Herald of death

Russ barks as a rock jolts their Toyota, causing its poor suspension to jostle the vehicle and spill his bowl of shredded beef and barbecue sauce. He lets out a quick squeak before eagerly licking the mess off the trunk bed.

"Glad you’re enjoying it," Ethan remarks, keeping his eyes on the sand-covered road ahead. He takes a bite from his own MRE. "Ten boxes of beef, tortillas, dry bread, and marshmallows. A hundred and twenty identical, tasteless meals. At least we’ve got instant coffee this time, not that awful fruit-flavored powder. I just hope we don’t get stuck in there for too long—I’d rather not eat this for a whole month."

He summons a bottle of water, part of the same bulk purchase from the man who supplied the MREs. The walls of the labyrinth appear in the distance, prompting Ethan to activate his predator's sight. It is devoid of life and sound.

As they approach, Ethan notices that the sparse vegetation marks a stark boundary. On one side, closest to him, there are living grass and shrubs; on the other stand dried and dying plants. He halts the car and steps outside. A dense, unknown Ether surrounds the labyrinth, its dark green threads seeping into the lifeless plants. Ethan throws the remnants of his bread into the Ether, watching as it withers within seconds, resembling a loaf of bread left for months.

'This seems worse than dark Ether,' Ethan thinks. 'If I accept the invitation, there's no guarantee I’ll be teleported into this labyrinth. I could end up back in England—or anywhere else on Earth.'

He peers deeper into the Ether, noting that the wall stops just before the first buildings. Summoning the Abyss watcher's lantern, he holds it close to the Ether wall. The lantern repels the dark green threads, pushing them back by meters. Russ watches, tilting his head in confusion.

'I've already seen demonic and dark Ether... so this must be death Ether,' Ethan deduces. He dashes along the wall, testing the reaction time of the death Ether to the lantern.

"Only four or five kilometers to go. I just hope the lantern’s battery lasts a few more minutes," Ethan says to Russ as he gets back in the car, placing the lantern on the passenger seat. 'Worst-case scenario, we get stuck in the labyrinth. But I could use the Anchorstone to return to Opal, though finding a way back to Earth will be a pain.'

The wall splits before them, rejoining after the car, behind their dust trail. Soon, they reach the edge of the city. Ethan checks his phone—no signal. The city is silent; not even the wind can be heard.

Russ jumps down from the trunk, sticking close to Ethan’s heel. "I don’t like this place either," Ethan mutters as he unsummons the lantern.

He triggers predator's sight and moves past the first buildings, entering the maze of alleys and stairs. He guides himself using the satellite picture sent by Tombstone, aiming for the central Ziggurat.

The streets are devoid of life or activity of any form. The houses and other buildings appear several years old, some bearing cracks and loosening bricks.

Ethan explores one of the most prestigious buildings he meets. He finds an imposing statue of a lightly dressed woman. Wings spread from her naked back; her hair is the only thing that covers her chest. Symbols are carved in a gold plate at the base of the statue.

'Sumerian,' Ethan realizes. 'But I don't need to read it to know this is the goddess of love, war, and fertility.'

"Adding the Language (Sumerian) skill. Based on your previous experience a level of 1 has been applied."

"Sure, that will be useful," Ethan mocks. Russ whines, bored out of his mind. Ethan thinks aloud, using Russ as his interlocutor. "Unless the otherworld shares our legends, this place didn't come from their world but from our past. However, it's evident that it's an absurd exaggeration of what Uruk once was."

"Woof," Russ affirms, making Ethan smile.

'I wonder if there are magical items in a place like this. Even Ether crystals would be nice,' he thinks. Ethan opens himself to the surrounding Ether but doesn't find anything holding significant power in the vicinity. 'I guess there is nothing to loot here.'

A piercing jet engine sound reaches Ethan's ears. He looks up as a SU-35 fighter jet approaches, piercing through the Ether wall before nosediving past the city. It crashes behind the other side of the wall in a cloud of fire.

'He must’ve been at least three kilometers up,' Ethan estimates, trying to gauge how high the Ether wall extends but finding no end to it. 'How high does it go? Are the other labyrinths the same?'

A crow caws from atop a building, startling Ethan. He looks at it, but he does not see its figure or heart in predator's sight. Focusing on it, he notices that the beast does not even breathe.

Ethan closes his eyes, focusing on the Ether surrounding him and the bird. He notices that the crow is like a doll, sewn with thin threads of Ether, a single thread leading to an unknown part of the city. The bird flies off, soon leaving Ethan's sight.

'So, there are animals here, but not living ones. Was that someone's summon?' Ethan thinks. Russ gets closer, his leg bouncing on and off Ethan's. His head twitches from one side to the next, his ears flattening backward.

"What is it?" Ethan asks. The ground shakes, as if this place itself were answering his question. A roar reverberates through the air, originating from the Ziggurat. It is a sound more akin to the grinding of colossal gears than that of a beast. The earth trembles harder, cracking the buildings around Ethan.

As fast as the roar appeared, it vanishes, and with it the earthquake it brought. Russ lowers himself to the ground, terrified. Ethan kneels beside him, gently stroking his fur while scanning the surroundings. "Heel," he commands, and Russ regains some composure.

They proceed cautiously until they reach an archway marking the entrance to the palace garden. Once lush with life, the garden now stands as a graveyard of withered plants. Olive, date, pomegranate, apricot, and over fruit trees stretch their gnarled branches above them.

They find the opened part of the U-shaped palace, where massive stairs lead to the black and gold Ziggurat. Ethan's eyes dart from one side of the palace to the next, searching for any movement or figure.

'We’re exposed on all sides here,' Ethan thinks.

A dense mist forms, reducing visibility to a few meters. Ethan summons the Anchorstone into his offhand and Phantom Reaver in his right hand. A sudden clatter of hooves echoes behind them, and they turn to face it. Russ growls, ready to lunge at whatever appears from the mist.

An immense body of gleaming metal plates emerges from the garden, a titanic bull whose steps necrose the ground. Its eyes burn with a sickly green glow. Steam hisses from its nostrils, followed by plumes of dark green napalm that crackles through the air like liquid fire. The ground quake as it steps forward, the mechanical grinding of his body echoing in the air.

"Insi–" A loud, omnidirectional error sound pierces Ethan's mind. A red window materializes before him, displaying a brief message:

You haven't completed the trials of the Labyrinth of Death. You are not yet worthy of facing its lord.

Light engulfs Ethan’s vision as the ground vanishes beneath his feet. Darkness envelops him, but in his enhanced sight, Ethan sees Russ falling beside him. Grabbing Russ by the collar, Ethan pulls him into his arms, twisting mid-air to ensure his feet will hit the ground first.