This was why the undead guide was hurt after his first battle with Alex.

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The destruction of the domain had damaged him.

The area of the maze where the domain had formed also gone, and with it, his strength had weakened.

He gritted his teeth.

The Death Maze was connected to him.

Its destruction was his destruction.

Alex crossed his arms, watching the Undead Guide’s reaction with amusement.

He took a step forward, his voice taking on a teasing edge.

"Though, of course, this is all just an assumption," he continued. "But I bet it’s pretty close to the truth, isn’t it?"

The Undead Guide’s glowing eyes narrowed.

He didn’t respond.

Not because Alex was wrong, but because he was right.

Alex grinned, watching the hesitation flicker across the Guide’s face.

"Oh? No rebuttal?" He let out a chuckle.

"Guess I must’ve hit the mark, huh?"

The Undead Guide’s grip on his sword tightened, but his silence betrayed the truth.

Alex tilted his head, eyes gleaming with mischief.

"Now, here’s a fun question..." He tapped his chin

. "What happens if the maze is completely wiped out?"

The Undead Guide stiffened.

Alex’s smirk widened.

"Will the Nightmare keep pumping you full of energy to fix it?" He shrugged. "I doubt it. After all, its energy isn’t limitless."

The Undead Guide’s hands trembled.

Alex had noticed it the moment the cursed mark vanished.

One second, it was there—his personal tool for farming stat points.The next? Gone. Just like that.

It didn’t sit right with him. It felt like manipulation.

"Bullshit." That was the only way to describe it.

A condition was suddenly slapped onto him out of nowhere.

Someone clearly didn’t want him taking advantage of the curse.

But it was more than that.

His mind pieced it together.

The more monsters he killed, the weaker the tutorial boss behind this nightmare became. He didn’t have the full picture yet, but he was willing to bet it would affect the trials ahead.

And there was no way the beast lord behind the nightmare would let that happen.

Alex clenched his fists.

But there was one thing he knew for sure.

The Beast Lord—the supposed ruler of this twisted place—wasn’t a god.

It was a beast.

A damned tree.

Not a deity.

And that meant... its energy wasn’t limitless.

No matter how terrifying it seemed, no matter how much power it claimed to hold—it had a breaking point.

And Alex was going to find it by blowing the whole place up.

The undead guide froze for a moment.

Then, its body jerked violently.

A low, unnatural crack echoed as its spine twisted, and its head snapped upward.

Its eyes began to glow—an eerie, unnatural green.

Alex’s grin faded slightly as he watched.

Possession.

That wasn’t the undead guide any more.

It was eerily similar to what had happened to the undead vendor when he had first appeared here.

Something else had taken over.

Alex smirked, his voice laced with mockery.

"Nice of you to show your face."

He was sure it was the Beast Lord speaking now.

The undead’s head tilted at an unnatural angle before straightening.Then, it grinned.

That same creepy, unnerving smile.

"Human..."

The voice that came from it was deeper, layered, inhuman.

"You think you’re smart. That you’ve figured things out."

Slowly, the possessed undead raised its hand.

The ground trembled.

Behind it, shadows stretched unnaturally.

Then, one by one, massive figures rose.

Undead titans.

Their bodies towered over the maze, bones cracking, joints snapping into place.But these were different.

Unlike the one Alex had crushed before, these dripped with lava.

Molten rock leaked from their bodies like blood, sizzling as it hit the ground, burning holes into the stone floor.

The possessed undead’s grin widened as it looked at Alex.

"Despite all your knowledge..."

Its glowing eyes pulsed with a sickening green light.

"You still won’t leave this place alive."

Alex narrowed his eyes, cracking his knuckles.

This... was going to be interesting.

The possessed undead took a slow step forward, its molten titans looming behind it like giants of destruction.

Its eerie green eyes glowed brighter as it locked onto Alex.

"Alex Hunt."

The voice was deep, guttural, layered with something far beyond human.

"I’m ending your journey here before you’re causing nothing but havoc. Your death will be great sustenance for all the energy I’ve lost."

Alex chuckled, shaking his head.

"Sorry to break it to you, but you’re about to lose even more energy."

He casually cracked his knuckles, a smug grin spreading across his face.

"I’ve sent my clones all over the maze to set up explosions… for a big bang."

"If anyone is ending things here... it’s me."

The possessed undead froze.

Then, its eerie glow flared.

"Bastard!" it roared, fury lacing every word.

Its skeletal hands clenched into fists.

"Don’t you care about the lives of your fellow players?! They’ll get caught in the crossfire!"

Alex raised an eyebrow.

"Players?" he scoffed.

Then, with a casual shrug, he continued:

"The ones still alive are already heading toward the path I made. Straight toward the exit line of the maze."

For a moment, the air was still.

Then, the possessed undead’s lips curled into a wicked grin.

A sinister, unnerving smirk.

"Really...?" it drawled, voice dripping with malice.

"Do you think I’d let them escape just like that?"

Alex’s expression darkened.

*

Over at the fleeing players...

The ground rumbled beneath them.

A deep, guttural groan echoed through the maze.

Then...

THUD!

THUD!

Multiple giant undead rose from the earth, their grotesque forms blocking the path forward.

They weren’t as massive as the titan undead Alex had fought, but they were just as terrifying.

Their glowing eyes burned with hunger.

Their jagged claws twitched in anticipation.

"Seriously?!"

Ezekiel, who had been leading the group, skidded to a stop, his boots grinding against the dirt.

With a quick motion, he unsheathed his greatsword, the blade gleaming under the eerie maze light.

Beside him, Freya and Ella didn’t hesitate.

Freya’s twin daggers gleamed, and Ella’s staff raised ready to cast a spell.

Behind them...

A swarm of surviving players—the ones Alex had guided toward the escape route—stood frozen.

Some gripped their weapons, while others hesitated, fear gripping their chests.

But they had no choice.

The finish line was just ahead.

And standing between them and freedom?

A horde of giant undead.

The undead let out a monstrous growl.

Then they attacked.

Their massive hands swung downward, ready to crush them.

But...

SNAP!

A blinding blur appeared right in front of them, multiple Alex clones appearing.

And with a single snap of its fingers.

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

Multiple giant undead collapsed, their bodies hitting the ground with earth-shaking force.

The players barely had time to process what happened before more undead formed.

But then...

A blitz of pure speed tore through them like a phantom.

SLASH!

A couple of the undead collapsed instantly, their massive bodies crumbling into dust.

Then there was another blur. Enjoy exclusive content from novelbuddy

BOOM!

More undead exploded apart, their twisted forms torn to pieces.

The surviving players froze in shock.

Their eyes darted around, confused.

Who was doing this?!

Then they saw them.

Dorion and Onigi.

The crazy teen and the old Ronin.

But instead of working together, Dorion was running for his life.

And Onigi?

Chasing him. Sword in hand. Eyes burning with fury.

"Where are you running off to, kid?!" Onigi bellowed. "You cannot escape death!"

Dorion, still sprinting, glanced back with a cocky grin.

"You shouldn’t run too much, old man. You’ll give yourself a heart attack."

Freya blinked.

What the hell were these two doing?!

Earlier

Dorion had dodged Onigi’s attack and instead of fighting back, he had taken off running.

He wasn’t about to let himself get cooked by Alex’s nukes.

Onigi, refusing to let him go, charged after him. His expression?

Pure rage.

The chase was a blur of speed and near misses, the two weaving past the undead, almost dancing through the battlefield.

And then Dorion crossed the finish line first.

Right behind him, Onigi followed his blade inches from the teen’s back.

And thanks to their unintentional distraction, the rest of the players.

Made it out alive.

Alex clones stood firm, battling with the endless horde of undead spawning at a rapid pace.

Their mission? Aid their escape and hold the line.

The other players had to escape. No matter what.

*

The possessed undead guide clenched his teeth, his eerie green eyes flickering in frustration.

He could feel it.

Multiple players… escaping.

One after another, crossing the finish line.

Never before had so many survived this round of the nightmare.

It was unprecedented.

And it was infuriating.

Then a cold, chilling voice cut through the chaos like a blade:

"Your defeat is inevitable, you damned tree. Give up."

The undead guide snapped his head up.

Alex stood there, calm and composed, his hand raised high.

He was about to detonate every single explosive he and his clones had planted across the maze.

The undead guide’s eyes widened, and it roared sending a wave of undead forward, an army of towering abominations rushing Alex all at once.

"Damn you!"

Their rotting bodies thundered across the battlefield, weapons raised, shadows stretching like a tidal wave of death.

But Alex simply grinned.

Then he snapped his fingers.

"Despair… and await."