Jake knew that winning versus Minaga alone in his fully empowered form was not gonna happen. He had won against the clone only due to how much weaker it was than the original, but even that had been a pretty hard-fought battle.

Of course, this was assuming Jake actually had to beat the Unique Lifeform to win.

Jumping back, Jake disengaged from Minaga as the Unique Lifeform unleashed a barrage of spells, clearly having decided to try and take Jake down before his teammates had time to return. Given the estimated time it would take to do the labyrinths and the fact that they had been flung into empty space, forcing them to make their way back to the central platform again even after they were out, Jake didn’t wanna bet on them getting there soon.

Retreating further, Jake let Minaga give chase as he dove behind a large piece of debris, making the barrage of fireballs hit that instead. A large boulder flew over next, breaking it apart, but Jake was already long gone as he teleported to another part of the broken wall, where he promptly released a potshot.

His arrow was blocked by a barrier, which was totally okay with Jake. Any amount of time or energy Minaga spent on defending was time he didn’t attack. And damn, did Minaga like to attack as he waved his hand, making more than a dozen magic circles flash into existence behind him. At the same time, Jake felt space around him constrict as dense spatial barriers formed to his sides, above and behind him. Combination spell.

“You may be fast… but can you dodge this?”

Every single formation pulsed as each released a flaming metal spike straight at Jake. He dodged them and was about to taunt Minaga when a second barrage came, followed by another one even faster than the ones prior. The pulses continued, growing even faster as soon Jake was faced with more than sixty machine guns shooting out metal spikes.

Too many, Jake concluded as they kept coming. While he would have loved to see Minaga burn through mana by keeping the spell active, he knew that it was only a matter of time before he was hit, forcing Jake to make a difficult decision.

Have to risk it.

Rather than dodge, Jake charged forward. Minaga seemed pleased but frowned slightly as Jake’s body split into two. The spikes usually focused on one target, but with two, Minaga had to either spread them out more or choose to focus on one. Both cases would be advantageous to Jake.

Jake felt pleased with himself as he closed in with his Eternal Shadow ten meters to his side. Yet just as he began to feel this, his danger sense spiked.

Every single formation behind Minaga exploded as each shot out seven or eight metal spikes like a shotgun. Jake cursed as he tried to dodge and summoned a stable arcane barrier. His Eternal Shadow also reacted fast and dodged many attacks but was eventually hit and dispersed.

Blood flew into the air as Jake was hit by three metal spikes. One hit his thigh, one in his stomach, and one in his shoulder as he had angled himself to take the hits in the side. This was the least amount of damage he could see himself getting out of his pickle with.

Before Minaga could do more, threads of arcane mana flew out of Jake’s hand and wrapped around every metal spike as they were pulled out, still leaving him with three nasty holes.

“Man, I wanted to say a quip, but the fact you got out of that combo spell with so few injuries… yeah, you are definitely a cheat.”

“Says the Unique Lifeform who was born overpowered,” Jake shot back as he pulled out his bow and began shooting arrows alongside his words.

“Says the Bloodline Patriarch,” answered Minaga while he dodged the arrows or deflected them with his staffs.

“Still just a human and not some darling of the multiverse,” Jake continued as he managed to trick Minaga with a Splitting Arrow, getting a single one of them to hit him in the leg.

“Oh, poor you, being one of the enlightened races with infinite potential and all the Paths in the world open to you,” Minaga snorted as he pulled the arrow out as he didn’t know if it had been primed to explode. It hadn’t, but he played it safe.

“I guess we are both suffering,” Jake smirked as he retreated while shooting, wanting to get some distance from Minaga before his magic returned.

“We do have it rough, the two of us, that we agree on. Of course, I have it harder, as I have to live up to my own greatness every day.”

“So humble, too,” Jake smirked as he used two One Steps and found a nice cluster of debris.

“The humblest there is; in fact, I would argue I am the best at being humble in the entire multiverse,”Minaga joked as three seconds had passed and magic was back on the menu.

This once again put Jake on the back foot as survival was the name of the game. He didn’t want to risk another major spell as even the normal casting was a bloody nightmare to keep up with, not even Jake capable of fully dodging everything. The passive barrier from the fully activated Arcane Awakening coupled with his Scales of the Malefic Viper did help a bunch with the larger magical attacks, but ultimately, Jake’s lowest stat was still Toughness. He was not built to take hits but to avoid them.

On the labyrinth front, things were looking… okay? Each labyrinth wasn’t overly large, but they would still take time to break out of. Sylphie used her speed to just quickly look for an exit, and at least there were no traps or anything within. She could also hear the whispers of the wind within as there was no mist, allowing her to rapidly make progress.

The Sword Saint did note how there was even lighting within the grayish empty hallways of the labyrinth. It was ultimately just a damn maze you had to find your way out of, and the longer you took, the more fucked your party would become as you floated further and further into the emptiness of space.

Dina further added that the entire place was shrinking slightly with time. This both meant that the labyrinth got shorter and faster to do, but Jake also didn’t want to know what would happen if it shrunk too much. Getting crushed within a labyrinth cube did not sound like a nice way to go.

As for the Fallen King… well, Jake had a brief exchange with him as they reached an agreement.

Focusing on not dying while also not giving Minaga time and space to cast another major spell remained Jake’s main focus as he slowly bought time. Minaga didn’t seem overly stressed about finishing off Jake rapidly, though, and he knew why…

His resources were dropping fast. Arcane Awakening was a massive drain on its own, and coupled with his need to constantly use One Step, summon barriers, and regenerate his Scales, it was obvious he would run out of energy sooner rather than later.

Minaga gave off the vibe that he didn’t believe actually beating Jake could be worth it, so he kept up his constant barrage of spells, either waiting for him to mess up or to run out of stamina or mana. He acted as if everything was going as expected.

So Jake did something Minaga definitely had not seen coming. Lifting his hand to his face, he grasped the mask on his face and pulled it off as he threw it toward the Unique Lifeform. His opponent dodged it but looked confused as he looked at Jake and saw that the mask had never left Jake’s face, despite him just throwing it. Yet an object had clearly just been thrown past him.

“An illusion? No, that-“

A golden wave of energy erupted behind Minaga as a golden claw lit up the horizon, striking him in the back. Blood spewed out as the Fallen King instantly materialized from the thrown mask, as Jake had used a property of his mask he hadn’t ever used before. As per the description:

“The Fallen King has anchored his existence to this mask, and as its owner, you are the master, allowing you to summon the Fallen King to your location at any time.”

Jake viewed summoning the Fallen King as kind of rude, and it went against the agreement they had… but in this case, Jake gladly used it for their collective gain. With permission from the Fallen King, of course. What’s more, this was something Minaga definitely couldn’t predict, as Jake had never done it before.

“Summoned? Wait…”

Minaga found himself with the Fallen King on one side and Jake on the other as both let loose. The Unique Lifeform struggled for a bit as he was put in a bad position and had to play defensively for a while, taking several wounds as he attempted to stabilize. Jake and the Fallen King were not gonna let that happen, as both went all-out. Pulling out an Arrow of the Ambitious Hunter and rapidly charging Arcane Powershot, Jake released a devastating attack as the Fallen King summoned a massive golden hammer that descended from above, like was it judgment from the heavens.

Combined with Minaga seeming confused and surprised, it was enough for him to use his very first defensive combination spell. Putting his hands together, a giant metal sphere appeared all around him, with a field of swirling darkness soon appearing to consume it. This left him standing with a semi-transparent barrier that both the golden hammer and arrow failed to even impact, as both attacks simply sank into the darkness, never to be seen again.

As for Minaga… well, he seemed far more interested in what had just happened with the Fallen King than the actual fight. He looked extremely curious and confused as he slowly floated down to the large central platform and began to speak.

“This doesn’t make any sense? That kind of summoning must mean… huh, you are bound to him? Oh, I get it. He killed you, and in order to survive, you chose to bind whatever vestiges of your soul remained to the Records that would be transferred to the item you would drop, which you knew would be your mask. Naturally, leaving you utterly broken in the process. This only made possible as you were the boss of a Tutorial, meaning the Records transference for the kill was increased. Of course, there would be no way for you to actually ever recover from that state as that would require powers capable of actually restoring a Truesoul and lost Records. Unless the system decided to lend a hand, which I assume it did due to how perfect your resurrection was. Well, perfect, besides you now being bound to Jake here, which by the way, is also utterly insane,” Minaga began ranting as he hit the nail on the head with everything that had happened before pointing at Jake.

Jake heard Minaga begin to talk as a thought appeared, and using the Golden Mark, he quickly spread his idea as Minaga continued. When the dark defensive sphere disappeared, none of them attacked either as he and the King watched Minaga walk around the large central platform.

“Why insane, you might ask? Say, Jake, do you have any idea what it means for him to store his soul within the mask, which is, in turn, bound to you? It means he stored the entire concept behind his existence within you. Within your Records. Yet you weren’t affected negatively in the least, which means your own Records were not only equal but superior to a Unique Lifeform, allowing you to utterly overpower him. Especially considering this bond remains after his resurrection. If I had to gander a guess, you probably even hold influence over his life and death… man, you really are utterly broken. Both of you, but in different ways. Man, I can see why Vilas made you his Chosen; you seem to have been a monster even in the Tutorial… no doubt due to that Bloodline of yours.”

Minaga just kept talking as he looked deep in thought. “What’s more, for a Unique Lifeform to willingly submit in such a fashion… no, is it even submission? Some kind of mutual understanding? Man, this is peculiar.”

“An understanding was reached; that is correct,” the Fallen King answered. “One of mutual respect between two opponents. I did what I had to in order to survive, nothing more, nothing less.”

“Oh yeah, and your way of doing so was pretty damn impressive and probably bound to your Unique skill in some fashion. It isn’t something one can just do, after all. Most wouldn’t try either. Ever recovering was truly an impossibility, and I find it amazing that Jake even bothered bringing you back to life. The system doesn’t like to give out items allowing someone to circumvent one of its rules, so it couldn’t have been easy,” Minaga said in a pondering tone.

“It did happen due to a system event,” Jake confirmed.

“I did reckon it would have had to be during a system event… was it a direct request of the system? It sometimes likes to fulfill wishes, so to speak. Or perhaps it was an item of some kind? If you don’t wanna answer, that is perfectly fine.”

“I guess it isn’t that big of a secret,” Jake answered as he tried to look like he was thinking for a few seconds. Finally, he sighed. “It was an item.”

“One-time use?” Minaga questioned curiously.

Jake looked at the Fallen King as the Unique Lifeform had caught on. He also seemed to consider for a moment before answering. “You may answer…”

“Very well,” Jake nodded as he resigned himself to confirm. “It was one-time use, and I spent quite a staggering amount of Credits on it.”

“Wait, someone was selling it? During a system event?” Minaga seemed even more intrigued.

“Ah, I apologize. It was during a system event where the system auctioned off items directly as part of a reward for doing another event well,” Jake clarified as he sighed loudly. “I was definitely surprised when the system manifested itself physically like that just to sell items…”

“Oh, manifestations like that do happen, though they are very rare. Well, they are not rare for you as new initiates of the new universe, but for the rest of us, they are few and far between.”

“Truly? Have you encountered the system before in a physical form?” Jake asked, looking surprised.

“Of course I have, duh!” Minaga laughed.

“Really? Under what circumstances?” Jake asked in a curious tone.

“Heh, well, I probably shouldn’t, but if you insist, I guess I can- wait!” Minaga yelled in realization as he felt what had just happened.

At once, all three labyrinth cubes flying through space had been broken out of as Dina, the Sword Saint, and Sylphie had waited to exit at the same time. They had surmised that Minaga would likely know the moment someone got out… so they had all waited right at the exit to get out at once while Jake had deployed a truly underhanded strategy.

“That’s right!” Jake smiled in triumph as the three auras approached, flying at full speed back toward the platform. “I successfully got you monologing!”

“You… you scoundrel! This is unethical! How dare you use my own extreme curiosity, vanity, and desire to hear my own voice against me!” Minaga yelled as the Fallen King prepared to launch an attack.

“A perfectly executed strategy,” Jake grinned as he and the King had gotten some distance from the Unique Lifeform, with Jake standing on the platform below, ready to react to any attacks.

“Damnit! I should have known; it was so obvious that you were just stalling!” Minaga admonished himself.

Pulling out both his staves, he released a shockwave of energy towards Jake and the Fallen King both, the Fallen King blocking the blow and getting sent flying back for several kilometers as Jake dodged, remaining standing on the central platform.

“Almost as if it was so damn obvious I saw right through it!”

Jake’s danger sense erupted as he tried to retreat away from the central platform. Just as he did, a massive magic circle appeared all across it as an enormous shockwave shot out. In the empty space, all around the platform formed what looked like millions of planes of glass as they reshuffled themselves. They created a barrier around the central platform…but it was not the usual kind of barrier.

It was another fucking labyrinth. One that everyone, including the Fallen King, was now outside of, leaving only two people on the inside. What’s more, Jake could not resummon the Fallen King. What’s even more, far above, the constellations shifted as the stars seemed to resonate with the magic circle on the platform. It was only a matter of time before more of those Sign Beasts would appear.

Minaga stood on the platform, smiling as he looked at Jake. “Guess it’s still just the two of us, eh?”

Jake looked at the Unique Lifeform when he noticed the formation was still glowing along with the above constellation. The spell was active… a large combination spell…

Without hesitation, Jake pulled out his bow and loosed an arrow. Minaga dodged as Jake released another, this one getting blocked by his staff. Jake kept shooting as Minaga retreated for a bit before changing his strategy and charging at Jake, staff in each hand.

Jake’s theory was confirmed, and he was ready.

Beating Minaga with magic? No fucking shot.

One without?

Well… it was time to find out.