The Nameless Heir-Chapter 90: The Labyrinth

The lost souls didn’t move. Not when the ground trembled. Not when the sound drew closer. So he walked forward toward one of the souls.

"You have to run."

They didn’t respond. The souls kept panicking, shaking uncontrollably, trapped in some endless loop of terror. He tried to send them to the Underworld—nothing happened. Whatever this place was, it didn’t care about rules. It felt detached. Like the world had forgotten it existed.

He grabbed each soul and placed them in the corner, and the sound of stone cracking echoed, walls splitting apart one after another. Something was forcing its way through.

And it wasn’t subtle.

This wasn’t just noise. It was pressure. It pushed against the air like a breath he didn’t want to take. Heavy. Wrong.

He called for Shadowbane, eyes fixed on the direction the sound was coming from. He tightened his grip, but nothing. He looked down. His hand was empty. The shadows didn’t move. They didn’t stir like they always did when danger was near.

He couldn’t sense them.

Wherever this place was, it had cut him off completely.

Detached. Isolated. Like the real world didn’t exist here.

He tried again. Pushed harder. Reached for the shadows like he had done a hundred times before.

Nothing answered.

The power was gone. Silent. Like his shadow had been stripped from him.

Then the wall exploded.

It didn’t just crack. It came apart like paper under a storm. Stone flew outward. The pressure hit first, then the roar. He moved on instinct, jumping backwards just as something barreled through the opening.

Dust swallowed the entire room. The floor shifted beneath him, grinding with weight as the walls pulled back. The room wasn’t just changing. It was reacting. Stretching. Widening. Becoming something else.

Something bigger.

From within the dust, a pair of bloodshot eyes began to glow. They locked onto him, unmoving, unblinking, and filled with rage.

Kael took a step back, but his eyes never left the beast.

The thing leaned forward and let out a guttural roar.

The sound wasn’t just loud. It was primal, like it had gone wild, violent, and filled with complete bloodlust. It tore through the dust like a wave, sending debris flying across the ground. The haze broke apart, scattered by the force of its voice.

And then, finally, the shape behind it came into view.

Its body was covered in rough muscle, blood pumping hard beneath its skin. Two black horns curved from its head, sharp enough to split stone. An axe hung from its hand. It was as long as Kael’s body and twice as heavy. It didn’t look forged. It looked grown, like the weapon had been born angry.

The Minotaur had arrived.

It stood tall, chest rising with slow, deliberate breaths. The kind that spoke of weight, not calm.

In its grip, a massive axe, cracked along the edge, stained with something too old to name. The kind of stain that never washes out.

The creature tilted its head. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Its eyes locked onto Kael. It didn’t blink. Its gaze held no challenge. No hesitation. Just certainty, like Kael was already dead and this was just normal battle for him.

It exhaled slow. Smoke drifted from its nose like it thought that was supposed to scare him.

Kael didn’t blink. It just annoyed him because of how bad its body smelled.

He didn’t move. The Minotaur’s gaze stayed level, cold.

He stood still. Fear didn’t even enter his mind. He just didn’t appreciate the way that thing stared down at him, like it had already won. He was more upset being looked down on by something that looked this stupid.

It didn’t matter if he couldn’t use his shadows. Or his sword. In the end, he was still a god.

And standing in front of him was nothing but a beast.

He took a step forward. The Minotaur didn’t move.

The Labyrinth reacted first.

The ground shifted with a low groan. Walls pulled back. The space widened like it was stretching itself around the fight that was about to happen, like it had brought the Minotaur here on purpose, to end this before he could go any further.

Kael tilted his head up toward the beast, eyes cold.

Unfazed.

"They didn’t cage you because you were dangerous," Kael said, eyes narrowing. "They just couldn’t stand the sight of you."

He leaned in, voice low.

"Even your mother knew you weren’t worth keeping."

The Minotaur let out a deafening roar and swung its axe overhead, muscles straining with raw fury. The weapon came crashing down in a vicious arc, but Kael slipped left, the blade smashing into the stone with a thundering crack inches from his foot.

He didn’t hesitate.

He stepped in and drove a devastating punch into the creature’s guts. The Minotaur lurched forward, the impact forcing the air from its lungs. Its grip on the axe faltered as it bent over, clutching its stomach, black spit spilling from its mouth.

Kael moved faster.

He didn’t wait. He stepped in, gripping both hands around one of its horns, and used the momentum to pull himself up, swinging his body over and landing hard on its back. His grip locked in place, fingers digging in like steel.

The beast went wild. It slammed into walls, spun in place, and bashed its body against stone to shake him loose.

He didn’t move. Didn’t flinch. His grip held firm, like steel buried in bone.

His grip locked around the horn. He twisted and yanked until it ripped free with a crack. The Minotaur let out a ragged scream, but Kael didn’t flinch.

He slammed the horn straight down, piercing the top of its skull. The jagged point drove through and burst out its jaw, spraying blood and bone across the floor. The beast twitched once, then collapsed in silence.

The Minotaur froze.

Its limbs trembled. Its breath turned shallow.

Then it stopped moving altogether.

The Labyrinth was reacting again. This time, it was angrier.

The walls began to shift, slow at first, then faster. Groaning. Bending. Grinding like stone against bone. The sound was sharp, too close, like the place itself was clenching its jaw.

Stomping followed. Heavy. Scattered. Coming from all directions at once, closing in with every step.

Before he could move, the entire chamber shook.