"Please, baby. You're making Mama sad. All I want is to see your face."
Orion didn't reply to his mother's voice.
He knew his mother wasn't really there, but the more he heard Evelyn's voice, the harder it was for him to differentiate between reality and illusion.
"But why do their voices cause a dizzying effect?" This was what Orion had noticed so far, and he couldn't comprehend how this was even possible.
Strangely enough, he had been feeling drowsy ever since the reflection of his mother and aunt appeared in the maze.
Also, the more he listened to what his mother and aunt were saying, the more he felt sleepy and tired, making it difficult for him to stay awake.
'I wonder what type of magic this is?' Orion uttered in his thoughts.
'It seems to be some kind of hypnotizing spell.'
'But I've never heard of a hypnotizing spell before.'
Before today, Orion had never heard of or seen the spell, but this didn't mean that it didn't exist.
He knew about illusion spells but it looked like the illusion spell used in the maze had been mixed with a hypnotization spell, making it difficult for Orion to cancel out the two spells.
Although Orion had illusion resistance, it wasn't strong enough to prevent the spell from affecting him.
This was because the spell was a tier-four magical spell.
At least, this was what he concluded, but he suddenly noticed Aurora shaking her body, and this pulled Orion out of his daydream.
Aurora did this because she wanted him to focus on the task at hand.
Realizing what Aurora wanted him to do, Orion swiftly tightened his grip on the reins and apologized.
Besides, he couldn't look into the eyes of the reflections because he had been too busy trying to calm his mind and distract it from the chaotic noise around him.
Anyways, in a nutshell, a lot of the contestants were still in the maze and they couldn't progress to the fifth and final section.
Orion and Aurora continued to fly within the maze, trying their best to navigate their way out of it.
A lot of the spectators in the arena were watching them now, while two beautiful little elves had their eyes glued to the screen.
"Prince Galdur, you can do it," Odile muttered to herself while her eyes followed his every movement through the screen.
Odile and Odetta were currently seated on the floor while watching the huge screen in front of them.
Tengen and his pregnant wife were also in the living room, seated on the couch.
On the screen, everyone could see a miniaturized map of the labyrinthine maze, so they could tell when Orion was about to reach the exit of the maze.
"Yes, Prince Galdur. You're almost there," Odetta clenched her fist while hoping that Orion and his phoenix would come out of the maze.
A few minutes later, Odile and Odetta erupted in cheers when they saw Orion and Aurora exiting the maze.
"Yes!!!"
"Yeah!! I told you he'll make it," Odetta cheered excitedly with a cute smile on her chubby little face, but the race wasn't over yet, and the two sisters watched as Orion patted Aurora's neck.
They watched as he and Aurora approached the final challenge of the first round, and they could see a massive, blazing ring that was about 10 meters in diameter.
The flames danced and roared on the ring and the crowd in the arena watched intently as they wanted to see how Orion would pass through the flaming hoop with ten flying beasts trying to stop him.
The flying beasts in front of them were hell gargoyles, but Orion and Aurora weren't worried about the gargoyles in front of them.
Aurora swiftly coated her body in flame, along with Orion, and he slowly leaned forward, allowing his body to align with that of Aurora's. In the blink of an eye, the flame completely engulfed them, and only a streak of lightning could be seen as Orion and Aurora passed through the gargoyles and hoop.
The flames on their bodies dimmed and the lifeless bodies of gargoyles fell to the ground.