“Kyle’s not joining us again, is he?” asked Luna as she and Aurin placed their hands upon the elevator to the forty-fifth floor as a horde of Minakai despawned around them, having been defeated by Steambot and Angree, both of whom were tiring.

“I’m afraid not,” said Aurin, upon landing on the forty-fifth floor, “but there’s been no sign of Scorpio either. I don’t think either of them are still in the tower.”

“How are you two doing?” Luna asked the two Minakai.

Steambot was heaving up and down, but gave an enthusiastic thumbs up, while Angree threw his head back and stared at the ceiling with his mouth hanging open, struggling to let out his usual angry yells.

“Sunny?” asked Aurin, who squealed excitedly, still keeping her cheerful demeanour even after spending most of her time exerting herself with continued usage of healing magic.

Shamtile had finally been defeated on the thirty-ninth floor by a powerful Quetzalia, whose wind was so powerful it had swept up his own rocks and bashed him into submission with them. Innogon fell for the second time this run on the fortieth floor, having been caught off-guard by a Frilleaf.

“We’re nearly there, lads,” said Aurin, reaching up and patting Steambot on the back. “Let’s clear this floor and then there’s only four more to go.”

“I can’t blame them for being tired. I’m exhausted too.”

“Luckily, I’ve got something that will help us out,” said Aurin. “I’ve been saving these for when we reached this point.”

He reached into his bag and pulled out an Orb of Tamers and an Orb of Monsters. He harnessed the magic of the Orb of Tamers first, but there were no spectral figures to be outlined through the walls; they were alone on this floor, at least as far as other humans went. Next, he focused on the Orb of Monsters and unleashed its magic. This time, the shadowy outlines of the wild Minakai on the floor were revealed. At this moment, there were twelve Minakai throughout the floor, but that would change shortly.

“What’s the most dangerous thing you can see and how close is it?” asked Luna.

“I can see a Titamet, a Guilgon and a Snowlem close by,” said Aurin, then turning and pointing to the doorway to his left. “We’re going this way.”

Aurin led the way carefully through the floor, keeping a close eye on the outlines of the Minakai that shone through the walls. As much as they tried to avoid them, as new Minakai spawned on the floor, they found themselves cornered and were forced to fight.

“Blast it away!” Aurin ordered Steambot as a Flaround leapt at the water-powered golem.

Steambot fired off a pressure cannon and flung the Flaround into a wall, but it was resilient and kept on going. Angree followed up with a vicious pummelling, but took a few scratches and burns in the process. Distracted by Angree, the Flaround didn’t see Steambot’s mighty fist coming to crush its head. In a flash of light, it was banished from the tower and the two Minakai stood victorious.

“Sunny,” said Aurin, and the little cloud-like monster floated her way over to Angree to treat his wounds, but she was unable to heal him fully.

“What’s the matter?” Luna asked.

“She’s out of energy,” said Aurin, pulling out the Orna Berry that Kyle have given him. “We’ve got three options now.”

“Use this on Sunny to restore her healing, use it on Angree to treat him or save it for when we’re really stuck later.”

“Exactly.”

“I say we use it on Sunny. She’s been invaluable in keeping us going and having her magic to heal us regularly is more important than any single usage of the berry.”

“Agreed,” said Aurin, tossing the Berry to Sunny.

The little fried egg opened her mouth and caught the berry, munching it down joyfully. She pirouetted and squealed in amazement, surprised to feel as reenergised as she now did. She tried to use her magic to heal Angree once again and, this time, it worked perfectly and his scratch and scorch marks disappeared entirely.

The quintet pushed ahead through the floor, doing whatever they could to avoid the wild Minakai. They found mixed success, but not having the Orb of Monsters would have made things considerably more difficult for them. Upon reaching the elevator, they were all pleased to be leaving the floor behind and making their way to the forty-sixth floor.

Aurin pulled out the Orb of Monsters again and activated it. “This leaves us with one more charge left,” he said. “If I had more preparation time, I would have picked up one from Cedric’s shop that had more power.”

“Next time,” said Luna as Aurin used the Orb of Tamers.

“Who was that?” he asked in shock, upon seeing something.

“What?”

“There were three figures that appeared way off in the distance, but they vanished almost immediately. They had Minakai with them!”

“Zodiac?”

“It had to be. I would bet any money that it was Taurus, Leo and Sagittarius with their cosmic Minakai. I didn’t get a good luck, but…it had to be them!”

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“And now we know where the elevator is,” said Luna. “It’s just a matter of finding the correct route to get to it.”

Spurred on by the fact that they’d almost caught up to their target, the two tamers rushed on through the forty-sixth floor. So invigorated were they became careless. Upon stepping into a room, an Explosion Trap triggered underneath Steambot and blasted him across the room as the others ducked for cover. He was a tough Minakai and he stood up again to dust himself off, but another misplaced foot triggered a second explosion and he was violently ejected from the tower in blue light.

“No!” called Aurin, dropping to his knees.

“It looks like it’s up to you now, Angree,” said Luna, her voice shaking. “No pressure or anything, of course.”

“Sunny,” said Aurin, standing back up. “Stay close to him and have your magic at the ready at all times.”

“What’s done is done,” said Luna, sensing that Aurin was beating himself up.

“I should have used my Orb of Traps,” he said, “I shouldn’t have saved the last charge.”

“How could you possibly know when was the right time to use it?” Luna asked. “If Angree falls and you’re the last one of us left, then you’ll need it. Sunny doesn’t stand much of a chance against the wild Minakai up here.”

“You’re right…you’re right,” muttered Aurin.

Knowing that they were inches from their goal, but at the weakest they had been the entire run, Aurin dared looking into the rooms they passed. After ignoring piles of gold coins, an Orb of Return, and even an egg, he spotted a Water Crystal sitting in the centre of a room with no Minakai nearby.

“Be careful,” Luna said as Aurin crept into the room.

He nodded and kept a close eye on the tiles, looking for even the faintest hint of a hidden trap. The sweat dripped from his brow as he moved further and further in. Every time he stepped safely onto a tile he glanced around to see if he could spy the faint outlines of monsters approaching. For now, he was safe.

He reached out his hand and picked up the Water Crystal, clenching it tightly as he walked back to the exit where Luna, Sunny and Angree were waiting for him. He breathed a sigh of relief upon reaching them.

“It’s not much,” said Aurin holding up the crystal, “but it’s something.”

“Feeling more positive?” asked Luna.

“I wouldn’t go that far, we still have to fight the cosmic Minakai without a team. We’re going to need to rely on our wits.”

“The Orb of Traps and Orb of Monsters could be our best friends. If they need all three cosmic Minakai, we can lure them onto the triggers or towards the wild Minakai. I think that’s our best chance right now.”

“Agreed,” said Aurin, moving down the corridor once again.

Angree beat the living daylights out of all of the Minakai that dared cross their path while Sunny healed his injuries each time. The healing made him feel physically durable, but it did not help with Angree’s tiredness or recover his elemental energy fatigue.

The group found the elevator and the two humans placed their hands upon the orb, which carried them to the forty-seventh floor. There were three more floors to clear until they reached the roof, but they hoped they could catch Taurus before it came to that.

Aurin used the Orb of Tamers and spied the three familiar silhouettes wandering through the corridors some distance away. There was still a chance. He pulled out the Orb of Monsters, but then placed it away again. He had one usage left and he couldn’t afford to waste it.

He and Luna cautiously moved through the tower, poking their heads around the corners and into the rooms to check whether or not the coast was clear. Angree was under strict orders to control his temper so that he wouldn’t shout while Sunny was told to control her excitement so she wouldn’t squeal and giggle.

“Wait,” whispered Aurin, pulling Luna back. He tapped on his ear to signal for her to listen.

“What’s that?” mouthed Luna silently upon hearing a strange crackling.

“Beetabolt,” mouthed Aurin in return.

Luna nodded and waved her hand at Angree who nodded, restraining himself from yelling a battlecry. The wooden Minakai ran around the corner and started flinging his fists while Sunny followed closely behind to heal him if needed. Aurin and Luna held their breaths, worried that one of them would be ejected, but the two Minakai returned looking no worse for the wear.

“Oh, that’s good,” sighed Luna, placing a palm on her forehead.

“Agh,” grunted Aurin, looking around and through the walls furiously. “Where did the Zodiac members go?”

“They were…that way,” said Luna pointing through the wall. “They couldn’t have moved too much since we last saw them.”

“Let’s hope not.”

The group rushed through the tower, letting Angree continue to take the brunt of the damage while Sunny backed him up. So brutal were the enemy Minakai on the forty-seventh floor that Aurin could see the fatigue building up in Sunny, she was running low on stamina and wouldn’t be able to keep up her healing for much longer.

After reaching the elevator and landing on the forty-eighth floor, Aurin used his final charge on his Orb of Tamers, revealing the locations of Taurus, Leo and Sagittarius. As the orb shattered, Aurin debated whether or not it was worth using the Orb of Monsters once again, but decided against it for now. They were too far away, but this was the floor to gain the most ground on them. Using the Orb of Monsters on the next floor would still let him track them by following the cosmic Minakai.

“Watch out,” said Luna as Aurin shook the fragments of the Orb of Tamers from his hand.

A wild Hogannon was thundering down the corridor with its cannon arms raised. Angree rushed to meet it as it unloaded fireball after fireball. Fearing that Angree wouldn’t be able to withstand the attack, Aurin knew he had to order Sunny to intervene.

“Barrier!” he called, pointing towards Angree.

Sunny immediately cast a protective barrier on Angree, who slammed his fist into the Hogannon’s jaw. Drawing it back again, he coated his hand in brambles and punched again, knocking the Hogannon out and banishing it from the tower.

The four rushed through the corridor, making as straight a line for the Zodiac elites as they could. Fearing traps, they avoided the rooms, but when they couldn’t, they leapt over whatever tiles they could to get through as quickly as possible. This was their best chance to catch up and being too cautious was as dangerous as being knocked out of the tower.

The Zodiac Squad members disappeared only a short way away and Aurin knew his enemy was within his reach. So focused on reaching the elevator was he that he didn’t notice a furious Shamasaur waiting in the corner of the corridor. Upon seeing the humans, it threw a huge rock that Angree smashed with his fists.

As Sunny hurriedly cast a barrier, the Shamasaur stampeded towards Angree and coated itself in rock armour. It leapt at the wooden Minakai, breaking through the barrier almost instantly and crushing him under its immense weight.

Aurin held up his Water Crystal and unleashed a water jet from it, striking the Shamasaur in the face, but it barely reacted as it started pummelling Angree. Sunny desperately tried to heal her friend, but the Shamasaur was injuring Angree far too quickly for her to keep up.

As Angree struggled to fight back, Luna pulled Aurin into a kiss. “Go!” she yelled. “There’s nothing you can do and we’re too close.”

“But I don’t know what to do now!”

“It doesn’t matter! We don’t have time to argue about this. Go!”

Aurin looked into her eyes. “I’ll see you outside.”

Luna smiled at him as he sprinted on down the corridor with Sunny, seeking the room where the elevator sat. It was close; it was very close. There it was, just ahead. Aurin leapt over the tiles and placed his hand on the blue orb, pulling him up to the forty-ninth floor.