“Not so fast. I will not allow you to disrupt the Cardinal,” Zolvo warned. His fists began to glow a golden color as he marched toward me, oozing bloodlust. Over to my right, Darion was already engaged in a fight with Thath.

“What do you intend to do with that creature,” I demanded, raising my fists.

“And why should I tell you that? Enough talk. Show me what you got, human.”

...I don’t see any visible weapons on this guy. He also doesn’t seem like the type to use magic. That would mean he's a close-ranged fighter, just like me. Is that glowing color on his fist’s mana? Why would it be gold though? No, it doesn’t matter. I just have to end this fight as quickly as I can.

I peeked over the archbishop's shoulder to see the Cardinal placing the dragon inside the basin. The poor thing squirmed as hard as it could, hoping to escape from his grubby hands. Just looking at them made my blood boil. Feeling slightly furious, I sprinted toward the archbishop who has been waiting for me to make a move. First, I fortified my body with [Mana Barrier], shrouding my body in mana, and increasing my defenses against magic and physical attacks. Then, I added on the effects of [Body Strengthening], a mastery I learned from Joel himself that increases my defense and strength. Finally, I activated my [Mana Fist] mastery so that if needed, I can shoot out mana from my fists. With these three activated at the same time, my destructive power skyrockets.

I closed the distance between me and the archbishop quickly, and now that I was an arm’s length away, I pulled my right arm slightly and went for a jab to his chin. As expected, the archbishop evaded the blow by tilting his head to his left. He only had three options, to block my punch, step back, or evade. Luckily, I guessed correctly that he would evade, so I lifted my left leg and gave him a swift round kick. My kick made contact with the man, but instead of evading again, he blocked it by raising his own leg.

“You fight well, but you’ll need more than that to defeat me!” Zolvo reached down to grab my leg, but I pulled it back in just time, getting back into my fighting stance. Just now, he tried to grab my leg. Does that mean he’s the grappler type? I’ll have to change how I approach him…

“KYUUU!”

The sudden cry broke my concentration and instantly had me looking over at the Cardinal. He had a sharp object in his hands that was hovering dangerously close to the squealing dragon.

“Oh almighty! Please accept the offering this lowly mortal concedes to you!” He preached. In a quick motion, he grabbed the dragon by its head and slid the sharp knife over its chest. Although the wound wasn’t deep because of its scales, there was still a lot of blood seeping out. The dragon let out a frightened whimper as it watched its blood stain its white appearance. At the sight, I felt something snap within.

Zolvo now had his sights set on the Cardinal. “…It looks like the Cardinal has already finished. You were too la-“

Archbishop Zolvo sentence was cut off when noticed a fist speeding right to him. He tried to block the punch by raising his arms, but he was too slow. My fist connected squarely to his jaw. Something white fell from underneath his shawl and clattered onto the ground.

“Guh!”

Zolvo was disoriented at the moment, so without letting him regain his senses, I continued to pummel the man with no remorse. After a quick jab to his temple, I gave the archbishop an uppercut to his chin, his head snapping back from the recoil. The shawl fluttered away revealing his bruised face. I raised my right leg and pivoted my left foot and twirled to deliver a roundhouse kick straight to where his kidney was located. The force of my kick was so powerful, I could hear a sound similar to a pile of dry branches cracking within a quiet forest. The archbishop was then flown across the air, colliding with his own comrade, Thath. Both of them were now piled on top of each other, with Thath buried under Zolvo.

“…That kick was for Leo,” I muttered under my breath. Zolvo should be out of commission for a little bit. I’m pretty sure I ruptured his ribcage with that kick. Darion can deal with them on his own. Right now, I should deal with the Card-

My train of thought was interrupted when a rumbling noise erupted from the statue, like a fork scraping across a silver plate. The arms that were wrapped behind its back were now moving, slowly inching downwards. The stone arms reached down to the pedestal and grasped the basin with the bleeding dragon in it.

“…It is done. ‘It’ has accepted the offering,” Cardinal Nicholas announced as he backed away slowly.

“…Oh no you don’t!” Just before I could take a step forward, an icicle spear came barreling towards the Cardinal. The attack would prove to be useless as the ice melted once it got into contact with the Cardinal's outstretched arm.

“Tch. I knew that would happen,” a voice snapped from behind. It was Isaac who just appeared to my right.

“Did you finish them o-“

“Yea, the griffins have been burnt to a crisp.” He pointed over his shoulder at a smoldering pile of corpses. The griffins that used to have golden coats and brown feathers were now scorched black all over. One of the griffins had its wings sliced off and the other griffin's wings had many holes in them. Surely enough, they weren’t moving at all.

“No time for talk. Grab the dragon while I kill this guy!” Isaac rushed up the steps and swung his sword at the Cardinal. Following Isaacs's instructions, I ran past both of them and leaped on top of the pedestal. The Cardinal made no attempt to stop me as he had his sights set on Isaac, grinning. I took that chance to scoop up the blood-soaked dragon out of the basin and cradled it in my arms. The creature didn’t struggle or tried to bite me with its small fangs. Its eyes were slouched and losing their brilliant luster.

“Don’t worry little buddy. You’re safe now,” I cooed. I hopped off the pedestal and backed away a few feet while ripping off some fabric from the leggings underneath my armor. I then wrapped the black fabric across the dragon's wound to stop the bleeding.

“Kyuu…” It thanked weakly. Even though I stopped the bleeding, for now, this poor creature is still weak. I don’t know if the healing items I have stocked up will help, but it wouldn’t hurt to try.

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I pulled out a small vial of a golden liquid from the Inventory and uncorked it with my teeth. “Here. Drink this. It’s a healing potion. It’ll fix your wound right up, I think.”

I gently placed the vial on its quivering lips. I thought it would purse its lips and reject it like an infant usually would, but it swallowed the healing potion to its last drop. After a couple of seconds, the effects finally kicked in and the dragon's breathing returned to normal. It was still weak, but thankfully, the wound closed.

“Well, would you look at that? You’re going to be all right,” I smiled. The white dragon gazed deeply at my face with the eyes of a shining amethyst jewel and nuzzled into my arms affectionately. It took all of my willpower to not kidnap the adorable thing and run off with it.

“Damn!” An irritated shout boomed. When I turned around, still clutching the dragon, Isaac was being pushed back by the Cardinal. The priest was smiling wickedly as we all watched the statue, still holding the basin filled with the dragon’s blood, shower itself with it. The red liquid dripped down the statue as the first stream touched the floor. As soon as the blood and the floor made contact, the ground rumbled with great intensity.

“…Were we too late?” Isaac growled. Cracks started to form around the statue slowly as if it was made of glass. Not long after, the statue splintered into a million pieces, and what took its place was a floating palm-sized metallic cube. Even from afar, I could feel an immense power radiating out of it.

“At long last… the Cube is within my grasp,” The Cardinal chuckled. He reached out his arm to grab the levitating cube, relishing in his victory... until a flying sword made of mana whizzed by and hit the item, knocking it away. The Cube rolled toward my location while making a big racket. Instantly, I reached down and grabbed it. The Cardinal looked over with displeasure.

“…Riveting,” he scoffed.

“Sophie!” A voice called out to me. Over at the entrance, a group of people came rushing inside, the one up front being a familiar face. The others I have never seen in my life. One of them was a black woman around my age wearing a black hoodie, a Chinese man with slick back hair, and another gorgeous woman who was probably from Olympus. Why does she seem like she’s been scared out of her wits?

“Joel!” I blurted. I hastily ran over to the new group, making sure to carefully avoid the debris. “I’m so glad you’re okay Joel!”

“I’m glad to see you all right too, Sophi- What the hell is that in your arm!” Joel stepped back when he noticed the small dragon peeking over my shoulder.

“Oh, this cutey? It’s a dragon. It was being sacrificed so I saved it. Don’t worry, it doesn’t bite, I think. Say hi to them, Draggy.” The dragon scanned the faces of everyone present, exhibiting signs of discomfort as it rustled in my arms. When its eyes landed on the curly-haired woman was when it let out a cry.

“Kyuuu~” The dragon escaped from my arms and trotted over to the woman, nuzzling against her boots.

“Uh… what?” She said, flabbergasted. Not knowing what else to do, she picked up the dragon and held it up in front of her face.

“I have no idea why you’re so fond of me and not the others. I’m sure I don’t have anything delicious on me…”

The dragon didn’t seem to care as it broke free from the woman’s grasp and pounced on her shoulder, wrapping its whole body around her neck like a scarf. I felt a smidge of jealousy slowly rising.

“…Alright then. I’ll let you rest on my shoulders. Er… Sophie, right?” The woman was now addressing me. “I’m Laila. That cube in your hands, may I please have it?”

“U-Uh, sure! Here you go…” Without taking my eyes off the dragon, I handed over the metal cube to Laila.

“Thank you. With this in our hands, that damned bastard can’t hand it over to the Pillars.”

Isaac skidded right in front of us, breathing heavily. "That fucker… is stronger… than he…looks…”

“Yea… I was watching,” Darion replied, running toward the group. It looks like almost everyone has arrived, other than Camila, Leo, and…

Wait a minute…

“Sam! Have any of you guys seen Sam?” I cried out. Sam is the only person I’ve yet to see. Is he still wandering inside The Labyrinth?

When I looked over at Joel, he had a dark expression on his face.

“…About Sam... Sam is-”

Joel wasn’t able to finish as we all turned our attention over to the sound of clapping. Cardinal Nicholas was still standing near the pedestal. He was frowning as he was staring down at us.

“To think that you siblings have yet to yield to the might of the gods even after they showcased their power. Have you forgotten what happened to your friends? Your master? Port Silis?” Cardinal Nicholas gloated. He was leering directly at Isaac and Laila who returned his stare back with a wrathful gaze. What does he mean exactly by that last sentence? Just what happened between these guys?

“Nice try, but your taunts won't work on us. We’ve already learned our lesson after some soul-searching together,” Laila piped up. She and Isaac stood firm, shoulders together as they were talking to the Cardinal. Joel, Darion, and I exchanged glances, wondering what was going on.

“Taunts? I wouldn’t resort to such. I was merely buying time,” he sneered.

Buying time?

When I peeked over at Laila, the cube in Laila’s hand was no longer there. It was like it vanished out of thin air. We scanned the area, looking for the item but the Cube was nowhere in sight.

“Thank you, archbishop Thath. I knew it was a wise decision to bring you along.”

“It is an honor to serve you, your Excellency.”

Thath, who I thought was dead, had the cube hovering over his palm as he handed over the object to Cardinal Nicholas.

“Darion! I thought you would handle those two on your own!” I hissed.

“…I thought I killed them… I even made sure to stab their heads,” Darion said, gritting his teeth.

“You did stab our heads, yes, but you will need more than a simple stab to permanently kill us.” Zolvo appeared next to Thath and Cardinal Nicholas, cracking his neck. There was a small hole in his forehead that probably came from Darion’s spear. The wound on his head slowly closed and healed, as if it was never there.

They can heal a wound of that caliber?!

“With the cube in my possession… I have fully completed my mission. Thath, Zolvo. Prepare the transportation spells,” he commanded. The archbishops nodded their heads and started muttering an incnatation in sync.

“Like hell we would let you escape!”

Laila went on to speed-blitz the group with a black rapier in her possession while Isaac summoned a small cloud over to their position. A bright flash of lighting was then cast upon them, resulting in a deafening roar. When the dust settled, it was painfully obvious it had no effect as a golden shield was erected over them, created by the Cardinal himself. Laila, with speed as fast as sound, had already reached them and was in the midst of preparing a volley of thrusts at the group. Sadly, all she hit was air. The Cardinal and the archbishops managed to complete the transportation spell just in time before Laila could attack, disappearing without a trace.

“Shit!” Laila cursed.

“Oh… this is bad indeed,” Isaac muttered.

“Where did they run off to?” The Chinese man asked as we all caught up with Laila and Isaac. Both of them had troubled expressions.

“…They teleported back to Athiens as we speak. I’m afraid there is nothing more we can do now,” Laila said, averting her gaze.

“Now that they have the Cube, once they hand it over to the Pillars,” Isaac hesitated briefly. “The damage they will cause will be monumental.”

“Do you have an idea of what they plan to do with this cube, specifically?” Joel asked. At Joel's question, Laila raised her head slowly and sighed.

“…I think they plan on combining both Earth and Athiens into one,” Laila remarked. The dragon was still snuggling itself around the woman’s neck, rubbing its nose across her cheek. Laila reached out and pet the dragon on its small head as it gave her a small purr, like a kitten.

“Basically, all the residents of Earth and Athiens will be put into one planet… monsters from Athiens and Tartarus included.” She concluded.

No one made a sound at the bombshell news. All we could do was stand still, the information swirling in our minds as we tried to process it.