Chapter 124 – Labyrinth’s Heart and Keeper’s Riddle
Chapter 124 – Labyrinth’s Heart and Keeper’s Riddle
“What… what are you doing here? Are you another illusion?”
Cupcake Crab turned slowly, beady eyes twinkling with mischief. Its mouth curled into that infuriating, unmistakable grin. “Heh! Think I’m fake? I could always give you a friendly pinch to prove otherwise… though I charge extra for that service!”
Tyler staggered back, shaking his head violently. “No… I’m convinced. There’s no way an illusion could make a smile that greedy.”
Cupcake Crab snickered, its stubby legs shuffling forward with surprising speed. “Good, good. Saves you a bruise. Why am I here? Ah, same as always — sniffing out treasures! I follow the scent of shiny things, even if it leads me into dusty death mazes.”
Tyler’s shoulders sagged, exhaustion flowing out in a deep exhale. “At least… you have a purpose. I don’t even know if I have one anymore.”
Cupcake Crab tilted its shell slightly, as though scrutinizing him. “Eh? Wasn’t your grand heroic quest to fetch those shiny divine keys? You know, the kind of thing adventurers brag about in taverns?”
Tyler’s voice trembled, bitterness seeping through every word. “I don’t even know if that was my true purpose. I thought it was… but all it’s done is bring destruction to this world. Even if I manage to collect all the keys and somehow go back to my world… will I really be happy? What would be left of me? When I try to fix things, I only break them more.”
Cupcake Crab paused, its eyes narrowing with something almost like sadness. Then it suddenly straightened up. “Hmph! You say you break everything, but look around — the folks in Shindo, Ashbo– uhmm, Dustville, even those crazy Zephryn worshippers. You think they smiled by accident? That wasn’t luck, dummy. That was you.”
Tyler’s head drooped even lower. His fingers twitched helplessly at his sides. “I don’t know… I’m completely lost. Lost in this labyrinth… lost in life. When Milo was with me, he would always double-check our path. He always worried whether we were heading the right way. I just followed him, even if it was blindly at times. But today… after seeing him again, I don’t want to fight anymore. I don’t want to move anymore. Maybe… maybe I should have just died there instead of being saved by that cursed rotating wall.”
Cupcake Crab fell silent. The corridor felt even colder, the torches flickering with a brittle, uncertain light. Then the crab clicked its claws sharply. “Listen here — you’ve still got debts to pay, promises to keep, and big old messes to clean up. If you bail now, every tear, every scream, every laugh… all of it? Worthless. You really wanna bankrupt all that effort?”
Tyler swallowed hard, his throat dry as the dunes outside. His eyes trembled, a distant spark flickering inside them, though the rest of his face was etched in exhaustion. The crab stepped forward, bobbing its shell, leading the way.
Tyler followed, head bowed, each step echoing like a funeral drumbeat. The narrow corridor twisted, torches painting dancing shadows that flickered across the cracked walls.
Finally, Tyler lifted his gaze slightly. “By the way… how do you know all these paths? You walk like you know every corner.”
Cupcake Crab paused, scratching at its shell with a claw. “Me? Know the path? Bah! I wander like a drunk crab at a beach party. Or so I tell myself… Hah!”
Tyler scoffed, voice flat. “Don’t lie. Your steps… they’re too confident. We haven’t hit a single trap or obstacle since I started following you.”
The crab burst out laughing, its tiny legs tapping a quick rhythm. “Hehe! It’s just my legendary merchant’s intuition! Spend enough years running from angry customers and you learn where not to step, trust me.”
Without warning, Cupcake Crab dashed forward, scuttling into a narrow side passage. Tyler blinked, then instinctively followed, feeling that tiny spark in his chest urging him onward.
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He stumbled around the corner — and froze.
A dead end.
He looked around, eyes darting, but Cupcake Crab was nowhere in sight. Only the silent stone and shifting torchlight answered him. He sighed deeply, placing both hands on the wall before him. His breath came out in ragged bursts.
“Where did he go? Even last time he— “
Click.
An ominous rumble rose from deep beneath his feet. The walls around him shivered, then began to descend, grinding downward with the sound of mountains splitting open. Dust and sand poured like waterfalls, swirling in thick clouds.
As the ground settled, an enormous open arena revealed itself under a cold, eerie glow. In the centre stood a singular structure that dwarfed even the tallest towers Tyler had seen.
A giant statue rose from the shifting dust — a colossal creature with the body of a lion and the face of a regal human. Its massive paws, each claw larger than Tyler’s entire body, were etched with curling labyrinthine symbols. The face was serene yet ancient, as if carved with the knowledge of countless ages. A golden headdress crowned its head, cracked and weathered from centuries of solitude. Strange inscriptions twisted around its base in a language Tyler couldn’t decipher. A palpable aura of quiet authority radiated outward, pressing against his skin like an invisible tide.
Tyler stepped forward cautiously. As he drew near, the statue’s eyes slowly opened, revealing brilliant golden orbs that gleamed like two distant suns. Its mouth creaked open, sand spilling from the cracks between its ancient stone teeth. Then, a booming voice reverberated through the entire arena.
[I am the Labyrinth Keeper, Guardian of the Shifting Echoes. To pass through this sacred passage and challenge the Sovereign of the Shifting Sands, you must first answer my riddle and prove your worth.]
Tyler’s throat constricted. Another test… another trial… when will it ever end?
The Keeper continued, voice rolling like thunder across a stormy sea.
[I devour all things: birds, beasts, trees, flowers. I gnaw iron, bite steel, grind hard stones to dust. I slay kings, ruin towns, and beat high mountains down. What am I?]
Tyler’s brow furrowed. His mind scrambled through memories — old lessons, long-forgotten riddles. His fingers twitched at his sides. Then, his lips parted, and he spoke the first guess that slipped out.
“Day and night1...?”
A heavy silence.
Then the Keeper’s voice boomed, each word an earthquake shaking Tyler’s bones.
[Incorrect.]
“What the— but last time it worked— “
A violent tremor ripped through the ground. Cracks splintered outward from beneath the statue, and with a deafening roar, the Keeper began to rise. Massive paws shifted into clawed arms, its elegant lion body twisted upright, stone groaning as it took on a towering bipedal shape. Segmented plates slid across its form, fusing into a thick, armoured torso. Heavy arms crashed into the ground, scattering sand and debris in explosive waves. Its new eyes glowed even brighter, feral and unyielding.
Tyler staggered back. Another monster… another fight I never wanted.
The Keeper’s new form loomed over him, at least fifteen times his height, an immense colossus of chiselled stone and living sand. With another thunderous growl, it raised one massive arm and slammed it downward.
Tyler darted aside, the arm smashing into the ground beside him, leaving a crater large enough to swallow a wagon.
[Enemy Identified: Labyrinth Keeper, Level 80]
The system message flickered before his eyes. Tyler’s teeth ground together.
“There’s no end to violence… no matter how hard I try to run, it always finds me.”
He gripped his swords, blood still dripping down his wrists. His eyes burned with a mix of sorrow and rage. He stepped forward and roared, activating his skill.
[Activated Skill: Berserk]
Red energy crackled along his arms as he hurled himself at the Keeper. His blades bit into its torso again and again, sparks flying, stone cracking beneath each furious swing. Cracks spread across its chest, winding like lightning bolts.
Tyler’s mind screamed: Why… why must I always solve everything with a blade? Why does every answer lead here?
With a final, desperate cry, he drove both swords into the Keeper’s chest. The cracks widened, dust and sand spewing outward as its form crumbled. The colossal golem shuddered, its stone features sagging, before finally exploding into a cloud of sand and broken fragments.
Tyler staggered back, dragging his swords behind him, gasping for air. He started to sheath one blade.
Then —
That voice. Low, endless, echoing from every grain of sand.
[I devour all things… What am I?]
Tyler’s eyes snapped open wide.
From the swirling cloud, the Keeper began to reassemble. Stone fragments zipped through the air, fusing together like living puzzle pieces. Its shape rose taller, denser — a new monstrous form.
[Enemy Identified: Labyrinth Keeper, Level 160]
The new form glared down at Tyler, its golden eyes shining brighter than ever.
Tyler tightened his grip, his knuckles pale beneath the grime.
Again… always again…
He inhaled sharply, standing alone in the dust storm, staring at the reborn colossus. Even now — even as despair scraped at his bones — a thin, defiant fire sparked in his chest.
Forward… only forward.
1: This is a reference to my first work of fiction, 'Trapped in the Hybridverse', which was the first version of this novel. It can be read on Reddit.