Labyrinthus Obscurus

Alejandro was the last knight left outside the labyrinth, his body already battered from his earlier battle with Sable. The relentless cultist had pursued him into a narrow alley, a location Alejandro had deliberately chosen. With its confined walls and close quarters, it was a perfect spot to let his bullets ricochet efficiently.

But Alejandro's gamble backfired. Sable had been prepared for his strategy, her relentless aggression forcing him deeper into the alley. He found himself cornered and outmaneuvered. A swirling shadow engulfed him, dragging him into the labyrinth alongside his pursuer.

Dusting off her shoulders, Sable smirked as she stepped into the icy maze after him. "This time, cowboy, there's nowhere to run."

Far above, Naro manipulated currents of wind to hover over the labyrinth. The frozen expanse stretched out below him, a gleaming maze of jagged ice and shadowy corridors.

"Damn it," Naro muttered, frustration creeping into his voice. The maze's labyrinthine design led him in endless circles, thwarting his every effort to locate the blonde cultist. He sighed and steadied himself in the air. "If I can't find her, the least I can do is help one of the others."

Naro descended, his sharp eyes locking onto Nora's position. From his vantage point, he could see her atop a towering mountain of ice, her movements precise and deadly as she dismantled the remaining cultists. Her icy creations skewered, froze, and shattered the enemy forces with calculated efficiency. Nora sat on her icy throne, her presence commanding as she watched the last of the masked troops fall.

His gaze shifted again, this time landing on Simon. Something about Simon's frantic movements caught his attention. Dropping altitude, Naro directed the wind to carry him swiftly toward Simon.

"Yo, Naro!" Simon called, raising a hand as he bent over to catch his breath. His face was pale, his breathing labored. "Have you seen the others?!"

"Everyone's fine," Naro replied, a gust of wind swirling around him as he landed lightly. "Sin and Nina are the only ones still fighting, but they're far from here."

"Were they fighting cultists?" Simon asked, his voice tinged with urgency.

Naro frowned. "No. It was a man—not a cultist. Couldn't see much from up high, but he didn't give off their vibe."

Simon's expression darkened. "They're going to die if we don't get there in time."

Naro's frown deepened. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Before Simon could answer, a ripple of water shimmered in the air, reforming into the shape of Nix's watery clone. The deity's laugh echoed menacingly, reverberating off the icy walls.

"Holy hell!" Naro exclaimed, leaping back and sending slicing gusts of wind at Nix. The blades deflected harmlessly against the clone's water barrier.

"How many of you are there?" Nix sneered, his cane aimed at Simon. "No matter where I go, you shadow dwellers are always in my way."

Simon cursed under his breath, raising the temperature of his body to evaporate the remaining sweat on his skin, ensuring Nix couldn't use it to reform.

Naro turned to Simon. "How the hell did a water deity get involved in this?"

Simon didn't respond immediately, his gaze locked on Nix. "Doesn't matter. This isn't his real form. It's just another clone."

At that moment, Alejandro stumbled into the scene, his face streaked with blood and his movements sluggish. His arm hung limply as he relocated his shoulder with a sickening pop.

"This guy's not the only one who uses clones," Alejandro said, his voice strained but still carrying his trademark wit.

Nix's attention shifted to Alejandro, his grin widening. Manipulating a droplet of Alejandro's blood, Nix transformed it into a deadly spike aimed at the cowboy's heart. But with swift reflexes, Alejandro deflected it with his peacemaker. The gun fired, and the ricocheting bullet shattered Nix's clone.

Simon and Naro lowered their guards cautiously.

"Is he gone?" Naro asked.

Simon walked to the puddle where Nix had stood, torching it into steam. "If he's sending weak clones like that, it means Sin and Nina are fighting something much worse."

The three exchanged a knowing look. Without hesitation, Naro used the wind to propel Simon and Alejandro upward, launching them swiftly toward the fray. 

Elsewhere in the labyrinth, Sin and Nina fought a chaotic battle against the stronger clone of Nix. The water deity taunted them, his cane spinning as he sent relentless waves of attacks. The two knights struggled to find their rhythm, their movements clumsy and out of sync.

"You are fighting me, aren't you?" Nix asked, his tone dripping with mockery as he watched them collide into one another.

Sin growled, shoving Nina aside. "Just back off! This is my chance to use my new tools!"

He summoned a barrage of shadow weapons, hurling them at Nix. But the deity's water barrier absorbed the attacks effortlessly. Sin winced as he clutched his shoulder, the memory of an earlier wound causing him to hesitate. He realized there was no blood, no visible injury—just the phantom pain of Nix's water bullets.

Nina stepped forward, her scythe gleaming as she deflected a spray of water bullets aimed at Sin. "My turn."

With a powerful throw, she launched her scythe at Nix, piercing his barrier and disrupting it temporarily. Seizing the opportunity, Sin summoned his guitar and played a single, electrified note inside Nix's watery form, causing him to explode.

But Nix reformed quickly, his fury evident. "You damned brats! Enough of this!"

As Nix unleashed a torrent of water bullets, Nina dodged deftly, but one struck her stomach, causing her to stumble. Sin's eyes widened, his emotions boiling over. His canines sharpened into fangs, and his eyes glowed with an ominous purple light.

"Back to the seas where you belong, motherfucker," Sin growled, his voice low and menacing. He phased through Nix repeatedly, his lightning frying the deity's form with each pass.

Nix's watery body began to dissipate. "Damn you, Lightning Fiend!" he roared before collapsing into a puddle.

Sin's eyes returned to normal as he turned to Nina. She clutched her stomach, blood leaking from the wound. Without hesitation, Sin cauterized it with a small zap. Nina flinched but managed a weak smile.

"All right," she said, her voice steady. "Let's keep moving."

Before they could decide on a direction, Naro descended, carried swiftly by gusts of wind. Simon and Alejandro dangled awkwardly at his sides. The group exchanged brief smiles of relief as they regrouped.

"Now we just need Nora and Ivy!" Simon said eagerly.

At that moment, Nora skated down gracefully, landing without a scratch. "Guess it's time to get Ivy," Naro said.

Alejandro raised a hand. "Wait! Isn't there one more? The blonde cultist?"

Nora smirked confidently. "It's handled."

Simon grinned. "Seriously? Tell us how you took her down!"

Nora crossed her arms. "Well, if you really want to know...

In the heart of the labyrinth, Nora atop a towering mountain of ice, surveying the field with an icy gaze. The remnants of cultists lay frozen around her, their cracked forms glinting in the pale light. A faint noise broke the stillness—footsteps, then silence.

From the shadows emerged Sable, her knife glowing with runes as she approached. The engravings shimmered faintly in Nora's presence, a testament to the intensity of their impending clash.

"You the leader of this brigade?" Nora asked, her voice steady as she flicked a frozen mask aside.

"Yes," Sable replied. "And you and your little shadow friends are in my way. This territory belongs to Die Nachtbrecher."

In a blur, Sable scaled the icy tower, dodging spikes that shot from the structure. Nora's posture remained relaxed, her expression unchanging as she summoned more obstacles to halt Sable's ascent. A single spike nicked Sable's arm, and her blood began to freeze. She slipped, her body cracking into a shattered clone as it collided with the ice.

"Crafty," Sable's voice echoed through her remaining clones. "No doubt about it, you're one of Leonardo Sparkvenn's kids."

Nora didn't reply, her focus unyielding as she destroyed the clones one by one.

"Tell me your name, girl," the clones demanded.

"Nora Sparkvenn," she said coolly. "And you won't be winning this battle. Your clones will run out soon enough."

The clones thinned as Sable's true form emerged. Leaping from behind a group of her duplicates, she closed the distance with a powerful dropkick. Nora deflected the attack with precision, sending Sable tumbling down the icy tower.

Recovering quickly, Sable noticed the tower shifting.

"I believe I've gathered enough ice," Nora announced.

The tower melted and reformed, encasing the entire battlefield in a slick layer of ice. The walls rose higher than the surrounding buildings, creating a frosty arena.

"In a place like this, even Ivy wouldn't keep her balance," Nora taunted, slipping off her boots and socks. Her feet glided effortlessly across the frozen surface.

Sable mirrored her, removing her boots and bolting forward. "Speed will take me far enough," she said, determination in her voice.

Nora laughed mockingly. "Speed isn't the key here. Control is."

With graceful movements, Nora manipulated the ice, creating walls and summoning golems from the frozen remnants of cultists. Sable darted around, her agility allowing her to evade most obstacles. But every turn cracked the ice further, and each strike from the golems sent her skidding.

As the battle raged, Sable landed a dropkick, sending Nora flying. Blood trickled from Nora's nose as she grinned, the memory of a similar fight with Kuro flashing in her mind.

Sable used the opportunity to press her attack, her speed increasing as she closed the distance again. Nora summoned more golems, but Sable's strikes became sharper, her footwork more precise. She crushed each golem with powerful blows, but the shattered remains spiked up at her, slicing her legs and feet.

"These brats are on another level," Sable muttered, frustration seeping into her voice. "And to think it took only one to take out all my troops."

Nora's eyes gleamed with icy determination. She sprinted in circles, her movements creating a whirlpool of icy shards and water at the center of the arena. The slick surface began to tilt, forcing Sable to fight for balance.

"You're out of cards," Nora taunted, her voice cold as the ice beneath them. "You chose the wrong cadet to mess with."

Sable snarled, removing her mask, her clothes and stripping down to her tank top and underwear to free her movements further. She bolted toward Nora with newfound ferocity. Nora countered with a series of elegant slides, her feet gliding as she maneuvered effortlessly around Sable's attacks.

"You're fast," Sable admitted through gritted teeth. "But speed alone won't save you forever."

"It doesn't have to," Nora replied. "I'm not trying to win. Just stall."

Before Sable could process the words, Nora created a towering ice wall, separating them momentarily. She used the brief respite to summon a final golem, larger and more formidable than any before. The creature roared, its icy limbs crashing toward Sable.

The two clashed fiercely, the golem's strength forcing Sable to retreat further into the labyrinth. Nora seized the opportunity, leaping into the air and landing on a raised platform of ice. From her vantage point, she surveyed the battlefield, her breath steady despite the exertion.

"Time to finish this," Nora declared. With a final burst of speed, she darted forward, her icy arsenal ready to strike.

Nora's dominance over Sable was clear as she forced the cultist to retreat, her icy precision overwhelming her opponent at every turn. But as the battle reached its climax, Nora's focus remained sharp, her mind set on finding her comrades and ending the labyrinth's chaos once and for all.

Back in the present, the group gathered in a small clearing amidst the labyrinth's ruins. The air was thick with tension, their faces a mix of astonishment and disbelief as Nora recounted her battle with Sable.

Simon's eyes widened, his mouth slightly agape. "You really came out without a scratch!"

Nora crossed her arms, her expression as frosty as her battlefield. "Unlike some of you," she teased, her gaze flicking toward Simon's sweat-streaked face and Alejandro's bruised body.

Before anyone could retort, a voice cut through the tension, dripping with venom.

"So did I," Sable sneered.

The group turned as one. Standing at the far end of the street was Sable, soaking wet and seething with anger. Her mask was cracked, revealing a sliver of her face beneath, but her demeanor was no less threatening.

Naro wasted no time. With a sharp motion, he summoned a gust of wind that blasted Sable back down the street. She spiraled uncontrollably before slamming into a wall, but even as she tried to recover, her foot was suddenly ensnared by wires.

Ivy stepped forward, her presence commanding despite the bandages wrapping her arms and legs. Her wires tightened around Sable, pulling taut as she approached with deliberate steps.

"You've got a lot of explaining to do," Ivy said, her voice low and dangerous as she circled to face Sable.

Sable glared up at Ivy through the cracked remains of her mask, her breaths ragged. Despite her predicament, her defiance hadn't waned.

"What's your name?" Ivy demanded. "You clearly aren't some nameless lackey. But I doubt you're the one who captured Leo. So tell me—your name, and your boss's name."

Sable began trembling, her fists clenched as her rage boiled over. The wires around her creaked as she strained against them.

"My name is Sable," she spat. "And as for my boss? You'll never know, you fuckin—"

Before she could finish, two gunshots rang out, their echoes cutting through the still air. Sable's head snapped back as bullets pierced her mask, shattering it entirely. She fell limp, the wires holding her lifeless body aloft.

The group turned to see Sin and Alejandro standing side by side, their guns still raised, smoke curling from the barrels. They exchanged a glance, their silent agreement clear.

Sin holstered his weapon, his expression grim. "She wasn't going to talk. That was obviously another clone."

Alejandro flipped his peacemaker, spinning it deftly before tucking it into its holster. "And she was trying to trap us here. Good riddance."

Nina stepped forward, her eyes scanning the remains of the clone. "If that was just a distraction, then we need to move. Now."

Ivy's wires retracted as she nodded. "Agreed. Let's find a shadow and get out of here."

The group collectively turned their gaze skyward, dread pooling in their stomachs as they saw the first rays of sunlight piercing the horizon. The rising sun threatened to eliminate their only means of escape.

"Shit," Simon muttered. "We're cutting it close."

"No time for second guesses," Naro said, already scanning the nearby alleys.

In unison, the Night Knights bolted toward the nearest shadowed alley, their movements synchronized despite their exhaustion. As the sunlight crept closer, they dove into the shadows, the darkness swallowing them just in time.

Leipzig was safe once more, its streets eerily quiet in the aftermath of the battle. The Night Knights reemerged in the academy's band room, their energy drained but their resolve intact. The day belonged to humanity again—until the night returned to reclaim it.