Flesh warped, and a broad figure emerged from the bubbling pool of blood. Flames lit at his feet, and he jumped, charging through a segment of dangling bodies like a truck against birds. They crunched and splashed against his foot while he continued forward.

In a talented display of acrobatics and flexibility, he flipped midair and charged again. This time, he nosedived through a forming limb and landed on his hands, twisting as his legs sent forth a wave of flames.

The bright lights came with a roar, and in the distant space between reality, I could see the pinprick of gleaming red eyes staring back. My mana surged into my head, and the vision disappeared as the surprise figure retreated with a backflip.

He landed beside me, releasing a cone of fire from his mouth to purge away a smattering of remnant blood and gore from his arms.

"Finally found you, Cyrus. My apologies for the wait," Zog breathed. He cracked his neck and eyed the sputtering creature with burning eyes. "I'm sorry for the skill—I know I promised—but I had to break my oath. I at least tried to reduce the influence."

I spat the tingling wad of copper in my mouth and shook myself to clear my head.

"Forget that. Glad to have you. How did you find us?" I asked.

The monster slowly congealed, and it bulged as new mass started to harden, transitioning from blood to meat.

Zog tapped his chest. "My perk."

Right. He had the Cyrus tracker. Whatever. While I hated that he could stalk me, I was happy to see him. It couldn't have been more perfect timing.

"Listen," I said after helping Khrem up. "We have to get the king out of here and to the healer's guild. That or the castle but we need to hurry while the others are in trouble."

Zog glanced at the king with suspicion. It cleared the next moment, and he nodded.

"Then through. I assume by others you mean Broken Tower?"

"Yes. The faster we can drop him off, the quicker we can go back to help."

Zog watched as the creature began to form a mouth. Sparks flickered across his knuckles, but he had a hard expression that I couldn't entirely place. It hit me that Zog might not care. He saved me to fight me, sure, but this wasn't his kingdom, and he had no reason to trouble himself with all this.

He nodded and raised his fists. "We must overwhelm it then. It's regenerating somehow, but it's not invincible."

"Are we sure about that?" Sereza spat, as she wiped some blood from her cheek.

"Ruptured eardrums?" I asked.

She shook her head. "No. I think a piece of stone exploded next to me. The shard cut above my ear, so I can still hear. For now."

I bit my lip. I wanted Áine to heal her. Any injury could prove dangerous when the monster wielded blood and curses. As I was about to give up, Sereza raised a brow and crouched next to Áine. My familiar timed a burst of healing into the king's back and then reached out to tap Sereza's wrist.

Gold mana anchored onto Sereza and stretched toward Áine as a golden leaf formed.

Oh right, that works. Slowly, the cut on Sereza's cheek stemmed, and she smiled.

"Ready. What's the plan?"

The monster was now nearly fully reformed. Bodies of the possessed that were scorched in the aftermath of Zog's skill separated from the strands. They dripped and crumbled into red flakes that stained the ground.

"Zog, you're main offense. I'll tank. Sereza, support. Khrem, stay back and watch the king. Is there anything you can provide?"

"I managed to make some combustibles from the gliblib extract. Also, take this," Khrem said, handing out a light purple potion. "Mana regeneration booster. Average quality."

I uncapped the thing and downed it, expecting the taste of rotten eggs. Instead, it reminded me of artificial berry mixed with cornstarch. It wasn't the worst, and as the liquid slipped down my throat, I could feel my chest churn. Already, my regeneration spiked—not enough to combat the constant pull from Áine and Sturmrorex, but it helped slow the tide.

"Ready," I called out.

Zog launched himself left and barreled through a reformed arm. I charged in time to intercept some of the splitting strands and tanked them on my forearm while redirecting another with my spear. The blade sliced through, separating the meat as I moved to follow Zog's lead.

Where he went, he left a trail of heat and fury that scorched the floor. He landed on the edge of the maze and raised his hands to his mouth. I ducked in time to avoid the flamethrower as it speared through the central mass.

The monster roared and shifted. Three halves came apart and slipped through the wide cone, rushing toward Zog. Sereza appeared to his right and slammed a globe of acid across its limb. It hissed and retreated, quickly abandoning the sizzling parts covered in the goo. When it landed, I stepped forward and channeled mana into my spear.

I cut through unimpeded in its rush to escape and shoved the bone tip deep. The acidic venom exploded from the tip, earning another screech as it reached for its own leg.

Riiiip!

The pseudoflesh separated and the creature flung the detached limb directly into my side.

Fuck!

Even bracing with my legs, the hit sent me flying. My back crashed into the hardened wall of the maze, and I heaved. Kinetic energy slipped into the receptacles, filling them halfway. Zog was already on the offensive once more, his fists like tank rounds that obliterated all they touched. Sereza slipped in and out, using her tail and daggers to draw its attention and leave behind coats of sizzling acid.

I had to get up. They may not have noticed, but even as the monster retreated, blood swelled at its feet, and it was already regaining mass faster than we could whittle down.

Not only that, the trajectory of battle had spilled over, and Zagreus was forced to shoulder a blow with two of his heads. The weight crushed them into clouds of red mist, but it earned him enough time for Sereza to release another acid glob.

I grunted and shoved my claws deep into the heavy limb pinning me down. Blood and curse, along with a myriad of other elements, trickled through the crystal. I flushed a quarter of the kinetic energy into my palm and released.

The limb exploded.

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"Khrem! Look out!" Sereza yelled.

The sharkman raised his arm and lobbed a vial. He said he had explosives, but the air rippled and warped. In a silent toll of the bell, the bladed claw swiping his way was wrapped in cushioned air and then promptly flung backward as the force rocketed the monster away.

Sereza landed and sliced through one of the many legs, forcing it down. Already, it was regenerating again, but in the moment of instability from the monster, I saw it—the source of its infinite healing.

"Zog! It's rooted into the ground. Back left tentacle!" I shouted.

The orucan wasted no time. Flames surrounded him like a cloak that pulsed once. Runes flashed across his skin, and he jumped high into the air. The monster surged, four arms forming in an instant as it tried to capture the flying menace.

I slashed out, channeling the last of the kinetic energy into my hands. Ten lines of force smashed into its back, destroying two limbs and forcing it back on its remaining leg. Sereza timed her attack for when it crashed, her daggers stabbing into the half-melted face of a woman and unleashing a tidal wave of acid.

"Devil-Man's Chariot!" Zog shouted.

He leaned forward and morphed into a burning wheel of red fire. His heel came down like an executioner's blade. Instead of stopping in an explosive finish he continued forward, tearing through meat as the physical properties melted under the heat. Blood sizzled and splashed, and Zog continued through the bulk of the monster, past the teeth and forming eyes and down into the lone trunk pulling from the ground.

When it split, the monster's screech halted and I jumped. Pulling the scraps of what I passively absorbed throughout the fight and the ride over, I commanded the cursed blood aspect of the converted energy to my throat.

I could tell it wouldn't be enough, not like before. So I slammed my shoulder into one of the monster's remaining teeth and let it clink against the crystals. Force slammed down but I ignored, instead wrapping my fingers around the dissolving blood strands.

Magnus' skill was to absorb and deflect. It's original was a shield-like defensive ability. While the blood itself combined with the curse made it caustic, it wasn't inherently offensive. Not distracted like this.

This time however, I funnelled what smattering of the curse mana into a single command.

"Attack."

It wasn't forceful, but the blood and flesh around my body latched on eagerly. In a rush, it slammed into my side, slipping past the covered parts of my body. A sharpened needle pushed into my ribs, but I ignored it and shoved my arms against a large spike.

Mana rushed into the containers, filling rapidly. It didn't stay for long. I pushed the mana once more into my throat and released a basic command that set my throat on fire.

"Disperse!"

The monster's form froze. A brief instant passed with all of the eyes on its body widening and rolling in my direction. It released a silent scream, and then the sounds of ripping flesh filled the air.

Blood bubbled and spat, meat deformed into sludge. Sereza and Khrem combined the explosion of one of his bombs with her acid, hastening the destruction of whole limbs and jaws.

In a matter of seconds, the creature deflated to a beachball-sized chunk fighting to stay together.

Zagreus raised his leg and pushed the bulk of his necks into the one foot.

Splat!

He quickly separated the surface blood used to smear the monster into a stain and sent it flying directly into a patch of fire on the ground.

It was done. We did it.

We fucking did it!

"Hells yeah!" I cheered.

Sereza gave me a thumbs up, as did Khrem.

I turned to Zog, who watched me with a complicated expression. My mood dimmed, and I started brushing off coagulated clumps from my body.

"Is something wrong?" I asked.

The fire in Zog's eyes burned low, and he looked me up and down. Slowly, a wry smile split his face.

"Let us proceed. Do you have a means to breach the barrier?"

I frowned at that. Celenae and Teddy explained the plan some on the journey through the maze. I was to create a blockage—a small instance of me absorbing mana with my body while the others rushed through. Teddy would be ready to help heal, while Celenae and Igas were to snap barriers in place as Eodyne and Isaac pulled me away.

Haphazard and dangerous. But in theory, it should work. I did something similar, after all, inside the island rift.

I picked up my spear and patted Zagreus' heads. "Maybe. Honestly the best bet is to see if I can temporarily block the barrier and absorb it while Zagreus and Khrem slip through. It'd be best if you go as well Sereza. Do what we did in the rift and use your movement skill."

"Fuck that," she snapped. "You're not leaving me out of this. Not again."

We had already started jogging forward. The barrier approached and I could feel the ominous static brush against my skin.

I shook my head. "It's not that. But frankly what's the point of escorting the king if something happens along the way. I trust Zagreus and Khrem, but having another person to deter any accidiental threats is better."

Sereza's face looked like she swallowed a lemon. I resisted the urge to laugh and she eventually nodded, albeit reluctantly.

"Fine. Damnit," she relented.

Good. Because it's showtime.

Áine had already slapped my cheek to patch my throat and other small holes riddling my body. I was in tip top shape, and thanks to the command I used the receptacles were mostly empty. For added measure, I released minute snaps of force by flicking my index and thumb.

Once I was truly empty I sighed and raised my hands.

"Wait," Zog interrupted.

"What now?" I asked.

He raised his fist and closed his eyes. His head cocked to the side and he nodded.

"My god isn't sure but he thinks I can help."

"That's great. How?"

"By using Ragnarock's Descent."

Sereza winced. "That's messing with my hearing again."

"Why?" I pressed.

"You've felt the mana, you must know," Zog replied.

Did I?

I searched my memories, trying to piece together what the mana was. However, I didn't know. Whatever Zog was hinting at evaded me.

"I don't know. But if you think it can help, then do so."

He nodded and got into a stance, spreading his legs while pulling back one fist to his waist. "It is something you should be most familiar with, Cyrus."

Prismatic color shimmered across his knuckles, and a growing ember flashed into raging flames along the back of his hand. Colors burned bright orange and red, while the wide spectrum of the rainbow flashed along the edges. But at the core was a color that dominated more than any other:

Bright pink.

Oh. Oooooh. Damn you, Toogen, so that's what your mana is.

I released a mirthless chuckle and centered myself. Toogen would come soon. For now, I needed to brace for pain.

"Ready, Khrem? Zagreus?" I asked.

"Ready," Khrem said.

"Reaaaadyyy!" Zagreus hissed.

Sereza stayed near Zagreus' back leg. She gave me a tense nod, and I returned it.

"Alright, I'm starting now. Zog, whatever you plan on doing, do it when you're ready."

Zog stayed silent, but I had already turned my attention forward. The moment the barrier touched the crystal tips of my claws, I bucked. It was worse than touching one of Eodyne's arrows. Lightning flashed through me, but not with the smell of ozone—more like rusted copper and bloody iron. It threatened to push me away, to force me off my feet.

But I held on.

The receptacles in my chest filled rapidly, surging into fullness at an alarming pace.

I have to get in there now!

Groaning in pain and gritting my teeth, I slammed my head into the barrier. The crystal helmet drank deep, and I used the temporary dilution to shove my arms wide. Just then, Zog's mana swelled and I felt the tightness in my chest spike in alarm. His fist punched next to my ear, releasing a silent explosion as light erupted.

A wolf howled in the background, and the barrier weakened.

"Now!" I yelled.

Two things—two separate and confusing things—happened at once.

The colossal tide of the barrier's energy flickered. One moment I was holding myself up through grit and misery, then I wasn't. At the same time, Sereza shouted something and Khrem dropped a bottle.

The glass I heard, but not Sereza's voice. I wondered why.

Pressure came in the next instant, and a voice boomed across the sky.

"What troublesome pests have dared to interrupt my plans."

I looked up and saw a floating figure surrounded by several others. Two I recognized, like a distant memory.

Sereza gasped, confirming my suspicions. Lezka stood to the robed figure's left, while the shadowed, pale face of a woman hovered to the figure's right. Behind them, trapped in a floating monstrosity that formed dislocated jaws and a central cage made of tooth and bone: the royal children. All three of them—both the two young ones and the eldest son.

Mana pulsed beside me and I raised a claw, ready to defend. Except it wasn't an attack. In the king's place was a glowing shell of crystal. I looked up and saw the disfigured, corpse-like man teleport into the blood cage and wrap his arms around his children.

In the next instant, they were gone, and yelps of surprise shouted in my ear.

A bloody hand gripped my wrist.

"Ta-ke… Th-them. Oooo-out of h-here!" Allaron rasped, blood and spittle flying.

More on instinct than coherent thought, I commanded Zagreus to grab each of the royal brood—one neck per youngest, while the eldest son had Zagreus use two of his heads to lift him up. The young siblings screamed in terror, but I caught the eldest's gaze.

They were cold as frozen steel.

Before I could command my familiar to drop him, a blade appeared—made of red crystal—in the man's hand. It stretched and pierced through the king's back, pinning Zagreus to the ground.

Laughter boomed from the sky, and then came the clapping of hands behind us.

"Well done. You've proven your loyalty, future king."

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