"It's coming again!" yelled Lily in fear. Orechin without hesitation raised his arm again.
"Steel prism!" A huge blue crystal appeared between the group and Ashikunz, and as the spear was thrown, it slowly began to slow down.
"We can do it!" shouted Tyel to raise the morale of the group. Everyone else now nodded their heads, and the roots kept carrying them around.
"Lily, are you sure you can still hold the magic?" asked Orechin. "After Ashikunz has reclaimed the spear, I remove the crystal so I don't have a problem… but what about you?"
"Don't worry, I haven't even started to bleed… you can trust me!" shouted Lily.
"Not to distract or ruin the moment… he has taken the spear again!" warned Tyel as he noticed Ashikunz getting closer to the blue crystal to reclaim his spear. Tyel, unable to read his expression at all, saw Ashikunz slash his spear to destroy the blue crystal.
"It doesn't work like that, man…" whispered Orechin while smirking. The moment Ashikunz's spear slashed against the blue crystal, a new one appeared inside the blue one—it was a red crystal.
As Ashikunz's spear slashed the crystals in half, the kinetic energy of his attack was transferred to the red energy, which charged up immediately and blew up in front of the Krukin.
"Boom! Take that!" shouted Orechin the moment the crystal exploded and a huge cloud of black smoke spread around.
"Let's just hope he received some—" Lily tried to calm herself down, hoping that the Krukin would come out with a small cut on his armor, but Ashikunz without any problem, as if the explosion didn't even harm him, made a big jump and rushed directly toward the group.
"Stop escaping… I didn't think you were such cowards," spoke Ashikunz with a calm tone as he kept running toward the group.
"He's closing the distance!" pointed out Tyel, while behind the group Ashikunz was jumping around Karyuz's debris without making a single error. Every jump was perfect, and his feet moved toward a single destination: the humans running away from him.
"Ember core! Ember core!" shouted Orechin as he created small red crystals under Ashikunz's feet, and as the emperor's feet crushed against the magical objects, they exploded.
But Ashikunz was faster. He moved faster than the explosions under his feet, leaving behind some powerful explosions that lit up the dark and gave the emperor a better view of the humans.
"It didn't work!" Orechin raised his arm once again, and exactly three blue crystals appeared between the group and the enemy.
"Let's just hope this will stop—" Suddenly, one of the crystals was lifted from the ground, and Ashikunz with all his strength threw it toward the group.
"Shit!" shouted Lily as she slowed down just in time not to receive the crystal directly on their heads.
"I would have preferred it over my head," joked Orechin as he realized that they were rushing directly in front of the blue crystal and their speed had drastically decreased as they rushed toward the object.
"Shit, Orechin, remove it!" yelled Tyel. Orechin looked behind in panic and realized that Zrelekai wasn't there anymore.
The group had reached the blue crystal, which was cut in half the exact moment they were in front of it. Ashikunz was on the other side, and understanding that the magic was coming from Lily, he wrapped his arm around her neck.
As Lily was removed from the vinewalk, the magic disappeared, and their bodies tumbled to the ground.
"Ouch!" Orechin smashed his head against a rock, and luckily for him, nothing too bad happened; he simply coughed up some blood. Tyel hit the ground hard, his Timehors costume was ripped off, and multiple scratches appeared on his body.
"What were you even trying to accomplish?" Ashikunz was annoyed as he turned around, still holding Lily by the neck in one hand, while holding his spear in the other.
"Le-leave me!" shouted Lily. With her hands, she tried to free herself from Ashikunz's grip, kicking her feet around trying to hit the enemy on his armor, but the emperor, not feeling the slightest bit of damage, simply held her tighter.
"I-I can't… breathe…" Soon enough, Lily's face turned purple as blood stopped reaching her face and air could no longer pass through.
Tyel looked at the scene with a horrified expression. 'Stop… this is wrong…' thought Tyel as he couldn't resist, and tears began to flow down his face.
"I should be the one to save you all…" whispered Tyel as he punched his own face while getting back on his feet. Ashikunz, confused by that, loosened his grip on Lily's neck, allowing her to finally let out a deep breath.
"What do you want to do? You're the one who doesn't even have a power," pointed out Ashikunz, annoyed.
"Yeah… but I'll still save everyone else." With that, Tyel grabbed a knife from his pocket.
"A knife used to cook?" asked Ashikunz, confused, before dropping Lily to the ground and turning his body fully toward Tyel.
"Who are you even trying to save with that? You won't even be able to harm yourself," joked Ashikunz as he walked slowly toward Tyel.
"Tyel, what are you doing?" asked Orechin, still on the ground right next to Tyel.
"Saving you all… you don't have to die anymore," whispered Tyel as he looked Ashikunz directly in the eyes before placing the knife against his throat.
"Not even hurting myself? Are you sure?" asked Tyel before completely cutting off his head, while Ashikunz watched the human in front of him kill himself.
"Déjà Veil."
'I'm here again…' thought Tyel as he looked down at his arms and touched his head. Realizing that it was still there, he let out a deep breath before sitting on the ground after standing up.
"What is it, Tyel?" asked Catripple, confused.
"You are bleeding so much… are you looking into the future?" asked Lily, worried. Tyel, whose eyes were closed, remained silent.
'Going by that exit is suicide… every time we come out of there, he always arrives… is it only that exit?' thought Tyel. 'We can't even use Liro's illusion to run in the city, as he would get tired immediately…'
"Tyel, is everything alright?" asked Darian. "Didn't you say we should go out through the sanctuary's exit…"
Hearing these words, Tyel's eyes opened in fear. "NO! DON'T YOU DARE GO OUT FROM THERE!!" he shouted angrily as he pointed his finger toward Darian, who had both a confused and scared look on his face.
"What is it?" said Martheel with a worried and scared tone. Tyel looked at him and then at all his friends around him; on each of their faces, there was a frightened expression.
"Sorry… it's just that in every future I've seen of us going through that exit… we always get killed," he said while breathing heavily.
"Don't worry, Tyel… I'm sure there is another exit for us to use," said Lily as she tried to speak in a reassuring tone. As Tyel's eyes moved toward her, a reassured look appeared on his face.
"At least I was able to stop you from dying…" whispered Tyel. Lily looked at him with a confused expression.
"What are you talking about? I haven't died yet…" answered Lily, confused, as she watched Tyel rise from the ground.
"Okay, we should try the other exit from the secret laboratories… even if I don't know where it is," said Tyel in a calmer tone.
"Well, if you're saying that going toward the sanctuary's exit is suicide… we should probably head in that direction," pointed out Darian, still surprised by what had happened earlier. With his finger, he pointed toward the path taken by Zrelekai before.
"Have you ever seen Zrelekai in one of your futures?" asked Liro, terrified that he might take another bullet to his arm.
"Never… maybe he's hiding?" proposed Orechin. "Especially because he gave Catripple away like it was nothing."
"Maybe he's just escaping from Ashikunz, since he did something wrong by giving me to you?" added Catripple, but no one could find a clear explanation.
"Well, still, we shouldn't waste much time… Tyel, are you ready to go?" asked Vane. Tyel nodded his head.
"I'm feeling tired… I'll refrain from using my power to discover the path to the exit," answered Tyel. Vane wrapped his arm around Tyel's shoulder. "Don't worry, man. It's not like it's a maze, right?"
"Well, actually…" said Catripple as she scratched the back of her head awkwardly. "Even though I was blindfolded, Zrelekai brought me around when he didn't have anything to do… and I could easily tell that there were a lot of rooms. It will definitely take some time," she added.
"Well… we still have plenty of time, so… let's just go!"
"Tyel…" whispered Martheel as he stood right behind him.
"What is it?" asked Tyel, confused.
"Are you alright?" said Martheel. Hearing these words, Tyel spaced out for a moment.
'Am I alright? Who would even be alright after getting killed multiple times?' he thought, but soon enough he shook his head. 'I can return from death; it isn't my problem… the problem is everyone else's…' Tyel looked back at all his friends, who were carefully searching around for rooms or paths to take.
"If I remember correctly, Zrelekai brought me through this path!" said Catripple as she pointed toward another hallway that looked no different from the rest.
"You were blindfolded… how can you be so sure…" asked Orechin, slightly annoyed.
"I just feel it!" she said as she tilted her head with her arms crossed.
'Being able to respawn, I don't feel much pain; I've gotten used to it…' Tyel remembered the moment when Lily was about to be killed by Ashikunz and could barely breathe.
'All the other times you've died… I promise I won't let them happen anymore. Even if you're not able to remember… I'll take the burden of death. I'll be the one to die over and over again… so you don't have to suffer.' About a minute had passed since Martheel's question, and Tyel had not spoken until now.
"So? It feels like something weird is going on…" whispered Martheel, getting worried, but Tyel answered with a smile on his face.
"Don't worry, we're all alive and that is what matters the most!" he said with a warm smile on his face.
"What a horrible place… we've never been here…" The group was walking through multiple different laboratories; some were full of wires and electronic equipment, while others still had blood splattered on the walls, as no one had ever cleaned it.
Other laboratories hadn't been used for years, and insects were crawling around.
"As far as I know, these laboratories have all been used by Zrelekai," said Tyel.
"Strange… who would even use multiple laboratories when you can have a bigger one?" asked Vane, confused. After speaking, he opened a door, revealing a laboratory in the worst condition ever seen, with a garbage stench that almost made Vane throw up.
"Gross," he said while pinching his nose with his fingers, closing the door without hesitation and not caring about what was inside.
"As much as I hate him… because he doesn't have any problem with creating machines, having different laboratories is always the best approach for a scientist," said Darian. He tried to hold back, not wanting to give any credit to Zrelekai, but the more he tried, the more his biologist side took over.
"Strange… a bigger one with more stuff in it is simply better," said Vane.
"Well, actually, there can be cross-contamination with the materials… it's better not to have just a single one," answered Liro, but Vane, with his arms crossed, looked away.
"I said that more is better!" he said, annoyed.
"Hey, I recognize this room!" said Catripple as she rushed toward a huge door. "I've been here a few times…" As she opened the door, a massive room with a throne set atop some stairs was revealed.
"This was the place where Ashikunz spent most of his time." Catripple wandered around the room without any problem now; all the other times, she had been restrained in a chair. "I could hear most of their conversations here…" whispered Catripple as she arrived in front of the throne. While everyone else moved around, Tyel was the only one who remained still, his eyes fixed on the exact spot where everyone had died in one of his loops.
"All of their plans? Do you know anything about this other one?" asked Orechin, but Catripple shook her head.
"Sadly, no… I remember them talking about using the news of my impending execution to bait you… I remembered that I could only hope that everything would be alright…" Suddenly, tears began to flow down Catripple's face.
"Hey, we're alright… don't worry anymore," said Orechin as he hugged his sister.
"And we will be alright soon, too… we will come out of this alive," he added in a calm tone. Catripple nodded her head.
"I believe so, too…"