Chapter 261: Hello again.

While Lucian faced Varek and eventually defeated him, on the other side of the maze, Sabine continued running.

She had been running for the past...

She didn’t know how long.

She just knew that if she stopped here, Varek might come after her, and she...

She did not want that.

She saw the state of that Hunter very clearly. His life was over. Sure, Aevrienne sent him away, but she did not heal his wounds. He would be the same even outside.

Sabine had seen the amount of blood he had lost, his eyes that were gouged out, his nails, his fingers, his broken limbs—

She saw his condition.

And she could not possibly imagine herself in his place.

So when Varek first threw her away, all her bravery disappeared.

She wasn’t like Lucian, Isolde, or Naomi. She was not brave enough to face that monster. If it was up to her, she would rather surrender than face him.

But...

When she saw how Lucian held on against him, she...

She couldn’t surrender.

Aevrienne’s Trial was too important for her.

She wanted strength as well.

She did not want to surrender when there was another option available, so she ran.

Plus, she wasn’t helping much anyway. In fact, her presence was only a burden for Lucian. Running away was the correct choice, for both of them.

Sabine continued convincing herself as she ran, not stopping even when the sounds of the battle were left far, far behind.

"Haaahh... Haahhhh... Hahh..."

Her lungs burned. The side that had slammed into the ground when Varek threw her still hurt.

"Fuck..."

She cursed. Her body couldn’t keep running anymore, so she slowed down.

"Haaahh... Haahhhh... Hahh..."

She leaned against the wall and breathed heavily.

She made the right decision.

That was the only logical decision.

She convinced herself again.

She was a Relic Hunter. She had survived this long because she knew when something was worth risking her life for and when it wasn’t, and...

Dying beside people she had met only recently wouldn’t help anyone.

Just then—

Sabine felt the ground beneath her tremble. She immediately straightened her back and looked around, and the next second—

CLANK CLANK CLANK

The maze moved.

The corridor behind her disappeared, and another one opened to her right.

Sabine stared at it, then sighed in relief.

She was finally away.

Now, even if Varek wanted to chase her, he wouldn’t be able to.

At the same time...

Even if she wanted to go back... she wouldn’t be able to.

That felt odd.

Sabine, however, shook her head and started moving again. Now that they were at the deeper end of the maze, things had changed.

The corridors had become narrower, and there were fewer branches, so the chances of making mistakes had reduced as well.

And why would they not?

After all, at this point, those who had made it this deep into the maze knew their way around it. They had a general idea of how to navigate through it.

So there was no point in testing them anymore.

Now, it was more a matter of reaching the end. The faster one moved, the better. So Sabine too increased her pace.

However, about ten more minutes later—

She stopped.

Another thing about being in the deeper part of the maze was that this section was... smaller. So the candidates who were here were... closer to each other than they realised.

And Sabine...

She could now hear a few more candidates coming towards her.

’Shit.’

She cursed as she immediately turned around, lowering her presence as much as possible. After Varek, she had absolutely no interest in discovering any other group.

But then the footsteps she heard suddenly got faster.

They were coming towards her.

’Oh, come on.’

Sabine groaned as she ran, though her exhausted and injured body wasn’t very fast.

"Here! Whoever it is, they went this way!"

Sabine groaned.

’Perfect. I am marked by an artifact.’

As a Relic Hunter herself, she very quickly realised what that meant.

No matter how hard she tried to run, now that she was marked, she couldn’t escape. In the end, she just stopped running. There was no point in running in the state she was in.

But, just to keep that sliver of hope alive, she hid behind a crack in the wall. Maybe, maybe they would miss her, but—

"Come out."

A voice was heard.

And the instant she heard that voice, Sabine’s expression became even worse.

To think it was him, of all people...

Sabine sighed, then stepped out with both her hands in the air.

"Hello again."

She greeted with a goofy smile on her face, and in front of her was...

Alaric, standing together with his group of Enclave Hunters.

Dorian was there as well. Other Hunters were all holding their weapons. Some were even pointing them at her. One Hunter in particular was holding a small circular artifact, its needle pointing directly at her.

Sabine looked at it, then at the Hunter.

"It’s very rude to follow a lady, you know?"

The Hunter did not react.

Alaric ignored those words as well. He was more focused on Sabine’s condition.

Blood on her clothes, her bruises, dust, the damaged side of her coat.

"Where are the rest?"

He asked, clearly talking about Lucian and the rest of his group.

Sabine’s smile weakened.

"Varek."

That word alone was enough to change the air in the corridor.

At this point, everyone had heard about him. After all, Varek left his victims alive for everyone to see.

"What happened?"

Alaric’s face hardened.

"We ran into him, and he attacked us."

The Hunters’ faces changed. Even Dorian was no exception.

"And Lucian?"

Alaric asked.

"He was still fighting him when I left."

"He was fighting... Varek?"

Alaric couldn’t believe it.

Varek was a threat he would never face alone.

Once they heard about Varek roaming inside, the instructions were clear: if you encounter him—

Surrender and leave.

Alaric himself wasn’t an exception to this rule.

Even though he had a dozen Hunters around him, the rule did not change.

And Lucian—

He had it worse.