I held out my fist and charged into battle.

Cobaltio was on my shoulders, Keen was leaning against the wall with a depressed expression, Julius was beside him, unable to walk for some reason, Dota was preparing a crossbow bolt atop Milo, circling around the [boss] looking for a good opportunity to fire, Reco ran far ahead of all of us, preparing to immediately engage with the [boss] in the middle of the room, Thraisly had a hand in her component pouch, ready to cast spells when needed, Ritta was going the opposite direction to Dota, and the corrupted [overseer] of the mines held his hands out, ready to cast spells.

The stage was set for our climax.

I dashed forward with Reco, much slower, and before I could engage the boss, she spun out of the oversized [boss]’s snapping jaws, then used her momentum to crash her flail into its nose, buffeting its head to the side about two feet.

I used the opportunity to take a slash at its chin, only to make what could only be described as a paper cut into its thick hide.

The creature stomped on the ground, making a miniature earthquake.

“It has lair actions, Saya! It can control rocks as a class magic!” Reco yelled, sidestepping again as it tried to snap at her.

I stumbled backward, looking at the ground and ceiling, and leaped to the side with the help of Cobaltio’s [death wing] as I saw its stomp had made a tiny fissure in the ground beneath me. A wall of stone spikes of stone erupted from where the fissure had been just a moment later. It separated Reco and me.

My fire’s ready.

Got it.

I circled around the creature, searching for an opening, only to backpedal as it turned to face me.

“Damnit, how do I even harm this thing!?” Reco asked from behind it.

The creature roared as it ran straight at me. I ran away as fast as I could, but my fastest wasn’t fast enough. It was quick, and if it caught up with me, I’d be crushed either between its jaws or its thick body.

I saw my plant harness shoot into thraisly’s hand and with her and Cobaltio’s help, I leaped to the right, out of the creature’s charge. Although it quickly turned and ran after me, I was in a better position to run.

I retreated as a bolt of fire hit the [boss]’s eye, and Reco hit it while it was blinded by the attack, hardly making a dent in its hide once more.

“It’s got to have some sort of weakness,” Thraisly said, “most monsters have one.”

I nodded, then quickly took out my slate, seeing that Reco could keep it distracted for a few more seconds. {Try to make it trip. It looks too heavy to handle that.}

I clipped it back in and ran after Reco, Houndcleaver at the ready. “Then in that case, Saya,” Thraisly yelled as I ran away, “Cut off the part of your harness I grew and give it to Reco!”

I did so as I ran forth, but Reco was hit by the creature’s swinging head and sent flying across the floor, so I nearly slipped on the stone trying to correct my course as quick as I could.

I ran about as fast as the creature, but it was closer to Reco. Thankfully, Thraisly made the vine I’d just cut off my harness fly towards Reco, who gripped it as she stood in a blur. She braced herself against the creature’s open mouth, then kicked off its nose as it tried to bite, flying far from it and hitting the ground running.

“Reco, when I give the signal, use the rope to drag the [boss] off its feet!” Thraisly yelled.

“Got it, fam!”

That wouldn’t work. If it ran at us, the rope would lose tension! I ran towards Reco, beckoning her to come over. She was surprised to see me run straight past her. I pointed at the [boss], then threw my hand out, hoping she’d understand what I wanted.

“Saya, what are you doing?!” she asked, sounding shocked as I ran headfirst into the [boss]’s path.

I readied my sword, then, as the creature opened its mouth to bite me, I dove beneath it.

Only to meet its mouth, which was so down low that I was halted, then flicked into the air like a pancake.

It opened its mouth, ready to catch me, nearly helpless, in midair.

Then, Cobaltio dived into its mouth, flame trailing behind him. Its mouth closed over his tail as I fell, but instead of being trampled on, stunned in horror, I saw it pause, quivering while strange noises rattled from inside its mouth, smoke escaping from beneath its teeth.

I landed in front of the disturbed hippo, fakely confident as I stumbled backward, praying he would escape.

Then, it tried to gulp, Cobaltio’s tail being pulled in.

An instant later:

Maophas has given Cobaltio a year of age!

Congratulations to Cobaltio for reaching 1+ years old!

Note: time will pause if you try to class up, so please don’t be afraid to!

Cobaltio burst from its jaws as it let out a guttural, pained roar, steam rising from its mouth.

Good meal? a snarky voice cried into my mind.

Nice job, Cobaltio!

Cobaltio landed beside me with a decidedly determined expression in his eyes. He was much larger now, his torso enough to reach my waist! Though his head was much smaller in proportion to his body, his neck and tail had grown significantly. His cobalt scales shimmered brilliantly under the light runes while he gritted his teeth and chuckled smugly.

He was going up to be just like me, always smiling at the precipice of death!

The [boss] charged at us. I nearly chose to class-up in panic, but Cobaltio tackled me and sent us flying with the help of his [death wing]. His tail was bleeding profusely, crushed by the hippo’s teeth, but I didn’t feel much discomfort from our [draconic bond], only pride.

We hit the ground and Cobaltio ran beside me just as quick. The [boss] looked pissed, and ran right after us, only for a vine to wrap around its leg, then drag it back as it leaped in its gait.

It slid to the ground, then tried to stand, struggling to stand back up.

“Saya, quickly, use [decapitate] on it!” Reco yelled, pulling its leg back, her own feet planted firmly in the ground.

Nice job, you two!

I ran around it with Cobaltio, who leaped at it without me needing to say a thing and started clawing at its eye to make it more difficult to see me. Just as I readied to swing my falchion at its neck, I felt an earthquake.

I sliced into its neck, my blade barely cutting through the flesh with all my effort but making a massive gash along its underside.

Run!

Cobaltio reacted quickly and leaped off as stones dropped from the ceiling, breaking the vine rope and threatening us. The creature snapped at me as I ran and kept chasing when I was too far for its attack to hit. Then, a bolt hit its eye, making it roar again, causing a familiar fissure to appear below me.

I quickly dodged to the side as pillars erupted where I once stood.

“I set up a trap, Saya!” Julius said from across the room, sitting beside a melancholic Keen, who had Julius’s shovel in hand. “Drag it to me!”

I nodded and turned to go towards Julius, the danger greater because Reco’s path had been blocked by a new wall of stone spikes.

Once I was a dozen feet from him, Julius yelled, “Now jump!”

I signed to Cobaltio to jump, and he leaped onto me and flew us over whatever trap Julius had set up. The [boss] behind us, on the other hand, chased us right into an invisible but small pit trap.

It was small, sure, but the creature stumbled to a halt once more.

This sucker should really watch its step sometime!

I quickly pivoted and dashed to cut at its neck. It snapped at Cobaltio and me before I could do anything, though.

Damn, it had learned from the last time it was groundlogged, and Reco wasn’t there to threaten it either. Taking what consolation I could get, I cut at its nose, making it wail angrily, and attempt to stand back up.

I ran to the side with Cobaltio but was shocked to see the boss ignore me and go straight for Julius, who was barely managing to kneel on the ground. As I had expected, Keen was quick to grab him and zip towards me, away from the monster. He looked exhausted, though.

Get him out! I signed and thought.

In response to my command, Cobaltio jumped to Julius, grabbed his shirt, then started dragging him away with Keen, keeping them at a fast enough pace to save us from the monster for a few more seconds.

Then, they hit a wall.

[barrier] blocked our way, created by the mage on the other side of the room, who I had been forced to ignore due to circumstance.

The [boss] was running at us, eyes bloodshot in fury. While I could run away, Keen and Julius would only be able to escape if they ditched Julius. I couldn’t save them even if I helped...

And yet...

I dashed to steer them out of the way. I grabbed Julius and tried to dash around the [barrier] while the hippo approached me. It wouldn’t be fast enough; the creature was about to catch up with us.

I reached out, and my menu popped up.

Do you want to class-up? Yes? No?

I almost grasped ‘yes’.

Then, leaping in front of me, I saw someone in a brown cloak. Asher rammed and burst the [barrier] from behind us, then flipped Julius onto its back.

Fire engulfed the monster, flames so intense, wise, and powerful that it enveloped the titanic monster and pushed back its charge, covering most of the room in an orange and red inferno.

So that was what real dragon’s breath looked like.

“YAAAAAHHH!!”

I watched as the fire slowly dissipated, revealing the [boss], glaring at us with a charred face, its skin smoldering.

The cloaked man unclipped a halberd from his back and pointed it at the monster. “I hope I wasn’t too late, Saya.”

I sighed, wanting to note how we all had nearly died from his tardiness. I had no idea why he was here, but I wasn’t going to complain, especially considering I couldn’t even talk.

I readied my own sword and took a stand beside him. Surprisingly, he was only a foot taller than me.

“Oh? Are you sure you want-” he began before we were forced to split. The [boss] didn’t give us time to catch up. He had ended up on the left side of it, and yelled, “If you two can bait it the other direction, I’ll flank it!”

“Got it!” Reco said, finally running to my side as the [boss] sprang towards us. She batted its head to the side with a twirling flail so it couldn’t bite me, kiting it, while I pressured it by circling its head for an opportunity to attack its neck.

It paused, then stomped the ground, creating a fissure and earthquake to the right of me.

It stomped again, creating a second fissure on its other side.

It stomped again, causing the earthquake to intensify. Dust fell from above, the black stone behind us beginning to fall loose.

Holy shit, what in the world were the limits of that damned ‘lair action’!? How in Hell was I supposed to predict any of that?!

It rushed towards Reco and me.

All our options for escape were blocked.

We were stuck between tons of falling rocks, two erupting, deadly walls of stone, and a seemingly immortal [boss] monster.

It ran at us, roaring, and held its mouth open, disallowing us from sliding behind it.

What could I do? There had to be something I could-

“Looks like this ends my debt, Mal.”

I thought, wishing my mind could move quicker, that I could slow time and think-

Wait, it said I could-

As I reached for my menu, the ‘yes’ and ‘no’ boxes still open, I felt hands grasp my waist.

Then, I was thrown away.

I watched in midair, flying far over the spikes that were threatening to trap us in, as Reco was crushed underneath the [boss], a brief expression of grim irony flashing over her face just before she was toppled.

Everything had happened so fast, but I didn’t need to think to reach out, even as my mouth gaped in disbelief. I closed my eyes, averting them from what was about to happen.

Without noticing it, my menu had never dissipated, and I grabbed ‘yes’.

I couldn’t tell what had happened, but I felt myself be caught in someone’s arms.

For a moment, it was all silence. An absolute, chilling silence. My home.

Then, the illusion faded as a voice penetrated the stillness.

“H-hey.”

The voice was familiar but certainly not one I was used to hearing. He sounded nervous, as if he wasn’t sure if his arrival would be seen well, and hadn’t spoken to many people in a long time. There was a sort of softness to his voice as well, one like he was meeting an old friend.

As if time had stopped for him, he sounded as he did long ago.

I slowly opened my eyes, only to see a face I didn’t recognise...No, he was familiar but quite different. Though, for some reason, his face was grey.

He let me down onto the ground, and I realized it wasn’t just his face. His clothes, his hair -no, everything was grey.

The light runes, the [overseer], Dota, Ritta, Julius, the man in the cloak, whose halberd was caught mid-swipe, and even the boss’s drawn blood, it was all frozen.

It was surreal to look at, to see the spectacle and the hecticness of it all boiled down to a single frame of action. The action, in all its faults and beauty, was preserved.

Suddenly feeling nauseous, I stumbled to lean against a spike of earth, holding my mouth.

I looked up to see the man squatting, looking at me with a curious expression. His hair was jet-black, like a pit of nothingness, and he wore a really cool, long coat of the same color, as well as some miscellaneous jewelry, including an amulet with the mark of Maophas on it(a bat wing connected to a scythe blad). Beneath his dark coat, he wore scale mail.

None of that really mattered because the instant I saw the two bat wings on his back, I knew exactly who I was looking at.

I froze, terrified. My thoughts on this man had changed quite a bit since I had left the village, but I couldn’t dispel my doubts so easily. After all, he was the origin of monsters, the one who likley planned the creation of the new dungeon, the person who had been the deaths of tens of millions over the years.

The evil god of death, Maophas.

He sighed. “Stop it, please stop acting like a toddler,” he said, annoyed. His voice had become more confident yet still lined with uneasiness. “I know you’ve got more courage than that.”

Aggravated, I stood tall, glaring at him.

“Come on, bud, I’m just here to help you. But...in exchange, I want that.”

He pointed at me, so I looked around, trying to figure out what he was motioning towards.

“I mean the thing in your hair, S-sa...” He paused, looking down thoughtfully. “It has been so long since I said that name. Saya.”

I tried to make my [soul cushion] move without my aid, but it wasn’t responding, so I just pulled it out on my own and tied it to my hand before unclipping my slate and taking out chalk. {What do you want w} I began before seeing him walk towards me as if entranced.

“I-Its really you...I-I can hear you,” he said, his mouth dropping as he walked forward. I started to walk away, keeping my distance. In response, he took a step back as if snapping out of a trance. “I-I’m sorry...its been so long since I heard her...and now I’m so close...I-I...” he wiped his eye, then chuckled. “Big kids shouldn’t cry so often, y-you’re right, S...Sayanica?”

My eyes widened, and I finally traced his eye’s path to...the cushion? Was he speaking to her thoughts from the cushion?

{What do you want with it?} I wrote.

“She...she’s in there. This whole time...” he looked incredibly conflicted, as if he’d seen a revelation. A revelation after a long, long struggle.

With a sad expression, he locked eyes with me once more. “Saya...I-I’m sorry for the trouble I’ve caused you. You got mixed up in this conflict because you saved Cobaltio, one of my blessed, and Seraph’s trial led to you losing the few consolations you got from your impediment...”

I lost my poise, surprised the god of death was apologizing to me and for problems that arose from my decisions.

He continued without prompting, “I made this dungeon to save the people in Hannem, but now you’re suffering for that choice, again...but...” He looked to the side.

When he did, I finally recognized that face of a scared kid, a crybaby.

“I...I have just that one request. Can I please have her?” He held out his hand, clearly holding back tears.

Was he just manipulating me? This was the evil god of death, the most terrifying person in the world, the greatest evil known to humanity.

No...no, I knew he wasn’t evil. He wasn’t the ‘god of death’ or anything like that. He was Zatchel, the prince who was frozen in time with his fiancee, Sayanica.

They were prey to my same curse.

The details of the godly dispute I was caught up in went further over my head than the sky, but I understood the simplicity of his request.

And I still couldn’t understand exactly why Cobaltio and I could see those memories through the [soul cushion], or why I, in particular, was given that soul-imbued item, but I knew now that it was all to some purpose.

I was meant to do this. Looking at Maophas’s eyes, I saw the eyes of that child, afraid to part with his friend.

The simplicity was the emotion, so raw and unfakeable. Emotion I couldn’t stop myself from reciprocating.

I suddenly knew that I wanted to do this. I could almost feel the pain in his soul, even though I didn’t know a thing about his situation.

I was, genuinely, the only person in the world who could help this god.

After everything that had been taken from me, I was ready to give another thing away.

Slowly, I walked up to him, untying the ribbon.

Then I set it in his hands.

He gripped it tightly, and hugged it to his chest.

He looked down, his eyes closed.“Sayanica...I’m sorry...For so long, you...No, I won’t leave you again, I promise.”

Maophas cried. I wasn’t sure how long he did, but he didn’t stop crying for quite a while. When he finally stopped, he slowly exhaled, then handed the ribbon back to me, smiling.

Oh, I thought he would take it.

“That should work just as intended, now. No talking voices or whatever. She hid her soul inside of it...I guess you have no idea what I’m talking about, do you?” he sniffed.

I shook my head at the pitiful god, then tied my hair up with the ribbon before writing to him. {I know who you were. She showed me you two in your frozen world.}

“R-really? She showed you her memories?”

I nodded.

He smiled. “I don’t know how to feel about that.” Then, he chuckled sadly. “Those aren’t memories I liked. They were filled with tears.”

I shrugged.

He signed to me in that ancient language. Do you recognize my signs?

I nodded and signed back. Yes, I do.

He smiled warmly, his bat wings drooping a little. Well, I ought to reward you. He signed. Just for you, I’ll make a new intermediate class.

A what?!

“Umm...what about fatebreaker...no, that’s badass, sure, but I can’t exactly make one that breaks fate. Uhh, sword...aficionado or something? Ehh, I can do better. Maybe...” Trailblazer, he suddenly signed. What do you think about that name?

I still hadn’t fully gotten to grips on what he was saying, but I nodded my head enthusiastically. This god had good naming sense!

“Trailblazer it is! What about the ability...something to help you save that girl about to be crushed...instant teleportation...maybe something to teleport you to allies?”

Can’t I just move her right now? I signed, finally putting my slate away.

“Huh?” He shook his head. You can’t move your physical body in the godly realm. You’re still where you were, but right now, your soul is in here. You’re in a slip in time.

Well, in that case... What about something that lets me do that?

He angled his head, looking at me with confusion.

Move in the slip.

He looked at me like I was an idiot, then put a hand to his chin in thought. Then, he raised a finger like he’d found a counterpoint but put it back down. “You know...” I think I can make that work. He signed. Give me a minute, and I think it will be ready!

I hadn’t experienced many of Sayanica’s years of memories, but I had picked up much of her knowledge. I could sign with relative fluency, but I could also interpret it just as well. Perhaps the transfer of knowledge was intentional.

He began interacting with a menu, which I could see, and started tapping on it, silently working on the class.

After a few minutes, he closed the menu.

“And that does it!” He began to sign and speak at the same time. “I made sure it was the best class you could have, little bud. It can let you bring your physical body to the godly realm for two seconds. Just this once, it’ll be like you froze time and let you seemingly teleport to your friend, but any time other than when you class-up, time will go by without you, and you’ll phase through people and simple objects.”

I scratched my head, not fully understanding, but getting the gist of it.

I called the ability “planeswalker”. The other one I was not certain about. I’ll just read the description: “Determination: a trailblazer cannot be inflicted with mental manipulation. Additionally, they are more easily able to view the wills of fate. Under the darkest circumstances, a trailblazer can activate determination to rid themselves of doubt.” What do you think?”

I tilted my head, concerned.

It fits in with the ‘trailblazing’ theme really well if you ask me. “You could give some [puppeteer]s a good scare if they tried to possess you.” The whole ‘removing doubt’ thing is just a little extra effect I liked. You don’t need to use it or anything.

What about the ‘fate’ you mentioned? I asked, confused.

He shrugged with a wry smile.

I put a hand to my forehead in exasperation. He really added something I didn’t even understand?

Anyway, with your stamp of approval, I’ll ship this thing out. I can’t add anything else onto it, unfortunately, so that’s all you’re getting.

I nodded my head with a smile, clipped my slate back to my belt, then gave him a thumbs up.

A pleasure working with you. “Just walk up to your friend over there, activate planewalker, and move her away as fast as you can.” He tapped his menu, and it disappeared. “[trailblazer] is now a real class.” He announced.

He held out his hand.

I grabbed it and shook the god of death’s hand.

I walked past the spikes to Reco, then squatted down, looking up at the monstrous creature’s chin, which was hovering over her as she tried futilely to slide past it. I could tell clearly that she wouldn’t make it and that the creature would surely crush her under some ten-thousand pounds of weight.

“You still need to choose the class, but the clock will start ticking once you do it,” Maophas said, walking beside me. “Its all up to you. Whether they live or die, it will be your decisions that change their fates. Activate [planeswalker] and you get two seconds. Two seconds unbound by the will. No more, no less.”

Then, he walked away. As he did, he said one last thing. “The world is meeting its destination. Remember that there aren’t any enemies...” I turned to meet his backward stare as his wings spread out. “There are just lost souls.”

I nodded, and he flew out, soaring through the crumbling ceiling.

You may choose between: [avenger], [assistant gaurd], [bodygaurd], [dark apostle], [dark rider], [dark slayer], [nightstalker], [scout], [striker], [sweeper], or [sword gamer]

I stared at my menu, looking for [trailblazer], then it suddenly freaked out, buzzing and rearranging the classes.

You may choose between: [avenger], [assistant gaurd], [bodygaurd], [dark apostle], [dark rider], [dark slayer], [nightstalker], [scout], [striker], [sweeper], [sword gamer], or [trailblazer],

{[trailblazer]} I wrote, before quickly putting my slate away and readying to save Reco.

One second...authorizing...authorization confirmed.

[planewalker] activated

I bolted.

Time will resume in 3...

[planewalker] deactivates in 2

I slid under the [boss], dragging Reco with me.

Time will resume in 2...

[planewalker] deactivates in 1

I carried her out from beneath it and kept running, only for my hand to slip through her.

[planewalker] deactivated. 2 charges left.

Time will resume in 1...

I tensely waited, anticipating time’s return to normalcy.

Then, I stumbled backward as I returned to where my body had been at the end of [planewalker].

Reco retained her velocity and tumbled across the stone, yelling in surprise. As she flipped onto her feet beside me, she turned to me. “What just happened?”

I shook my head. Doesn’t matter. I signed, confusing her.

The [boss] crashed into the falling rocks like they were nothing, revealing a wound on its rear leg caused by the cloaked man, then turned around to face us and walked forward. The cloaked man stood beside us, and not long after, Asher joined, with Thraisly yelling from far away.

“I’ve got your back, y’all!”

The beast crashed through its barricades and ran to where the [overseer] was, so we chased after it.

Dota, Symantha, and Rita looked pretty beat up, with scorch marks all over their clothes and bodies. Ritta held his sword out, radiating determination with his [noble presence] alongside the [maid]’s reserved posture. When they saw the beast approach, they retreated, only to have a massive [fire bolt] shoot towards them.

I cast [flame manipulation] to lessen the high-tiered magic’s power, while Ritta stomped and touched the ground, causing a single spike to block its path with the [stone spike] spell, which he and Symantha huddled against to guard themselves against the flames as the bolt exploded on it. They immediately ran and regrouped with us, while Dota did the same, reloading as Milo stopped behind the group. Thraisly jogged to Milo’s side with Julius.

“It’s going to be alright now, Milo,” she said as she helped him onto the mule.

The mage floated above the [boss] with [fly], a level 4 spell, and pointed at us.

“Die!”

I returned the rude gesture with a fist and cried out, “Aaaarrrr!”

Everyone roared with me, in some cases, reluctantly, as the beast ran towards us.

Spikes from the beast’s back grew immediately and thrust toward us, so we all split.

“Ranged people, go left!” Reco yelled.

I ran to the left with Cobaltio, Thraisly, and Dota with Julius(who were riding Milo), while Asher, Ritta, Reco, Symantha, and the cloaked man ran right.

While the ones who went right distracted the beast, I began writing to the people nearby while I had the chance.

{You all need to attack the mage. Try to distract him!} I wrote in a split second.

You gained [print communication tier 4]!

Nice.

Once they nodded, I wrote, {Thraisly, I need help getting to the mage. Use [barrier] when I jump.}

She nodded. “I’m on it, Saya.”

I threw my fist forward, then ran after the rest of the vanguard, Cobaltio running with me.

Are you ready, Cobaltio?

You betcha!

Then let’s get em!”

Yeah!

Asher had run into the [boss]’s mouth and was singlehandedly, though with difficulty, holding it open, almost bipedal. Ritta, with trust in his family mount, stabbed down into the monster’s tongue, making it bleed, finally.

Then, a spike of ice shot towards him. It was quickly shattered by Reco’s flail, which swung onward as she spun, smashing a second one of the creature’s teeth out.

Meanwhile, the cloaked man had rounded its back, opposite of Symantha, who was on the other side, and stabbed into its leg with his halberd while she threw her battleaxe into the wound he had previously made.

The pain caused the creature to snap all around it, dangerously flailing all about with Asher in its mouth.

A [fire bolt] was shot towards Ritta after the ice, so Cobaltio jumped in to block the explosion of fire while I ran straight for the flailing creature.

Get atop it!

[planewalker] activated.

I saw as the fight continued even without my presence, but when I quickly tried to touch Reco, my hand phased through her. Good, then it worked as intended.

I ran to the monster as it was thrashing around, then jumped as high as I could.

I saw as the magic caster gripped his component pouch, and a massive [earth spike] spell sent the cloaked man flying, then [create water] shot a torrent of water at Symantha, crashing into her and propelling far away. As two crossbow bolts shot at him, he used [projectile barrier] to block the attack, halting the bolts a foot from his body, then cast [telekinesis] to send them returning to Julius and Ritta.

Just before I landed on the boss’s snout, I deactivated [planewalker]

[planewalker] deactivated

I landed on the [boss] while Cobaltio double-jumped and landed a little behind me.

I dashed onto the creature’s back, my comrades gazing on in surprise, then squatted down, ready to jump again.

Let’s do it!

Cobaltio bounded onto my back, and just as the spikes on the creature’s back began to rattle, ready to stab at me, I jumped.

As I reached my peak, I went just a little higher, [death wing], empowered by the damage Cobaltio took from [fire bolt], bringing me just a little higher. Below me, three spikes shot to kill, but before they could, a yellowish [barrier] formed beneath me, nearly shattering but giving me a guard against the attacks and a platform to stand on. I squatted again, glaring at the pale, decayed [overseer] floating near the ceiling.

Phantasmal Runes flashed in my head as I observed the old [overseer]. He briefly flicked his eyes towards me, and I smiled, knowing what he was about to cast.

[Barrier]

That sucker fell for my trap.

Jump off!

Cobaltio leaped off me, and just as he cast the [barrier] spell...

[planewalker] activated.

He cast it to stop my ascent, but once he did, I seemingly disappeared. I jogged to the edge of Thraisly’s barrier, feeling for the other’s edge, and when I found it, I grabbed it and climbed up.

[planewalker] deactivated.

I waved to Thraisly as I reappeared. Then, I ran along the [barrier] and leaped off. Just as I did, my vine harness shot out and wrapped around the mage. I quickly started climbing up the rope, about ten feet below him and held on with all my might as he started flying in jagged circles, trying to shake me off since most of his magic was on cooldown.

Good thing for me, I already had practice riding a much faster opponent.

I quickly climbed my way to the mage’s boot, which seemed to have molded into his body, and just as he shot another [fire bolt] to incinerate the vine, I reached for his leg with my shield arm, using it to deflect the attack from below him, and cast [fire manipulation tier-

You gained [fire manipulation tier 3]!

3] with my other to make some of the fire instead hit the mage. I received the brunt of the flame but took him down with me.

He began to shake his leg as I climbed up it, roaring primally as he did so and slowly fell. The [fly] spell was strong but wasn’t intended to carry two people.

Then, I recognized the next spell he began to cast, raising his arms to the ceiling, then casting a level 5 spell. I saw a square formation of runes in my mind as I tried to recognize it.

Three brown rings appeared in his outstretched hand and overlapped, pulling back like a spring.

Earthquake.

He wanted to take the whole dungeon down with us, sealing it all away for good.

It was an incredibly powerful spell, but the cast time was somewhat long.

I may have been able to stop him, but...

I trusted Maophas. What he had said added up, and I personally felt as if I had been Sayanica and lived through those years with him. Making a sudden decision as I always did, I hesitated for a moment, letting him cast the spell.

Before he could do any more damage, I unclipped my sword with one hand while he finished it, watching as the three rings sprang to the ceiling and impacted, initiating the collapse.

I grimaced as I activated [determination] to overcome the sickness of carving a person up.

I had to kill him, here and now. I wasn’t sure if I would fall to my death or if something would save me. I didn’t know if I could kill him with one hit or if he would survive to kill me with a [stone spike]. I didn’t know if my team could win without me or if they would die to that monster. I didn’t even know if this man was sentient or not. I was just determined to do this.

But if I couldn’t make choices, I couldn’t do anything

I cut at him through the middle, cleaving through his flesh like butter. He cried out in pain and quickly began to fall even faster and faster while I dropped to the ground along with his lower half.

I’ve got you, Saya!

As I was five feet from having my skull split on the ground, falling from an equivalent of twenty feet, Cobaltio caught me and slowed my fall with [death wing], sending us tumbling into the corner as the other body splattered on the cold stone.

Cobaltio and I stood with difficulty and watched from afar as the team desperately fought against the [boss], Reco yelling about how they had to end the fight before everything collapsed, looking towards the ceiling.

With the caster dead, and everyone working as a team, they cut and bruised the creature more and more as I walked forward. Few of their attacks were dealing damage, as its hide and armor were too strong.

I nodded at Cobaltio, and we ran, ready to end the struggle and escape this place.