With the chains of light no longer restraining my makeshift dungeon team, they fell to the ground much like I had, weak and confused. Shouts and cries echoed off the obsidian cavern walls, and while none of them had the same level of mental resistance that I did, the glassy looks in their eyes gained some semblance of recognition.

While they appeared to be awake in the loosest of terms, neither Hartha nor Cal stirred from their positions. Each of them, I noted, reflexively cast some healing spells, keeping them from death’s door, but they weren’t enough. While I’d done my best to heal some of their wounds, they’d also been bleeding for longer than I had. I wasn’t sure if it had to do with my pendant rehydrating me, or if it was just because they’d lost more blood, but their bodies seemed to not want to listen to them.

As far as the other two went, Jason looked like he’d fared the best physically out of all of us. The first to recover mentally, however, appeared to be Rock: Realization dawned on him and was quickly eclipsed by a deep font of rage which he wore openly on his face.

It, however, was a slow process. Had Ephesis still been in a trance while this was taking place, it was possible that Rock would have even charged the priest. Sadly, he was not still in a trance. The priest eyed the others disinterestedly while addressing me.

“An item, yes? An oversight on my part. I didn’t detect any items with active charges on you, and even had you possessed one, I doubted you would have the mental wherewithal to use it. A pain, but merely that.”

I didn’t know what was worse — that he viewed this development as nothing more than “a pain,” or that I kind of believed him.

“Now, I will be honest with you, girl. Before I spent countless years rotting away by the dungeon entrance, I might have relished this a bit more. Done it with some flair. For instance, do you know how simple it would be to make that lug over there attack you? I’d just whisper into his head ‘She’s trying to ruin the ritual! You were right about her from the start! Kill her to save the forest!’ I’d sit safely behind my barrier and watch as he killed you, and to top it off, once you were dead, I’d convince him to go willingly back into the chains like nothing had happened.”

A shiver ran down my spine. As much as Rock and I were on better terms than we were when we met, it was true: I doubted it would take much of a push to get him to focus on me. If he honestly thought I was trying to sabotage the ritual that would save the forest, he’d stop at nothing to bring me down. Shaky and having just spent my last drop of mana, it wouldn’t even be a real fight, either.

“The truth is, however,” he said with a sigh, “... I am tired. I find myself near my goal, and I have no desire to draw things out.”

Rock had managed to find his feet, and whether by some skill or spell, his wounds had stopped bleeding quite as profusely. He set his sights on the two of us, and a moment later, he would have rushed over. Whether to demand answers or to attack, I didn’t find out.

The high priest lifted a single hand up, pointing it at the commander before turning it towards Jason. “You. You.” A flash of light punctuated each of his words, and I barely had time to process the fact that Rock now sported a razor-thin, burning wound near to where his heart would be.

“You are not needed.” Before I could examine Jason’s state and before either of them could even cry out, Ephesis let loose another spell.

Twin fists formed of light appeared beneath the two, looking solid, almost like polished gold. In the time it would have taken to blink, they shot upwards and pummeled into both Rock and Jason with the force of semi trucks.

The two men were tossed like rag dolls straight to the far side of the cavern at such a speed that I worried even the wind resistance would do them serious damage. With an ear-shattering boom, they collided with the wall, and a deep sense of dread filled me.

I didn’t just watch them die, did I?

Ephesis stared after them for a moment before curling a lip ever so slightly downwards. “Hm. Sturdier than expected. Perhaps I’m losing my touch. No matter.”

He flicked a finger upwards, and a much larger version of his barrier appeared surrounding the entirety of the ritual circles. Unlike his personal shield, however, this version had a more solid look to it and was completely opaque, obscuring the rest of the cavern from view.

“Lovely.” As if to answer my unspoken question, he turned to point to Hartha. It was a small relief, but thankfully, this time it wasn’t to cast any spells. “That one. Blessed by a dryad. Owner of an incredibly rare class long lost to her tribe. Morphed by the dark mana of a god.” He shifted his finger over to Cal. “Royalty. A thief of such note, her city granted her a moniker. And indeed, many other things on top.” Lastly, he gestured towards me. “And a Protagonist! Need more be said than that?”

He donned a wild grin, as if our backstories were the butt of some inane joke. “Each of you brimming with Prestige. Perfect for a matter like this. The others? Unnecessary. Superfluous. And frankly, a pain. I know I make it look rather pleasant, but do you happen to know how much of an ordeal it is to channel a five-way spell? While carrying out a ritual? Of course you don’t. I would know, wouldn’t I? Now, three, however, is a much more manageable number.”

I wanted to be doing something while he spoke. To fight him. To brainstorm some wild escape plan. But really, what was there to do? I’d spent all my mana, and even more than that, spending all of it had only allowed me to deal him one point of damage. Now that he’d shut the three of us in a barrier, I couldn’t even run. All I could do was stand there as an increasing sense of doom welled up within me.

If nothing else, it was almost relieving that the sensation didn’t last long.

Another fist of golden light appeared beneath me, this one using significantly less force. It punched into my stomach, knocking the wind out of me and sending me into the air. I dropped to the ground in a heap.

When I got up, it was already done. Shackles lay on each of my limbs, connected to glistening, radiant chains.

I’d like to say that knowing I was being affected by mind magic made me able to resist it. That I stayed defiant, struggled, frantically planned a way out.

And to some extent, it wouldn’t even be a lie: Knowing that it was all fake, the sensation was much different than the first time around.

Still, not in any way that really mattered.

I was already tired. Without any real hope. All it took was a mental nudge.

Why keep trying? What can I even do? You took your shot, T. Let it rest.

When the first razor of light reopened my recently healed skin, I didn’t even cry out. Hartha and Cal, both chained while lying in their own blood, likewise made not a sound.

“It’s a fascinating ritual, you know.” Ephesis had returned to his sitting with his eyes closed, though he appeared more at ease, his face more animated as he spoke. “Blood magic. Really quite vampiric in a way. As much as I’d love to just kill you all and be done with it, it’s more of a slow burn spell. Charges up by sipping the energy out of you, and then once you die, it sucks the rest of you — your essence, your Prestige, your mind, your soul — in as further fuel. I would have tried to do it with just my own blood and some workarounds if I’d had to, but this is many times bett-”

He cut himself off with a frown, pausing for a second. After a particularly intense scowl, he muttered under his breath: “What do you mean I gained a level in Monologuing? Damnation. I hate that skill.”

It could have been my imagination, but the shackles seemed to tighten a fraction. He did not continue his speech.

So I waited. Waited and bled. And waited. And bled.

Think I preferred the first time, I decided. Was nicer. At least I didn’t realize I was slowly dying that time around. Kind of wish I hadn’t busted myself out. As it was, I had a few more minutes of it all. Waiting to die. Watching two of my friends die with me. Knowing that two of my friends (well, in fairness, one of my friends and Rock) were probably dead or dying too.

It was kind of depressing, really. Still, with the chains wrapped around me and Ephesis in my head, I couldn’t muster up much energy to care. I was going to die, and tha-

Without warning, a blur of movement suddenly shot through the exterior barrier, somehow bypassing it. It continued on, shooting straight into Ephesis’s personal shield where it was halted.

The unexpected projectile in question looked like a lump of hot tar. Where it touched Ephesis’s hard light barrier, it bubbled and sizzled, evaporating into an inky black cloud. As it did so, the priest’s shield visibly dimmed.

An instant later, another projectile joined it, followed by another, and another, and another. They ripped through the outer barrier, punching momentary holes in it that made it look like a particularly radiant slice of swiss cheese. A few of them, after getting through the external barrier, went wide, missing Ephesis completely. Indeed, some of them nearly ended up hitting one of us, while others shot into the rift above the priest’s head, never to be seen again. Still, many more honed in on Ephesis and his shield, coating it in the thick, tarry substance.

Once more, the chains binding all three of us dissipated. This time, I was happy to be able to catch myself as I fell, but the sheer confusion of the moment didn’t leave me much mental space to enjoy that fact.

Ephesis, of course, didn’t take this sitting down.

Quite literally, in fact. For the first time since he’d begun the ritual, the high priest rose to his feet, wearing a snarl of anger and opening his eyes.

“Fine!” he shouted. “I didn’t wish to waste my energy on you all, but if you insist, then so be it!”

Even as his shield dimmed, a dozen motes of light spilled out from his hands, hovering around him while crackling with menace. He topped it off with one more, but many times larger than the rest, nearly as big as half his body length across. This one, he kept in his hand, brandishing it as if both a shield and a weapon.

“Let’s see it then!” With a final yell, he flicked a finger down, and the opaque, external barrier fell.

There were many things I could have imagined seeing once the barrier came down. Since coming to this wild and occasionally nonsensical world, I’d learned to readjust my expectations of normalcy. Still, I was more than capable of being caught off guard, and this was notably one such instance.

At the back of the cavern, standing tall amidst a pile of obsidian rubble was Jason. Despite not seeming much worse for wear from his forced flight, a veritable crater had been blown into the wall, presumably from where he’d collided with it. In a similar fashion to when I’d seen him in the Drawgin archery hall, he was currently busy chucking chunks of obsidian at the high priest.

That’s what the tar was. Somehow, the outer barrier must have partially liquified the rocks. Whatever they were made of, however, seemed to be antithetical to Ephesis’s light magic. Seeing as the obsidian had healed the shades, it must have been filled with some sort of dark mana.

All in all, however, this was not too shocking. While I was surprised to see the gator man in such good shape, it was, after all, just Jason doing what Jason did.

Nope. It was the other of the two that had me gaping like a fool.

Because while Jason was standing calm and collected at the rear of the cavern, Rock was instead flying towards us.

Unlike Jason, however, he looked like he’d gone through a blender: Blood streamed off him in ribbons, his face barely recognizable. His legs hung limp, trailing behind him like streamers. I couldn’t tell if he had some sort of cheat death skill or if this was just the first time I’d seen someone push their supernatural Constitution to the limits, but it was a miracle that he was conscious let alone in motion.

How the hell is he flying though? That’s not a class skill, is it?

As if to answer my question, Identify Skill activated. Despite everything that was going on right then, I groaned.

Throw Rock Really Hard (Augmented)

This skill has been augmented to include rock-adjacent objects such as statues, bricks, and any other projectiles which can loosely be considered “rocks.”

Well… Begrudgingly, I did have to admit that the skill wasn’t wrong.

Jason had thrown Rock really hard.

What was more, Rock had come prepared. While his legs seemed to be completely decommissioned, his arms, if barely, were in working order. He carried three massive pieces of naturally sharp obsidian, one in each of his hands, and another clamped between his teeth. With his battered face twisted in a rictus of pain and fury, it looked like he was trying his best to bite straight through the rock.

While all of this came as a surprise, and it was incredible that Jason had managed to deliver an attack which was effective against the priest’s light magic, taking in the scene left me with only one thought.

It’s not going to be enough.

Because, for all the strength with which Rock clung to life, he was headed straight towards the massive orb of menacing light clutched in Ephesis’s hand.

It was not a drawn out process. Time did not slow down. With a shout that, even muffled by the obsidian in his mouth, reverberated through the cavern, Rock plunged into the light.

As if consuming the commander — using him as fuel — the light about Ephesis erupted into a flash which blanketed the room. For a split second, nothing at all could be seen.

When my vision returned, two figures could be made out in the center of the diagram.

Despite his overwhelming power, Ephesis had not come out unscathed: Jagged shards of obsidian sank into his chest. Fried through contact with his spell, parts of the rock had melted, bubbling tar coating the area surrounding the wounds. He looked to be in intense pain, and his shield had completely broken.

I had a fleeting hope, right then.

It was dashed a moment later.

With a grimace, the priest grabbed at the bubbling obsidian tar and pulled, yanking the substance — both liquid and solid — straight out of him. As it was removed, blood shot out from the wounds, but much like my hope, this too was momentary. A quick healing spell later, he looked none the worse for wear.

“The pathetic flailings of a child,” he snarled. “Good riddance.” He gazed contemptuously down at the ground where a second figure lay.

Charred and disfigured almost beyond recognition, the commander of the forest made not a move. Hastily, I cast a healing spell to try to save him, but it found no purchase.

Refusing to believe what my spell was telling me, I stared at the man, doing my best to activate God’s Eye. Nothing showed up.

While I looked upon the corpse of one of the first people I’d ever met on this planet, Ephesis simply chuckled.

“Not entirely how I planned to do it, but that’s one of five! Shall we continue?”