Chapter 202: Mana Threads

"It’s too late." As soon as those words left Lysandra’s lips, the ground began to shake slightly, with dust and small debris falling from the ceiling.

The party froze on the spot to listen while scanning the paths surrounding them.

"W-What’s going on?" One of the men asked, looking to Melissa for answers. But the girl who had been energetic a moment ago had a serious expression on her face now as she cautiously surveyed the four paths.

"Something’s coming. Something big and fast. The path is too narrow to contain something large moving at such speed, so I’d say it’s multiple beasts charging at once... a Goblin horde." Melissa said sharply.

"W-What? A horde? Like on the first floor? What are we going to do?! I can’t die here. I have a wife and two kids—"

"Shut up." Melissa hissed at the man. "It feels like they’re coming from all directions, and we’re surrounded by four paths. This will be our deathbed if we stay here any longer. I think we should split up."

"W-What??"

"I’ll scout up ahead for the safest route to take. It’ll take a while, and they’ll be here before I return. So everyone, choose a path and run without looking back. We’re in a maze, so there’s always a detour when you run into danger. We can do this. Let’s make our Herald proud!" Melissa declared patriotically and blinked from the spot, leaving the rest of the party to fend for themselves.

The men panicked and frantically ran their eyes around before one sped into one of the four paths. Another dashed in the opposite direction, while the third hesitated for a long moment before turning to look at the two ladies on the team sympathetically.

"I’m sorry. I have a family back home. I-I can’t die here," he said and dashed into the same path the first man had taken.

Chloe was rooted to the spot, watching the party scatter in seconds, leaving just her and Lysandra.

"Was he apologizing for leaving us behind?" She asked under pressure. Then she turned to look at Lysandra, who was relatively calm.

"W-What do we do?" She asked.

Lysandra didn’t reply immediately as she scanned the four paths before pointing at the one they’d come from.

"We’ll take that one?" Chloe asked.

"You. Go down the path and stick to your right, always."

"W-What? What about you?" Chloe asked in panic as she stared down the lonely path.

"Don’t worry about me. I’ll do you a favor and stay to distract them from your path. Your pyrokinetic abilities should take care of the small groups you’ll run into and create a path for you to keep running."

"A-Are you sure you’ll be fine? We can stick together instead and go down the path—"

"No. You’ll only hinder me and get us killed. Take that path and don’t worry about me. Go," Lysandra said.

Chloe hesitated for a moment until the collective growls of the goblin horde became increasingly louder, and she couldn’t hold back anymore. She disappeared down the dark path.

At the same time, several shadows appeared along the paths as the horde rapidly approached Lysandra’s position.

She didn’t panic but simply drew her sword and took a stance as the goblin hordes revealed themselves, waving their weapons in the air as they charged straight for her from all four directions.

Lysandra didn’t move just yet but waited until the horde had completely surrounded her and was at arm’s reach before her sword flashed in an arc.

A spray of blood splattered across the cave walls as several goblins were decapitated with a single strike, creating distance between her and the goblins behind them, who climbed the bodies of their brethren and kept charging towards her.

As they got close, Lysandra swung her sword once more, covering her 360-degree surroundings. Then again and again, without breaking a sweat.

A mountain of corpses was slowly rising around her feet, but the horde was endless and kept charging forward like feral beasts.

From the looks of it, no matter how sharp her blade was, it was simply impossible to cut down every last one of them, and it was only a matter of time before it took a toll on her stamina.

Lysandra still didn’t panic but kept swinging her sword endlessly until the corpses had risen into a hill that made it hard to climb, slowed the goblins’ advancement, and blocked most of them behind the paths they were coming from.

It was only then that she slid down the mountain of bodies towards one path, but before the waiting horde could touch her, she raised her hand, and several thin threads shot out from her fingertips and became embedded in the ceiling before she controlled the mana threads to retract and lift her until her fingertips were pressed against the ceiling.

She pressed her feet against the ceiling, and several mana threads shot out from their soles to hold her in place. It was only then that she cancelled the mana threads on her fingertips, and her body dropped upside down, but her feet held her firmly in place.

The goblins kept growling and waving their weapons at her, but they couldn’t reach her and could only yank down on her long hair, which was within their reach.

Lysandra wasn’t fazed by this but simply sheathed her blade while standing upside down on the ceiling before strapping it to her back.

Then, looking down the path she had chosen, she raised her hands and shot out mana threads from her fingertips once more, which became embedded in the wall at the far end of the path.

The moment her feet were free, she swung forward and retracted the mana threads at her fingertips, disappearing down the path.

Using the mana thread she had invented to sew a dress, she could easily navigate the maze like a spider. And as long as she was beyond the reach of the sea of goblins below, she could easily search for the loophole she had in mind without worrying about any sort of danger.

That was when she saw it: a hidden door built into the walls of a path.

She swiftly dropped down from the ceiling and, without bothering to unsheathe her blade, swung mana threads from her fingertips across the path, dissecting all goblins that came into contact with the mana threads and clearing the path around the door.

Then she calmly approached it and pushed it open, closing the door behind her as she stepped inside.

"Oh, look who it is?" Melissa’s voice rang out. "The pick-me’s girlfriend."