[TEAM ALPHA - THE LAIR]

They walked back into the dragon's den.

Three warriors knowing they were going to die.

The question was just how long they could last.

"Remember," Masha said. Voice steady. "We don't need to win."

"We just need to not lose."

"For one hour."

Jin laughed. Bitter. "Easy."

Erica said nothing. Just let her flames grow brighter.

Hotter.

The dragon was waiting for them.

Still coiled on its throne. Patient.

'You return. How brave.'

The mental voice was amused.

'Or how foolish.'

"Let's find out," Masha said.

She slammed her hands to the ground.

CRACK!

Black ice erupted. Not at the dragon.

Around it.

Creating a maze of pillars. Walls. Obstacles.

Restricting the dragon's movement space.

The dragon looked at the ice. Tilted its massive skull.

'Clever. But futile.'

It rose. Bones creaking.

And smashed through the nearest ice wall with one swing of its tail.

CRASH!

The wall shattered into a thousand pieces.

But Masha was already creating more. Faster.

"Jin! Erica! Flanking positions!"

They split. Running in opposite directions.

Using the ice maze Masha was creating.

The dragon couldn't track all three at once.

It chose Masha. The biggest threat.

Opened its jaws.

Blue-green fire building in its throat.

"Now!" Erica screamed.

She fired a plasma lance. Not at the dragon.

At the ceiling above it.

BOOM!

The impact brought down a rain of bone fragments.

Distracting. Annoying.

The dragon's head jerked up. Breath attack interrupted.

Jin used the moment. Charged.

Slashed at the dragon's foreleg joint.

CLANG!

His sword bounced off. Barely scratching the fossilized bone.

But he'd drawn its attention.

The dragon's head whipped around. Tracking him.

'Like gnats,' it said. 'Irritating. But harmless.'

Its tail swept out. Jin dove. Barely dodged.

The tail smashed into another ice wall.

Masha was already rebuilding. Creating. Moving.

This was their strategy.

Hit and run. Distract and dodge.

Never stop moving. Never give it a clear target.

Buy time.

That's all they had to do.

Buy time.

[TEAM BETA - THE DESCENT]

The path spiraled down the outside of the island.

Narrow. Treacherous.

One wrong step and you'd fall into the purple void below.

"I hate heights," Kael muttered. Pressing close to the wall.

"Then don't look down," Lana said cheerfully.

They'd been descending for ten minutes.

The sounds of battle from above were fading.

Distant booms. Crashes. Screams.

"They're fighting," Talia said quietly.

"Dying for us," Dante corrected.

He didn't say it cruelly. Just factually.

They were.

And their deaths would matter. Or they wouldn't.

Depending on what happened down here.

"There," Dante pointed.

A crack in the island's surface. Wide enough to enter.

Darkness beyond.

"That's our way in."

They squeezed through. One by one.

Into a tunnel of smooth black bone.

The walls glistened. Wet. Almost organic.

Like being inside a living thing.

"I really hate this," Kael said.

He summoned Eric's shadow. The spectral warrior appeared.

Shield raised. Silent guard.

Behind them, Rina's shadow formed. Healing energy ready.

"Stay close," Dante commanded. "Watch for—"

CLICK. CLICK. CLICK.

Sounds from ahead. In the darkness.

Something moving.

Many somethings.

"Weapons ready," Dante said.

From the shadows ahead, they emerged.

Skeletal creatures. Made from the bones of different animals.

Fused together. Wrong.

A wolf skull with spider legs. A bear ribcage with serpent spine.

Six of them. Blocking the tunnel.

Small. But deadly in the confined space.

"Guardians," Dante said. "Of course."

The creatures charged.

Eric's shadow met them. Shield blocking the tunnel.

CLANG! CLANG!

The creatures slammed into it. Clawing. Biting.

"Talia! Lana! Flanking!"

They moved. Talia low. Lana high.

Daggers finding joints. Staff crushing skulls.

The creatures were strong. But not smart.

They kept attacking Eric's shield. Mindlessly.

Making themselves targets.

Within minutes, all six lay broken.

"Too easy," Lana said. Suspicious.

"Just the first wave," Dante said.

He was right.

CLICK. CLICK. CLICK.

More sounds. Deeper in the tunnel.

More guardians coming.

"Keep moving," Dante ordered. "Don't let them surround us."

They pushed forward. Fighting as they went.

Wave after wave of skeletal guardians.

Each group slightly larger. Slightly stronger.

Testing them. Wearing them down.

Kael was struggling. His copied skills were useful.

But he was exhausted. Breathing hard.

"I can't... keep this up..." he gasped.

"You will," Dante said coldly. "Or you'll die here."

Not encouragement. Just fact.

Kael gritted his teeth. Kept fighting.

The tunnel widened. Opened into a larger space.

A chamber. Spherical. Walls of interlocking bones.

And at the center.

Suspended by threads of glowing energy.

A massive pulsing crystal. Black as night.

The heart.

"We found it," Talia whispered.

But Lana was staring at something else.

"We're not alone."

Floating before the heart were two figures.

Twenty feet tall. Made entirely of bone.

Bone Titans.

Four arms each. Holding massive weapons.

Their eye sockets burned with the same blue-green soul-fire as the dragon.

"Final guardians," Dante said.

This was the real fight.

[TEAM ALPHA - THE LAIR]

Fifteen minutes in.

They were already breaking.

Masha's ice was cracking faster than she could rebuild it.

Jin's sword arm was numb from the constant impacts.

Erica's flames were flickering. Mana running low.

The dragon hadn't even moved from its general area.

Just swatting at them. Playing.

'Growing tired, little mice?'

Its tail swept out again.

Masha tried to dodge.

Too slow.

CRASH!

The impact sent her flying. Slamming into the wall.

CRACK.

She felt ribs break. Tasted blood.

"Masha!" Erica screamed.

The dragon's head turned. Focusing on the fallen ice mage.

This was it. The killing blow.

Its jaws opened.

Soul-fire building.

Jin charged. Desperate.

Throwing himself at the dragon's face. Screaming.

A futile gesture.

But it bought Masha two seconds.

Two seconds to roll away.

The soul-fire breath missed her by inches.

Hit the wall behind her instead.

The bone crumbled to dust.

She scrambled to her feet. Limping.

Blood running down her face.

"We can't keep this up," Jin said.

"We have to," Masha replied.

"Just a little longer."

"Just a little more."

But she didn't believe it.

They were going to die here.

And she hoped. Prayed.

That their deaths would be enough.

[TEAM BETA - THE HEART CHAMBER]

The Bone Titans moved.

Not fast. But purposefully.

They raised their weapons. Advanced.

"Spread out!" Dante commanded.

Lana went left. Talia right. Kael stayed center.

Dante summoned his full power.

"Eric! Rina! Forward!"

His shadows charged. Meeting the titans.

The clash was immediate. Brutal.

Eric's shield blocked a massive bone sword.

BOOM!

The impact sent shockwaves through the chamber.

Rina's healing magic tried to corrupt the titan's bones.

But they were too strong. Too infused with power.

Kael shouted. "We can't beat them!"

"We don't need to beat them," Dante said.

"We need to get past them."

"To the heart."

But the titans were perfectly positioned.

Blocking any approach.

This was going to be harder than he thought.

Lana was hammering the first titan. Her staff crashing against its defense.

Creating openings. Distractions.

Talia was faster. Slipping past the second titan's guard.

Her daggers finding joints. Weak points.

But the damage was minimal.

These things were built to last.

Built to protect.

And they were doing their job perfectly.

Kael was firing copied magic. Lightning bolts. Ice shards.

Nothing worked.

The titans just absorbed the damage. Kept advancing.

"Dante!" Lana shouted. "Ideas?!"

He was thinking. Calculating.

The titans were guarding the heart. That was their purpose.

But what if the threat wasn't the team?

What if the threat was... bigger?

"Everyone fall back!" Dante commanded.

"What?!" Lana looked at him like he was insane.

"Fall back! Now!"

They retreated. Confused.

The titans didn't follow. Just returned to their positions.

Guarding.

Dante raised his hand.

Summoned his ultimate weapon.

"Ouroboros."

FWOOSH!

The floor erupted in shadow.

His Abyssal Shadow. The seven-headed serpent.

S-rank power.

It rose to full height. Massive. Terrifying.

The titans finally reacted.

This was a real threat.

They moved. Not to attack.

To defend.

Creating a wall between the shadow and the heart.

"Now," Dante whispered to his team.

"While they're focused on it."

"Circle around. Find the weak point."

This was the plan.

Use his ultimate summon as bait.

While they found another way to the heart.

But it meant splitting up.

It meant someone would be exposed.

Vulnerable.

And in the chaos that was about to unfold.

Someone would die.

Dante looked at Kael.

The boy was exhausted. Struggling.

Perfect.

[TEAM ALPHA - THE LAIR]

Twenty minutes in.

Masha collapsed.

Just fell. Legs giving out.

She'd pushed too hard. Too long.

Her mana was gone. Her body broken.

"Get up!" Jin shouted. "Masha, get up!"

She tried. Couldn't.

The dragon loomed over them.

Finally bored with the game.

'Enough,' it said.

Its presence intensified. Crushing.

The Aura of Decay grew stronger.

Jin and Erica felt it. Felt their life being drained.

Their strength fading.

"No," Erica whispered.

The dragon opened its jaws wide.

Building its strongest attack yet.

This was the end.

They'd failed.

Bought only twenty minutes.

Not enough.

Not nearly enough.

"I'm sorry," Masha whispered.

The soul-fire grew brighter in the dragon's throat.

And in the chamber far below.

Dante's plan was about to unfold.

Victory or death.

Everything depended on the next few minutes.

Everything.

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