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

Tsk, only leveled up once?

Lance looked at his panel and saw that his level had increased from 32 to 33. Since level 30, the experience gained from killing these level 10 or 20 monsters had been pitifully small.

Reaching level 30 unlocks a brand new god-tier class for Lance: the Puppet Master.

One of his talents is [Manipulation], which allows him to remotely control a creature that has no resistance and has been marked. This allows Lance to "divinely descend" upon the expeditionary force in the Starfall Labyrinth and take over their account.

There is another god-like talent, [Mimicry], which Lance would call [Disguise] PLUS version.

It can transform into anything he wants, even mimicking his voice.

For example, you can now say "baby" using a high-pitched, bubbly voice.

However, maintaining the [Mimicry] state consumes a lot of magic power. After level 33, Lance's magic power limit reaches 2200, so he can only maintain it for about an hour.

Lance possesses exceptionally strong professional talent, which is why he did not acquire any professional skills this time.

Let me see where the adventurers are... Glenn?

So this kid was here too. No wonder Bruce only killed so few people.

The main force of the Kru Labyrinth has been sent to fight in the Starfall Labyrinth, leaving behind only some monsters responsible for production.

These adventurers shouldn't have died if they hadn't courted death.

Anyway, Glenn is still here, let them do what they want.

Lance had to go and oversee the other side; the expedition team encountered monsters from the deeper levels on the fourth floor.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"Glen!"

Nia rushed towards Glenn, her voice trembling with tears.

The feeling of surviving a disaster nearly drove this level 15 mage girl to the brink of collapse.

The lord's previous attack had cleaved the adventurer beside her in half at the waist, the blade just centimeters away from her neck.

Glenn patted the girl on the back, then looked at the adventurers in front of him.

They all looked disheveled, sitting against the wall panting heavily, or leaning against the wall, shaking their heads in frustration.

No one expected that the Kru Labyrinth would turn out like this.

On both sides are towering stone walls, and even looking up makes your neck ache, you still can't see the top.

Torches were placed at intervals along the walls, providing ample light.

Most surprisingly, this is not a rugged cave terrain; the walls are covered with neatly repaired, yellowish-brown bricks, showing obvious signs of human intervention.

Moreover, the road ahead was not a straight line, but rather a corridor that visibly turned to the right, and no one knew where this road would lead them.

Ahead lies the unknown depths of the labyrinth, behind lies the ferocious Skeleton Lord; neither path is easy to traverse.

Glenn held Nia in one arm, his gaze sweeping over the remaining adventurers, a total of eight.

An adventurer wearing a horned helmet was on the verge of a breakdown. He kept kicking the wall next to him, gritting his teeth as he tried to vent his frustration.

The adventurers began to groan and complain.

"Why is the lord in the first room?!"

"Who designed this maze?!"

"I can't take it anymore! I'm going to wait for rescue here! I will absolutely not explore any further!"

It's safe here for now, but who knows what might happen if we explore further down.

"Our mission is to defeat the monstrous beast," Glenn said, frowning. "At the very least, we should confirm whether the beast is still in the labyrinth."

"To hell with the quest!" the horned adventurer cursed, his eyes wide. "We almost lost our lives! And you're still thinking about the quest!"

Seth leaned against the wall, arms crossed, and said coldly, "Don't forget that he saved your life by risking his own to hold off the lord."

One sentence shut the adventurer up.

His face flushed red and then turned purple, and finally he hugged his arms and sat down on the ground with a thud.

"I'm going to wait here for guild reinforcements! You guys can go ahead!"

Glenn actually guessed that the Beast of Calamity had already been killed or subdued by the Skeleton King.

But those are monsters that could endanger the world above ground, so at least we need to find Mr. Skeleton to confirm before we can feel at ease.

After a moment's thought, he exchanged a glance with Seth, who was leaning against the wall, and then said:

"Those who want to continue the mission can follow me; those who don't want to continue the mission can wait here for guild reinforcements."

The remaining adventurers began to hesitate.

Nia clung to Glenn's arm and was the first to step out and follow him.

Seth stood beside Glenn without saying a word.

The other three adventurers chose to stay put and wait for reinforcements, together with the adventurer wearing the horned helmet.

Nolan, looking timid, glanced at Glenn and then at the adventurers resting in place.

Just as he was about to join the group waiting for reinforcements, Seth picked him up and carried him on his shoulder.

"Uncle Seth! What are you doing?!" Nolan struggled.

"We need a healer," Seth said calmly. "You'll come with us and explore further in."

"No!!"

......

"Thank you all for trusting me."

Glenn held up the torch and sincerely thanked his teammates.

The four-person team advanced at an extremely slow pace, and after about twenty minutes, they were still faced with a winding corridor.

We did not encounter any monsters.

This allowed the group to relax a little.

Especially at the three-way intersection ahead, there is a sign that says "SAFE".

"It's a safe zone!" Nia pointed excitedly ahead and then jogged off to get there.

"Wait a moment!"

Glenn immediately shouted, and Nia froze in place, her foot raised, like a rusty gear, mechanically turning her head to look at Glenn with a "click-clack" sound.

I was too scared to move and was about to cry.

Nolan was so frightened that he immediately squatted down and covered his head.

"Did you find anything?" Seth immediately nocked an arrow and asked cautiously in a low voice.

Glenn frowned and walked over to Nia, gently patting her shoulder.

"Let me go scout ahead."

After saying that, he patted Nia's back, who was about to cry from fright, to comfort the girl.

The Skeleton King never plays by the rules.

Glenn didn't believe that places with "safe zone" signs were truly safe.

He leaned against the wall and moved forward little by little.

At the corner of the three-way intersection, Glenn peeked out a little to look inside.

Sure enough, a skeleton stood at the corner, holding a large hammer high, ready to smash down at any moment.

The skeleton, regaining its senses, met Glenn's gaze and stared at him for a long time, the silence creating an awkward atmosphere.

half an hour.

The skeleton, with its mouth agape, gave Glenn a thumbs-up, handed the hammer to Glenn, its former colleague, and then ran off with its hands raised high.

"Phew." Glenn breathed a sigh of relief.

He knew it was a trap!

If it had been Nia who had just run over, that hammer probably would have actually hit her.

Let monsters lurk around corners and ambush adventurers who have let their guard down because of the "safe zone".

This is very much like the Skeleton King.

After disarming the "trap," Glenn turned to his companions and said, "Everyone, come on over."

"Waaaaah! Glenn!"

Nia rushed over and hugged Glenn; she had almost been scared to death.

"What did you find?" Seth stroked his goatee, his eyes fixed on Glenn.

"A hammer trap."

How do you know there might be a trap here?

You can't exactly say, "Because I was a beta tester."

He could only explain, "This maze is unusual; I think there might be traps set in places where adventurers are most likely to let their guard down."

Seth gave him a deep look.

"You'd make a great captain."

After he finished speaking, he leaned against the wall of the safe zone and closed his eyes to rest.

"I brought some dried cheese and jerky, anyone want some?"

Nolan opened his backpack, attempting to share his food with his teammates.

He looked at Seth and saw that the goatee-bearded man was ignoring him and standing there with an awkward smile.

"Great! I was actually a little hungry!"

After Nia finished speaking, she looked at Glenn with stars in her eyes, hoping he would agree.

"In that case, let's rest here for a while." Glenn nodded with a smile.

The moment the tablecloth was placed down, the tense atmosphere instantly relaxed.

The group ended up having a picnic in the maze, and the people who weren't very familiar with each other took the opportunity to introduce themselves.

"Nolan, so you're a follower of Caldilon?" Glenn said, somewhat surprised.

The deity who holds the power of "life and death" among the eight gods is said to have established a realm called "Agard" in that plane after ascending to the realm of light.

When a being dies in the material plane, its soul is received by Caldilon into Agard.

For the followers of Calderon, death is the greatest ritual, allowing the soul to ascend to the realm of Calderon and embrace the gods.

But Nolan acted like he was afraid of death; what a fake believer!

"His Holiness the bishop sent me here to hone my courage as an adventurer," Nolan said, somewhat dejected. "He said that with my personality, I could get others killed in a crucial moment."

That's true, but wasn't that bishop a bit too strict with his subordinates?

Glenn offered a few words of comfort, then looked at Seth while holding the jerky.

"Uncle Seth, aren't you going to eat something?"

“No need.” Seth opened his eyes and looked at Glenn. “I want to hear your thoughts on the layout of this maze.”

"I think the maze is like a corridor," Glenn said, drawing circles on the ground layer by layer.

Everyone crowded closer to look at the ground.

"We should be on the outermost layer now. This is a three-way intersection. Going in from the intersection should lead us to the second-level corridor."

"Then the deepest part of the maze is the center, and the lord might be there."

After doing all this, Glenn looked up and found that his three teammates, including Seth, were staring at him with blank expressions.

His eyes widened and his mouth slightly opened.

Realizing he had said too much, he quickly chuckled sheepishly and joked:

"I was just guessing, haha..."

Glenn began to envy Uncle Seth's taciturn personality.