Solomon glanced up at the floating blue screen.

His eyes suddenly widened in realization. The viewer counter had skyrocketed past five hundred and was climbing rapidly by the second. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

A proud smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. He figured his brutal, high-stakes fight against the undead knight had finally put him on the map. He had proven his worth with basic skills.

Then he actually read the scrolling text.

[NewbHunter: I AM BACK! SOMEONE SAID LUNE VON LUMIERE IS HERE?!]

[ForumTroll: I CAME FROM THE ACADEMY BOARDS. WHERE IS SHE?]

[GoonLord: MOVE YOUR FAT HEAD IMBICILE, SHOW US HER HIGHNESS!]

[User67: wow the rumors were true.]

[LazyCat: Are we getting raided?]

[SilentKnight: I just subbed. put the camera back on her right now.]

A rapid cascade of chimes rang out in his head as new viewers threw points at him just for the camera angle.

[GoonLord gifted a Silver Mirror! (200 Points)]

[DownBadAnon gifted a Bouquet of Roses! (150 Points)]

[Lurker88 gifted a Silver Mirror! (200 Points)]

Solomon sighed, his brief moment of pride completely shattered. He looked over at Lune, who was dusting off her silver armor.

"Since the dimensional portals are broken and throwing endgame monsters at us, we should probably team up," Solomon suggested, picking up the massive greatsword and resting it on his shoulder. "Two people have a better chance of finding a working exit."

Lune considered it for a moment and gave a brief nod. "Fine. A temporary arrangement is logical given the anomaly. We will—"

She stopped mid-sentence. Her emerald eyes finally locked onto the small owl hovering diligently over Solomon’s shoulder. She looked from the mechanical bird, down to his cheap uniform, and then her eyes widened in realization.

"Wait," Lune said, her voice dropping an octave. "You said you just enrolled in the academy. You do not mean the Live Streaming Academy, do you?"

Solomon rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh, yeah. I am currently broadcasting."

Lune’s face contorted into an expression of absolute disgust. The slight softening of her demeanor completely vanished, replaced by a furious glare.

"You are one of those," she spat, taking a step back as if he carried a plague. "I should have known. Only a streamer would possess such an unlucky, chaotic aura."

She stepped right up to the bronze owl, her emerald eyes piercing directly into the camera lens.

"You parasites," Lune snarled at the viewers, her voice dripping with venom. "You disgust me. All of you. You sit in your safe, comfortable, pathetic little rooms, hiding behind your screens while you gorge yourselves on the suffering of actual adventurers. You treat real life-and-death struggles like a cheap theater play. Do you have any idea how many desperate, foolish rookies have bled to death in the dirt because you degenerates bribed them into accepting your suicidal ’live challenges’?"

Solomon panicked. He reached out to cover the lens, terrified she was going to get him completely banned or mass-reported on his very first day.

"You are nothing but bloodthirsty voyeurs!" Lune continued, practically shouting into the bird. "You throw pennies at desperate people just to watch them dance for your amusement. You lack the spine to pick up a sword yourselves, so you live vicariously through the pain of others. You are the absolute scum of this realm!"

Solomon braced himself for the viewer count to plummet to zero. He looked at the floating screen.

Instead, the counter absolutely exploded. It shot past eight hundred, hit nine hundred, and completely shattered the one-thousand viewer mark. The chat was moving so fast it was a blur of chaotic colors.

[GoonLord: YES!!! TELL US HOW PATHETIC WE ARE!!!]

[MommyIssues: ARF ARF ARF I AM SCUM MY QUEEN! BARK BARK!]

[User67: GIF of a man violently smashing his fists against the floor crying "IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ME NOT HIM"]

[DownBadAnon: INSULT ME AGAIN PLEASE I BEG YOU!]

[Skeptic: wait why is this kind of... working for me?]

[SilentKnight: SHE IS LOOKING RIGHT AT ME I AM ASCENDING!]

The degenerates were absolutely thriving. The harsher she insulted them, the more they begged for it. A massive wave of donation chimes nearly deafened Solomon.

[BloodKnight gifted a Diamond Crown! (5,000 Points)]

[BloodKnight has issued a live mission!]

[BloodKnight: New Mission - Survive the anomaly and successfully escort Her Highness to the exit. Reward: 10,000 Points.]

[GoonLord gifted a Golden Throne! (2,000 Points)]

Lune scoffed, entirely unaware of the masochistic awakening she had just caused across a thousand different screens. She turned her back to the drone in utter disgust.

"I am leaving," she announced coldly. "Do not follow me, streamer."

She began to walk down the dark corridor. Almost instantly, Solomon watched his viewer count drop from a thousand down to nine hundred, then eight hundred. They were leaving the moment she walked out of the frame.

"Wait!" Solomon shouted, jogging after her. "Let me tag along!"

"I said no," Lune snapped without looking back. "You and your pathetic audience will make absolutely no difference in my survival."

"Actually, it makes a huge difference!" Solomon argued, desperately trying to keep her in the camera’s view. "I have over a thousand people watching right now! Technically, you are exploring this broken labyrinth with a thousand extra sets of eyes! They can help us spot hidden traps, map out the looping corridors, and warn us if something sneaks up from behind!"

Lune paused. She glanced over her shoulder, her eyes narrowing as she weighed the tactical advantage of his argument.

"Fine," she finally said, her voice freezing cold. "But you will stay exactly ten feet behind me at all times. If you or your drone get in my way, I will cut it in half, and then I will leave you to the undead."

"Ten feet. Got it," Solomon agreed quickly, securing the heavy greatsword over his shoulder and following the princess deeper into the dark.

For the next two hours, Solomon faithfully kept his promised ten-foot distance. The labyrinth threw a relentless traps at them, forcing them to rely on each other despite Lune’s cold demeanor.

When the floorboards collapsed into a pit of rusted spikes, Solomon used his Basic Parkour to clear the gap, turning around just in time to catch Lune’s hand when her boot slipped on the crumbling edge. When a hidden wall-shooter launched a volley of poisoned darts at Solomon’s blind spot, Lune’s rapier flashed in the dark, deflecting the projectiles before they could pierce his neck.

They even utilized the thousand sets of eyes watching the stream. The chat actively warned them about tripwires and shifting floor tiles, acting as a highly effective radar.

They also carved through three more waves of corrupted undead soldiers. Solomon quickly realized his new greatsword was a massive upgrade. Even without a mana core, the sheer weight of the heavy blade, combined with his raw momentum, allowed him to crush the rusted infantry with a single swing.

Eventually, the narrow corridors opened up into a massive, cavernous hallway. Lune stopped in her tracks and raised her hand, signaling Solomon to halt. She pointed her rapier toward a set of colossal, heavy stone doors at the very end of the hall. The rock was deeply carved with ancient, glowing blue inscriptions.

"That is a boss chamber," Lune explained, keeping her voice low. "Every sector of the labyrinth has one. Behind those doors is a permanent, fixed dimensional portal. Unlike the shifting exits in the corridors, this one is anchored to the receiving gates. Once we defeat whatever is inside, we can leave this place for good."

Solomon rested the greatsword on his shoulder. "What is usually inside?"

"Normally?" Lune sighed. "A massive herd of acidic slimes, or perhaps a nest of cave spiders. Sometimes a mix of low-level beasts. But considering this ongoing anomaly..." She tightened her grip on her rapier. "We have absolutely no idea what we are about to face."

Solomon adjusted his grip on his hilt. "Only one way to find out."

They walked up to the heavy stone doors and pushed them open together. The grinding of ancient rock echoed loudly as they stepped into a massive, circular arena illuminated by glowing white crystals embedded in the high ceiling.

There were no slimes or spiders.

Standing in the dead center of the chamber was a heavily armored figure.

It was an undead knight, but it completely dwarfed the walking fortress they had fought earlier. Its build was impossibly massive. It didn’t wear rusted, decaying plate mail. Its armor was forged from pristine, master-crafted white steel, lined with intricate gold filigree that gleamed under the crystal light.

A pristine white cape cascaded down its broad back. The weapon resting in its gauntlet was a terrifyingly massive executioner’s sword, practically humming with condensed, corrupted golden mana.

Unlike the hollow, raspy breathing of the lesser undead, this creature radiated an aura of pure, suffocating pressure.

A bright red system prompt suddenly flashed directly across Solomon’s vision, completely overriding the blue chat box.

[ System Alert: You have encountered an Undead Paladin. ]

[ Difficulty Rank: S ]

Solomon stared at the floating red text.

Lune, who possessed her own adventurer’s appraisal skill, clearly saw the exact same information. The elegant, poised First Princess of the Lumiere Dynasty slowly lowered her rapier.

"Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me," Lune whispered.

"Son of a bitch," Solomon cursed aloud.

[ 100 points deducted for swearing. ]

The chat, which had spent the last two hours completely gooning over Lune’s every movement, instantly snapped out of its degenerate trance.

[GamerGuy: S RANK?! IN A BEGINNER MAZE?!]

[User12: RIP SOLO MAN. RIP PRINCESS. RIP EVERYONE.]

[NewbHunter: THAT IS AN ENDGAME RAID BOSS!]

[OldTimer: you guys need to run right now! do not even try to fight that!]

[LazyCat: THE DOORS ARE CLOSING BEHIND THEM THEY CANNOT RUN!]

[Skeptic: an S-rank Paladin against an unregistered talentless guy and a B-rank adventurer. this is an actual execution broadcast.]

The heavy stone doors slammed shut behind them with a boom, sealing them inside the arena. The Undead Paladin slowly turned its pristine white helmet toward them, the corrupted golden light flaring violently within its visor.

❖ ❖ ❖

N/N- Another long Chapter. Look forward to the fight. It’s going to be epic.