Early November.

Anastasia repeatedly slammed her fist into the door of Alexander's home.

Today was the Day of Asmodeus. And Alexander was yet to open the door.

The lock audibly unlatched and the door began to open. But the one behind it... was Carmen Cortés.

Carmen stared at Anastasia, her eyes scanning her for a second. She squinted.

Anastasia squinted in return.

After almost ten seconds of staring at each other in silence, Carmen cleared her throat. "You're here for Alexander, right?"

Anastasia stopped squinting and nodded in silence.

"Perfect," Carmen said. "Uh... Just come on in. And, uh... Wait here," she said. She immediately dashed away, running up the stairs.

Anastasia paused. Was she supposed to wait there or go inside?

She did what seemed reasonable and took a single step to stand in the open doorway.

A commotion followed Alexander as he descended down the stairs, his eyes meeting Anastasia's.

"Sorry. Emilia was being Emilia," he said.

Carmen was behind him. She gripped his arm to grab his attention, as she spoke to him in Spanish.

"What is she doing here?"

"We just gotta go fight the demon thing. Same as last time."

She nodded and smiled. "Yeah, but. She's here."

"What's wrong with that?"

"You have a transporter, don't you?"

"Yeah, but-"

Carmen turned to Anastasia. "She's really pretty, too."

"So that's your point?" Alexander asked as he let out a sigh. "Don't start making me think these thoughts.

"I'm just saying," she said, turning back to Alexander with a smile. "Don't mess it up."

"Don't start this again," Alexander said, groaning as he spoke.

"Do you like her?"

Alexander paused. "I have to go."

"Just stay safe," she said, kissing her son on his forehead.

"No promises."

"Don't joke about that," she told him.

Alexander waved goodbye and walked through the doorway.

"Sorry about that," Alexander mumbled to Anastasia, letting out a sigh. "My mom was... being herself. You don't speak Spanish, right?"

Anastasia shook her head.

"Perfect," he said.

Anastasia nodded. "But more importantly-"

"Yeah, I know," Alexander said, glancing at his watch. "We gotta go."

"But more importantly," she repeated. "You're wearing cargo shorts."

Alexander paused. "Well... yeah."

Anastasia stared at him for a full ten seconds as she slowly shook her head.

He sighed. "Listen, you're always wearing the same black hoodie, so-"

"Let's just go," Anastasia said.

She clapped her hands and the view quickly changed.

Alexander's eyes widened at the marveling light.

He was surrounded by rocky terrain and grassy ground.

They stood on a pale mountain that overlooked the rest of the island. From there, they stood above mountains of pale yellow stone and hills of lush verdant grass.

The ocean at his side was almost the same color as the blank and cloudless sky.

"You couldn't have used a Connection?" he asked her.

She smiled. "Just wanted to see if you had gotten used to teleporting."

Alexander nodded in understanding as he swallowed his saliva.

Liam smiled as he walked up to Alexander from behind. "Welcome to Crete, cargo shorts."

Alexander sighed, saying, "Not this again."

Leonard laughed as he high-fived Alexander. "But seriously, though, why do you always wear cargo shorts for missions?"

"Just don't refer to me as 'cargo shorts'. They're just reasonable for stuff like this," he said.

"Uncles Charles told us to be here," he said, tightening his belt and the harness that held that dazzling blue sheath of Excalibur.

Alexander turned back to Anastasia. "So you really teleported everyone here?"

"No, I just got here," Liam interjected. "Used a transporter."

Again, Alexander sighed. He could've done the same.

He stared at the others as they stood around in silence.

Alexander nodded in understanding as he took in a sharp breath. He began stretching, twisting his back and cracking his joints.

Gabriel stared at Alexander as he stretched.

"Why..." Gabriel said. "Why are you stretching?"

Alexander sighed. He continued without even raising his head at Gabriel. "I only use enhancement magic. I'm a physical combatant. I have to prepare myself.

"You say that but you haven't learned how to use a sword."

"Yeah, fair enough," he said, standing up straight. Alexander slammed his hands into his cheeks as he took in a sharp breath. "Alright, I'm ready."

"Did Archibald give a reason why we're supposed to be here, anyway?"

A sudden flash of magic energy was set off by Alexander's side.

"Where'd that box come from?" Giovanna said, standing up from a rock.

"Is it a bomb?" Leonard asked.

"I'm pretty sure that's why Archibald wanted us to be here," Alexander said, kneeling down before the box.

It was built of polished brown wood. The box itself was small, short, and not wide at all. And yet, when Alexander opened it, he was faced with swords and spears. Shields and bags, and even a helmet.

"It's bigger on the inside," Alexander said, at the same time as Gabriel spoke: "It's smaller on the outside."

"What's inside?" Lumiel asked, approaching them and the box.

"Weapons. Gear. That kind of stuff."

Giovanna sighed, and sat back down. Leonard also backed away. They had no need for those kinds of things.

Alexander reached in and grabbed the shimmering golden hilt of a sword. Ascalon.

Gabriel had already walked away with Lumiel, while Alexander still stared at the sword.

Alexander continued searching through the box. Searching for a specific sword. The Earth-Splitter.

"Everyone ready?" Anastasia asked.

She opened a Connection.

Leonard slammed his fist into his palm, cracking his knuckles at the same time. "Let's do this, y'all."

It was then that he noticed a specific sword. The one had been looking for.

"Liam!" Alexander shouted, throwing the sheathed sword at him.

Liam turned to Alexander's voice. As he caught it, he stared and marveled at the massive yellow gemstone on its pommel. "Durendal, huh?" he muttered, grabbing hold of the sword with both hands. "Perfect."

"Let's go!" he urged Alexander, with a smile on his face as he dashed through the glowing Connection.

And yet, Alexander remained still, admiring at what he had found. A grey and crimson cloak. On its collar was a tag written with bold letters that read: 'Flame Protection.'

Alexander found it strange. Asmodeus, the demon they were soon to face, didn't have magic relating to fire. He ran his finger across the coarse grey fabric.

He swiveled his head at Anastasia, who had been staring at him.

"What? It might be useful."

Anastasia crossed her arms and let out a deep breath. "Let's just go."

Alexander smiled. He threw on the cloak. "It looks cool," he told her, dashing through the Connection. "Besides, I'm wearing cargo shorts."

"Fair enough."

As Alexander burst through the portal, he stared outward, at the gargantuan walls of pale yellow sandstone that stood before him. He paused for a second.

The walls were almost ten meters tall. And though the walls were built of pure sandstone for meters on end, at the very top, they were constructed with polished white marble and trimmed with gold on all edges.

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Alexander swallowed his dry saliva.

What they stood before was the Labyrinth's entrance.

"Technically, it's the exit," Liam said. "But we're entering through here. You know, to avoid the Golden Dawn."

"Let's go," Liam repeated, entering through the door-like corridor that they faced. The rest of the Virtues followed.

And again, Alexander was the last one.

He took a staggered step forward past the lined border. And from there, he froze, swallowing his saliva once again.

He tensed up as he spoke. "There's blood in these walls. Lots of people have died here. I can feel it, kind of," he said, tracing his hand against the rough stone walls.

"All the more reason to get out of this place as quickly as possible," Liam said, still facing forward, still moving on.

It took less than three minutes of moving through the intricate stone passageways and corridors before Leonard let out an audible groan.

"This is pointless, you know," he said, ruffling his unkempt hair as he spoke, sighing as he walked.

Anastasia silently nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, isn't this Labyrinth huge?" Alexander asked. "Like dozens of square miles kind of huge?"

Gabriel cleared his throat. "Yeah."

"Why didn't you idiots say that earlier?!" Giovanna grumbled.

"So this is gonna take way too long to just walk through," Lumeil said, walking past Liam and turning to face the Virtues. "Plus, we'd probably get lost and die of starvation if we don't do anything."

"Bold of you to assume we aren't already lost," Anastasia muttered to herself.

"So, Anastasia," she said, pointing at her. "Can you-"

"I'm already on it," Anastasia said, her eyes still stale, still staring at the ground as she clapped her hands.

"This is why you're the best," Lumeil said, smiling as she sensed Anastasia's growing veil of magic energy.

"Splitting up is the best option." She opened four Connections. "I opened them near the center," she continued, before pointing at the individual portals.

"North, South, East, and West. Time to split up."

"Arent you being a bit too lax about using magic?" Alexander asked her.

"Well... I'm getting more efficient." She patted Alexander's back as she walked past him. "Don't worry about it. All we gotta do is find the Golden Dawn, beat those guys up, and kill a demon. Then we go home."

Alexander nodded. "Yeah, true."

"Easy peasy," she said. "Lemon... sneezy. I think. I don't remember the saying."

"Wait," Liam interrupted. "How'd you know the layout of the walls?" he asked, approaching a Connection.

"I saw a map," Anastasia said. "Duh."

Liam nodded his head and went through.

Gabriel spat out a sigh. "Leonard, you're with me. Make sure to be useful."

Alexander turned to Anastasia, saying, "I'll go with you. Liam, you-"

"I'll be fine on my own," Liam said, sighing as he entered a Connection.

"Alright, then. Let's get going," Alexander said, heading into the Connection before him.

Anastasia stood behind as she watched the others jump into the Connections. She began to shut them, one by one, before heading to her own.

And as Anastasia went through the portal, she saw Alexander standing still, his hand hovering above the sword on his hip. "Anastasia," he said, slowly taking a step backward. "We... We have a problem."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

The walls shook, the ground rumbled at the sound of boisterous footsteps.

"Anastasia..." he muttered before a soft gasp left his lips. He clenched his teeth, staring down the backward-facing figure that was slowly lumbering forward.

"Yeah. I realized it, too."

"Well, this... This is bad," he mumbled.

The figure stopped moving as it sharply exhaled. It was eight, maybe nine feet tall, with bulgingly muscular arms and legs. The top half of its body was covered in coarse brown fur, reaching his massive head, which happened to be that of a bull. It had an elongated snout and black nostrils, with crooked ivory horns pointing upward, along with beady, cruel black eyes, with a faint orange light glistening in his pupils. It wore no clothes except the beige cargo pants, torn and ripped right above his feet.

Anastasia and Alexander both instinctively recognized the monster. The half-bull, half-man beast of Greece. "It's the Minotaur," Anastasia mumbled.

Streams of air left the beast's nostrils as its dark eyes met Alexander's.

Alexander sucked in air through his teeth before he muttered, "Anastasia. Stay behind me." He placed his hand on Ascalon's hilt, readying himself to draw his sword at a moment's notice.

The Minotaur's nostrils flared as it shut its fist.

"We need to leave. If we make it in time-"

"I doubt that. I'm pretty sure it can track our scent." A smile crept onto his lips, as he stared down the horned beast. "...Come, beast of the labyrinth."

The Minotaur cried out, charging at Alexander headfirst. Alexander drew his sword, slashing in one fluid motion, clashing against the beast's horns.

Even with all the strength in Alexander's body, he wasn't capable of putting a single scratch on the Minotaur's horns. Alexander was focused on the horns, and not the massive, woolly fist of the Minotaur, swung in from the side, impacting Alexander at his ribs.

He was knocked to the side by the immense force of the Minotaur. Alexander spat out a breath before quickly getting back up.

Anastasia extended her hand, with electricity beginning to crackled between her fingers. "Don't!" Alexander shouted. He began to smile. "That one hero... killed him without a weapon. So let's see how much damage I can do!" Alexander burst forth, his sword in hand.

The beast's massive fist was mere inches from Alexander's head before he dropped to the ground, sliding across the stone ground. He jumped back up from behind, slashing against the Minotaur's ankles, leaving nothing more than shallow cuts.

Alexander jumped up at the same time the beast turned around. As Alexander cleaved down his sword, ripping apart the air, the Minotaur raised its arm, blocking the incoming slash. Alexander fell to the ground as he brought down the sword, leaving another shallow cut.

The Minotaur's scarlet blood dripped to the ground. Its black beady eyes stared at the blood dripping from his arm and ankles. Shallow cuts, yet still bleeding. Its breathing quickened, its eyes watering. The beast bit its lip before letting out an anguished cry.

It clenched its jaw before glaring at Alexander.

Alexander nodded and swallowed his saliva. He shook his head, staring at the barely wounded beast.

"Yeah, I can't win this. Nevermind."

"Anastasia..." he said, his eyes still focused on the Minotaur. "Get us out of here before he-"

The Minotaur's fist drove itself into Alexander's chest. He tried to block with the flat of his blade only to be sent crashing into the sandy stone wall.

The only reason the Minotaur could die so many times and still live for thousands of years was because of its essence. It's a being of legend. And so, with each myth, with each story, it grows stronger.

Even if he's killed... his essence will remain. And thus, the beast will never die.

Anastasia swallowed her saliva. She couldn't do much here. Their movements were too fast. She didn't have enough control over her lightning. If she were to use it, she would risk hitting Alexander.

And so, all she did was shout out. "Do I have to remind you why we're here?!" She coiled her fingers around the wand at the back of her belt.

Alexander drove his sword through the beast's shoulder. "Don't!" he shouted at her, staring at her as she pulled out her wand.

"Save your energy! Just trust me!" he shouted, a thin smile cracking through his lips.

'Faster,' he urged himself. 'Faster.'

Right now... Alexander was enjoying himself.

He jumped up, slamming the sword into its eye. Faster. Faster. His speed increased with his continuous slashes as he evaded the beast's flailing arms.

Alexander's sword crashed against one of the Minotaur's pale white horns. With swift, fluid motions, the horn was sliced off.

Alexander's feet gently landed onto the stone ground.

He smiled at the ivory horn in his hand. And from there, he raised his head at the Minotaur. "Finally," he muttered. "I can-"

A sudden buzz went off in his head. His eyes widened as he spun his head to the side.

"Anastasia! Over there!" he cried, dashing off to the side.

He shut his eyes, focusing on the gargantuan overflow of energy taking place somewhere to their side. With each passing second, the energy grew, becoming more ferocious, more wicked, more demonic. It was increasing as it took physical form.

Alexander sucked air through his teeth. "600 meters, west!" he shouted. "We-"

His words were cut off as the Minotaur slammed its fist to the side of Alexander's head, launching him against a stone wall.

Alexander quickly recovered as he crashed, jumping up and climbing onto a stone wall.

Anastasia thrust her hands out, forming Connections before herself and Alexander. Anastasia dashed through her portal, while Alexander remained behind, staring down at the now one-horned beast.

Even so, he still tightly gripped the ivory horn. He smiled at the beast, shaking it in his palm. "Didn't expect you to be so weak!" he taunted.

Again, the Minotaur's nostrils flared up in anger.

It dashed at Alexander, but within less than a second, he jumped through the Connection, and the Connection shut.

As he emerged, Anastasia stared at him, confused. "I'm not sensing anything near here."

"I know. I have a plan."

Anastasia still stared in confusion. "You say that like if it clears anything up."

The ground shook. Alexander smiled.

They both understood what that trembling was. The impact of the Minotaur slamming into a wall.

"It's 300 meters that way," he said with a smile, pointing at the wall to his side.

Anastasia sighed. "You better be right," she said. She sharply inhaled before opening another Connection.

Alexander nodded as they jumped through the portal, their backs facing another wall.

Their setting hadn't changed a bit. That's the worst part of being in a maze, after all. There's no way of knowing how far you've gotten.

But Alexander could feel what was behind him. All his senses were screaming out at him.

Alexander slowly pulled himself up onto the wall. He already sensed the shroud of energy that surrounded this room.

What he saw... was two clouds. A physical cloud of black smoke and dust and ash that slowly filled the room as it grew. And an invisible cloud of pure, dense energy. It was because of that energy that he could sense the demon from so far away.

And surrounding that vast cloud of darkness stood nearly a dozen and a half people wrapped in their white and golden robes.

This room was built of different walls than the labyrinth. These walls were pure, snow-white marble. And they were shorter, no more than eight, maybe nine feet tall.

Alexander remembered seeing that on a map Archibald had shown him. They had just fought the beast of the labyrinth in one of those exact rooms.

He took in a sharp breath. Just in case, he told himself. He would raise his magic level before bursting the energy within his cells, bringing out as much as he could. To serve as a guiding light for the rest.

Liam was the first to arrive, only seconds later. "So this is it, huh?" he said. "These are the bastards that are summoning the demon."

Alexander and Anastasia nodded in silence.

"So why are we just standing here?" he asked. "Shouldn't we just go in and-" He slammed his fist into the palm of his hand. "-Y'know?"

"No, we have a plan, remember?" Anastasia asked him.

Liam groaned. "Why is there always a plan?"

"Plans are useful," Alexander told him, swallowing his saliva as the magic energy behind him increased yet again. If they took too long, the demon may grow too strong to defeat. "Besides, how'd you get here so fast?" he asked.

"I jumped over the walls," he said, nonchalantly.

Alexander furrowed his eyebrows. Jumping over those walls would've been difficult, even for him.

"Either way, until everyone else shows up, we stay here," Anastasia told him. "Understand?"

Liam nodded as he sighed.

Lumiel smiled to herself. "Look at you guys, already prepared and everything. Makes me proud," she said to Anastasia.

"Shut up," Anastasia told her, letting out another sigh.

Lumiel had gotten here with Giovanna relatively quickly for her location. Not surprising, however, for her kind of magic.

"And let go of me," Giovanna complained.

Lumiel had been holding Giovanna through the end of her pale green hoodie. "Not my fault you're not fast enough," she said, letting go of her.

Alexander took in a sharp breath. He shut his eyes once again.

Gabriel and Leonard were only seconds away from them. And from there, they would attack. Until then, all they could do was stand there.

Alexander tried to push out all thoughts of fear that clouded his mind. Six months of training, six months of missions, six months of work as a group. He was ready.

They were ready.

"Anastasia," he said, turning to her. "When you do that, make sure you keep him out."

"Obviously. I'm not stupid."

"Sorry."

"Don't apologize," Anastasia said, letting out a tired sigh. She started to rub her hands together as she took in a sharp breath.

Alexander was optimistic. Now... They weren't just a group of teenagers. They were fighters.

No one would get knocked out, no one would lose any limbs, no one would bleed too much. Now... They would win. That's what Alexander reassured himself.

They had practiced strategies and tactics, formations and movements, attacks and combinations. Even this specific scenario of waiting behind the Golden Dawn's lines. If everything went according to plan, there would be no problems at all.

Alexander knew that much was impossible. Something was bound to go wrong. But for now... At least for now, they were in control.

That's what he thought. That's what they all thought, actually. Until a stone wall burst and dust filled the room. Until Gabriel and Leonard crashed through that wall from behind the summoners.

"What the hell?!" Alexander shouted.

"Those idiots!" Lumiel exclaimed.

Whirls of wind and pillars of flames burst across the room.

Liam ran through the corridor into the room. "We have to move!" he shouted at the Virtues as he unsheathed his sword. He slashed it against the marble wall. No, not against the wall. The tip of the blade didn't reach that far, leaving the slash to fall inches short.

Even so, the marble was slashed apart, cracking apart and bursting into the room with a cloud of white dust.

"Dammit, stick to the plan!" Anastasia shouted.

"Protect the casters! We have to summon the Prince at any cost!" a cloaked man shouted, thrusting his arms out as he commanded the others.

The sounds of shouts, howling winds, explosions, echoed and boomed across the labyrinth.

Even so, the conflict slowed as the ground trembled. The quaking grew stronger until even the walls shook. It grew louder until it drowned out all other noise.

"What the hell is happening?" Liam asked.

"Just wait," Alexander said with a smile. He turned to Anastasia, mouthing the words: 'Get ready.'

It was then.

A loud, baritone cry echoed throughout the labyrinth. And with that, the beast of the labyrinth burst through the stone walls.

Rock and rubble flew and dust filled the room.

More confused shouts from the Golden Dawn rang out.

"What the hell?!"

"Kill it!"

"Protect the casters!"

Beams of energy and shots of weapons crashed into the beast. Again, the Minotaur let out an angered cry, as it slammed into those in white robes.

Leonard, Gabriel, even all the Virtues froze, their eyes wide in confusion. All except Alexander.

Alexander smiled, his eyes almost glowing with great fervor and zeal.

"Anastasia," he began, still smiling, still watching the Minotaur's ongoing attack. "Do it. Do it now."

"Let's hope this works," she said. Anastasia took in a sharp breath as she cracked her knuckles. A grin floated unto her lips as she shouted. "Here we go!"

"Neo Kosmos!"