"Okay, it doesn't look like she's noticed us. There could be other people around too, so we should avoid causing a commotion. I'll take her out quickly and quietly," Whispered Ravella, as she and Akila peered around a corner, a member of one of the other teams walking through the pathway, her back to them.

"Yeah, okay," Nodded Akila, before Ravella swiftly and silently leapt out from behind the corner and swung her whip forward with a flick of her wrist, extending it out rapidly.

Her target stiffened as the crack of the whip echoed out, starting to turn around but she was too slow to react, the whip hitting the side of her neck and wrapping around it, tightening as Ravella yanked her arm back while simultaneously retracting the whip.

The woman fell over, her back hitting the floor as she let out a gasp, getting dragged towards Ravella as she steadily retracted the whip, struggling to breath as the tight grasp of the whip strangled her.

It wasn't long before she passed out, slumping against the floor of the maze as she lost consciousness. Ravella knelt down and unwound her whip from the woman's neck, rolling it up and latching it to her belt, before a shimmering barrier formed around the woman.

"Oh, that happened to Kora during the last competition, I think that means she's eliminated. Looks like the barrier is to keep her safe while she's unconscious," Surmised Akila, as he poked at the barrier.

"I don't get it, why not just teleport her back to her team's waiting room?" Responded Ravella in bemusement, before adding with a shrug, "Well, I suppose it doesn't really matter."

"Man, this is frustrating...I really thought I'd be able to contribute more than I have, I didn't think that my Magic wouldn't work on these walls. I mean, that was the whole reason I was picked for this competition in the first place," Sighed Akila, clenching his fists.

"Hey, don't worry about it, it's no big deal. It's not like any of us could have known that the walls of this maze would prevent you from phasing through them, after all, so no one's going to blame you for this. And besides, you're plenty strong regardless, and you can still use your Magic to fight, you know. Now, come on, let's get going," Smiled Ravella, patting his arm encouragingly.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the maze...

"Hm...what should I go with next? Another fingernail? Maybe peel off a patch of skin? Ooh, or how about I pull a tooth out?" Suggested Colt with a smirk, sitting on the back of one of the members of the team he and Lexia had run into.

The two of them had swiftly defeated and restrained all five members of that team before they even had a chance to fight back, and then proceeded to torture them.

"We probably shouldn't waste too much time here, we should get going soon," Remarked Lexia, as she slowly wedged a bone spike through one of the other team member's fingernail, muffled gasps of pain ringing out as the nail steadily cracked and got lifted off the fingers, blood squirting out from under it.

The two of them had also covered their opponents' mouths, to keep them from voicing a surrender.

"Yeah, I guess...but a few more minutes shouldn't hurt, right?" Smirked Colt, the person he was tormenting stiffening as Colt formed a spiked tendril of blood and added, "Now, where should I poke this through?"

Before he could decide, his eyes widened in surprise as shimmering barriers formed around all five members of the other team, before they promptly got teleported out and vanished.

"Huh? Why'd that happen? We made sure they couldn't give up," Frowned Lexia, tossing away her bloodied bone spike with a huff.

"I eliminated that team from the competition the instant all five members genuinely wanted to surrender. Please focus on the competition instead of getting sidetracked," Kilzachs's voice echoed out around them.

"Come on, seriously? I was just starting to really get into it too," Sighed Colt wistfully.

"Come on, let's get back to it and head on," Muttered Lexia, no less disappointed at the interruption than Colt was.

"Maybe we'll run into someone else we can torture."

"Yeah, that's-...I mean, no, we should concentrate on getting to the goal instead," Lexia shook her head, in an effort to focus up.

"Fine, I guess we don't have much of a choice. That was pretty fun though...it's been ages since we last got to do that, considering how peaceful things have been lately."

"Technically, that isn't a bad thing...but yes, I suppose it was nice," Admitted Lexia with a wry smile.

Kilzachs watched the two of them in bemusement, feeling a bit unsettled. Despite his omnipotent power, even he couldn't help but feel slightly intimidated by their sadism.

Meanwhile, in a different part of the maze...

"Sh-Shit, he's way too strong," A groan rang out, as a man collapsed onto his knees and hit the floor.

"I-I can't move..."

"Hm, this was fortunate, to run into two opposing team members that are both weaker than I am. I should head in a different direction than the one they came from. It is unlikely that I will reach the center of the maze through that direction," Nero thought to himself.

He'd been prepared to kill any enemies if necessary, prioritizing his survival, but the instant he realized that the pair he'd run into were weaker than he was.

'Surrender now, or die', Nero wrote across the air.

"W-We surrender," The both uttered in unison, the shimmering barriers forming around them.

Nero then walked away, heading in a different direction as he stretching his arms out and took slow breaths to cool down.

"Alright, there is no indication as to which is the right path, so I have no choice but to keep walking until I-...," He thought to himself, before quickly springing back as he stepped on a tile that sunk in, getting away right in the nick of time as a massive burst of sticky slime erupted around the spot, "These traps are really starting to get on my nerves."

He let out an annoyed sigh before leaping over the gloopy puddle of sludge, avoiding it and continuing to head forward through the maze...

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