My hand brushes over the rough texture of the stone walls as I walk through the many twisting hallways. The makeshift structure probably only holds because it was made to trap me with smaller areas rather than one big one... in other words, they were busy dealing with the Tepet army and hadn't had time to deal with me orderly... this much is good information.

I can in no way say that I enjoy mazes. Whether it be entertainment or harassment. The spider clan, which harassed people with their food, had another horrible habit for messing with guests from other clans... all walls and furniture in their homes would change place overnight, basically creating a maze for you since no servants would go near your room in the morning. Because of their sneaky ways you'd risk being late, and of course they'd actually lie about having changed the area... it is an entire clan filled with failures that only knows how to do disagreeable things and gather information. If the emperor didn't hold his hand over them, they'd be eradicated by everyone they didn't have blackmail on...

I grit my teeth and shake off the memories... especially that of Kenta falling in love with a woman from said clan...

The rush from the song is gone. The sense of the ancestors' connections have faded, and I'm left in this dark mess of a prison. I've four spells left. One of which must be used to heal the injured...

I can activate the spells to climb walls again, but I'll be unarmed... but if I don't, I'll be stuck in their prison... it will take two spells... but more importantly... if I meet enemies in here, what do I do? I could throw a floodwave at them... but without a weapon to finish them off, I'll be helpless... no matter how I look at it, I won't have enough spells to make it out on my own. I simply don't have the power or the endurance... I am most likely going to die in here alone.

Of the three families in our clan, I always admired those who became the main force of soldiers rather than the commanders. They were... more beautiful than anything I'd seen. They were so close with their ancestors that it felt like you could see them overlap during a charge. Still... it was far from only the battlefield where they showed their immense courage. It was said that when a man wielding the dark arts tortured one, she refused to give in, and died on a pole refusing to even scream. Those are the people we grow up to admire... people filled with so much life force that it not just overwhelms you, but want to follow along.

I want that courage right now, for I am beginning to fear what view I would be met with on the other side.

"Clear."

I freeze up at the sound of a voice from one of the bends ahead... what to do? What do I know about their magic? Do they have to see where they place the wall? How precisely put are their walls? I know it takes but an instant to cast...

I look around and find a side path to step into, as adrenaline begins to rush through my body again. If I fight here, I risk being trapped for good... still... as I concluded, without a sword I'm helpless... if I use the enhancements and summon a sword, climbing will be nigh impossible, but I should be able to get past them.

I usually never whisper my spells, but I am hardly left with any options. I need at least half a minute before I'm ready to take them on. Lumere looks somewhat dissatisfied at the whispering, but appears to accept it as I increase the prayer length and formality. Enhancements done... sword summoned... now... there's only one thing left...

I note the pathway I was on before go bright, and step out. I've but an instant before they start casting magic, so cut one and move past them when they hesitate appears to be the optimal solution. I've only one spell left. One spell that I need to save. I set into a dash as the following words reach me:

"In the name of the crown pri-, surrender!"

I force him to cut the formalities short as I simply continue. This is not a negotiation, and you will not have a negotiation while having me trapped in a labyrinth! Not even if you are five guys and have me outnumbered and terrain advantage!

I'm just about to reach him when his pall pulls the guy back and swings a sword at my head with a "Told you!" Unlike the guy before, this one fully strikes with an intent to kill and without hesitance as he positions his friend to block my way through them, while I try to slide to a halt and lean down to the side before his spear like strike pierced my head. He's clearly a veteran, and I just barely manage to squirm out of the way without getting my head ripped apart... but the same cannot be said for my helmet. The thin vertical bars that made the view part of the helmet are torn apart from the side and have twirled like noodles at being set free, going both in and out of the helmet. Part of the jaw protection is ripping at my skin as it was forced in... my view is obstructed, and the bars are, if anything, a danger to my sight. I know immediately that he's one of those covering his weapon with magic. Otherwise he wouldn't be able to cause this sort of damage to the armor.

I move back just a bit and immediately use a hand to loosen the helmet. The enemy doesn't waste a moment on letting me do this, and instead charges me while a wall appears behind me. The situation is not in my favor though. I don't have proper room to use the nodachi.

I rip my helmet off as the next strike comes at me without mercy, and though I try to side step him, he instead bashes me roughly with his shield... much to his dismay, that one attack is far from enough to get me off my feet. My cheek stings from the cut metal just now, but more importantly... I get ready... the best think about longswords is that they can be used as makeshift short spears. A nodachi is... not quite suited for it, but it's acceptable... I charge in again, in what looks like a headless attack... but I can see hesitance in their eyes... I never meant to hit, so I only spear through the guy standing in front with his shield ready, piercing it with an awkward upwards cut, like stabbing a sweet potato with a knife not meant for it.

The sword easily pierces the shield, but not just that. Judging from the man's scream, I hit his arm as well... and as I spear in further... I place myself in an incredibly vulnerable position... right up against their makeshift shield wall. Even though my sword has gone through the guy's chest... even though I've pushed him back my at least a meter just by raw force... it was not an encounter I was set to win... at least not without injuries... searing pain fill my side as one sword finds a gap in my armor right behind the arm, and the other one swings at my armor, clearly making a deep cut into the armor, though thankfully only grazes my thigh. The two others get ready for a killing strike as well, or rather... one does... the other grasp the guy I hit and tries to undo the shield from his arm to split us apart... I don't intend to wait...

I pull the sword back with an exaggerated step back, and force my way into the gap. As I lower down into a run I feel one last singe down my back like a shiver of cold sweat. All thinking I would turn around and try to strike at their backs, they hesitate but a moment too long to block my way, and I escape into a side path. A wall did appear in front of me, but it was off by about half a meter to block off the exit properly... and with this I learn something important about their magic. The faeries do not aim it for them like the gods do for us. I am more thankful for this fact than I will say out loud to anyone but Lumere.

I dash down a few more paths at a reasonable place to conserve my energy until I get outside... but at this point I'm lost in the maze. I don't know what direction is north anymore, and I don't know where I am compared to where I started...

—-*—-

...the enhancements ran out again... I can hear voices nearby, but I'm out of speed... yet, I need to go out. I need to get back.

I need to regroup with everyone else... still... my legs are stiff again... sprinting and running around like this isn't my forte... but... for me to get exhausted twice... we must have been going at it for quite a while... just how big did this thing get? Are they adding more?

If nothing else, I am pretty sure I am on the ground floor. The ground here is a bit slippery. The wall magic doesn't affect water or mud, so the ground here must be natural. It's an odd specification, but it's probably just as how they cannot affect ice with their water magic...

I follow the voices cautiously in hope of finding an exit... and I do... finally... hints of light stream from an opening outside, and I see the midday sun fill the opening, which is guarded by a couple of enemy men-at-arms... needless to say I take the risk. Staying in here won't change anything. Hiding or refusing to move will get the story nowhere. If you do not move, your story will not be born or remembered. At least as nothing more than as the punchline of a joke. Live, and make your story beautiful and vivid. Live a life your future children will tell with pride.

I charge into the light, and for the first time in hours, get a sense of where I am as I easily cut through the first one... I am easily more than a hundred meters away from the front line... in enemy territory... I'm almost entirely near the northern cliff side, and nothing blue nor earthern appears in sight... no matter how prideful I am I know that I will never get back through all of those soldiers alive. I don't have the energy left to run through a hundred men that want me dead and get through it alive in any way. I turn around and look instead at the enemy ranks. Even with the injury from earlier, I can still... I can still do one last thing. If I can find the enemy officer, I can cripple their command chain just for a moment. Remove just a single capable commander.

I can manage that before I return. Even among the screams of warnings, I can manage to do this. See, there's an army officer right over there... do I blast them all? No, if I blast, should I blast back to the Tepet front line? No, it would only make it about the tenth of the way... I take a breath and focus on the desperate and flustered young guy coming towards me... another normal soldier... I know I'm surrounded in an instant, so I move up towards the cliff by side stepping the kid and summon the remaining strength as adrenaline rushes through me once more and numbs out the pain and the thoughts clawing at the back of my mind...

I wonder how my former lord died... if it was like this... was it an honorable, or a pitiful death. Brave, or foolish?

A wall of shields link together in front of me and while I cut down in one side, it encircles me on the other. Searing and chilling pains prick at my body as I try to force my way through their shield line, only to be surrounded by a new one... my armor turns red... an... unpleasant color... As someone from the lion clan, there is a very important saying in war. Stay with your pride. No matter how strong you are in your own, only together we can win.

When a spear finally forces its way into my inner thigh, I stop moving... my legs stop listening... and yet... they all look as though I'm a terrifying beast they need to keep at a distance... a few shadows in front of me move closer... only to be met with magically enhanced shields appearing behind me.

For a moment I thought they had an argument whether to kill me or not, but as I look up to one side I take note of the Tepet Crest on his armor, and the Celeste Crest on a brooch on the other guy. A pair of sharp green eyes glance down to me for a moment through his helmet... when I glance behind me, the ground is covered with spikes all the way back to the Tepet frontline... but the front line itself hasn't moved... the only ones here is Asher, and Lionel.