Ian closes his eyes and clenches his jaw in anticipation of death. However, something from the side knocks him over and out of the way of the blazing inferno that would have surely killed him.

"Move, idiot!" Shouts Layla. Ian looks back to where he just was, the wall behind him now scorched black. Shit!

"Layla! Get behind him!" Ian shouts. Layla looks confused for a second, but suddenly seems to realize Ian's plan and runs up to Horus and through his legs before he can attack. Ian rolls out of the way of another fire shot and draws a kunai, throwing it at Horus. Horus dodges them, but Layla catches them in her mouth. Ian and Horus continue their ranged combat as Layla continues catching the knives that miss.

"Now!" Shouts Ian. Layla stab's Horus's ankle with a kunai, drawing his attention. She dodges out of the way of a katana swing and throws all the knives in her mouth at Horus's eyes.

"FUCK! I'm going to open your lower intestine with you still alive, you little nuisance!" Shouts Horus as he clutches his now-regenerating eyes. Ian does not squander his new opportunity. He runs straight at Horus with all of his might. Horus's eyes regenerate, but too late for him. Ian plunges the Primal Cutter through the chest of Horus, and with a scream of agony, the devil of a man falls flat on his back.

Ian sits on top of Horus for a few seconds, driving the spear deeper into Horus's chest, which is met with groans of pain.

"Hehe... Ian..." Horus coughs up blood now. "...you are such a fool. I have received a vision, you see." he says.

Ian furrows his brow in anger. "What the hell are you talking about..." Ian isn't done speaking, but he feels he can no longer will his mouth to move. In fact, I can't move at all! What the hell is going on!?

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The battlefield outside sits still. The hundreds of soldiers that were once clashing now stand frozen in the air. Duke stands over his remaining opponent, his halberd ready to strike him but unable to do so, stuck midair. Everyone on the battlefield nervously glances around at each other, all of them frozen in place as if part of a mural.

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Ian and Layla lock eyes. Ian immediately notices the fear in her eyes. Why is this happening?

Suddenly, in front of Ian's face, some sort of black doorway opens. It looks just like the night sky! What's going on here?

Inside the half-doorway half-fissure, Ian sees two silhouettes standing, completely obscured by shadow. One appears to have the shape of a fit man clad in the armor of a crusader, and the other appears to be a hulking beast of a human with alien appendages. Suddenly, their voices fill the room.

"Are you sure this is the one he threw it into? We can only do this so often." Says the massive figure in a mechanical voice.

"I am sure of it. Do you not see? The human is holding it!" Says the figure clad in armor. He holds up some sort of device to Ian's face. He wants to smack it away and ask them questions, but he still cannot move. "Holy shit. This is why he threw it here. This kid has a Doomed soul." He holds the device up to Horus as well, who is still under Ian. "This guy, too!"

"There's an animal over there. Scan her as well." Says the large one. The shadowy figure clad in armor walks over to Layla, who locks eyes with Ian again.

"This one has a wise soul," he says. "If we accomplish our goal, 𝙹ꖎ 𝙹ʖ||リʖᔑ⍑ℸ ̣ ⍑ꖎ will want to have her as a study specimen." One of the words seems to attack the very mind of Ian itself, causing him to close his eyes in pain.

"Take them all," says the large one, "and wipe this tower away, too. We don't want anyone looking for them."

The large one picks up Ian and Horus, still frozen, in its large claw-like fingers, which miraculously wrap around their entire torsos. Ian starts to lose consciousness, but before he completely fades out, he catches a glimpse of the armored one throwing something into the tower.

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Duke's halberd finally thrusts down into his opponent, and the rest of the soldiers start moving again. Everyone stands stunned for a moment.

"What the hell was that!?" Duke shouts. Both the mercenaries and soldiers stand still, looking around nervously for the source of the mysterious phenomenon. Suddenly, they all hear a loud, buzzing noise coming from the Fossil Obelisk. In a flash of purple light, the entire tower vanishes without a trace.

Duke, now terrified, whispers to himself, "Ian... what did you do?"