Author's note: Sorry for the late release, chapter 9....... comments and suggestions are welcome.

Perdulin's Labyrinth, Therom Kingdom

Kim: " Tsk.... this is starting to get on my nerves.

Centor: " I told you before, this isn't going to be a walk in the park and one more thing, could you atleast try not to pull so hard on my feathers, its really starting to hurt.

Kim: " What can I do? If I don't grab hold of it like this, I'm definitely gonna fall off.... Wait how about.....here....

Centor: " hyakk!!! your choking me!!! let go!!! uhg.... my neck.....

Kim: " fine, just keep on running... we're almost there.

Centor: " If we keep up with this pace, we'll arrive in our destination soon.... but..... what will we do about them?

Kim: " I'll think of something, dodge!!!

Centor: " Waaa!!! woah..... ok that was a little bit too close for comfort.

Kim: " Their numbers just keep on increasing, we didn't encounter this much monsters the last time.

Centor: " Should we stop and take care of them?

Kim: " No, if we fight them now, we will be overwhelmed by their numbers. If I knew this would happen I would have brought along Athen with us.

Centor: " Not having a rear guard sure is difficult..... how long do these werewolves plan on going after us anyway.

Kim: " I'm not sure myself..... Hyaaaa!!! Take this!!! ugh!!!

werewolf: " Grrrr.....Growl.....

Kim: " Damn it!!! there's just too many of them.

After entering the labyrinth, both Kim and Centor was met with a staggering amount of enemies welcoming them with open arms. The monsters were a lot more fierce and didn't care about who they fought against. Even though Kim and Centor's combat potential was higher, the number of monster just keep on increasing. Thinking about the situation carefully, Kim decided to make a run for it. But since the labyrinth was filled to the brim with enemies, it was hard to navigate their way towards the third level.

Currently, they are both being chased by close to a thousand monsters aiming for their lives. The labyrinth itself was like doing everything it can to kill them.

Kim: " Something is definitely wrong in this situation, all of this is unnatural.

Centor: " What do you mean by that?

Kim: " The labyrinth and all the monsters inside it is giving off tremendous amounts of killing intent. This wasn't the case when we first entered here a few days ago. There is something happening here, but I dont know exactly what.

Centor: " I'm sure whatever that is....... its the least of our problems, we are running out of options here. I can't run like this forever, sooner or later they will catch up to us. what's the plan of action? you do know we can't go back the way we came.

Centor looked behind them while running, and saw that they were still being chased. Kim nodded in agreement and spoke.

Kim: " If all goes bad, I want you to leave me here and run for the exit.

Centor: " you cheeky brat! you dragged me into this place telling me you just needed to retrieve something, but now we are trapped like mice, do you think I have any chance of surviving this alone even if I leave you here!

Kim: " What else can we do then?

Centor: " Enough!!! just focus on repelling their attacks. I can't believe Mistress puts you in high regard, your just a spoiled brat. Do you even think the Mistress will forgive me if something happens to you.

Kim: " Aria doesn't care about anyone!!! she's just a psychopathic killer, If she didn't make me kill those men telling me its alright, we wouldn't be in this situation. Lotte's husband is dead because I killed him! But then she goes around bringing us to the woman's house. I mean, what kind of a sick person does that! Lotte is kind and I could tell she loves her husband, but then we killed him.

Centor: " Ahahaha, you really are just a spoiled brat! did you ever try to stop and think of the reason why the mistress wanted them dead? did you?

Kim: " Dont talk to me about shit! what reason is there? huh? tell me! why did those men have to die? and since we're in the subject of reasoning, tell me the reason why she killed my Father!!! tell me!!! tell me you stupid bird!!!

Centor: " you father is alive.......

Kim: " Huh?!

Centor: " whats wrong? cat got your tongue.

Kim: " what did you mean by that.... tell me.....

Centor: " Even if I tell you, that wont do you any good if we both die here. for now think of a way out of this situation, I know i'm gonna die eventually but I dont plan on doing it like this. tell me, the mistress has been teaching you everything she knows. use that knowledge and find us a way out of this deadlock.

Kim: " I'll try....

Brought about by the sudden revelation, Kim now had all the reason she needed to stay alive and escape. Thinking of ways to solve the problem closely approaching from behind.

The labyrinth wasn't just a large cave, it had structures built inside it, like a small city, other parts of it were lined with roads and the ceiling went up high as a hundred feet, other parts had a maze which was visible upon entering the second level as each person went further down coming from the elevated entrance which looked like a fortress from behind them.

Still running from their pursuers, Kim saw an advantageous position which they could use after remembering what she was taught.

[ Aria: " Remember this young Padawan, the force is always with you.... but infront of a large number of enemies. ]

[ It is wise to run away to be able to fight another day. ]

[ however, if running away is not an option there is only one way. ]

[ and that way is only one way. ]

Kim: " ??? what the hell, at first I didn't understand what she was rambling about, but now I finally have an idea.

Centor: " ok, i'm all ears...

Kim: " Head over to that bridge on our left. that will give us time for you to regain your stamina. It will be easier to defend even if its just me, I wont have trouble with monster's attacking from behind, Isolating them in one direction, their numbers will be rendered useless.

After crossing the bridge, Kim dismounted from Centor, and prepared to fight the incoming legion. Centor collapsed where he stood and watched Kim while drawing heavy breathes.

Centor: " I'm leaving it to you... give me ten minutes, and I'll be able to run again. ( panting )

Kim: " Dont worry, If things go our way, I can fight them all for more than an hour. Rest up...

Centor: " If you say so, dont blame me if I ended up sleeping.

The bridge was made of stone, crossing the distance of about 250 meters from both sides. the width was roughly 45 feet, giving a lot of space for people to move around, below it was an endless pit, or rather you can't see what was underneath.

Standing in the middle Kim readied her stance, took a deep breath, and started to condence mana into her sword. Her blade began to light up as more mana was being pooled into it, and just as the first wave of monster's have started crossing over to their location, She unleashed her blade's fury.

Kim: " フライング剣 Flying Swords " Immediately ethereal blades started appearing out of thin air, a total of 30 was hovering around her.

She charged at the first wave of enemies, pulling her blade from the side and swinging it towards the direction of the enemy, 10 blades followed suit and shot forward, Piercing the first group and killed 6 werewolves instantly.

Some monsters tried to surround her, but the moment they tried. Kim used the second form of her stance.

Kim: " 咲く蓮 Blooming Lotus " the ethereal blades converged into her location and rotated around her before fanning out, slicing the poor monsters in half. 20 died helplessly.

The blood from the monsters had now covered the bridge in red, The werewolves were not fazed from seeing their kin die in less than 2 seconds. Instead they kept on charging forward like a group of mindless lunatics.

faced with more and more enemies, Kim used the third form of her stance.

Kim: " ブレード聖域 Blade Sanctuary! " the ethereal blades now begun circling around her, as she ran towards the group, the monsters fell without her even lifting a finger. whenever she approached a target, the blades surrounding her would mercilessly slice off anyone that comes within a radius of 10 meters. those that managed an opportunity to get through was then met with the edge of her katana, it was a one sided slaughter.

Other monsters fell to their doom when they were knocked off. and on the bridge, dead corpses piled up on top of one another, before slowly turning into dark mana crystals.

Kim: " hyaaa!!! Raaa!!! ( tsk... i need to hold out for as long as possible. )

The battle continued without any sign of improvement, the monsters came in waves, slowly withering her strength away. No matter how many she killed, they would be replaced by two or more.

Control of 30 blades was her limit, It put a large strain on her body and required her to keep on channeling mana outwardly. feeling as though she was close to her exhaustion, she called out back to Centor.

Kim: " Centor!!! we're leaving " she then ran back towards her companion, after launching all 30 blades to the monsters infront of her, giving her time to retreat.

seeing this, Centor stood up, and the moment Kim jumped on his back, he Immediately ran like the wind. quickly putting distance between them and their pursuer's.

Centor: " not bad.... 1 hour and 15 minutes. "

Kim: " Shut it! I need to get back my strength as quickly as possible, I need to meditate in this awkward position, the least you can do is give me some peace and quiet. ( panting )

Centor: " sure... I've rested quite a bit, they'll have trouble keeping up with me for the time being, its your turn to take some much needed rest, this thing is far from over... still, why is there so many of them..... I have a bad feeling about this.

The black Gallus's feathers fluttered in the wind as he ran as fast as his feet can manage, avoiding other monsters that block their path. Making his way towards the third level of the labyrinth while carrying the girl on his back.

Thoughts of escaping was the only thing going on in his mind, as he took heavy steps while pushing dust from underneath.

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" chapter end

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