Either he died to a monster, or the middle path was the correct choice.
Angor needed to make a decision too. The right path was an obvious no, so Angor should go to the left or middle.
The left path was unknown since no one explored it. Unpredictable. The middle path might be the right one… or a deadly monster nest. Either way could be dangerous. Angor hesitated for a while and finally chose the middle one.
He had no particular reason. Just that even though the younger Sunders was weaker than middle-aged Sunders, he was still a lot stronger than a mortal. Correct or not, the middle path was cleared up by someone else, so Angor might as well enjoy the free peace.
With this mindset, Angor stayed on the trails left by younger Sunders.
Angor did not know how long he traveled or how many forks he went past. When he began to question his decision, he saw a picture on a wall which illustrated the figure of a misty ghost shadow who had a single eye growing on its body.
Instead of fear, Angor felt joy.
The monster in the picture was a “Witch’s Eye”. Before coming to the Nightmare Realm, Sunders mentioned that these monsters roamed around the center of the underground maze, which meant Angor was close to the exit!
However, Sunders said something else too, “Witch’s Eyes were vicious and cunning creatures, they tend to stick in groups. If you meet any of those things, you will become a pile of bones in the first second.”
Sunders was half-joking. He did not think Angor had any chance of encountering a Witch’s Eye on his own. Even if the boy was somehow teleported into the underground maze, he would never make it to the central area.
Of course, Sunders would never expect that Angor not only reached the center, he only ran into a single fight. Not with a monster, but a younger version of Sunders himself.
As a matter of course, Angor believed his path was free of monsters thanks to younger Sunders’ effort. When he reached another fork, Angor went to the one with younger Sunders’ traces without hesitation. He was already inside the central area, maybe he could make it to the exit with someone clearing monsters for him!
Before he could finish that thought though, Angor heard someone screaming behind the next corner.
He looked ahead and saw younger Sunders.
The man was fighting several dozens of black shadows floating in the air. One of the shadows went through Sunders’ chest, who shrieked in pain again, vomited some substance mixed with blood and guts, and collapsed on the ground, unconscious.
Angor was startled by the scene and quickly prepared to run away. At this moment, he heard the black shadows giving out sharp noises like screams. Next, they scattered away as if something frightened them for good.
When they ran about, Angor saw they all had those big, single eyes in the middle of their bodies. Those were Witch’s Eyes!