"Is it over?"

Bella looked over at Michelle, who looked utterly drained from having to fight so many enemies.

Scanning the area, Bella saw a sea of corpses, the remnant of the battle that had likely spanned several hours. Bella shook her head, thinking how ridiculous it sounded. They had survived a confrontation never seen before in her career while working for PentaSoft. It was as though they had single-handedly taken on an entire army.

Even with the help of her abilities, they'd been barely able to hold on and not become overwhelmed.

"I'm afraid to say it's not over," Han, the boy in the new group they had encountered, answered Michelle's question.

With the shaking of the ground and the size of the hallway, Bella felt a shiver run through her body, thinking about what they still had to deal with.

Below their feet, a fierce tremor none like they felt before erupted. Some of the stone pieces popped out of the orderly floor.

Everyone began panicking, trying to understand what was occurring.

"Shiela, what's wrong?" Helen and Abigail were close to their friend.

Bella turned her head towards the girl, remembering the ability Sheila had with sensing her immediate surroundings.

"Something is coming towards us," Shiela trembled as she spoke.

Narrowing her eyes, Bella changed her focus towards the hallway. Even while they were fighting the enemy, Shiela hadn't demonstrated such a level of fear. This put Bella on edge, especially after the intervals of shaking felt by all of them, before and during the battle. "What kind of horrific thing do we have to face this time?"

Once again, the floor shook enough to make them unbalanced.

Leveraging her skills as a Special Operation member, Bella was able to stay on her feet. Cold sweat could be felt running down her back as she reassessed the threat heading towards them.

"We need to leave," Katya's voice broke the silence.

A shiver ran down Bella's body, hearing the words of the spy. "I don't think I've ever heard such fear coming out of that woman's voice," Bella thought to herself.

Looking at her hands, she was startled to notice that she was shaking.

"What happened to the hallway?!" Liam shrieked.

Spinning to look behind her, a feeling of dread washed over Bella. "That can't be possible...," Bella stared at the former location of where they had entered. What now greeted them was a stone wall.

Thoughts raced through her mind, compounded by another shaking of the ground. "I knew things were proceeding too easily," Bella thought to herself, thinking how each battle they encountered was more difficult than the last. Then they stopped running into enemies just before they were able to reunite with their group.

She thought back to her suspicions about the place they found themselves in as being a training area or prison.

"What is this place?" Helen asked in a trembling voice. "It's like this place doesn't want to let us go?"

"It might not," Han voiced his thoughts.

Turning to look at Han, "What do you mean?" Bella asked, understanding that the answer she was about to hear was likely not something that would not be favorable for them.

"Though we were able to tell a little bit to Abigail...," He trailed off. "This place, if it's an actual world, especially where we currently are located, has a sinister purpose." Waving an arm to indicate their surroundings, "From what little we know, this place was designed to contain something evil and malevolent. It's the reason for all the monsters we've encountered."

"You got to be kidding me," Katya cursed at hearing Han's words.

Han shook his head, "I wish it wasn't, though, for us, it's a useful tool for growing stronger."

Abigail turned to face Bella, "They told me that this place is some kind of training area, though they were equally surprised to learn it was an actual world instead of some kind of simulation." Compared to the others, Abigail was able to hold herself together, barely.

"That's right," Han nodded at Abigail's words. He balanced himself as the floor below them shook violently, ever-increasing in intensity, an indication of whatever heading their way was getting closer. "Due to the nature of this place, I believe it's the reason why our escape has been blocked."

"You expect us to fight whatever is coming for us?!" Liam's shrill voice invaded their discussion. "Why aren't we trying to figure out how to get out of this hell?!" As Michelle tried to calm Liam down, he shrugged her off of him, "No! We're going to die if we keep staying in this place! I don't want to die!"

Liam rushed towards where the exit used to exist, touching the wall as though it were an illusion. He began pounding his fists against the wall once he understood it wasn't his imagination.

Bella looked at the boy, not entirely disgusted by his actions. A part of her could empathize with what Liam was going through. "They aren't trained to be able to handle such a terrifying situation," She gripped her hands in an attempt to get them to stop shaking in fear. "Even I'm not trained to handle whatever is coming towards us."

"We'll need to figure something out before...," Jackie, another member of Han's group, voiced out.

Han sighed.

"It looks like he's trying to figure out a solution to this mess," Bella observed the kid. Turning to face her subordinates, "Though I don't know whether we'll be able to handle this crisis, I want us to face this with the same professionalism as we've always performed in the field." Though she was terrified on the inside, Bella knew it was her responsibility to maintain a proper image of a leader.

Olivia nodded her head, "The right with the monsters through this entire time had made us stronger than when we were on those missions, so we may have a chance to beat whatever that thing is."

"That's right!" Cynth said in a determined voice, though her eyes shook a little, betraying her inner feelings.

Before Bella's team could cheer in support, a loud roar was heard, piercing their bodies.

Out of the darkness emerged several legs that crashed into the ground, destroying the stone floor, leaving a crater from the weight of the impact.

As all of them stared at the monster, they were soon introduced to what they would be facing. Aside from the massive size of the thing, they understood why the ground shook to such a degree.

"How the hell are we supposed to beat that? You got to be kidding me." Katya muttered to herself, though her words were loud enough for all of them to hear.

It had eight legs, each one thicker than an elephant's trunk. Instead of having what looked like feet, each one of the legs appeared to have hands with sharp talons at the ends of the fingers. The talons tore up the ground as though it were nothing.

Though the legs were impressive enough to make them fear it, the hide was what had them worried. Instead of being flesh, it was covered in some kind of armor and making it look impenetrable.

Its body was thick and took up nearly the entire hallway, though the size and strength of the monster made it feel as though it wouldn't have difficulty crashing through the walls if it needed to turn.

The upper half of its body was grotesque, a mass of muscles. Connected to the upper part of the body were four thick arms. What attracted their eyes the most of the metal helmet covering its head, an opening available for a thick horn jutting out of its forehead.

"I was wondering what had disturbed those things' rest," It made a guttural sound as though its throat was drenched in mucus. Roaring, it made everything shudder. "Welcome to my Labyrinth. Now prepare to die."