The Hunted Regressor: My Heretic Saint System-Chapter 85: Anticlimactic End

From there, the walk continued, though silent this time.

All five behind Ignotus were extremely terrified, trembling from fear.

The maze stretched onward, long, uneven, and blacker than before.

Though creepier, that felt like progress—finally some in a place that had none.

Their soft footsteps became the only noise.

Tap... tap... tap...

The sound of walking, breathing, and sometimes, nothing at all.

Minutes passed, then more, and of course, even more.

It became impossible to tell how far they’d gone. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

The turns had stopped; everything moved in a single direction now.

This was a path that didn’t twist or lie no longer; it was just long.

Way, way too long.

Gaia stumbled once, her boots scraping the black floor.

Aur caught her arm, steadying her, and no one heard a thank you.

There wasn’t enough energy for that anymore; Gaia was barely functioning.

Nobles, unused to walking so much, had their legs start to ache.

Their throats turned dry, thirsty for a lick of water.

And that, somehow, was worse than fighting.

The silence built and built until it felt like pressure in their skulls.

It made them start hearing things that weren’t there.

Mostly footsteps from the walls.

Were they getting closer? Farther?

Did the light dim? Did it brighten? Did it dim again?

They didn’t know, they didn’t know, they didn’t damn know!

This silence was truly killing them.

Tension for too long broke the mind.

Ignotus knew that full well, and so...

"How are you feeling?"

He finally broke it.

Everyone behind him instinctively stiffened.

They’d almost imagine that thing coming back.

And yet it didn’t, leaving them only in a state of shock.

Lykos, feeling like pulling his fluff out, looked at Ignotus.

"A-Are you—"

"Yes."

Ignotus cut him off, making him glare.

"You... you didn’t even let me finish."

"Still yes."

Ulv gave a small huff of a laugh.

"He’s probably right."

That helped a little, and they went on.

The path sloped downward now, barely noticeable, but there.

Meanwhile, the walls glistened like something wet had touched them recently.

Gaining her courage from Ignotus, Mer muttered under her breath:

"How far does this go?"

"Till the end."

Or so Ignotus hoped.

"And where’s that?"

He chuckled.

"Hopefully not back where we started."

Though he sounded far from sure, he didn’t slow down.

After a while, their fear dulled into numbness, and they didn’t know if that was any better.

But hey, at least Gaia wasn’t shaking so much anymore, her breath slowing down.

Ignotus touched the wall every hundred or so steps, only to mutter:

"The same texture."

At this point, he didn’t know if they were looping or not.

"That’s comforting."

Lykos scoffed while Ignotus dusted his hands.

"I didn’t say that it was."

Nothing changed.

Steps, breathing, and the whisper of thought that maybe this was how they’d die.

Forever walking until death finally claimed them in its cold embrace.

But, after what felt like an eternity, something finally changed.

"Ah..."

They felt a draft.

It was faint, but...

THE AIR HAD MOVED!

They had all felt it.

"T-The w-wind!"

Lykos lifted his head.

"There’s... an end?"

Gaia’s voice cracked after his.

Mer’s tail regained form, and Ulv’s face returned to life.

Only Aur looked somewhat similar to earlier, now just with an added glint in her eyes.

"It sure looks like it."

Ignotus gestured for them to move.

They picked up speed, not running, but a little faster.

The corridor widened, and the walls pulled apart.

Before they even realized it, they stepped out.

Just like that.

The exit was there, and they had walked through it.

Once out, they stopped and stared into the space beyond it.

A vast open field of red mist and distant lights.

For those few seconds, no one said a word.

It was an otherworldly moment.

"Haaaaa..."

Only for Mer to ruin it by exhaling a long, shaky breath.

"That... sucked."

Ignotus’s smirk faced her.

"It could’ve been worse."

Lykos looked at him.

"How?"

He shrugged.

"It could’ve been longer."

The wolf-boy groaned.

"Ugh, don’t jinx it."

But even he couldn’t help it; a laugh escaped him.

Because somehow, impossibly, they’d reached the end.

A very slow and anticlimactic one.

***

"THEY’VE ACTUALLY DONE IT!"

Lothar and the rest weren’t feeling anticlimactic, however.

"THE FIRST COHORT TO PASS THROUGH THE MAZE!"

Though it was nothing more than walking, they celebrated it!

"AND IT SEEMS THEY WON’T BE THE ONLY ONES!"

Not so far behind Ignotus’s cohort were a few unknowns.

"LET’S SEE WHAT THIS COHORT BRINGS TO THE TABLE!"

A bit too unknown for a certain man’s liking.

***

The six stood on a hill’s peak.

Above them, the sky was still a weird red, but it was a bit lighter now.

And below them, before the Hanged Tree that stretched across the dead horizon, was a kingdom.

Well, that was what they thought it’d look like at first.

Because, up close, it wasn’t really a kingdom; it was just... a town.

Yes, it was no castle, just a town of houses walled off on all sides, looking no different than most villages they saw outside this dungeon, only now a dump.

It was of broken roofs, cracked roads, and crooked houses eaten through by black veins of Death; many structures kept together by nooses likely taken from the tree.

"...A kingdom, huh?"

Ignotus stared down.

"I expected more... but I guess it makes sense."

Mer laughed tiredly, hands on her knees.

"Way better than that damned maze!"

Lykos exhaled hard, his ears twitching in disbelief.

"We really made it out alive."

Ulv smirked.

"That’s worth shouting about."

And they did...

"WE DID IT!"

Gaia, surprisingly, was the first of them.

"WE SURVIVED!"

They screamed together, letting it all out.

All of them, well, except Lykos, who gave a noble little humph, and Aur, who was too monotone to scream even if her life depended on it.

"We’re going to make it... finally..."

Gaia nearly teared up.

"Hopefully."

Mer bumped her shoulder into her.

"Hm."

Ignotus, who screamed only for the fun of it, now took a few steps ahead.

With his arms crossed, his eyes scanned the silent town below.

There was something off about it.

Still, that didn’t matter...

He was searching for a place for them to crash.

Though this was a dungeon, they obviously didn’t expect them to clear it in a day.

And besides, he was sure that those behind him needed a break.

"That..."

His eyes squinted.

"That looks like an inn."

The cohort turned, and...

"What?"

Ignotus pointed at a sagging building in the middle of town, a crooked sign hanging half off.

"An inn. We could crash there for the night."