Aside from the sharp metal tip, Mira’s whip now sports tiny holes along its length that can emit fire. The handle also features two buttons on the opposite side that allow Mira to retract – by pressing both buttons – or extend the whip – by pressing one of the buttons – at will. When fully retracted, the whip doubles as a close-range melee weapon.

“Neat! Now you can light up dark areas better!” Wyn says.

“Guys, I’ve, like, reached ten thousand essence!” Christine says with a rare smile on her face.

Christine reluctantly accepts a series of high-fives from the team before it’s James’ turn to pick a door.

“We’re dying of old age here, Landon,” Wyn says as James takes his time to decide.

James doesn’t retaliate, instead he seems lost in thought, muttering quietly to himself as he contemplates the next move.

“Eh? Has this door always been one of the choices?” James finally speaks, pointing to an old cracked door.

“Hmmm, good observation. Sharp eye for a dentist,” Wyn says with a smirk.

“Can you not be an asshole? I’m serious here!” James retorts.

There are other familiar doors James is uncertain about, though his attention lingers on this cracked door that seems to invite him in. Curious, he peaks through the cracks, only to see darkness on the other side.

“Just choose this damn door then,” Wyn says.

Inside, the souls find themselves in a vast dome. Above, a mural stretches across the ceiling, reminiscent of the one they saw in the museum. However, instead of the familiar CATOTO family, the mural features pixelated cats with strange, unnatural shapes. Ahead, a series of empty, lightweight metal crates block their path. They push through the creates to get to the open center of the dome, where a creature awaits.

“Welcomesss to me’sss ‘liar’, unfortunate onesss,” the creature speaks.

“Whoa! It speaks!…And with bad grammar too,” Yu quips.

“Ssshutsss up! With me’sss mouthsss, it isss hard to ssspeak proper!”

“...Are we supposed to fight you or what?” Wyn asks.

“Me’sss a Prototype Number One One One One Three. You’sss mussst fight me to exssit.”

James scrambles to gather more information on the creature. Consulting the bestiary, he discovers that it’s one of the many failed prototypes from the Dark Lord's endeavors for the perfect cat.

“Each one looks different and has different abilities. I’ve never seen this one before,” Lisa chips in.

This particular failed prototype resembles a long, stretched cat with a big rounded face, sporting proportionate cat ears. Its face is dominated by angry yellow cat eyes and a mouth locked in a perpetual smile, unable to close or move, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth. A small black nose and uneven yet long whiskers add to its unsettling appearance. Its short arms end in small paws, while its round, footless base allows it to bounce around for movement. The creature's red body has a white center, while its head is tinged with black along the outline, featuring three black stripes at the top. It wobbles each time it speaks or lands after a bounce.

The creature's whiskers glow, crackling with electricity that surges into the metal crates scattered around the dome, lifting them in the air. It hurls the crates at the team, then follows up by spraying lava through the gaps between its sharp teeth. Wyn, first to react, summons a wall of rocks to shield the team, but Anish suspends the incoming crates mid-air using his wind abilities just before they hit the rock barrier. It is then that the team accidentally discovers the crates can block the lava, adding a new layer to their strategy. Boosted by a cyclone, Anish hurls the crates back at the creature.

The impact sends the cat crashing violently onto its back, only for it to bounce and faceplant into the floor, creating a puddle of lava, moments later. The creature continues to wobble back and forth uncontrollably, splashing the lava puddle a few times, before finally managing to regain its balance.

The cat's whiskers glow once more, sending bolts of electricity hurtling toward the team. Wyn, Christine, and James quickly raise protective walls, blocking the attacks with ease. However, the cat leaps into the air, though its weight causes it to fall quickly. As it crashes down, lava pillars shoot up from the ground, shattering their walls. One of the pillars fully engulfs Yu, while searing Christine's entire arm. The cat wobbles after landing, allowing Yu the opportunity to raise water fountains to cool the burn on himself and Christine. To give his team time to strategize, Wyn engulfs the cat in a cyclone. With its heavy base, it remains grounded, though it continues to wobble fiercely inside the cyclone.

Unable to defeat the cat with brute force, the souls huddle in distress, brainstorming desperately. The wobbling creature begins lifting numerous crates into the air, whirling them above itself and the team in dizzying circles. One by one, it launches the crates toward the group. Volunteering to counter, Lisa steps up, using her hands to bounce away the incoming crates with her own electric abilities. As the cat's wobbling finally subsides, it hurls the remaining crates in a rapid volley. Every member leaps into action, fending off the attacks with whatever means they have.

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Then, the cat jumps once more, and upon landing, lava pillars shoot up from the ground. Its head slams dangerously close to Wyn and James, splashing lava onto them, while the pillars catch Anish and Lisa as they try to evade, searing their legs in the process.

“Everyone still good?” Wyn asks.

“What do we do, Mister Wyn? It won’t stay down!” Lisa shouts.

Listening to Lisa, Wyn has a plan. He summons a continuous cyclone timed perfectly with the cat’s next faceplant into the lava puddle. The cat appears momentarily pinned and helpless. In a wild move beyond Wyn’s anticipation before his team can take advantage of the situation, the cat’s round base lifts while its face remains pressed against the ground.

“...Shit! Anish!” Wyn exclaims.

The base slams down, crushing a metal crate just behind the souls, who narrowly escape the fierce attack by a hair. The force of the impact sends a gust of wind, causing some of the members to roll on the floor. The creature springs back up, wobbling as it rotates to face Wyn and the team, resuming its relentless onslaught of hurling crates.

“We need distance. We can’t attack it, or it’ll crush us!” Wyn says.

Whenever the team tries to create distance from the cat, it would resort to the jump again, giving them difficulties in achieving a safe distance.

“Wyn! Wyn! Wyn! Wyn! Wyn!” Yu says.

“WHAT???”

“Do what you did with the millipede centipede, maybe? Use my weapon!”

“Plan D? Then let’s split.”

Wyn, Yu, and Anish stay put while the rest of the team retreats to a safer distance. Anish swiftly flies the trio behind the cat. Without hesitation, Wyn strikes it with a cyclone, causing the creature to bounce once more. Timing their move precisely, Yu and Anish place their weapons on the ground. As the cat’s back slams onto the floor, Anish propels both himself and Yu out of harm’s way. The crescent blade thrusts through the head where the black stripes are, while the javelin hooks onto the head and embeds into the ground, working in tandem with Wyn’s cyclone to halt the creature from bouncing back. At the current position, the blade has pierced so deeply through the cat that the team can see the crescent blade’s tip and handle poking out from the cat's head.

While Wyn’s cyclone and Anish’s javelin keep the cat face up, it retaliates by channeling electricity through the cyclone to hurl crates at the trio. The girls and James step in, shooting down the flying crates. Desperate, the cat encases its body in crates, heating them up with lava before launching them again. Though the three manage to block the searing crates, Wyn is growing visibly exhausted as he struggles to maintain the cyclone’s force.

“Why is it not dead yet?” Anish asks.

“I can’t do this much longer, guys,” Wyn says.

“Oh no! The butt!” Yu exclaims.

The base slams down, sending the trio rolling across the floor as they narrowly evade the attack. Anish’s javelin is dislodged, soaring through the air and landing somewhere far. The cat, however, struggles more intensely as the weapon’s handle slices open the top of its head, with the blade tip now lodged in its body. Lava pours out from the cat’s head, yet it remains alive despite its dire state.

“Ssstopsss! Ssstopsss, pwawssse!”

“Uh? Why? You were trying to kill us,” Wyn questions.

“Me’sss opensss the door and givesss yousss sssomethingsss elssse in return.”

“Lisa, is this legit?” Wyn asks.

“No clue, Mister Wyn. This is the first time I’ve ever seen something like this, let alone its ability to speak!”

“Get you’sss weapon out of me’sss!”

After a lengthy discussion, the team votes on the fate of the creature. Wyn, Mira, and Lisa favor killing it, while the rest want to see what it offers. Despite their preference, the three comply with the majority decision. Yu dematerializes his weapon in preparation.

“Me’sss controlsss the door to the exit. Me’sss deathsss meansss nothing to you’sss sssafety.”

The cat summons a door and opens it. Then it stands still, face looking up to the mural, lava dripping from its head. Minutes later two portals open from the ground and two demon cats appear.

“Ugh, how did you lose?” one of the demons complains.

“It is because you can speak, that is why we are saving you,” another demon says. “Would ten thousand catnips be enough for each of you?” it continues, turning its gaze to the team.

“We don’t need this much catnips. Let us kill it!” Wyn persists.

“When you descend, there will be more items to purchase. Trust us, you will be glad to have more catnips.”

“Jeez, now they know how to bargain?” James remarks.

“What do you two get in return from saving a prototype?” Wyn asks.

“Catnips from dead souls,” one demon replies. “And we get to reuse the prototype for other challengers.”

When a soul dies, the collected catnips are immediately transferred to the demons for distribution. The demons also reveal that “a couple” of prototypes are capable of speaking. When asked why they would go to such lengths to save a speakable prototype, the demons simply respond, "A prototype is still our kin. If it can speak, that means it has intelligence. We must protect our brethren." In appreciation of the demons' camaraderie, the team gratefully accepts their share of catnips and exits through the door.

“Why are you licking the prototype’s head?” Mira asks, catching a glimpse of the demons in action before leaving.

“To heal faster.”

“Wait! You guys have the ability to heal after all this time?” Mira presses.

“Ugh, yes?”

Back at the Demon’s Lair, the team looks exhausted; after all, they’ve suffered a lot of injuries.

“As much as I want to celebrate us collecting over ten thousand essence, we need to rest first. Let’s get a cat to lick our wounds!” Wyn announces.