Somewhere in the vast cosmos, near a bright, blue planet, there was a certain God sitting behind his desk on a certain asteroid. His eyes were glued to the screen of his laptop, his mustache took on a V shape from the huge grin he had plastered on his face.

Before him, the battle in the north was unfolding. Count Vistacia was frothing at the mouth, his eyes glazed over as he ran rampant through the enemy’s fortress. His troops were cheering him on, but what they failed to realize was that for every 10 assassins he killed, the count struck two of his own people, and that percentage was steadily growing. The enemies’ leader finally made his entrance, and a battle for the ages was about to commence.

“Yesss!” Loki was smashing his mouse against the table. “Kill them all, be the hero, muahaha!”

A notification popped up on the laptop’s screen, and when he clicked it, the image was split in two. The left side of the screen showed the situation in the north, while the right side showed the south.

A huge army of mutants, goblins, lizard-people and foxes were gathering at the empire’s desert border. Leading them from the very front was a single, shirtless man. His entire body was covered in flames, nine burning tails were moving behind him, and at his hip there was a single red katana, the mark of his people and of the doom to come.

Loki squeezed his mouse so hard he almost broke it. “Holy crap, it is happening! Finally, a proper war. Show me what you’ve got, fox kin!...”

Suddenly, the laptop’s screen turned blue and something appeared in the middle:

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

“What the fuck!?”

Soon, the message disappeared and the screen focused again on the action. Except, the image he was seeing was the one from a few seconds ago. Vistacia was going wild and the big boss of the assassins was finally showing his face. Again, he received a notification, and upon clicking it, the screen split to show the southern battlefield.

“Piece of shit laptop, I should’ve known better than buying from her.”

Loki’s face contorted and he smashed the mouse to bits. At the same time, he summoned two balls of mana and sent them flying towards the north and south of the empire.

“I am the God of this world, I deserve the best Goddamn signal there is!!”

……………………………….

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

“How dare you!”

Annie shivered at the sound of Bloodeye’s voice. Her entire body tensed up and all her senses sharpened to the maximum. There was a giant ball of flames in front of her, her ball of flames.

‘I went back in time.’

The lion suddenly appeared to her side, swinging his axe at her chest.

‘It’s the only way.’

She made the ball explode. The cavern shook from the blast, the demon skeleton fell from the ceiling. Even the baron’s initial swing was interrupted and he hesitated, unsure of what would follow.

‘He’ll attack.’

The girl bent her knees, covered her body in protective runes, and distributed as much mana as possible into her arms and legs. A moment later, the beastman was revealed, and he swung the axe towards her shoulder right on cue. Although much slower, Annie ducked in time and the lion missed.

His eyes became wider, but he immediately attacked again with a blow from above. Annie summoned five layers of rune enchanted shields in the axe’s path. Two of them buckled under the weight of the blow, the third one bent like cardboard, while the remaining two retained their shape.

Shock and disbelief could be seen on the baron’s maw, his jaw opened wide and his pupils dilated. A burning red blade then appeared at his side, and the lion pushed himself out of the way to safety.

“Attack!” shouted Tommy. His voice was reassuring, his back was wide. A tear rolled down Annie’s cheek as the boy charged at the beastman.

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“So you have chosen death!”

Finn sent out flames towards the baron, but they were ineffective. He easily dodged Tommy’s blows and prepared for a counter.

It was then that Annie shot laser beams into the lion’s face. He closed his eyes and ducked, taking them with his forehead, during which time Tommy cut into his stomach.

It was a light injury, but for the first time, there was blood spilling on his fur. The baron roared like a mad beast, while Michael and Natalie attacked him from the sides.

“We can’t one-shot him!” shouted Finn. “Fight defensively, harass him until he falls!”

The boy sent fireballs towards the lion’s eyes, ears and nostrils. They were all ineffective, but it forced the beastman to move. His senses were perturbed and he had to avoid Tommy’s blows. Michael was attacking his legs, trying to trip him, while Natalie was stabbing him from the sides.

“Get lost, worms!” For the first time during this battle, the lion suddenly disappeared, not to attack everyone a split-second later, but to retreat on the other side of the cave.

“Annie, run!” shouted Finn. The girl flinched and stared at him in return. However, Finn was running, not away from some unspeakable danger, but towards the array and the crystal in the middle of the cave.

“Come with me, we need to stop it!”

It was too late. Right before Finn reached the array, the giant skeleton which fell on top of it stopped shining. The array suddenly shrunk at rapid speed, as if it was being sucked back into the crystal which powered it up.

Then, when it was only the size of a slightly bigger puddle, a beam of light shot out of the crystal, piercing into the cave’s ceiling. It was a pillar of energy as thick as five men placed side by side. The pillar was transparent at first, but soon, color and an image appeared within its depths.

It showed the inside of a room, a treasure room at that. Hundreds of shelves, stacked on top of each other, adorned the unusually tall walls, and every single one of them held precious artifacts.

There were mythical weapons and accessories of all shapes and sizes. Blue, purple, and black crystals were embedded into each and every one of them.

In front of the shelves, there were piles of golden coins, silverware, and trinkets of all kinds. In the middle of these piles, beautiful statues made of marble, glass, and bronze depicted heroes and scenes of the past, most of which Finn hadn’t even heard of.

Even more fantastical scenes were depicted on the ceiling, as the entire thing was covered with highly detailed paintings. Some even hung from the ceiling, surrounding the huge candelabre built entirely out of black, purple, and blue crystals. The scene could be considered beautiful, breathtaking even, but to teens and even to the lion, it was terrifying.

There weren’t just riches and artifacts in the room. In fact, there was a carpet, blood-red in color, going straight through the middle of the room towards a small flight of stairs. On top of the stairs there was a black crystal throne, and sitting on top of it, there was someone.

“Mylord!” Bloodeye fell on all four and prostrated himself. “It is I who summoned you. I beg you, rid this land of these accursed rejects.”

The man on top of the black crystal throne was a sitting piece of art. His jaw was spectacular, his dark-purple skin was glowing. His muscles were defined, putting even the greatest of specimens to shame.

His clothes were black and of the highest quality, imbued with black crystals for that extra touch of darkness. Twenty rings adorned his long fingers, six necklaces hung around his neck. There were 13 bracelets on each of his arms and 13 piercings in each of his wings. The only parts of his body left bare were his face, his long, flowing hair, and the two, long, sharp horns which protruded from his forehead.

“You have summoned… Me?”

A feeling of dread entered everyone’s veins. The lion smacked his skull onto the ground. His entire body was trembling. Out of nowhere, Michael, Natalie, and Tommy all collapsed while frothing at the mouth.

“We must destroy it!” Finn shouted while summoning flames to attack the pillar. ‘He took out half of us with a sentence! The crystal hasn’t been fully absorbed yet. There’s still a chance.’

However, before his magic could reach the pillar, Bloodeye appeared in front of them and took the brunt of the attack.

“Annie, help!”

“We cannot damage the portal.” The girl was shaking like a leaf. “B-but, if you can distract Bloodeye, I think I can change its coordinates.”

Suddenly, the demon clapped. It was a simple clap and a smile, yet everyone felt their backs bend.

“Congratulations, human girl. You are correct.”

Annie, Finn, and even Bloodeye could feel their souls shake with every word out of the demon’s mouth.

“Mylord!” Bloodeye prostrated himself in front of the tower. “They are the enemies: humans. We must destroy them.”

“I Must?” the demon raised an eyebrow. “I, Mammon, must help… you?”

“Apologies, Mylord. I am trying to summon…”

“You’ve failed! A worm like you thinks he can summon Me? With a purple crystal, no less. If the crystal was intact, I might have pushed through an arm, but it’s been depleted. Beastman, you have failed!”

Suddenly, a thought popped up in Finn’s head, and when he turned towards Annie, she was clearly thinking the same. The girl sent a tendril of mana through the ground, connected it with the purple crystal in the middle of the cave, and started desperately sucked out its mana, like a starving beggar at a feast.

“See!?” Mammon pointed his finger. “Stop her!!”

The command made Bloodeye’s ears bleed, but he forced himself to take hold of his weapon. His bloodshot eyes focused on the two mages, while saliva started drooling from his gaping jaw.

“I will not disappoint you again, Mylord.”

Suddenly, the beastman’s eyes rolled in their sockets. His fur stood on end, and he placed a front paw on the ground, taking on the shape and look of an actual lion.

Josie’s master, Baron Bloodeye, had activated the berserker state. His mind and reasoning subsided, and in their place, the hunger and bloodlust of an actual beast were unleashed.