Nunac was dead, his head splattered on the floor. Despite this, the purple crystal in the middle of the room was still sinking inside the pool-sized array that was growing brighter and wider the more time passed.

“A pity,” said Baron Bloodeye while shaking the blood off his paws. “He gave me the tool to activate the array weeks ago, but still, It was his right to witness the history he helped create.”

“Then you shouldn’t have killed him,” said Michael.

“History cannot be undone. His sacrifice will be noted."

Natalie bent her knees, but Finn signaled to stop. “What is your plan exactly? What are you going to summon?”

“Oh, did you not see the statue on the fifth floor? This land does not belong to your failed species, it never has.”

The pool of mana grew brighter than before, its light shooting up towards the demon corpse on the ceiling, entangling itself with its bones as if trying to merge with it.

“Your species has rejected mana. You no longer have a place in this world, yet you’re so arrogant as to call yourselves its masters.”

“Pointless sophistry,” Natalie scoffed.

“Surround him,” said Finn. “Carefully.”

The lion was fast, incredibly so. 'Even with all four of us together, it's questionable whether we can win'

Fortunately, the baron allowed them to surround him. His posture was relaxed and his palms were by his sides.

“Your kind cannot help but struggle." He lifted his hand and caught Michael’s incoming fist midair. “Struggle then.” He threw the boy like a ragdoll at Tommy. Natalie tried to cut him, but her blade did not pass his fur. “Struggle till the end.”

The baron’s snake-like tail struck Natalie’s stomach right when several fireballs hit him in the face.

“Pointless!” The baron inhaled the smoke like a cigar. “Your only worth is as sacrifices for our future.”

“So you say,” declared Finn. To the baron’s surprise, the boy was now standing on the pool of mana, his palm resting on the purple crystal itself. “You’re too full of yourself."

Suddenly, Bloodeye's boot embedded itself in his sternum. The boy lost contact with the crystal, smashed into a wall and started coughing up blood.

"I'm merely being realistic. The empire has been doomed for generations. If not for that cursed hero, the demons would have wiped this land clean of your kind and then left it to the beastpeople to rebuild."

The light coming out of the array intensified. The entire skeleton above everyone's heads began glowing as if it was coming back to life.

"You're not summoning the dead, are you?"

The baron scoffed and kicked the boy in the chest, making a hole in the cavern's wall, crushing his ribcage, and turning his internal organs to mush.

"Do not compare me to a necromancer, human. I fight for the living."

The others attacked all at once, and they were dispatched just the same. Natalie and Michael were punched out of the way, so the baron could take his time with Tommy.

The boy swung the burning blade, a weapon too dangerous for even Bloodeye to take on. The tall lion was forced to jump towards the ceiling, climbing inside the skeleton’s rib cage and egging Tommy on.

"Come, tiny warrior. As for you," he gave Finn a look. "Do. Not. Move."

'Roger that.'

While the two fought it out upstairs, Finn quickly recovered from his injuries.

"Natalie, Michael, attack when the time is right. Strike and flee, leave the bulk of the fighting to Tommy."

Their friend was being thrown around from one giant skeletal rib to another, but he could at least take each blow and keep on fighting.

While Michael and Natalie went to assist him, Finn followed the lion's advice.

'I won't move an inch from this spot,' he smirked while pulling out a rope from his jacket. 'That's only right, wouldn't you agree, Annie?'

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His friend who was lying just a few meters away from him, was unconscious, but that would not be the case for long.

Finn threw her a piece of the rope, and as soon as it made contact, he channeled his mana into it. The rope turned bright yellow and sweat started pouring down Finn's forehead.

'Stay busy, you furry bastard.'

The boy's brows creased as he watched the battle above. Knowing there was some kind of plan underway, Tommy kept attacking with little regard for his safety.

There was no point in worrying about defense anyway. The lion was so fast he couldn't react to his strikes.

'I'm lucky he only used punches,' thought Tommy. 'But if that were to change…'

"Stop." The baron suddenly lifted his palm. "You've fought valiantly, but it's time to choose: You can either live to welcome this land's rightful rulers or…" The lion jumped towards the skeleton's pelvis. "Or you can die right now."

From behind a large, flat bone, Baron Bloodeye pulled out an axe. It was a two handed weapon, yet he held it with one hand. It had two axe blades at the top, forming a round circle the shape and size of a wagon's wheel, yet the lion swung the weapon with ease.

"Decide now," he said while turning to look at the crystal. "I will not miss the making of history just to entertain your naive…"

The lion's eyes suddenly went wide. Below his feet the crystal was shining brighter and brighter. Even the skeleton was shining, since the array was using it as part of its calculations.

However, something else was also emanating light on the ground. There was a string of white energy seeping out of the crystal, trailing through the magical array, all the way to a silver haired girl.

She was absorbing magic like a bottomless bucket and converging it all into two specific targets:

1. Her friend, whose injuries had since disappeared.

2. A fireball, a single ball of flames so concentrated and hot it was starting to look like the sun.

"How dare you!" The lion roared and disappeared from his spot. A fraction of a second later he appeared in front of Annie, yet before he could swing his axe and cut the girl in half, her miniature sun expanded. The ball of flames instantly grew, engulfed him, Annie, and Finn, and then exploded with such strength the entire cavern shook, deep cracks appeared on the walls, and the oversized demon remains on the ceiling dislodged themselves and collapsed.

‘How… did I lose…’ Annie mumbled. Despite everything that happened ever since she had woken up, her mind was fixated on the events prior. Her own screams and flashes of lightning ran circles through her mind, and she could almost feel the magic which led to her demise.

‘I thought I understood him… That spell… That formation… I have so much to learn!’

As her own flames engulfed her body, Annie’s lips curled up into a radiant smile. She was not worried about the spell, since her own mana could not harm her. She was not worried about her enemy, since he would be reduced to ashes. All she could think about was the countless experiments she needed to perform and of the giant pool of magic she had conveniently woken in front of.

“Finn, can I have that crystal?” She turned towards her friend.

“Duck!” the boy yelled.

A moment later, something large and sharp cut into her shoulder and exited through her spleen. Annie looked up and saw the lion was unscathed. His clothes were burned to a crisp, his mane was charred, but the beast-man’s flesh was intact.

“How?” asked Annie.

The axe came down and the girl summoned her shield. Countless runes gathered on the invisible wall of mana, yet to her shock, it bent upon impact with the axe, like a piece of wood being snapped in half.

For the second time since entering the labyrinth, panic overcame her. Fear of death struck Annie at her very core, and her mana became unstable. A burning, red blade pushed the axe out of its path towards her chest, a chance, but she was too shocked to take it.

“Attack!” she heard Tommy’s voice.

“So you have chosen death!” said the baron.

Her friends started flying in front of her eyes, kicked by the monstrous enemy she could not understand. Finn sent out flames to counteract him, but the lion walked through them and cut Tommy’s hands. He then began pummeling the boy while the others tried to stop him.

“Annie, help!” shouted Finn, but the girl was out of it.

‘Again,’ she whimpered. Michael tried to grab the baron’s hand but was instead caught and thrown on top of Tommy. The beastman stomped on both of their bodies, crushing their ribs and breaking their spines.

“I’m scared,” Annie muttered. “Again…”

When Natalie tried to slice the lion’s legs, he kicked her all the way across the cave and then gave chase to kill her.

“Annie, we need you!”

After breaking Natalie’s neck, Bloodeye rushed towards Finn.

“Annie, snap out of it!”

“Again… It’s happening again…”

“Annie, we’re all gonna die if you don’t…”

Bloodeye grabbed Finn and slammed him into the wall near Annie. The boy’s flames were useless against him. Magic was nothing but a toy against the baron.

He picked up his axe and slammed it into the unconscious Michael’s back. The blade went through, cutting into Tommy as well.

“I’m sorry.” Annie began crying. The baron started walking towards her when she felt someone grab her hand.

“Don’t be,” whispered Finn. “You did your best.”

“But… I didn’t. I could’ve fought. I could’ve used my lasers, the crystal, I didn’t...”

“It’s fine… Close your eyes. This is just a dream.”

As the walking nightmare approached them, Annie did just that. She could feel the mana inside the lion’s body move, feel the mana inside the axe as he lifted it above both of their heads.

‘It’s a dream,’ she let her mana run rampant. “It’s a dream, it’s a dream, it’s a…. Yes. This. Is. Just. A. Dream!!”

[...???....Err@#???#@#$%...???]