All six of these stone gates had animal symbols on them. On the three that were already open - there was a bear, a wolf, and an owl. As for the others that remained closed, there was a deer, an ape, and a buffalo. Other than that, no one in the group could discern anything special about the doors.

They also tried to walk through the open gates. However, as the bandit had mentioned, an invisible barrier blocked their way. As for the closed doors, no matter how hard they pushed, they wouldn’t budge.

“It seems like only the people who opened it might be able to cross it.” Red said.

“So, if we want to continue, we need to open a gate of our own?” Reinhart examined the doors.

“That’s probably the case.” the boy nodded.

Rog scratched his beard in thought. “Do you think that key we got can open one of these doors?”

“I don’t see any keyholes.” Rimold shook his head. “But maybe it works in some other mysterious way.”

The hunter nodded and took the key out of his bag. Before he could bring it forward, though, Allen pulled at his sleeve.

“Wait!” the young master called to him in a concerned voice.

“Hm, what is it?” Rog looked at the boy in surprise.

“What about Narcha and Eiwin? Shouldn’t we wait for them here?”

The hunter hesitated at his words. “… They entered this place earlier than us, so they might be already far ahead of us.”

“But what if they’re still behind us?” Allen didn’t seem assuaged. “A-And what if they get stuck here without a way to move forward? Wouldn’t that be bad?”

Rog struggled with how to respond. Rimold, however, didn’t have the same problem.

“We can’t afford to wait here, young master.” the rogue said. “We don’t know if there’s a time limit to this trial, or if the labyrinth might change again. Besides, we’re not even sure if our companions’ path intersects with ours. For all we know, they might be in a different section of the maze, and even if we wait here, we might never meet each other.”

Allen lowered his head in dismay. “I-I understand that, but still… Isn’t there something we can do at least?”

“We can leave a message.” Red said, catching their attention.

“A message?” the young master looked at the boy in surprise.

“Indeed.” the boy nodded. “We can carve a message on stone only our companions might understand. It might not help us find each other, but it can at least make them aware we’re also inside this labyrinth.”

“That’s smart!” Allen nodded with eagerness. He looked over at Rimold. “So, can we do that?”

Rimold frowned, but still nodded at the end. “I suppose there’s no harm.”

…

A few minutes later, Allen had carved a message in the chamber’s entrance using a dagger, according to Rimold’s instructions. The message read: “Your friend Gor was here”.

“Isn’t this a bit too obvious?” Red asked with a frown.

“It’s the only thing I could come up with on the fly!” Rimold glared at him. “Unless you have some better ideas?!”

“I suppose not.” the boy shook his head.

Suddenly, clapping noises came from the other side of the room. It was coming from Reinhart.

The knight seemed annoyed by the wait. “I’m glad you sorted this message thing out, but must I remind you we’re in the middle of something important here? Can we get back to the door thing?”

The entire group stared at Reinhart in annoyance, but the man didn’t seem to mind.

Finally, Rog nodded. He handed the key to Rimold. “Go see if something happens with the key.”

The rogue nodded. “Which door should I try?”

Reinhart was the one to respond. “We got this from a couple of deers, right? Why not try the deer door first?”

Rimold frowned. “That deer symbol on the door looks nothing like the fireleaf deer we fought.”

“Hey, it’s just a suggestion.” the knight shrugged. “Might as well begin with it, right?”

The rogue continued to glare at the man, but offered no rebuke. In the end, he did as Reinhart had suggested and approached the deer door. First, he tried raising the key in front of the gate, hoping for some kind of reaction.

Nothing happened, though.

Rimold wasn’t frustrated, though, and continued to try other things. Finally, when he used the key to touch the door, something happened. A faint red light came from the deer symbol, and the double door started to move.

The rogue stepped back in alarm. However, he smiled once he saw the gate opening. “I suppose that wor- AGH!”

The man screamed, shaking his hand in pain. The rest of the group saw that the key Rimold had just been holding was in the process of melting. Before they could even do anything about it, the item had already completely dissolved into a small molten puddle.

The rogue hissed, holding his palm in pain. He looked over at the dissolved key. “… I suppose that’s a one time use only.”

The group looked back at the door, which had finished opening. Beyond the opening, they saw another well-lit stone corridor, identical to the ones they had been walking in earlier.

Reinhart whistled once he saw the door open. “So, do you think all of us can walk through it?”

Rog frowned with a troubled expression. He looked over at the rogue. “Rimold, you walk in first.”

“Why me?” Rimold looked indignant.

“I have to look after him, of course.” Rog said, pointing his bow at Reinhart.

The knight just smiled in response.

Rimold grumbled to himself. “Bah, fine!”

The man walked ahead with careful steps. He hesitated to walk through the gate once he reached the threshold. However, with the hunter’s prompting, he finally walked through.

To Rimold’s relief, nothing happened after stepping through the gate, and the man found himself inside the corridor like normal.

Rog nodded in satisfaction at the sight, and pointed at Reinhart. “You go next.”

The knight didn’t protest and also walked over to the door. He also passed through the gate with no issues.

The hunter nodded again and looked over at Red and Allen. “Now for the rest of us.”

The boys nodded and followed behind Rog. They also managed to step through the gate with no problems. Now, the group found themselves back in the familiar labyrinth environment.

“So that’s it?” Rimold frowned. “Just another corridor?”

“Shouldn’t you be thankful for it?” Reinhart asked with a laugh. “Either way, we should continue exploring to see if that’s really everything.”

The group agreed with his suggestion, and the man led the way once more while under Rog’s watchful eye. However, it took them less than a minute to notice something strange.

Reinhart looked at the wall ahead of him. “This is… A dead-end?”

Indeed, there was nothing ahead of them other than a stone wall.

“Wait, is that it?” Rimold looked at the wall wide-eyed. “Don’t tell me that we picked the wrong door!”

“That can’t be it.” Rog shook his head. “There’s no way that a trial would-”

Before the hunter could finish his words, they saw a red energy spread around them. Then, all of a sudden, the group was teleported away one by one.

Red felt a strange energy entering his body as the teleportation took him last.

‘What is-’

…

The world twisted around the boy, and a few seconds later, he found himself in a completely new environment. The first thing he felt was the familiar feeling of leaves and dirt beneath his feet.

‘We’re in the forest again.’

Red’s eyes slowly adapted, and he was able to confirm his guess. His surroundings were thick with trees and vegetation. Yet, his vision was limited as the boy noticed it was the middle of the night.

‘Wait, the moon!’

The youth looked up, searching for the bright disk in the night sky. He found it past the tree canopy, but the lunar gaze did not come with it. This once more reinforced Red’s hypothesis that they were being teleported to some kind of fake world instead of the real one.

“Red, Rimold, we’re here!” a familiar voice called out from nearby, catching the boy’s attention.

‘Allen.’

Red turned around and made his way to the sounds. A few seconds later, he could spot the light of a torch, and his crimson sense also picked up on the fluctuation of his companions. From another direction, Red also sensed Rimold approaching their location.

The both of them made sure to make their presence known, lest they be shot by accident by Rog. The hunter was standing with his bow at the ready, while Allen remained by his side and Reinhart was looking into the darkness of the forest.

“So, we’re all here?” Rimold asked once he reached their location.

“Should be.” Rog nodded. “Looks like we’ve been teleported again.”

“Does that mean there’s another monster for us to kill?” Red asked.

The hunter shrugged. “Probably.”

Reinhart, who had been examining their surroundings, whistled to catch their attention. “There’s something in the distance.”

The group looked over in the direction the knight pointed and they were able to see it, too. The flickering of light through the trees a fair distance away from their location.

Rimold frowned. “Is that… Fire?”

“I-Is it another of those fireleaf deers?” Allen asked with concern.

“That would certainly be the best-case scenario for us.” Reinhart said with a smile. “Either way, we won’t find out by staying still, will we?”

Rog nodded at the knight. “Put out the torch and lead the way. We’ll try to sneak up on whatever is waiting for us.”

Reinhart followed his instructions, and the group was soon on their way.

To their surprise, the light seemed to be even farther away than they first thought. They continued to walk towards it for almost five minutes, and the orange-red glow continued to increase in their field of view. Only when they got within a few hundred meters of the light that they could tell what was happening.

“I-It really is fire!” Allen exclaimed.

It wasn’t just a bit of fire, however. It was a raging inferno that had begun to spread throughout this small part of the forest. Trees and vegetation were burning to ashes, and they could barely see anything through the smoke and roaring fire.

“Wait.” Rog called them to stop.

“What is it?” Rimold looked at the man in concern.

“… I hear something.” the hunter frowned in focus. “It’s almost like… Like a-”

“Like a thumping sound.” Reinhart finished his sentence for him.

Allen seemed even more fearful at their words. “What do you mean by-”

Suddenly, a deafening bellow drowned out their voices. From within the flames, they heard the sounds of tree trunks shattering, and the thumping noise Rog and Reinhart had heard started to become louder.

“It’s coming our way!” Rog screamed and pulled Allen back.

The entire group retreated with no hesitation. The noises, however, continued to approach them. Mere moments later, Red felt a fluctuation enter his detection range.

His blood ran cold.

The youth shouted at his companions. “It’s in the Lesser Ring Realm!”

The only response to his words was a quickening in their steps.

Another bellow sounded, and the group could hear the creature approaching them. Red looked behind himself, and he saw a glimpse of the creature.

An enormous stag was trotting in their direction. Its antlers were ablaze with fire. In fact, the fire seemed to only be increasing in intensity.

“Dodge!” Rog’s screams came, spurring the group into action.

Red didn’t hesitate and threw himself to the ground.

Suddenly, a shrill sound came from behind them.

Then, the world became an inferno.