The Blood Castle was situated in a separate, pocket dimension of the Labyrinth. It was a reflection of a past battlefield where Baron Marus had fought against the invaders to death.
It was the deathbed of thousands of soldiers who fought the battle so ferociously that the sky turned crimson with their blood.
It was a perfect scene for the Hidden Boss battle. A battlefield with thousands of undead skeletons ready to defend the castle even in their death.
A load of information was given to everyone entering the pocket realm by the Labyrinth System. It basically showed the information in the form of Runes that nobody knew.
Still, they could understand the information clearly through the Labyrinth System. The system was an unknown entity that helped people in many things and it came to this world along with the Labyrinths.
Of course, it was different from Max's leveling system because the Labyrinth System was more of a tool to display progress and just help in other things like reading the Ancient Runes.
"That's not the Baron," Max thought, as he read through the information. "The Black Knight actually worked under the Baron. If the real Baron were in his place, not a single one would have left this place alive."
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"That's a huge number," Max muttered in surprise. "How did so many people find the map?"
"Teams, just like ours," Athena answered his question and said. "You can stay here if you want and leave somewhere else too. We will go and handle the skeletons."
"Yeah, their head is probably..."
Before Max could continue, a piercing bestial roar shook the whole pocket dimension. The dark ground came alive, as white pristine bones began to shake and rise from their Eternal Slumber.
However, there was something more horrifying standing behind all of the undead skeletons. A towering demon made of dark armour with a crimson glow blazing inside its helmets.
"That's it," Athena smiled as she brandished her spear. "I doubt the skeletons would give any Mana Shards so try to just push through them and slaughter that shit of an armour."
"Hohhhhhhh!!"
All the Amazon Warriors screamed alongside their leader, as they jumped into the battlefield and began to slaughter their way towards the Black Knight.
The majority of the undead skeletons were of low level so they didn't pose any difficulty to the warriors from Amazon. However, they were undead and they didn't know what death was.
Each blow from the fighting women shattered their bones, only for them to grow it back in no time and once again attack every living being in their line of sight.
Max witnessed everything from a distance, while Charlotte held the enthusiastic Stelle from jumping into the battlefield.
"Wait a minute! These skeletons won't give any Mana Shards for others, but what about my EXP?" Max's eyes glowed when he thought about it.
When he didn't get any response from Kafka, he smiled even more. If he really could get EXP from the skeletons, then he would level up much faster.
[Remember the nerf!]
"How are we getting to the castle?" Charlotte asked. "It's surrounded by thousands of undead monsters. Even for those Amazon women, it'll take time to reach there."
"I was waiting for something," Max shook his head and turned around. "Let's go! We need to get inside the castle."
"Are we really not fighting them? They seem fun to break?" Stelle asked while swinging her hammer around.
"Haha! Why fight weaklings when you can smash powerful ones?" Max laughed and said. "Just, follow me!"
The two ladies didn't doubt him after what happened in their journey to the Blood Castle and followed him. They walked on the border of the pocket realm, away from the undead battlefield.
After a few minutes, Max stopped and crouched down, as he whispered, "This should be the place!"
He looked around and smiled when he found a cross-shaped rock some distance away. He said, "Brat, why don't you hammer here a little?"
Stelle gave the ground a curious glance and raised her hammer. It suddenly grew in size, and became even bigger than her.
"Damn! I almost forgot they're rich!" Max cursed and backed away.
A second later, the ground shook as a crack appeared on the spot Stelle hammered. She didn't stop there and gave a few more swings of her hammer, making the whole ground quake.
Taking a deep breath, Stelle brought the hammer down once again, only this time, the ground didn't crack. It simply caved in, opening a hole that led to somewhere underground.
"Baron Marcus had an important status back then, and likewise, the town was also pretty wealthy and important," Max explained as he came towards the hole. "That's why they also have escape underground tunnels, just like in capital cities."
"Do you know the way of these tunnels?" Charlotte asked, not a bit surprised by his information. "Usually, there is a maze of tunnels to confuse the invaders."
"Yes, but you don't need to worry about that," Max smiled and gave a wink to Stelle. "Good work, brat!"
Stelle harumphed loudly and jumped into the hole after returning her hammer to its original condition. Following her, Max jumped down into it.
The fall wasn't long as the hole itself was only a few metres deep. As he stabilized himself on the ground, he immediately stretched out his hands, catching Charlotte in his arms.
"W-What... thank you," Charlotte exclaimed and then blushed when she realised her situation.
Stelle rolled her eyes upon seeing her and thought, "I bet she's comparing him to some kind of Knight from those novels. Horny pervert people!"
"It's my pleasure, really," Max smiled, looking at Charlotte. "You're so light, do you even eat properly?"
"Mister Intelligent, can you please focus on the task at hand?" Stelle said, gritting her teeth. "Because we have some company with us."
Max looked up and found two undead skeletons walking towards him. He sighed and reluctantly put Charlotte down.
Smiling at her red face, he said, "Thanks for giving me this opportunity."
Charlotte simply nodded and backed away. She was in no condition to say anything, but that didn't mean she wouldn't be useful in battle.