The maze was built starting with the mother skeleton replenishing its magic.

"Let an experienced adventurer take on the role of captain."

Glenn shook his head and pulled his hand out of Nia's arms.

"Let them fight it out, a bunch of snobs," Ethan grumbled as he sat down opposite Glenn. "Maybe the monsters in the labyrinth have already dealt with the calamity."

"Is Mr. Ethan also participating in the mission?"

"I've already paid for this, why should I put in any effort?" Ethan waved his hands repeatedly, ordered a beer from the waiter, and then continued, "Besides, I've already retired."

After he finished speaking, he glanced at Glenn and Nia, who was practically glued to him.

He raised an eyebrow, revealing a suggestive look in his eyes.

"I did pretty well while I was away from Rosstown."

"Mr. Ethan is the one who's really something. He already has two daughters, but after going to Byronden, he brought back a beautiful underage girl. According to the laws of Enneman, having an underage girl means you'll go to jail."

"Sometimes I really hate your mouth," Ethan glared at Glenn. "It's almost as bad as those bards'!"

After a short wait, the beer was served on the table.

Ethan raised his glass and gulped down a few mouthfuls, maintaining the drinking motion while glancing at Glenn across from him.

Then he slowly put the cup down.

"Glenn, if—and I mean if"—he lowered his voice, his tone no longer as flippant as before, "if the calamity beast hadn't died in the labyrinth, and you encountered it, don't hesitate, run! You know what I mean?"

"These are the top adventurers we can find in Ross Town in just a few days."

"But you've seen the horror of that thing with your own eyes; it's definitely not something these incompetent adventurers can handle."

Glenn nodded earnestly: "I know, I'll be careful."

However, even Ethan didn't know that.

In that labyrinth, the truly terrifying things were far more than just monstrous beasts.

I wonder what the Skeleton King has changed the maze to this time.

......

Further south of Ross Town, on the outskirts of the Kru Labyrinth.

There were a total of 24 adventurers, divided into 6 independent teams of 4 members each. The team in charge was led by a level 25 adventurer named Zoro.

He has 10 years of adventurer experience, usually working in the more advanced Starfall Labyrinth.

To be able to work in such a high-risk profession for more than 10 years, one must have exceptional skills.

You either need to be strong, lucky, or have a great ability to escape.

Either way, they are worthy of the position of captain.

Glenn is in Squad 5, whose members are Glenn, who serves as the vanguard and squad leader, and is a level 18 knight.

Nia, a large-breasted girl who likes to cling to Glenn, is a level 15 mage.

Seth, a taciturn, goatee-bearded uncle, a level 17 ranger.

Nolan, a neatly dressed, timid mushroom-headed boy, a level 17 healer.

The main operational guidelines are led by Captain-Commander Zoro, while each squad is commanded in detail by its own squad leader during combat.

Before them lay the collapsed entrance to the maze, with rocks of varying sizes piled up on the only path. The rocks needed to be cleared before the mission officially began.

Zoro, a middle-aged man with a thick beard, squatted at the cave entrance inspecting the pile of fallen rocks. He then stood up and addressed the group:

"The rocks showed no signs of movement, indicating that nothing had come out of the maze during this period."

Having been an adventurer for ten years, he immediately earned everyone's praise for his meticulousness.

Immediately afterwards, Zoro took out a map of the Kru Labyrinth from his backpack, held it up high, and said to everyone again:

"Make sure every squad leader has a map of the Kru Maze."

The team captains all followed suit and held up the maps.

Glenn followed suit, but lowered his voice the moment he raised the map.

"Once we enter the maze, everyone stay close to me. This 36-square maze map is no longer useful."

"Hey!" Nolan said in a panic, "We should have told everyone this information!"

"It's no use." The wandering swordsman, who had been leaning against the tree trunk with his eyes closed, opened them.

He walked slowly to Glenn's side with his arms crossed, looked at him, and then explained:

"No one will believe the words of a novice adventurer."

"Uncle Seth, do you believe me?" Glenn looked at him.

"I don't believe what you're saying," Sasson said, his tone completely flat. "But I believe you don't want to die in this maze, so I'll selectively accept your advice."

"Thank you, that's enough."

"Glenn!" Nia grabbed Glenn's arm and asked curiously, "How did you know the map wasn't working?"

Glenn hesitated for a moment, then explained:

"I visited the Kru Labyrinth a few times before the calamity appeared."

Even when he was lying, his conscience still ached a little.

But you can't exactly say, "Because I was living in this maze for a while."

boom--

During the conversation, a loud explosion was heard.

As the captain, Zoro voluntarily contributed a third-tier magic scroll, blasting away the rubble at the cave entrance to clear a path to the labyrinth.

"Each squad advances in turn. Remember, our mission is to find the Beast of Calamity!"

"Before its mutation, the monstrous beast was a level 30 professional adventurer, and its strength should not be underestimated. Everyone, please don't fall behind! Stay together as much as possible!"

The crowd shouted in unison.

The team's advance order starts with the weakest team, proceeding inwards until they reach the maze stairs.

These teams do not need to fight; once they discover or sense danger, they immediately return and bring intelligence to the main force behind them.

The next team will follow once the darkness has completely engulfed the previous team and no one has escaped.

After the first squad entered safely, it was Glenn's squad's turn to set off.

As the four entered the cave, darkness gradually swallowed the light, with only the torches in their hands providing a faint source of light.

Nia clung tightly to Glenn's right hand, while Nolan, out of fear, pulled on Glenn's clothes from the left, closed his eyes, and followed along.

Seth walked at the very back with a blank expression, ready to retreat immediately should any danger arise.

"I see the line ahead!" Nia pointed ahead.

Generally speaking, you only officially enter the maze after you go down the stairs. The space in front of the stairs is safe, and monsters cannot rush up the stairs.

But this mission involves a calamity beast, not a monster from the labyrinth.

The third and fourth teams followed, and so far the atmosphere has been relatively relaxed.

Only Glenn looked serious.

"What's wrong?" Seth asked, leaning closer.

"The stairs have changed." Glenn frowned.

The staircase has become a spiral!

It rotates downwards in circles; it was clearly a straight ladder before!

Clearly, during his absence, the Skeleton King upgraded the entire maze once again.

After the 24-man squad assembled, Zoro observed them briefly before ordering them to advance downwards together.

The further down I went, the more alarmed I became.

Wasn't the Kru Labyrinth supposed to be a low-level labyrinth composed of the lowest-ranking undead?

What is this in front of me?

The space overhead is enormous, and the distance from the ground to the feet is probably between eleven and nine meters; any of these figures would be reasonable.

Rows of burning torches were placed on the left and right, their orange-yellow light illuminating the dark brown walls, revealing the mysterious patterns on them.

At the very front, a massive gate, so large that one had to crane their neck to see its top, stood imposingly before them.

There are two stone lion statues on the left and right, as well as a signboard.

There were a few lines of human writing on it.

"Kru Maze ↑ Enter from here"

Recommended level: 30 or above

"Watch out, there are vicious dogs inside!"

"SAFE" is the safe zone marker. Monsters will immediately stop attacking when you enter the safe zone.

"This is the safe zone 'SAFE'"

"It's a notice left by adventurers from the past!"

"We recommend a level 30 guide; are we not good enough?"

"The captain is very experienced; let's hear what he has to say."

The adventurers discussed amongst themselves, but finally turned their attention to Zoro, who was deep in thought.

Zoro stood there expressionless.

Having heard that there was an official quest in Ross Town to hunt monsters in the Kru Labyrinth, Zoro eagerly rushed from Byrondin to Ross Town.

He only intended to get a small share of the reward, but... he ended up being the most experienced one!

Zoro was deep in thought at that moment.

How can I tell these people in a dignified way that, given his ten years of experience in escaping, he would advise them to run away in this situation?

"In any case, let's enter the maze first, and then retreat to this area if there is any danger."

Zoro, relying on his intuition, gave the order.

Only Glenn looked at the notice board with a worried expression.

This wasn't left by an adventurer.

It must have been the Skeleton King who did it; he felt increasingly uneasy.

The adventurers worked together to push open the labyrinth gate.

Before me was a huge, plaza-like place, and at the far end of the room, I could see three doors.

At the four corners of the room stood braziers burning with blue flames, which were now slowly burning and emitting white smoke.

In the very center of the room, a skeleton hound covered in armor slowly awoke, with two sword sheaths and a longbow hanging on its body.

They were now watching the adventurers outside the door with predatory eyes.

"This is... the Skeleton Hound, the lord of the Kru Labyrinth!"

An adventurer exclaimed in surprise.

The others immediately looked over, then turned their attention to the skeleton hound.

Generally speaking, shouldn't the lord of a maze be at the deepest part?

Why is it in the first room?!