Gabriel found himself back in the world made of the mayor's mind.

He realized where he was right away while looking at his hands. The image he perceived of himself was purely fictional, an anchor made by his own sense of self. It was made of his will, his will to distinguish himself from the mayor.

Remembrances of the mayor were everywhere around him and wherever his gaze reached, but Gabriel was smart. He would not lose time with those.

He was not looking for memories; he was looking for something else, something more direct, for images of the moment.

He had to confirm the suspicions that had kept building up. The mayor had slowly started slipping away, focusing on something else, something far, something requiring most of his mental resources, it could have been The Memory, but for some reason, he doubted it. He had to see from the mayor's eyes, who said that he had only the ones inside the chamber. This was a world with magic, after all.

Wishing to reach for new forming memories, the world around him started blurring. Images moved at the speed of light, or was he the one moving? He couldn't know. But this world was not real. It was different. He wished to be the one moving, so he became the one who was moving. So, grinning, Gabriel increased his speed even more.

When Gabriel reached the place he wanted, he was hovering over a gigantic orb of liquid flames. Their color was that of pure Mana. It was big, big as if he was floating above the moon.

Something called for him.

It wasn't Liz; she had returned to his core.

So he advanced, ever forward, toward the knowledge that he could feel as his own though extraneous.

When he stopped, he found himself at the center of a multitude of windows. There were hundreds of images moving about inside those screens; they were all around him. The feel they gave him was that of the previous memory, yet their consistency was… different. They were constantly building memories, visions of the moment.

In one of them, he could see a big Armored Tyrant, much bigger than the ones he had fought, the point of view, he understood right away, no, he felt, was that of a Tyrant guardian, the much smaller and weaker type.

How did he know? He knew it because when he leaned closer to the screen to touch it… he became the Rare creature at that very moment.

Gabriel confirmed it by raising his right arm. The action felt weirdly heavy and was somehow met with resistance, but it indeed did. The bigger creature in front looked at it, with a weird expression, then widening its eyes he shouted a dark ray beam at it.

Gabriel was kicked out of the windows before he could see what had become of the little Tyrant, but soon he leaned onto another, this one screen more preponderant, heavier, a bigger frame.

He knew he was an Elite Tyrant at that moment. He was facing a team of giants together with his brethren.

The young man, now Tyrant, didn't know why, maybe for instinct, it turned around, charging his claws, and with one swift movement, it pierced through one of the smaller Tyrants by his side, then did the same with another.

When the monster's turned toward him to assault him, he looked at the confused faces of the giants; then he was back inside of the world of images.

A voice called for him once more, much closer, much stronger this time.

But Gabriel had something else to do. He couldn't focus on such things.

He entered inside one of the most solemn images there was. Its power felt definitely grand. It put all the other images to shame.

Gabriel was huge. He felt like a damn mountain. He knew then he was a Paragon Tyrant, waiting in the backline for his turn to have it against the Giant's Champion.

He knew only three more islets would have to be felled before the Tyrant King could regain its rightful place in the Dungeon Boss' seat.

As long as the stupid Champion did not call for others' help, they would win in the next few days. It would probably coincide with the end of the training.

Smiling, Gabriel teleported to the front lines. Triggering all the traps that had been placed, he knew they were there. It was one of the giant's most effective defenses, after all.

Every space skill stopped functioning, Gabriel turned around toward all the Tyrants that had been trapped thus, and with a laugh, he opened his mouth and let hell rain.

He dedicated all his resources to the massive ray of darkness and started releasing it.

The culling of the Tyrants was faster than he thought. They cracked and popped out of existence or shattered in smithereens as the beam of darkness burst into them.

He turned once again toward the humans, lowering his head in a reverie. They were baffled, all of them.

The voice made him drop out of the Tyrant. It felt clear this time, still a little distant, but clear.

"GABRIEL! STOP! DON'T MAKE ME HURT YOU!"

It was the Tyrant, not the mayor speaking, and if it was so, that meant it was threatening his real body. He knew that it would take but a swing from the Tyrant to erase his body. What would happen then?

Gabriel sighed, preparing to return to his body… and yet… yet there were a couple of other things he could do for the moment, just a couple of little things… he knew he had the power to do it, and that only now he could, there would never come such an opportunity, not anymore in his life probably.

He had full power over him at that very moment, or there would be no reason for the Tyrant to threaten him. Whatever chance he had to take advantage of the mayor was at this very moment, there would never be another chance such as this, if at all.

Gabriel could effectively control him. He felt he couldn't make it permanent, but... if he had learned something, it was that bending, just like governing Mana, was all about ideas and ideals.

And soon, an idea came to him.

Gabriel mentally reached for all the windows in front of him. He knew then that he had still access to the Tyrant's own Mana. He had not managed to stop him from using it.

With a bit of strain, he let his mind-bending wash over all the windows in front of him, imposing his will over them.

Kill yourselves.

"GABRIEL!" Said the voice.

Windows started fizzling out of existence, one after the other.

Without even waiting for the results, Gabriel continued with his plan. The second yet by far the most important thing.

With a grin, Gabriel realized that what he had just done and was about to do would soon become the most wicked thing that he had ever done or thought about. But he had to be fast. He felt his hold over the monster's mind starting to fade away.

Gritting his teeth, Gabriel reached for all the strength that he could muster, and he willed for an idea to implant inside of the monster's very sense of self.

He knew he was inside the Tyrant's soul at this point, and having direct access to his it and his almost infinite Mana, he opened up one specific ability that without the ability to control his own Spirit resource would never work.

The second seal, the one he had learned but couldn't use, had suddenly become viable.

There was just one problem. Gabriel had to make the seal with the Tyrant's Mana imprint, which would mean that he would be able to rescind it without much trouble once he realized it. Something Gabriel knew would happen right away.

There was only one way he could work around that.

Liz, I'm proceeding only if you are one hundred percent sure. I swear to everything I hold dear, I'll get you back.

Lizzy vibrated from the inside of his soul, coming out of it and materializing in front of him.

Her scales had become much darker since last she saw her, the overall color was leaning to a midnight black now.

Gabriel looked at his faithful companion, she would always be there, and they were together even in this.

What he was about to do, required the use of spirit resources, and since he couldn't control it, she was the only viable source of spirit that he could control, which was extraneous to the Tyrant's own. She would be the catalyst for the Mana; as long as she was in place, the Tyrant could not dissipate the seal.

So Gabriel strengthened his resolve. Then he breathed in, the act in itself was useless since he was not breathing right now, but he used that effort to imagine getting hold of every ounce of Mana inside the Tyrant.

Imagination was the key, Mana was all about ideas.

So with all the power the Tyrant could offer, he opened his arms and legs wide, and closing his eyes in the effort, he screamed with all his might, the Mana from the moon-sized soul of the Tyrant shot out from it and entered inside of him, like a vast stream, it crashed onto the man.

At first, Gabriel felt himself lose control over it.

It's too much…

It's just too… No! I Can. Do. Everything!

The very Tyrant's Mana drew inside of Gabriel. All of it.

The very moon-sized soul of the Tyrant became hollow, a huge empty, hollow planet.

Liz's eyes, nostrils, mouth, and her whole scaly skin started shiny as she started screaming.

In a moment, she faded in the intense azure light Mana, then it exploded out of her.

Thick streams of Mana flew once again at the Tyrant's soul yet, instead of entering back into it, they enveloped it and started solidifying in a thick yet simple web made of dark transparent strings of bind-tainted Mana.

But the time they had done, Gabriel wavered, his conscience on the verge of disappearing to who knows where.

Gabriel had not only used the second seal, the one which tied a life to another life, but he had also made so that every single point of Mana the monster could use was meant to restrain the monster's ungodly strength. Hoping it would weaken it to a point in which he could kill him.

Then came the screams. They were not his; they came from somewhere else, deep, profound, eerie cry. They were the Tyrant's own.

Grinning, Gabriel felt his conscience give out; there was a hole in him. He could feel the edges of that same madness he felt when first Liz died, tugging at his conscience, although it was held back by something. Through Spirit Sight, a thing only perceivable, a thin thread of spirit connected him to the Tyrant's soul.

As he faded back into his body, he retained his conscience by focusing only on the perception he retained of Liz's present.

Though only particles of Spirit right now and unable to materialize by his side or communicate with him, Liz was still very alive, and all he had to do to retrieve her was to kill the mayor.

Gabriel opened his back up against a paralyzing headache and heartache so intense that he had no idea how he managed to still be alive.

The Challenge chamber's natural bright light was tainted by shadow.

Pieces of the mighty tall ceiling were crumbling down, dissolving once they hit the pavement or in mid-air. The same was going on to the walls all around.

He immediately found a gaping hole in his abdomen and chest, the pain soon struck him, but it was nothing against what his head and heart were producing.

Luckily he had thirty-eight points of Mana remaining, the equivalent of his natural full day Mana recovery power. He cast Helping Hand four times, one for each hole, speeding up the recovery to mere minutes. When he tried casting it to his mind and heart, though, nothing happened. Not even Mana was consumed, so they were physically fine. The problem probably lay elsewhere.

"What have you done?" The Tyrant's voice brought him out of his reverie.

Small, barely twice his height, the Tyrant was kneeling on the floor, huge for his head crown now, slowly vaporizing.

"I kill you before you kill me. That's what I've done," Gabriel said, though his voice was weak.

"Why? We had a deal!" Shouted the Tyrant.

"Yes? Did you think I was playing idle in The Memory when you made your war? I might be a fool, I might know nothing, but I simply don't like it when someone tries to fuck with me. I tend to get rather furious, though I have to thank you for showing me how furious I can really get." Gabriel straightened himself and went to pick up the spear as he spoke.

"No… you've just betrayed me! I would have kept my part of the deal!"

"Of course, you would have! There's one little problem, though... there's no real way for me to free the seal that was placed upon you. The only thing I could have done to free you was… taking your place in here."

The Tyrant did not answer. It simply got up, slowly.

"Are you the one responsible for what's happening outside?" Gabriel asked.

But once again, the Tyrant did not answer.

He's about to attack.

Analyze.

Armored Tyrant King (Hidden Boss)

Race

Armorid

Level 122 (Sealed)

Class

Doom King

Level 120 (Sealed)

Element

Dark

Dark - 4

Pools

Sealed Life

Sealed Energy

Sealed Mana

2151

657

823

Attributes

Sealed Affinity

42

Ray of Darkness

Sealed Alacrity

25

Teleport

Sealed Power

69

Rock Control

Sealed Recovery

43

Shroud of Darkness

Sealed Resilience

87

Armor of Rock

Sealed Stamina

44

?

Even utterly sealed, the monster was not something Gabriel could ever manage to take on by himself.

He did the only thing he knew he could do to temporarily get out of the situation. He shot toward the sky, barely in time to evade the monster's teleport and consecutive swipe.

Fucking hell…

Gabriel shot toward the chambers, falling ceiling. Debris kept heading down, most of the time making no sound as they hit the pavement, simply shattering in Mana dust.

The Tyrant kept following, teleporting right in front of him.

Gabriel knew then that though the monster was sealed, he retained all of his Skills.

With the Tyrant in front of him and no way to really change the direction of his escape, Gabriel decided to reiterate with his spear.

With an overhead spiral strike, Gabriel struck the monster's claw away. At the same time, he reset Built to Fly and conserved that momentum to shuttle to the right, exploiting the force's vector.

Useless to say, his change of direction did close to nothing. Once again, the monster presented himself in front of him. This time he was ready to attack with the spikes shooting out of his back.

I can't evade this!

But there was a way to, another close call which would mean nothing, yet he had to at least try.

Gabriel canceled his gravity-defying Skill, letting himself drop toward the ground with his full weight, barely in time to avoid the armor spears.

He was about to hit the ground at normal now, and the Tyrant had let himself fall with Gabriel, not once removing his gaze from him.

Once again, Gabriel Analyzed the monster. It had consumed one hundred points of Mana and fifteen of Energy.

If teleport only uses Mana and the spike attack uses Energy, then teleport takes fifty points of Mana every time, good! He cannot overuse it. But what can I do now? Will I manage to keep evading him, or will we run into a stalemate? There's no way for me to beat him in a direct confrontation… he can only die if I die, and I'm surely not planning on dying here.

Let's buy some time.

They both dropped to the ground, Gabriel first resetting his hold on gravity with his Skill. The Tyrant with a mighty "thud" of his still enormous legs.

Right away, his mouth opened wide, and a powerful dark beam shot forth, heading toward Gabriel. The man barely avoided it, but the ray kept moving, following him.

Gabriel engaged Meridians and magnified his speed with Burst Attack. He could only hope that the ray would not last for too long.

It lasted for ten straight seconds. Way too fucking long!

He cast another Analyze on the monster, arching his brow.

The monster had lost one hundred and so points of Life, yet but nothing else had changed.

Which can only mean two things, the dark beam is free, which is unlikely. Or the beam uses the Tyrant's Life points. Since nothing is free, I guess that the beam uses ten Life points each second and that the odd lost amount was the damage he got from the fall.

I can't use Analyze anymore, so I need to keep count by myself. I need to save Mana.

Gabriel knew that he still had four bottles of Energy potions left and some of Spirit salves. The salves were useless, but the potions were his lifeline. To keep up with evading the monster's moves, he could only use Burst Attack, and it would be a long fight, but he might as well do it if he played it safe and preserved Mana.

"You have no idea what you've really done, do you?" Came suddenly the Tyrant's voice.

Good, I can make him talk!

"What have I done, other than piss you off some?"

"You've essentially condemned your friends out there to die. I was the one reining the Tyrants in. I was holding their Boss back." The Tyrant shook his head.

"Liar, you said you had no access to such powers anymore."

"I was doing it with the modicum of spirit-bending, which my Shroud Skill power gave me. After all, the current Tyrant Boss was one of my Royal Guards, alas… I have no more power over them now."

"And what would that mean?" Gabriel asked, wary of his lies.

"Once again, your ignorance is at fault here, Gabriel. A Dungeon war consists of an ousted Boss challenging the current Boss in a fight. The Tyrant Boss was holding back, until now, he would not leave his lair, but no because it couldn't, just because I didn't allow it to. But now that my power over him has been sealed, what is there to hold him back? You see, contrary to the current Boss, which can never ever leave his throne, lest he loses it, the pretender Boss is free to move when it is Wartime, and the challenge among them has been accepted. You, Gabriel, have now just released a monster almost twenty times more powerful than the Paragon that you've used to destroy an entire army." The Tyrant's mouth slowly opened into a huge grin, "And you've just unleashed such a monster on them. I hope you can live with the consequences."

At that, Gabriel paled. "But I made them all kill themselves!"

A low, mocking laugh resounded forth, "Don't kid yourself, little Herald. There are contingencies; a Boss cannot be killed that way. You might have freed your friends from the support troops, but the real threat should be heading toward exterminating them all right now."

"You should have just followed my plans."

Gabriel gritted his teeth, and gripping his spear tighter, he launched in a frontal attack.

I'm gonna kill this motherfucker!