Mad Hatter's Guide to Clearing The Game
Chapter 112: Ch110. The seventh day

Chapter 112: Ch110. The seventh day

Miles exhaled slowly, rolling his shoulders as he stood at the edge of the sinkhole.

Strangely enough, even though Miles had already gotten used to it, his body ached less and less than during the previous days, and he still did not know why it was like that. But the sensation of relief was more than welcome.

The Maw loomed before him. A gaping abyss of twisted metal, shattered bones, and shadows too deep to see through. It stretched wide, devouring everything in its path.

An open wound in the fabric of The Horizon.

The air around it pulsed, thick with something unseen, something old. Miles felt it before he even stepped inside. A hum, almost like static, but layered with something else.

Something alive.

And then, the whispers started.

It was not like the Hatter, speaking from his mind and taunting him. The whispers were faint at first, curling around the edges of his consciousness, like fingers barely grazing his mind.

They were not words, not yet. Just emotions. Fragments of longing, rage, sorrow. Thousands of voices overlapping, but none of them fully breaking through.

Kurt stood beside him, arms crossed, watching.

"This is your final test, kid." His voice was steady, but there was a weight behind it. "I’m not going with you. You’re going to check if that thing we barely survived against back then lives in here, and you’re going to kill the bastard alone, or die trying."

Miles nodded. He had expected as much.

"Also, drink your magic tea." Kurt looked at him, dead serious. "This time, you’re going to need every ounce of strength you can get."

"Any last advice?" he asked, adjusting his grip on the [Harbinger’s Scythe].

He summoned the [Ether Teapot], poured some of the colorful and fragrant liquid on the crystal teacup, and drank it, letting out a sigh of deep satisfaction as soon as he felt the healing and strengthening properties of the tea coursing through his body.

"Yeah." Kurt retorted with a smirk. "Don’t get eaten."

And then, with one last glance at the abyss, Miles took a step forward.

And jumped.

***

The Maw didn’t let him land normally.

As soon as Miles’ boots hit solid ground, the terrain shifted beneath him, sending him sliding down a slope of rusted machinery and shattered stone. He barely had time to react, twisting his body mid-slide, using the scythe to hook onto a thick metal beam before he could plummet further.

The ground here was not stable. It moved like it was a living being.

Beneath his feet, the piles of broken structures shifted like something breathing, as if the entire Maw was alive. Miles did not trust it. He could barely hear his own thoughts past the constant creaking of shifting debris, the distant screeches of something inhuman echoing from the depths.

Then, the whispers sharpened.

"... You... Do you see...?"

Miles’ breath caught in his throat. That wasn’t just emotion anymore.

Those were words.

"... Forgotten... Lost... Broken..."

Miles swallowed, gripping the scythe tighter as he scanned his surroundings. He could not see anything yet, but he could feel it. Something was watching him.

And then, the ground lurched.

Something massive shifted beneath the wreckage, and before Miles could move, a hulking shape erupted from the depths of The Maw.

A Revenant.

But not just any Revenant.

Its form was enormous, twisted, malformed, yet eerily deliberate. Patches of blackened, sinewy flesh clung to rusted bone covered with metal plates, its long limbs ending in jagged claws that curved inward like scythes. Its face – or what remained of it – was an almost human skull, cracked and splintered, but its hollow sockets gleamed with a flickering crimson light.

Miles’ breath hitched.

This one was different from the others. It reminded him of the one that almost killed him and Kurt, but allowed him to discover the hidden chamber, deep down the... Whatever that structure was.

And it was watching him, assessing and studying him, just like that one.

Miles barely had time to brace before the creature lunged.

It moved fast. Far too fast for something its size. Miles twisted at the last second, rolling to the side as claws slashed through the space he had just occupied. The impact sent a shockwave through the debris, metal screeching against metal as the Revenant’s strike cleaved straight through a massive beam.

’Shit!’ Miles spun his scythe, using the momentum to pivot back onto his feet. He had to stay mobile, had to gather momentum. He could not afford to get caught flat-footed, not against this thing.

But he was alive, and unharmed.

’Let’s keep it that way.’

The Revenant tilted its head at him, its gaze unsettlingly focused, and then, without warning, it moved again.

This time, Miles parried. His scythe met its claws with a deafening clang, sparks flying from the impact. The sheer force of it sent him skidding backward, his boots digging into the unstable ground.

And then, it spoke.

"... Not like the others..."

Miles’ blood ran cold as the voice reached his ears. It was hollow, layered, like multiple voices speaking in unison. It was not like the whispers that had followed him since he entered The Maw.

"You can talk..." Miles exhaled, shifting his stance.

Yes, it was just like that one.

The Revenant’s jaw unhinged slightly, its exposed teeth grinding together.

"... Not like the others... You do not break."

"Yeah? You’re not the first thing that’s tried." Miles’ grip on his scythe tightened.

The Revenant let out a warped, distorted echo of laughter, and then, it attacked again.

This time, it was even faster.

But Miles’ hellish training with Kurt had paid off, and he felt it in his every move.

He managed to dodge as the Revenant twisted its body mid-air, claws sweeping out in a devastating arc. He ducked under one strike, sidestepped another, but the third-

Pain erupted in his side.

The Revenant’s claw raked across his ribs, carving through his coat like paper as blood splattered onto the rusted ground.

Miles gritted his teeth, a savage grin splitting his lips open.

The hit wasn’t deep, but it burned. And still, Miles felt a surge of adrenaline that he could not describe. It was pure joy for being able to stand against such a powerful enemy.

However, he did not let this confidence get over his head.

The Revenant landed a few feet away, watching him.

This thing was trying to play with him while studying his movements, but Miles was already aware of that.

"... Break."

Miles exhaled sharply, adjusting his grip on the scythe.

His shadow flickered beneath him, coiling like a living thing.

If this thing wanted a real fight, Miles would give it one.

It was time to disrupt the process.

He dashed forward, using the unstable ground to his advantage. Instead of meeting the Revenant head-on, he angled his scythe low, slicing into the shifting debris at its feet. The rusted metal and shattered stone collapsed beneath the creature, forcing it to shift its balance, and in that moment, Miles struck.

His scythe carved upward in a vicious arc. The Revenant twisted, avoiding a direct hit, but the blade still grazed its shoulder, leaving behind a deep, dark gash.

The creature let out a distorted screech, its voice laced with something new.

Surprise.

Miles did not let up, though.

He pressed forward, using every bit of his momentum to stay ahead of the Revenant’s retaliatory strikes. His shadow got up from the uneven ground, mirrored him, flickering around his movements, adding extra momentum to his dodges and feints.

Miles felt it in his bones. His [Doppelganger] Attribute skill had leveled up, even though he did not know how many times.

But for the first time since his arrival in The Horizon... He was gaining ground against a powerful Revenant.

But then, the whispers surged.

"... More... More... More..."

The air around him grew heavier, as if something had shifted deep within The Maw.

And suddenly, Miles was not alone with that Revenant anymore.

A second Revenant emerged from the wreckage, then a third.

Miles barely had time to react before they closed in, their hollow eyes gleaming with that same unsettling intelligence.

’Oh, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me...’

The first Revenant let out a guttural sound, almost like a celebration. And then, all three attacked at once.

Miles threw himself backward, barely dodging as claws ripped through the space where he had been standing. He hit the ground hard, rolling to absorb the impact before springing back onto his feet.

His pulse pounded in his ears. He was outnumbered now, and the whispers grew louder, pressing against the edges of his mind.

"... Deeper... Come deeper..."

Miles exhaled sharply, steadying his stance. The Maw was not just some sinkhole filled with monsters.

It was something else, something alive.

It felt like a... Nest, and it was calling to him.

But first, he had to survive.

Miles tightened his grip on his scythe, his shadow curling around him like a second skin.

Three against one.

"How about we try and even up the odds a little bit, fella?" He glanced at his shadow, which nodded in approval, giving Miles a thumbs up.

He could work with that.

A slow, determined grin tugged at the corner of his lips as he took a step forward.

And with that, Miles’ second shadow rose from the ground once more. But this time, it did not just mimic his movements or covered him to double his stats.

It assumed Miles’ form and carried a shadowy version of his scythe, assuming a battle stance identical to Miles’.

"Alright," he muttered. "Let’s dance."

The battle had truly begun.