The sixth floor of the ancient labyrinth reeked of rotten flesh. Perhaps appropriately, bodies littered the floor of the cave, starting with the headless Nunac, to the unconscious trio, to the numerous deformed body parts Finn had scattered all over the place.

There was also the giant demon skeleton, but ever since Mammon started pushing his palm through the array, the bones started being absorbed inside it.

Finn observed this with interest while his legs were being fixed. Fortunately, he had figured out how to fly, somehow, by simply pulling his physical body up with his spiritual one.

“Mr. Mammon, what are you doing?” he asked. “You know you can’t cross over.”

“Insolent fool. Beastman, kill him!”

The cave trembled from Mammon’s words, and the depleted Annie collapsed in Finn’s arms. Yet, for some reason, the boy was no longer afraid.

‘It’s not just because I’ve got Loki in my head.’

‘That’s almighty God, you prick!’

‘Yes, yes. What’s the demon planning?’

Suddenly, Bloodeye jumped at Finn, and with all of his strength, swung to cut him in half. Except, as soon as Finn saw him, he flicked his arm and the beastman went flying into a nearby wall.

‘The warrior’s breath plus a mage’s mana enhancement. I’ll call it… The magic breath.’

‘Crap name.’

‘Shut up!’

‘You know I can wipe you out of existence, right?’

‘If you could, you would have years ago.’

‘Insolent!…’

Finn carried the unconscious Annie and placed her gently beside the three warriors. He then grabbed Michael’s gloves and sucked out their mana, using it to restore the last of his toes.

‘Finally, I’m back.’

‘You’re buck naked. I suggest you take the brawler’s pants.’

‘Is that really necessary?’ asked Finn while placing a palm on Michael and Tommy’s foreheads. He then sucked them dry of mana while wondering which of their pants would fit better. Eventually, he agreed with Loki and took Michael’s trousers, then apologized to him while absorbing Natalie’s energy.

Unfortunately, not even this much mana was enough to fill up his brand new ‘energy tank,’ but he had to make do.

“Hey Bloodeye, are you going to attack or what? I’ve seen politicians make up their minds faster than you.”

The huge beastman, stuck in a semi-berserker state, was circling the teen, round and round, but he did not attack. Since his mental faculties were reduced in this state, the hesitation could only be blamed on his instincts.

Finn took Natalie’s rapier and pointed it at the baron. His bow had been destroyed when he transformed into a monster and his knives were scattered all over the floor.

“I’m a bit short on time, so let’s end this.”

One second Finn was 20 feet away from Bloodeye, and in the next he appeared right behind him. Sensing his presence, the beastman tried to jump away, but as soon as his muscles contracted, blood sprinkled out of them like a fountain.

Three dozen holes appeared throughout his body, his muscles were torn to shreds, and there was even a gash going from the top of his head all the way to his jaw.

‘How did I miss his brain?’ Finn wondered.

The lion roared in pain, one last time, before the teen cut off his head with a single swing of the rapier.

“Congratulations.” Mammon’s entire palm had finally crossed over into the cave. The purple crystal was almost depleted, so he had to stop there. “What did the tyrant God promise? I assure you, it’s all lies.”

Finn ignored the demon, ran to Annie and injected her with just enough mana to wake her up.

“Your body!” were the first words that came out of her mouth.

“I’ll let you inspect it later. The baron’s dead. Mammon’s breaking through, so I need you to change the coordinates of the array.”

“Bah,” Mammon let out a dry laugh. “She cannot. Boy, it’s not too late. Renounce your faith and let the mutation take over.”

Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

“So I can get split personality disorder? No thanks.”

“It’s the price you must pay.” Mammon pointed at his chest. “Look closer. This dark-purple cover is not skin, but countless, small, crystals digging into my flesh. I am in constant, neverending, insufferable pain.”

“So you want me to go through the same!?”

“Yes! It’s a small price to pay for revenge against the tyrant God.”

Annie’s knees almost buckled under the demon’s words. His voice made the mana inside her body shake and tremble, though fortunately, she was used to such a disturbance. After carefully analyzing Nunac’s array, from as far away as possible and from the demon’s back, she came up with a conclusion:

“Finn, I cannot modify the array while it’s in use. We must push Mammon back.”

“That’s lord Mammon to you, human girl. Know your place!.”

Mammon’s hand, the one which passed into the cave, suddenly opened wide. The ten black rings on his fingers cracked and broke apart, their energy seeping into Nunac’s array.

‘He’s gonna push through.’

‘No, stupid, ask the girl.’

Annie stepped back and shouted “He’s overcharging the array! He’s going to blow it up.”

“Crap, come here.” Finn rushed to grab Michael and the others.

‘Mark, listen closely. You need to push Mammon’s hand back.’

‘No, we need to get out of here.’

‘You can’t, dumbass. You think you can break through a dungeon’s floor just because you’re a little stronger? There’s half a kilometer of soil between each floor, and starting from five feet deep it’s reinforced with the dungeon’s magic.

If you push Mammon’s hand back he’ll lose control over the mana he left on this side. If you don’t push it back, the array will explode; it will ignite his crystal covered limb, cause an even bigger explosion, and then incinerate you all!’

“Shit!” Finn rushed to the array and tried to cut Mammon’s hand with the rapier. The rapier snapped in half, so he took Bloodeye’s axe and tried again. When the huge axe bent like a common pipe, he tried to cut the demonic appendice using Josie’s weapon instead.

The red sword, burning so bright it looked like it had just come out of a furnace, splattered all over Mammon’s pinky like a freshly baked pie out of an oven.

'You want to cut a demon with low level loot?'

"Pathetic," declared Mammon. At the same time, the column of light turned red in color, distorting his image and his laughter.

'Shoot it with everything you've got, Mark. You have two minutes left!'

Finn bit his lip in frustration, aimed his palm at the demon but then closed his fist. 'I don't have enough energy.’

He searched for his bow, a tool that could focus his mana, and found it broken in four different pieces, scattered on the dungeon floor.

Even so, he ran to it and took the orange crystal hidden in its socket.

"Finn!" Annie threw a bunch of rings at him, the blue crystal rings given to them upon enrollment in the academy.

The boy grabbed them all and squeezed them dry of mana. As the crystals cracked and then disintegrated before his eye, a rush of sadness washed over his body.

'I guess we’re expelled.'

'One minute left!'

Finn pointed his arm at Mammon's palm. His fingers were long, his nails longer and sharp. Yet the image in the column became so distorted, the main body could be seen only as an amalgamation of purple and black.

'What makes a high level weapon?'

'Anything that can channel your energy. 40 seconds left!'

God's statement made Finn's eyes grow wide. 'Something that can channel my energy… No problem.'

Finn extended his right arm, but this time closed his fist. He then gritted his teeth and focused on his fist and forearm.

'30 second… What the fuck are you doing!?'

Finn's forearm was changing shape. His cells were separating and rearranging themselves, while his energy pathways were merging into one, big channel.

'H-how?' God protested. 'This shouldn't have happened.'

Finn's fist and part of his forearm were replaced by a long, tube-like structure. It was dark-blue in color and it looked like a cannon, carved out of flesh straight into Finn's arm.

'I've messed with my body so many times, this is a piece of cake.’

'You idiot! Do you have any idea what this means!?’

‘What?’

‘20 seconds left. Shoot already!'

"As you command, oh tyrant God."

Finn channeled all of his energy into his arm. The makeshift cannon condensed and turned it all into a single fireball so powerful it shined out of the teen’s forearm like a flashlight.

‘It’s still not enough.’

‘10 seconds!’

‘Stop shouting, I need more time.’

‘Nine! Eight! Seven! …’

Nunac’s magical array and the column he had created turned completely black. Streams of lightning poured out of it at random, and the entire structure shook like it was about to explode.

“I wish you a quick death.” Mammon sent his regards.

Finn panicked. Unable to come up with a solution, time slowed down for him, almost to a standstill. It wasn’t the world which slowed down, he realized. His senses, energy field, and consciousness were simply heightened to an impossible degree.

‘Is this how I’ll die: In slow motion, so I can experience everything?’

‘Six!’ God shouted, annoyed at his mumbling. He knew the fireball would not be enough to push back Mammon’s hand, but he did not want it all to end without Finn even taking the shot.

‘Just do it, Mark. Maybe you’ll get lucky.’

Suddenly, Finn chuckled and his lips curled up.

“Luck? We make our own luck.”

‘Five! four! ...’

“See you next time, demon.”

‘Three! …’

Finn discharged the entirety of his power.

‘Two! …’

The explosion which followed almost destroyed the labyrinth. Everything was over when Loki spelled: ‘One.’