Author's Preface
The Minotaur let out a roar loud enough to shake the the street. Its gaze locked onto Blue as if it had noticed something. Blue’s eyes narrowed slightly. “… Did you guys get that system notification?”
“What?” Eve said, glancing at him. “No.”
Blue looked back at the Minotaur, then at Eve. “We should leave. Right now.”
Derek let out a short, disbelieving laugh. “Typical scared newbie,” he said. “We just watched that thing kill one of ours, and you want to run?” He stepped forward, his team moving with him without hesitation. “If you want to stand back and cower, go ahead,” he added. “We’re going in.”
Without hesitation, Derek’s team rushed the Minotaur. Eve and her team could only watch. Derek’s team split into two groups, one drawing its attention while the other moved in to attack. For a moment, it worked. They moved, clean and coordinated, striking from different angles, forcing the Minotaur to turn. Then it swung. The warhammer cut through the air and connected with one of them, sending him flying into the side of a building. The impact left a crater where he landed. The formation broke. One by one, they fell.
Each strike from the Minotaur carried the same weight, too heavy, too fast to recover from. Those who tried to press in were knocked back. Those who tried to reposition were caught mid-movement. Their coordination was there, their timing solid, their execution clean but it didn’t matter. They were being overwhelmed. Eve watched it happen, her body tense, her mind trying to process what she was seeing. They were strong. She knew they were. And yet. There they were, scattered across the street, struggling to even stand.
Chris noticed. “Eve.” She didn’t respond. His voice hardened. “We’re not leaving them here to die too. We’re moving.” Eve blinked, snapping back to the moment.
“…Right.” She stepped forward. And her team moved with her. Eve moved first. All of her spirits attacked together. Thick roots burst from the ground, wrapping around the Minotaur’s legs as a pillar of fire from Cindyr surged up and engulfed it. The Minotaur took a deep breath. Then it blew. The fire scattered instantly, torn apart like it was nothing. In the same motion, it swung its warhammer and shattered the roots, ripping itself free without slowing. Rhyla followed immediately, a mass of water forming above the Minotaur’s head, crashing down over it as she tried to drown it. For a moment, it disappeared beneath the water. Then a grin pushed through the surface. Its hand rose slowly, something gathering there. Blue felt it immediately, the same energy as the Lich. Dark energy wrapped around its hand, formed like a black glove. The Minotaur reached up, grabbed the mass of water, and tore it away from its head. Chris didn’t wait. “Hey you ugly bastard! Over here!” The Minotaur turned and rushed him. Chris planted his feet, shield raised, bracing for the impact. It didn’t matter. The Minotaur kicked him. Chris was sent flying back, his feet carving a trail through the concrete as he was driven thirty feet across the street before he caught himself.
Blue and Darrien moved at the same time. They darted in beneath the Minotaur, striking at the same points along its legs. Their blades cut again and again, not deep, but enough to start breaking through its thick hide. Cynthia brought her hands up, and large metal spikes tore up from the ground, surrounding the Minotaur on all sides, trying to limit its movement and give the team even the smallest opening. At the same time, Samantha gathered as much wind as she could, pulling it in from every direction before firing it straight toward him with everything she had. In one motion, the Minotaur lifted his hand and caught it. The wind didn’t explode or scatter like it should have, it stopped, completely halted in his grasp. Then he flung it upward and spun in a full 360, his warhammer swinging around with him, crushing through the metal and concrete spikes Cynthia had conjured as if they were toothpicks. In the background, Nomi moved quickly between Derek’s team, healing what she could, but her attention never left Eve and the others.
Chris forced himself back up and regained his footing as he steadied his breathing. “Don’t hold back!” he shouted. “Go all in!” All six of them pushed forward at once. There was no more holding anything back. Every spell, every strike, everything they had was thrown at the Minotaur. Chris continued to draw its attention, forcing it to face him whenever he could, while the others attacked from every angle they could reach. They were landing hits. They were doing damage. But it wasn’t enough. The Minotaur kept moving. Cuts formed across its body. Fire scorched its hide. Impacts landed where they could. But none of it slowed the overwhelming presence pressing forward against them. Step by step, it closed the distance. Blue saw it clearly now. This wasn’t a fight they could win like this. Then it clicked. This was the moment. He knew he could use it now. But he also knew the limit. He could only maintain the divine energy for five minutes before it burned out completely. "Five minutes. That's it." Blue looked back at the Minotaur, then at his team. He didn't need the whole five minutes. He pulled back, moving beside Eve. His qi flared, controlled, rising around him. And with it, the divine energy came to life. Golden strands flowed through his qi... more than before, weaving through it, thicker, brighter, wrapping around him as it settled into place.
High above the fight, Aaron’s executive, an S-rank assassin, Olivia, stood along the edge of a rooftop watching. Up until now, nothing she had seen had impressed her. Eve’s team was strong, yes, but nothing outside of what she expected from a team at this level. Then she felt it. Even from where she stood, it reached her. Something different. Something she had never felt before. Her eyes narrowed slightly. “… That’s interesting..”
Below, Eve didn’t hesitate. “Restrain it!” she called out. “Everything you’ve got, use it! Make an opening!” The team looked back at Blue next to Eve and saw it. The gold threaded through Blue, the shift in him, the same energy they had felt before when they tested him and he broke through their formation. They remembered. No one needed anything else said. The team moved. Chris taunted one more time. Samantha poured what little mana she had left into thick ice around the Minotaur’s legs, locking them in place. At the same time, Cynthia conjured chains, then reinforced them with more chains, anchoring them into nearby buildings as they wrapped tightly around the Minotaur’s arms. Eve and her spirits pushed everything they had left into it, vines tightening, reinforcing the hold. Every bit of strength they had went into restraining the Old God, even if it was only for a split second. It all happened at once. For a moment the Minotaur was held. Then it started to break free. The ice cracked. The chains strained. The vines tore. “Now!” Darrien shouted, conjuring as many aether daggers as he could and sending them straight into the creature’s stomach. He turned toward Blue, voice raw. “Fucking now damn it!”
Blue didn’t hesitate. He focused everything into his sword. One chance. "Don’t let me down… you damned gods." His feet sank slightly into the ground as he drove some qi downward, reinforcing his legs. Then...he was gone. No one saw the movement. Only a flash of gold tracing from where he stood beside Eve…to nearly thirty feet behind the Minotaur. The warhammer shifted. The chains started to give. “Shit it didn’t...” Chris started.
Then the Minotaur’s head fell. The body fell to its knees and hit the ground. Dust and debris covered the streets from the impact. The head rolled across the ground and stopped, facing Darrien. Silence. Darrien stared at it for a second, then let out a short breath. “…Yeah. He’s a damn anime character for sure.” He bent down and picked up the head.
High above them, Olivia stood still. For the first time since the fight began she was shaken. She couldn’t explain what she had just witnessed. But she knew one thing. Aaron was right. They needed to protect this Blue kid.