the price unless they were willing to lose their Lord-rank powerhouses.

A few kilometers away from the Labyrinth entrance, in a restaurant in the southwest district of the city, several people sat.

Sofia, Dylan, Naresh, Diana, and Hammer.

"Fuck, Ainen's in big trouble and there's nothing we can do," Hammer sighed with frustration.

"We are weak. But Ainen is strong," Naresh said, his voice filled with conviction as he added, "He will survive."

Dylan and Sofia glanced at each other. There was a plan in place to let Ainen escape, but this information had to remain a complete secret.

If Mistbound Magic Tower openly saved Ainen, it would be destroyed the next day.

But in secret? They could still rally against the Stygian Dynasty if it tried to be tyrannical without evidence.

However, the success rate of this eventual rescue depended on several factors.

And nobody knew when Ainen would return.

For now, all the top powerhouses and people of the Stygian Dynasty were gathered here because they wanted to see Ainen's spotlights.

Of course, Ainen could reject the Labyrinth spotlights, but all Lord-rank powerhouses going inside were equipped with devices that could relay whatever they saw and heard back to the source, which took the form of four large screens floating above the Labyrinth entrance.

But Ainen did plan to show his spotlights. He wanted to show everyone outside his power—

to show them that he wasn't going to die at their hands.

On the first floor of the Labyrinth, Ainen and the others had camped near a large waterfall.

Ainen was sitting cross-legged on a large flat boulder he had cut in the middle of the waterfall. He was completely deep in meditation with his domain open, surrounded by a strange vortex of blue and red as he focused on creating a new arsenal of power.

'Are you sure this will work? There's no other result except for mist or steam when you combine fire and water. Both can be utterly deadly,' Lord Black said.

'It will. Science and physics may be influenced by magic, but they still work. The foundation of everything is the same.' Ainen opened his eyes and took a deep breath. 'Everything has frequency, and everything is made up of molecules.'

'Temperature still rules the fundamentals of energy transfer,' Ainen murmured, his voice low but resonant in the roar of the waterfall. 'But what happens when both extremes exist in perfect equilibrium? When boiling heat and freezing flow become one unified vibration?'

The blue and red energies around him pulsed violently—water hissing, flame snarling—until they began to twist around a singular point in his palm, flickering violet and purple.

'You're trying to create stability between extreme opposite states of water and fire,' Lord Black muttered, tone wary but intrigued. 'That's not fusion. That's rebellion against natural law… unless you influence it with a Mystic Attribute.'

Ainen looked at the point in his palm. He was using minimal mana, or this waterfall would have ceased to exist.

'I don't need a Mystic Attribute. I want to create and weave the two extremes when I use both Fire and Water domains. I want absolute power to annihilate everything within my range instantly.' Ainen's eyes flickered, the light deep within blazing with intense ambition and an extreme thirst for power.

Because without power, he and those he cared for would be annihilated.

The orb in his hand expanded, transparent yet radiant, blazing with vaporous tendrils that burned cold and froze hot. The temperature around him lost meaning—steam condensed into crystals, and flame dripped like molten water.

'You know, there's a theory in my world called heat death. When all energy in a closed system is evenly distributed, and no work can be performed, a state of maximum entropy is achieved.'

Ainen smiled. 'No temperature difference. No motion. No distinction between fire and water, heat and cold. Everything becomes… still.'

'Eh? But what is in the stillness?'

Ainen smiled faintly, his expression calm yet edged with madness. 'In stillness lies authority. Because when nothing moves… only the one who commands stillness does.'

'It's the state the universe will reach at the end of time,' Ainen continued, his voice quiet, thoughtful. 'No gradients. No flow of heat. No reactions. The end of all motion… and all suffering.'

He looked up at the roaring waterfall, eyes reflecting both flame and frost.

'But if that state can be contained—if I can enforce it within my domain—then everything that enters it will share the same fate. Their energy, their temperature, their motion… all flattened to equilibrium.'

Lord Black's tone trembled with realization. 'So… you'll bring about localized heat death. A field of perfect balance where nothing survives.'

'Yes, and for that, I need to combine both extremes of my SSS-rank Fire and SSS-rank Water—the hot and the cold. The result would surely be a perfect, purple void that annihilates everything. Nothing can survive where all that exists is rendered invalid.'

'A single snap, and I can render all skills useless and erase a person instantly.'

Ainen's eyes glinted. 'If I can do that, do you think I can overpower even those far above my stats and higher ranks?'

'You will have to create such an art first. But anything created by magic can be overwhelmed by magic. However, I can see you becoming unstoppable if you succeed. It would be like, despite having 10,000 Magic Power, you can inflict the damage of 1,000,000 Magic Power because of the art of using your arsenal of magic.'

Lord Black wryly chuckled. 'But you have to succeed first.'

'I will.'

[ The Labyrinth has been reset. ]

An announcement rang out to everyone who was still in the Labyrinth and hadn't returned.

Meanwhile, the 526 Lord-rank powerhouses who were outside entered inside with a singular goal—kill Ainen.

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