Fallen Stars
Mystery Fifty-Four
King Minos
[A Starkiller is an entity forged from the very essence of Cosmos, created by the Forbidden Zone to guard it against trespassers. Standing as the unyielding guardian of the Zone, the Starkiller ensures that the secrets and treasures within the Forbidden Zone remain untouched and undisturbed. Created with nothing but ferocity and resolve, the Starkiller defends its domain, watching over it for eternity.]
The Starkiller of this zone is named King Minos. With a terrifying screech that echoes through the coliseum, King Minos raises a massive axe forged from the stars themselves, its edge gleaming with deadly intent.
**Starkiller: King Minos**
Wrath: Uh guys…
Minos leaps, bringing down its axe with full force onto the group!!
Wrath: How is that fat thing that fast?!
Greed takes a step forward, unleashing a freezing wave that halts the minotaur in its tracks! Encased in a glacier – the ice begins to crack!
Breaking free and resuming its assault, the minotaur charges forward!
Lich: Geez~~
Lich steps in swiftly, intercepting the minotaur mid-strike. With a single powerful punch to the gut, she sends it crashing into the ceiling.
The others watch in stunned silence.
Wrath: Daaaaamnnn! How strong are you?!
Vega: (Strength buff? Or is that her true power?)
Lich brushes off her fist and glares at the group.
Lich: Don’t get complacent—it’s still got plenty of fight left.
The minotaur, rebounding from the ceiling, spins mid-air before landing heavily. Without hesitation, it leaps again to attack.
Greed conjures her ice, but Vega counters with his flames, neutralizing both powers.
Vega: Why did you do that…?
Greed: I didn’t know you could control fire!
As the minotaur hesitates, untouched by their powers, strong branches erupt from the ground, rooting and lifting it into the air.
At that moment, Draco launches a blazing sun orb. However, the light drives the frenzied roots into chaos, freeing the minotaur, the roots now fixated on the glowing orb.
Draco: Damn it.
Envy: Don’t even try to blame me—that was all you.
Wrath taps Draco’s shoulder.
Wrath: We’re just lacking chemistry right now.
Draco: Why didn’t you attack?
Wrath: My powers aren’t back yet.
Draco: It’s been a day since your fight though.
The minotaur bellows, steam erupting from its nostrils as it spins its massive axe with ferocious speed. With a thunderous roar, it slams the axe into the ground, unleashing a devastating wave of Cosmos-infused energy.
The ground fractures violently, sending jagged shards of earth flying into the air. Chasms open in every direction, swallowing nearby debris, and a shockwave ripples outward, toppling anything in its path. The entire zone quakes, the walls trembling under the sheer force of its power.
M5, Greed and Envy, react instantly, leaping to avoid the destructive impact.
Envy’s roots lash out, grabbing Wrath mid-air and pulling him to safety as the shockwave shatters the ground beneath them. Chunks of debris rain down, some striking those unable to evade in time. Vega, unfazed, slices through the falling rubble with precision, his blade igniting with every cut.
The chaos leaves the battlefield uneven and treacherous, with the minotaur standing defiantly amid the destruction, its glowing axe still embedded in the fractured ground.
Lich: This thing is too destructive. We have to end this before we’re swallowed whole.
As the group lands amidst the chaos, Lich’s hands flow in an enchanting, almost hypnotic motion, casting a powerful spell. Skull-like Cosmos materializes, swirling ominously around her hands and orbiting her head. They mutter an incantation in a forgotten tongue.
Lich: **Duat Style - Undertaker**
The ground trembles as the remnants of the coliseum come to life. Reanimated, the dead answer her call. Fallen warriors of the coliseum begin to rise—armor dangling in tatters, but rusty swords and shields gripped tightly in skeletal hands. Their eyes ignite a pink glow, locking onto the minotaur with dedicated focus.
One by one, over 400 undead soldiers rise, forming a spectral army. The battlefield is now thick with tension and dread, the undead awaiting Lich’s command to strike.
Envy freaks out and begins pointing at Lich, moving her arm up and down.
Envy: Witch! WITCH! WITCH!!
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Lich: ?
All the undead focus on Envy, Greed places her hand on Envy’s shoulder to calm her.
Greed: Ignore her, she has this thing about witches.
She whispers to Envy.
Greed: You need to ignore this.
Vega whispered to Draco.
Vega: Did you know she controls the dead?
Draco: Nah, I didn’t know.
Vega: What did you know about her?!
Draco shrugs.
Draco: She was funny.
Lich: Would you two k-nock it off. We have a serious fight to pay attention to.
Vega: K-nock? This is why you invited her…
Draco laughs.
Draco: Yeah.
Wrath: Gotta admit, that is pretty funny, Vega. It’s up there with you messing up phrases.
Vega: I don’t mess up phrases…
Wrath pats him on the head.
Wrath: Sure you-
Vega grabs his hand, his eyes laser in.
Vega: If you do that again. You will die.
Lich: Enough of the banter. Ammit!
The sea of undead hear the command and respond with an unholy roar, swarming toward the minotaur with relentless fury. Their rotting hands stab and strike, the minotaur struggles fighting them off.
The undead climb up its massive back with unnatural agility, their rusted swords stabbing into its flesh. Despite the minotaur's frantic thrashing, the swarm of decaying bodies continues to climb and pierce, each strike deepening the pain.
The minotaur swings wildly, trying to shake off the undead, but Envy's roots bind it in place. Struggling in vain, it is locked as the swarm continues to stab deeper.
Envy summons a massive mushroom.
Envy: **Sporefall**
Its cap quivers, and releases a purple-ish twinkling cloud that envelops the minotaur. The fumes quickly take effect, and the beast falls into a deep slumber.
Draco raises his hand to the sky, channeling the cosmic energy around him, before launching a powerful disk of concentrated starlight.
Draco: **Solar Disc**
Meanwhile, Vega dashes forward, disappearing with each step, leaving behind only faint afterimages and heat signatures on the ground. Stabbing deep into the middle of the beast’s chest and igniting his blade, sending a blazing line of fire through the minotaur, erupting from the other side.
Vega: **Hellfyre Style - Scorching Shadow**
The solar disc comes in and slices the minotaur’s head off and it falls over!! The undead continue stabbing the dead beast.
Lich snaps her finger and they all stop.
Draco: Geez, Vega. What was that?
Vega: Hm?
Draco: Your attack seemed so organized, so streamlined.
Vega sheaths his blade with a calm, confident motion.
Vega: Just a little thing I've been perfecting. I guess having a style really does help out. Even you noticed a difference.
Draco: Style?
Vega: Oooh, look who doesn’t have something now.
Draco: ?!
Vega: Where’s Wrath at? I wanted him to laugh at that.
Vega looks around and he’s off to the side arguing into the air.
Wrath: No! No! No! Give me my shit back!
Wrath makes exaggerated arm motions, as if in a serious debate with someone, gesturing wildly to emphasize his points.
Wrath: I'm tired of sitting out this fight! Put me back in, idiot! Resurge my power!
Lich: Who is he arguing with?
Draco: Sometimes you have to ignore Wrath.
Wrath: Huh?! You hear me, author! Give me back my electricity!!
Envy: Author? What are you talking about?
Wrath: No! He got me fucked up!
Greed: Wait, what? Is that in the script? Is he supposed to be saying that?
Wrath: YOU GOT ME FUCKED UP!!
He points at the invisible camera, electricity sparks on his fingertip, feeling a surge, a current running through his body, electricity crackling in his veins!!
Wrath: Yahaha!! I'm back, baby!
The Forbidden Zone shakes as the ceiling echoes with two ominous words, "Second Phase."
King Minos’ head blinks three times before it spawns, placed back in the right spot on its body.
It rises slowly, its enormous form towering as it swings, clearing away the undead around it with a brutal swipe.
Its muscles swell with newfound strength, and the Cosmos around it radiates with a quiet intensity, causing the air to shimmer and the ground to tremble ever so slightly.
Greed: It’s stronger…
Wrath: Yahaha. I got my power back just in time.
Draco: We have to do this again? I just killed it.
Vega: What do you mean, you just killed it? I did.
Draco: It was still alive from your little stab, my disc cut its head off.
Vega: I stabbed it through the chest before your plate came in.
Draco: Disc.
Vega: What’s the difference?
Draco: There-
Vega: Why am I arguing with someone without a style anyway…
Draco’s eye twitches.
Draco: I can develop one right now.
Vega: If you could, you would. *shrugs*
Draco: Is this a challenge?!
Wrath: *cough* No style. *cough*
Everyone laughs but Draco.
Draco: Oh, oh, so EVERYONE HAS A STYLE BUT ME, HUH?!
The others (Lich, Greed, and Envy) look away from Draco, signaling they do.
They look to Draco again, his back turned to the minotaur, whose steaming nostrils flare as it kicks one foot back and forth across the ground. With a sudden roar, the beast charges the group at full speed, its massive form shaking the ground beneath it!!
Envy: Move!
Greed forms her icy sigil and slams it into the ground, raising twelve ice walls!!
Greed: **Flat Mir; Ice Wall**
The titanic ice walls rise, but the minotaur bull rushes through them!! One by one at a top speed and strength!!
The minotaur smashes through the ice walls, grabbing Envy by its horns and lifting her effortlessly. With a roar, it hurls her violently into the nearby walls, sending cracks reverberating through the area.
Envy: Awk!
The labyrinth shifts, displacing the others and leaving Draco alone with King Minos. Before Draco can react, he is backhanded and sent flying across the coliseum!!
He’s slammed into the walls as the labyrinth shifts again, creating a maze and a hole in the floor. Half the undead soldiers plummet through the opening.
The labyrinth shifts once more, forming a second layer of walls behind the group. They find themselves back in an open circular coliseum, able to see one another.
King Minos breathes heavily, kicking one foot as it prepares to charge. It lunges directly at Vega! Anticipating the attack, Vega raises his sword to slice. In a swift movement, King Minos sidesteps Vega and aims a punch at his side. Before the blow lands, Greed conjures an ice wall between them. However, King Minos shatters the ice with ease and lands the punch on Vega.
Momentarily out of commission, Envy, Draco, and Vega look up from the ground, their eyes catching the sight of red electricity sparking above.
Wrath: Don’t worry guys, I’m back!!
His chaotic electricity forms a swirling red superbolt behind him as he hurls it downward, yelling at the top of his lungs!
Wrath: **Wrath Style - Bolt From The Red**
King Minos is struck! But it remains unaffected, standing strong. Wrath, shocked and confused, continues falling directly toward him, only to be struck by King Minos before he can reach the ground!
Muscles and veins bulge as King Minos stands firm, fists clenched and breathing heavily. The Cosmos around it pulses with conflict and dread.
Wrath knocks off the rubble from himself, rising from the debris.
Wrath: What the heck, that attack took out DOOM.
Vega and Draco both rise to their feet, while Envy's plants carefully remove the rubble from her.
Vega: …Are these in every zone?
Draco: We have more to focus on right now.
Suddenly, Lich yells out, grabbing everyone's attention.
Lich: Listen up!
Everyone reacts in unison.
Lich: These things are strong, but together, we are even stronger! Each of us has the power to change the tide of this battle. We can’t let this break us.
Everyone nods.
Lich: I want you all to go all out, seriously! Your attacks here won’t affect the outside, so don’t hold back!
Draco laughs.
Draco: Look at Lich, taking charge.
Lich: I do lead my own group, you know.
Wrath and Draco yell out, charged up. Vega side-eyes them, thinking they’re acting weird. Greed and Envy both grin, ready for what’s coming next.
King Minos shifts its weight, kicking one foot back as it prepares to charge. Muscles tense, veins pulse with the power surging through. The air around it crackles, eyes locked onto its opponents as the cosmos swirls ominously. With a roar, it steps forward, the ground trembling beneath each movement as it readies itself for the coming clash.
[Will Our Adventurers Be Able
To Defeat The Second Phase?!!]
Mystery 54 Fin