I gasped at the banshee spider with a homburg hat on its creepy head. Its head had human features. Its pudgy backside wagged up and down as its legs tested spring for a pounce.

Colin reflectively formed a protective barrier around us.

"I'm doing my best not to c.r.a.p myself here. Doesn't that thing's face and voice resemble too much of that piggy cheeks Homburg creep!" I shuddered.

I was surprised to see Lyra looking as spooked as I was.

"Sire. If he's—" Her voice trembled.

Brystagg pulled her into a hug and lovingly kissed her forehead. "It'll be alright."

"Eh!" I blurted.

My fear was overridden by shock from seeing the man's display of affection.

"Don't tell me that both of you?!" I wagged a finger at them to finish off the rest of my question.

Both replied with an affirming look in their eyes.

"Couldn't you have done better?" I blurted my impressions of their relations.h.i.+p to Brystagg and copped a painful kick to my stomach from Lyra.

"Yep. Like daughter." I groaned.

My eyes narrowed at Colin and Buru's stifled laughter.

"Well thanks to an idiot. I've calmed down." Lyra coolly closed further discussions on the matter.

Our focus returned to the homburg banshee parading our barrier.

I cursed at the sight of banshee reinforcements entering the cavern I realized we were in.

Although, I don't know how long it had been a cavern since the walls were continually rea.s.sembling themselves like building blocks. The layout of the place changed every few minutes. Right now. The place was enormous enough to hold more than twenty clutters of redback spiders the size of children.

Colin frowned and placed a finger over his maplink eye.

"This is no good. The tunnels are reforming at absurd rate. Even the fixed paths are moving to merge with other random paths." His hands nervously signed.

"What does that mean? No fixed paths?" I signed my questions. And rephrased Colin's information by voice for the others.

"That means the tunnels are reforming to make one pattern. There'll eventually be no walls." Brystagg gulped.

A sickness churned my stomach. My heart pounded with irregular beats when I realized his words and fear.

h.e.l.l's Labyrinth would become one s.p.a.ce that was free for all. Without a barrier keeping it separated from the Second District. The city would become vulnerable to ma.s.s demon attacks.

Jarring bangs and thuds to our barrier drew our focus back to the present issue.

Walls would be the least of our problems if we weren't able to escape the banshee. They were manically smas.h.i.+ng against our barrier with their intentions to make a meal of us.

I gasped when I saw human resemblance on some of the banshees. Brystagg had noticed this too from his troubled expression.

"Sire. Whatever happened to the BHT was twenty years ago. You're not responsible for this!" I shouted at his face to snap him out of thoughts that would hinder our escape.

"Famine. They were my people. I'm responsible." Brystagg's voice was level.

He was doing his best to hold in his emotions.

"Then take responsibility. End their banshee misery to give their impressions back their humanity." I faced him with will and resolution.

Brystagg chuckled and patted my head. "You're a conundrum. I can't decide whether your dumbness is to disguise your intelligence or something else."

"I'd go for devilishly handsome." I positively answered.

"What's to figure out? Dumb is dumb." Lyra smirked. "Famine has a point. Let's end their misery once and for all."

She unsheathed her koto sword for action.

I glanced about the faces of Colin and Buru who were also ready to dish out the pain.

Brystagg steadied his hands and unsheathed his guns.

We positioned ourselves around the barrier for the best vantage point. Brystagg briefed us on a plan of attack. Colin reversed the barrier to repeal the surrounding banshee.

It was now or never.