A Story of Evil

Chapter 21: The Maze I

Sol was on top of a tall tree. His enemies that time were [Harpies] which was a lot of trouble for him. He didn't know how to use a bow and arrow; making the challenge even more difficult than it already was.

"Kwaaa Keeee Kraaaaa" Sol didn't understand harpy language. All he knew that whatever was being said at that moment was bad news for him. Especially because his opponents were very well coordinated.

They hunted everything they could see. If Sol hid for too long, they would simply attack the whole terrain until he was forced to come out. He learned this the hard way a few minutes into the fight; getting one of his arms heavily injured.

"Just a few seconds now."

"KRAAAA!" As soon as the lead harpy screamed, Sol threw a piece of cloth in the air while jumping off the tree.

An explosion immediately came, catching most of the harpies on fire. A lot of them also died in the process while those that survived immediately went for Sol.

"That's it. Keep on coming."

Sol slid into a thicker group of trees which obscured the vision of the monsters. A similar shout was immediately made by the lead harpy and, Sol threw the same item to the sky. Exploding right away and as it did, Sol threw the two remaining copies of it into the sky catching the initial explosion which killed off the remainder of the harpies.

[Objective Cleared! You have passed Level 50]

"Good job kid. Proceed to the cafeteria for your break."

The third day went as good as the other two. In fact, within a single day of immersion within Pandora's Box, both Sol and Alice were producing twice the results compared to their first run. They were both at Level 50, with the difficulty being harder on Sol's part.

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This meant that Solomon was still of higher standing compared to Alice. However, the king decided to keep this as a secret from the boy for the time being. After all, with competition like Alice, Sol was pushed to exert more effort.

"Ready to take back what you said yesterday?" Onyx teased.

"Don't get on my nerves." Was Colonels reply.

While the two were speaking with one another, the door to the control room opened. Apearing outside of it was none other than King Jubilee himself.

"Your grace." The two simultaneously said, kneeling down to show respect to their king.

"At ease you two." The two followed and Jubilee asked right away.

"Show me the results. There's something that I'm thinking about." He furthered, with the two flashing all the scores on the screens. King Jubilee looked at them very carefully, all the numbers and what they implied.

"These are the results?"

"Yes my liege, as you can see, Solomon is way ahead of Alice in terms of the real records. In fact, he even surpassed the records of some soldiers of ours." In all honesty Onyx and Colonel were proud of Sol.

They were beginning to place as much faith as the king did. On the chance that, he was truly going to save their Domain from the looming ruination. That's why they were even more surprised by what the king said next.

"This isn't good enough."

"Pardon my liege?" Onyx said, making King Jubilee look at them as he continued speaking.

"The opponents he'll face have powers and, just this much won't get him through." It was confusing to both Colonel and Onyx. It was like the king was a totally different person at that moment.

"What do you mean my liege? Aren't the results good?"

"Oh these are good. In fact, we are rapidly making progress. But, he won't reach the minimum requirement to gaining access to Solomon's Wisdom at this state." King Jubilee sounded so sure that, it was like he knew someone with the said skill.

"Then what do we need to do?"

"Get them ready. They'll be entering the maze after an hour." It was as if time had stopped at that moment. They didn't want to place the children under that program. So much so that Colonel even asked again just to make sure.

"The Maze?"

"Yes Col, the maze. We are going to make use of it."

"My liege, it's not that I'm going against your orders but, please reconsider. They are only children and the mental strain of that place is no joke." Onyx said in reply.

"And?" The king's voice sounded indifferent to the concern of Onyx.

"So what if it's mentally straining? Need I remind you that there is only one person in that group who is of value to us? The other four are dispensable." King Jubilee was a man of many faces.

The Monarch.

The Drunkard.

The Wise.

The Fool.

All throughout his life as the king's knight, Onyx has seen all of this. Among them was the one that Jubilee was displaying at that moment. The cold and heartless king who was willing to put anything on the line for the sake of his goals.

"But what if he fails? What if someone else comes out of the maze?"

"The two of you just keep questioning everything I do don't you?" The knights felt death's scythe seemingly pointed at their throats. Making them kneel right away because, aside from the fact that they needed to show respect at that moment, their legs couldn't handle the pressure anymore.

"Solomon has no other choice but to produce the results I need. There is no alternative ending because, it's either that or the fall of humanity as we know it."

"Understood my liege!" The two said with unwavering loyalty.

"Good. Now run along then, you need to make sure that the facility and all the parts of the maze are prepared." King Jubilee said, making the two leave the room as they followed the orders given.

There was a good reason why the two were against the idea. It wasn't simply because they didn't like it. The Maze was a program built to test someone to the brink of insanity. If they could come out of it, then they would be unparalleled fighters. But if they fell just a bit below, if they miss one step, then they would simply die and be discarded like all the rest.

Both Onyx and Colonel were products of this. Just by the mention of the place, they were already having a gut twisting experience. No matter what happened, they didn't want to go through all of it again. The maze took too much out of them. Took their emotions, took their sanity and turned them into persons they did not even recognize.

"Hey, do you think he can get out of it?" Colonel asked.

"Look at you already discarding everyone else."

"Don't pretend to be a saint Onyx. We both know that those four would die." The two were quiet for a while. If there was one thing they were avoiding, it was to stain their own hands with more innocent blood. They could do it without any regrets, stack the bodies one by one. But even so, they tried avoiding it as much as possible.

"To be honest Col, I'm not sure. That kid may be smart but, he's a bit soft. And if that's the case then the Maze may just drive him mad."

"Let's just hope for the best."

"Hope huh." Onyx said as the two disappeared into the dark corridors beyond them.

It was time for Pandora's true face to be revealed. It was time to release all of the plague, misfortune, and death that the name truly offered. Yet unlike the Greek Pandora and her fateful encounter with the vase of the gods

Jubilee's Pandora offered no hope.