The minotaur made its way down a hidden hallway on the bottom floor of the Sazardon Labyrinth leading to a small room containing stones that were glimmering with azure light. It stepped onto the stones, and when it turned back in the direction it had come, the hallway was no longer there.
The scenery around it blurred for a moment, and then it found itself in a totally different place. The flat stones it was standing on were the same shape as before, but they were shining with red light instead of blue. Immediately next to it were stones of the same size and shape, but they were a dull gray and did not shine at all.
This room was much larger than the one it had been in before. It was shaped like a distorted hemisphere. The reddish-brown floor undulated unevenly, and orbs of red, yellow, blue, green—all sorts of colors—were scattered across it.
The orbs were several sizes as well; the biggest ones were as tall as the minotaur in diameter, and the smallest reached its waist.
They were not perfect spheres—the front of each was swollen and featured jagged patterns. If a human was to see them, they probably would have said the orbs resembled giant flower buds.
The orbs were growing from the ground. The floor, ceiling, and the orbs themselves were all emitting faint lights of various colors.
It was a strange and repulsive place. The air felt sticky and oppressive, as if it contained poisonous fumes. A single breath would allow thick miasma to invade the body. A creature without any resistance to it would surely die instantly upon entering this room.
Everything about the place was uncomfortable. The wall was the color of viscera, and it had a slimy texture that continued all the way up to the ceiling. There was no exit to be found.
The minotaur moved off the stones and took one step forward. The floor felt mushy.
It took another step forward, and then one of the orbs suddenly opened into the shape of a bell and attacked the minotaur with wriggling tentacles. The minotaur reflexively cut them all down.
It took one step back to try to gain some space, and then a slightly smaller orb behind it also opened and attacked it with its tentacles. The minotaur leaped and severed them, returning to the flat stones. It decided that taking on multiple orbs at once would not be a good idea.
The two orbs withdrew their tentacles and returned to their original shapes. The room fell silent as if nothing had happened.
The minotaur looked at its left hand, which had been grazed by one of the tentacles that had attacked it from behind. The part that had been touched was eroding with a sizzling sound and releasing an unpleasant odor.
The tentacles were quick and attacked with precision. Not even the minotaur would emerge unscathed if it fought a great number all at once. A part of its body was rotting after being touched by just one tentacle.
The orbs were sparse in the center of the room, where the minotaur was, but they were tightly packed near the walls.
If the minotaur had been human, it might have investigated and thought about the true nature of this room.
But no such inclination occurred to the minotaur.
There were opponents it could fight, and it was being attacked by them. So it would kill them.
Everything else came afterward.
A violent joy welled up from deep within the minotaur’s body.
Its smile reached its eyes.