The Brute-Force Way Out!

Boom!

The massive stone door slammed shut behind Link, cutting off every sound and ray of light from outside.

The labyrinth plunged into a heart-stopping darkness so deep he could not see his hand before his face.

Cold air, laden with millennia of dust, dried blood, and decaying magic, surged from every direction. It seemed intent on seeping into every pore of the challenger's body and freezing his will.

At the same time, a tidal wave of laughter erupted from the arena stands.

"He's gone in! That arrogant man actually dared to go in!"

"I'll bet a tendon from one of Hera's sacred deer that he goes mad in there before fifteen minutes are up!"

"Fifteen minutes? You give him too much credit! The labyrinth's walls will drain his strength, and the Minotaur's roar will shatter his courage!"

On the royal dais, a cruel smile curled Antiope's lips.

She glanced at Hippolyta beside her, whose expression was grave, and said quietly, "Sister, this isn't a trial. It's an execution. You'll have the nourishment you want soon enough."

Hippolyta said nothing. She only turned her gaze to the enormous magic mirror at the center of the arena, formed from the waters of the Moon Well.

The mirror clearly showed the inside of the labyrinth.

Link stood motionless in darkness that would have broken any ordinary mortal, as though fear had struck him senseless.

Diana's heart tightened despite herself.

She despised Link's arrogance, but she had to admit he possessed a quality of this new age unlike anything she had ever seen. She did not want him to die helplessly at the hands of a cursed beast.

Just as every Amazon concluded that Link had no way forward, he finally moved in the mirror.

He raised a hand, not to feel along