[Few Moments Ago]

The lair was silent.

Too silent.

They stood at the entrance. Seven survivors staring into darkness.

The mouth of the cave was carved from black bone. Polished smooth. Like the throat of some ancient beast.

Waiting to swallow them whole.

"This is it," Masha whispered. Voice tight. "The final trial."

Nobody moved.

They'd fought through hell to get here. Killed monsters. Killed each other's enemies.

Lost Eric. Lost Rina. and many others

But this... this felt different.

The air coming from the cave wasn't just cold. It was wrong.

It pressed against their chests. Made breathing hard.

Like the atmosphere itself didn't want them here.

Dante studied the entrance. His mind already calculating. Analyzing.

Seven of them stood here. Seven survivors.

But the prophecy spoke of six heroes. Six marks.

The math was simple. Cruel. Unavoidable.

Someone would have to die before this ended.

The question was who.

And more importantly, who would be most useful as a corpse.

Dante said nothing. Just walked forward.

Into the dark.

The others followed. They had no choice.

The tunnel was narrow at first. Barely wide enough for two people.

The walls were smooth bone. Ancient. Fossilized.

Their footsteps echoed. Bouncing back at them from the darkness ahead.

Drip. Drip.

Somewhere water was falling. Or something that sounded like water.

Kael was breathing hard. Nervous.

"It's just a trial," he muttered. More to himself than anyone. "Just another monster."

"We've beaten everything else."

Lana giggled. "Everything else wasn't a god, little Mimic."

"Quiet," Dante commanded.

They obeyed.

The tunnel opened.

Into a cavern so massive it had its own weather.

Their footsteps echoed. Fading into nothing.

The ceiling was lost in darkness. Miles above.

The floor was black bone. Smooth and reflective like obsidian.

And everywhere. Everywhere.

Bones.

Mountains of them. Piled against the walls. Forming pillars. Creating valleys.

Skulls of creatures they couldn't name. Ribcages big enough to walk through.

Some human. Most not.

"How many died here?" Talia breathed.

"Thousands," Kael whispered. Staring. "Maybe more."

At the center of the cavern was a throne.

Not carved. Grown.

Made from interlocking bones of a hundred different creatures.

Skulls forming the back. Massive femurs the arms. Vertebrae spiraling up into a crown.

And on that throne.

Coiled like a sleeping cat.

Was the dragon.

It was massive. Impossibly massive.

Its body was made entirely of bone. Pale green. Ancient. Fossilized.

No flesh. No scales. Just bone shaped into the perfect form of a dragon.

Its skull was the size of a house. Horns curving back. Jaw lined with teeth like swords.

Its ribcage rose and fell. Slowly.

Breathing without lungs.

Living without life.

Its eyes were closed. Two empty sockets.

But they could feel it watching.

THUMP-THUMP.

A heartbeat. Deep. Resonating through the floor.

Not from the dragon's chest. From somewhere below.

From the island itself.

"It's not moving," Lana said. Grinning. Manic. "Maybe it's dead already?"

"It's not dead," Dante said quietly.

And that's when the dragon opened its eyes.

Not eyes. Vortexes.

Two swirling pools of blue-green soul-fire. Burning in empty sockets.

Ancient. Cold. Endless.

The temperature dropped twenty degrees in an instant.

Their breath became mist.

Then the voice came.

Not a sound. Not words spoken aloud.

It was pressure. Weight.

Settling on their souls like a mountain.

'Welcome, little mortals.'

Some of them fell to their knees. Talia. Kael. Even Lana stopped smiling.

The dragon's presence was absolute. Crushing.

Like standing before the concept of death itself.

'You have come far. Killed much. Taken many souls.'

The dragon's head lifted from its coils. Slowly.

Moving with the grace of something that had all the time in the world.

'But you cannot kill me.'

Its gaze swept over them. Reading them.

Judging them.

Finding them wanting.

'I am Terminus. The End of All Things.'

'I am not alive. I cannot die.'

'I am eternal.'

Dante was the only one still standing straight.

Fighting the mental pressure with pure stubbornness.

His will against the dragon's.

Refusing to kneel.

"Edgar," he whispered. "Analyze it."

His spectral analyst appeared. Silent. Efficient.

Information flooded Dante's mind.

Creature: Bone Dragon - "Terminus"

Rank: SSS

Abilities:

- Divine Fossil Frame: Immune to physical and magical damage below divine level

- Aura of Decay: Constant field that withers life

- Soul-Fire Breath: Unmakes matter and magic

- Bone Animation: Controls all bones in its domain

- Heart-Bound: Power source located deep within island structure

Weaknesses:

- Destroying the Heart will kill it

- Physical body is merely a vessel

- Cannot leave its lair

Tactical Assessment: UNWINNABLE IN DIRECT COMBAT

Dante's mind raced.

The heart. That was the key.

The dragon wasn't truly here. Not fully.

Its consciousness was spread through the entire island.

The body before them was just... a puppet.

A very dangerous puppet.

But still just a vessel.

"Masha," Dante said. Voice steady. "Ice attack. Full power. Test its defenses."

She looked at him. Pale. Shaking.

But she nodded.

Raised her hands.

Black ice erupted. A massive spear. Ten feet long. Two feet thick.

It shot across the cavern like a missile.

Struck the dragon's chest.

CRACK!

The spear shattered.

Into dust.

The dragon's bones didn't even have a scratch.

'Futile.'

The dragon rose. Uncoiling from its throne.

Its full size was beyond comprehension. Fifty feet tall. A hundred feet long.

Wings spreading. Blocking out what little light remained.

Each movement was deliberate. Unhurried.

Like a cat playing with mice.

It opened its jaws.

Blue-green fire gathered in its throat.

Not normal fire. Something else.

Something wrong.

"MOVE!" Dante screamed.

They scattered.

WHOOSH!

The dragon breathed. Not fire. Not ice. Pure unmaking.

A wave of soul-fire that erased everything it touched.

Stone turned to dust. Bones crumbled. The air itself seemed to die.

Erica threw up a wall of plasma. Desperate.

The soul-fire hit it.

Both energies canceled out. Exploding.

BOOM!

Erica was thrown back. Slammed into a pile of bones.

Unconscious.

"Erica!" Masha screamed.

The dragon's head turned. Tracking the sound.

'One down.'

Its tail whipped out. Faster than something that size should move.

CRASH!

It hit Jin. Sent him flying fifty feet.

He landed hard. Didn't get up.

"No!" Talia ran to him.

Kael was backing up. Eyes wide with terror.

His whole body shaking.

Lana was laughing. But her laugh was wrong. Cracking. Breaking.

They'd lost two people in ten seconds.

And the dragon hadn't even moved from its spot.

It was toying with them. Playing.

"Dante!" Masha shouted. "Orders! We need orders!"

He was thinking. Calculating.

Seven people. Seven survivors.

Six heroes. Six marks.

They had one too many.

And Kael... Kael was the weakest yet most valuable asset and can provide immense strength to him for his future and right now too.

Useful for his copying ability. But fragile. Unreliable.

If someone had to die...

The thought was cold. Logical.

Ruthless.

But necessary.

"Edgar," Dante whispered. Too quiet for others to hear. "The heart. Where is it?"

Information came. A map of the island's interior.

The heart was deep. At the core. In a chamber of its own.

Below the lair. Below everything.

Guarded. Protected.

But accessible.

There was a path. Hidden. Winding down through the island's structure.

"Everyone!" Dante commanded. Voice sharp. "Fall back! To the entrance!"

They didn't argue. Just ran.

Grabbing Erica and Jin. Dragging them.

The dragon watched them go. Amused.

'Run, little mice. Run from the cat.'

It didn't chase. Just settled back onto its throne.

Waiting.

They stumbled out of the lair. Into the cold air outside.

Breathing hard. Terrified.

Jin was limping. Ribs probably broken.

Erica was awake but dazed. Burn marks on her arms.

"We can't fight that," Kael said. Voice shaking. "It's impossible."

"We barely scratched it!"

"No," Dante said. "It's not impossible."

Everyone turned to him.

"The dragon is unbeatable," he continued. "In direct combat. Yes."

"But it has a weakness."

He explained what Edgar had found. The heart. The true source of its power.

"The dragon's body is just a shell," he said. "A puppet controlled from below."

"If we destroy the heart, the dragon dies."

"But how do we reach it?" Masha asked. "The dragon is in the way."

"We split up," Dante said.

Silence.

The words hung in the air. Heavy. Final.

"Split?" Jin repeated. "That's suicide."

"No," Dante countered. "Staying together is suicide."

"The dragon expects us to attack as one unit. To try overpowering it."

"We give it what it wants."

He looked at Masha. Erica. Jin.

"Team Alpha. You three. You're our strongest fighters."

"You go back into the lair. You fight the dragon."

"Fight it?" Erica asked. "We can't hurt it!"

"You don't need to hurt it," Dante said. "You need to distract it."

"Keep its attention completely focused on you."

"While Team Beta finds another way inside. Goes beneath. Finds the heart."

"And destroys it."

Understanding dawned on their faces.

It was insane. Cruel. Brutal.

Team Alpha would be sacrificed. Thrown into the dragon's jaws as bait.

Just to buy time.

"How long?" Masha asked. Voice quiet.

"One hour," Dante said. "Maybe less."

"Can you survive that long?"

She looked at Jin. At Erica.

They looked back.

Three warriors. About to walk into hell.

Knowing they might not come back.

"We can try," Masha said finally.

"Then Team Beta is me, Lana, Talia..." Dante paused.

Looked at Kael.

"And Kael."

Kael's eyes widened. "Me? But I'm—"

"Valuable," Dante finished. "Your copying ability might be crucial below."

"We don't know what guards the heart. You can adapt to threats."

It was a lie. A smooth, perfect lie.

Kael wouldn't be valuable. He'd be a liability.

But Dante needed him on Team Beta.

Because Team Beta would face the real danger.

And someone on Team Beta had to die according to his plans.

Better Kael than anyone else.

The prophecy demanded six. They had seven.

Simple math.

"Okay," Kael said. Swallowing hard. "I'll go."

"I won't let you down."

"Good," Dante said.

He looked at everyone. Reading their faces.

Masha knew it was a suicide mission. But she accepted it.

Duty over survival.

Jin and Erica were terrified. But loyal.

They'd follow Masha into hell.

Lana was excited. Chaos called to her.

Talia was calm. Professional. Ready.

And Kael...

Kael was already dead. He just didn't know it yet.

"Team Alpha," Dante said. "You enter first."

"Give us five minutes to find the entrance below. Then engage."

"Make it loud. Make it dramatic. Make it impossible to ignore."

Masha nodded. "We'll buy you your hour."

"Even if it kills us."

"Especially if it kills us," Jin added. Dark humor.

They stood. Checked their weapons.

Shared looks that said everything.

This might be goodbye.

Masha stepped forward. Looked at Dante.

"Don't waste our sacrifice," she said. Voice hard.

"Kill that thing."

"I will," Dante promised.

She nodded. Satisfied.

Turned to her team.

"For Eric," she said.

"For Rina," Erica echoed.

"For everyone we lost," Jin finished.

They walked back toward the lair.

Three warriors. Marching to their deaths.

To buy time for the others.

Dante watched them go.

Felt nothing.

They were pieces. Moving across a board.

Sacrifices to secure victory.

That's all anyone was.

"Let's go," he said to his team.

They descended. Following a narrow path around the island's edge.

Looking for the entrance below.

The path to the heart.

And Dante's mind was working. Planning.

Kael would die down there. In the dark. Fighting some guardian.

It would look like an accident. A necessary sacrifice.

A hero's death.

But it would be murder.

Cold. Calculated. Perfect.

And Dante would have a new, powerful summon.

'I'm sorry, Kael,' he thought without feeling.

'But you were always expendable.'

'Just another piece on the board.'

Behind them, they heard it.

BOOM!

The sound of battle beginning.

Team Alpha had engaged the dragon.

The distraction had started.

Now it was Team Beta's turn.

To descend into darkness.

And for one of them to never return.

The game had entered its final phase.

And Dante was playing to win.

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