After rolling on the floor, Shin got up first. Unharmed luckily, though dazed. Talon was trying to get up when—
"Watch out!"
Shin pushed him back down to the ground.
A gigantic rock of bones passed over them by centimeters.
"SHIT!"
Eryndor and Leander didn't have the same luck. The mass of bones struck them with brutal force, dragging them backward like rag dolls. Their bodies crashed against the rest of the group, pushing everyone out of the chamber.
CRASH.
The bone rock got stuck in the entrance. It blocked the passage almost completely, barely allowing them to see what would happen inside through small gaps.
"SHIN!" Beth's voice pierced through the barrier, charged with desperation. "TALON! ARE YOU OKAY?"
"Damn it! Move aside!" Leander struck the barrier with his flame-wrapped spear. The bones were incinerated, turning to black dust.
But more bones covered the spot instantly.
"Let me try!"
Eryndor summoned a gust of wind. The magic split several bones into fragments that flew through the air.
The fragments trembled on the ground. They crawled. They reconnected as if they were alive. In seconds, the barrier was complete again.
"It regenerates..." Aurora murmured, horrified.
She had already fired three arcane arrows in rapid succession. All pierced through bones, but the result was the same. Instant regeneration.
"SHIN!" Beth tried to create some entrance with her sword, striking desperately. Through the small gaps between the bones, she could see what was happening inside. "HANG ON! YOU'RE GOING TO BE FINE!"
"Please... Shin..." Aurora whispered, her voice breaking for the first time. "You have to be okay... We'll find a way in."
Inside the chamber, Talon turned his head toward the rock.
He saw the small gaps.
He saw they were trapped.
Outside.
And he and Shin were inside.
With the monster, whose size was growing larger as it merged with the bones scattered throughout the chamber.
"No... no, no, no..."
The golem roared. The sound made the ground tremble beneath their feet.
Talon backed away, his legs almost giving out under his weight.
The golem ripped bones from the floor and threw them like projectiles.
"TALON, MOVE!"
Shin pushed him violently to one side. Both slid just as the bones exploded where Talon had been paralyzed, raising a cloud of dust and fragments.
The golem advanced. Each step made the chamber shake as if it were about to collapse.
"T-they're outside... they left us alone... we're going to die here..." Talon babbled, his voice barely a thread. "There's no way to beat that thing..."
"RAWWWWWWW!"
The golem roared again as it ripped more bones from the floor.
"This way!" Shin grabbed Talon by the arm and dragged him behind a column of giant stacked bones. They hid just as another rain of projectiles impacted where they had been seconds before.
CRASH. CRASH. CRASH.
The impacts resonated like cannon shots.
Talon cowered against the column, covering his head with both hands. His breathing was erratic. He was hyperventilating.
"We're going to die... it's going to kill us... there's no way out..."
His hand trembled violently as he held the dagger. He brought it toward his own neck. The cold edge touched his skin, pressing slightly.
'Like this... like this it won't hurt as much... it'll be quick... better than being torn apart by that monster...'
"Talon, no!"
Shin snatched the dagger away with a swipe. The weapon fell to the floor with a metallic clink.
"What were you thinking?" He shook him by the shoulders, his face inches from his. "Answer me!"
Talon couldn't speak. Tears ran down his cheeks.
"Listen to me." Shin forced him to look directly into his eyes. "Do you remember what I told you? About trusting me?"
"B-but... I can't... that monster is going to—"
"You need those points, don't you?" Shin's voice was firm, without reproach. "Your father... if you don't pass this exam..."
Talon nodded weakly, unable to hold Shin's gaze.
"Then you have to face your fear." Shin squeezed his shoulders with determination. "It's the only way to get those points. There's no other way out."
"But I'm going to die... it's going to tear me apart..."
"No." Shin shook his head firmly. "I'll be with you. The whole time. I won't let anything happen to you. I promise."
The golem roared again. Closer. The ground trembled under its increasingly near steps.
"We'll get out of this together." Shin picked up the dagger from the floor and placed it firmly in Talon's trembling hand. "Unharmed. Both of us. But I need you to trust me. Can you do that?"
Talon looked at the dagger in his hand.
He looked at Shin.
He closed his eyes. He swallowed.
And nodded.
"Good." Shin stood up, peeking out from behind the column. "When I tell you, run to the left. Don't stop. I'll handle the rest."
"Shin, wait—"
"NOW!"
Talon ran. His legs trembled so much he almost tripped.
The golem turned toward him instantly. Its empty sockets fixed on the weaker target. Its arm rose, preparing to crush.
But Shin was already in motion.
"Arcane Pulse!"
His dagger glowed with intense blue light and he lunged toward the golem's legs, cutting with precision. The bones forming the joint splintered, cracking like dry branches.
The golem staggered.
Shin rolled between its massive legs, dodging a stomp. He got up on the other side and attacked again without losing momentum.
"Arcane Pulse!"
Another cut. More bones fell, disintegrating into fragments.
The golem counterattacked. Its arm descended like a war hammer.
Shin jumped backward, but the impact against the ground created a brutal shockwave. The force threw him several meters through the air. He rolled painfully upon landing, feeling a sharp pain pierce through his ribs.
"Shin!" Talon screamed from his position, his voice broken by fear.
"I'm fine! Just keep moving!" Shin got up with effort, a grimace of pain crossing his face.
The golem changed targets. Its empty sockets fixed on Talon again.
It ripped a massive bone fragment from the ground and threw it like a spear. The projectile whistled through the air.
"TALON!"
Shin appeared out of nowhere, intercepting the trajectory. He struck the projectile with his dagger, deflecting it just enough. The bone passed grazing Talon's shoulder, cutting his clothes.
'That was too close... I... would have died.'
Talon fell to his knees, paralyzed by the proximity of death.
"I told you to move!" Shin panted.
The golem gave them no respite. It charged directly at them.
Shin pushed Talon out of the way and threw himself in the opposite direction with a grimace of pain as he hit the ground. His body still needed rest. The golem's fist crashed right where they had been, creating a crater in the stone.
"I have to expose the core... it's the only way..." he murmured, enduring the pain pulsing in his ribs.
Shin ran directly toward the golem, positioning himself right in front of it.
The monster reacted instantly. Its massive arm descended at high speed.
"It's time!"
At the last moment, Shin dodged it by jumping backward. The golem's fist crashed into the ground with a deafening roar that made the entire chamber vibrate.
But the arm was left extended. Horizontal. Like an improvised bridge.
Shin didn't waste the second. He jumped onto the fallen arm and began running along it, using the irregular bones as improvised steps.
The golem tried to lift its arm, shaking it violently.
Shin stumbled but maintained balance, running faster.
He reached the shoulder.
And from there, he launched himself into the air toward the golem's chest.
"ARCANE PULSE!"
His dagger glowed with blue light upon impact. The first layer of bones cracked.
He landed on the monster's torso, clinging to the bones.
"Arcane Pulse!"
Another explosion of arcane energy. More bones fell.
The golem roared, trying to reach him with its other hand.
Shin attacked a third time before it arrived, concentrating all his strength.
"Arcane Pulse!"
The last explosion of arcane energy completely destroyed the protective layer.
And there, bright and exposed, was the golem's core.
Shin raised his dagger, preparing for the final blow.
"One more attack... and it'll all be over..."
His arm tensed.
But then his eyes drifted toward Talon, who didn't know what to do, paralyzed meters away.
"The points... he needs the points..."
That fraction of a second of doubt was enough.
The golem's arm swept horizontally with brute force.
WHAM.
The impact threw Shin through the air like a broken doll. His body flew several meters before crashing into the ground with a dry, horrible sound. He rolled violently until he stopped near where Talon was.
"SHIN!" Talon ran toward him, dropping all caution. He knelt beside him, hands trembling over his friend. "Are you okay? Can you move?"
"I'm... fine..." Shin sat up slowly, leaning on his dagger. He tried to smile, but the grimace of pain betrayed him. "Just a hit... nothing serious..."
Then he coughed.
Blood splattered the floor in front of him.
"Shin..." Talon's voice trembled.
"Listen to me." Shin wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, leaving a red trail. "I have a plan... for you to destroy the core."
"What? No, you should—"
"You need the points, don't forget." Shin looked at him directly with eyes that already showed exhaustion. "But for this... I need you to be the bait."
Talon paled to the point where it seemed he was going to faint.
"You have to make the golem try to hit you. Provoke it. Keep its attention long enough for me to position myself."
"But... but if it hits me..."
"It won't." Shin placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing with determination. "Trust me. I just need you to buy time. When its arm descends toward you, I'll destroy it. Then only the other arm will be left. And then... the core will be all yours."
The golem roared, beginning to advance toward them. The ground trembled with each step.
Talon looked at the monster. He looked at Shin.
His hands trembled uncontrollably.
"Can you do it?" Shin asked.
Talon swallowed. His throat was dry.
And he nodded. With fear. With doubts.
"Good. Then... now!"
Talon ran forward.
The monster turned its attention completely toward him. It raised its massive arm, preparing for the definitive blow.
Shin moved. He ran along the flank, invisible to the golem concentrated on Talon. He charged his Arcane Pulse. The light in his dagger grew more intense than it had ever been. All possible energy concentrated in a single attack.
The golem's arm descended toward Talon like a death sentence.
"ARCANE PULSE!"
Shin jumped, impacting the arm from the side with all his concentrated force.
CRACK.
The explosion of arcane energy was blinding. A bright blue light illuminated the entire chamber. The bones of the arm completely disintegrated, reduced to fine dust that floated in the air.
The golem's arm crumbled, falling in fragments.
But the other arm was already in motion. Turning toward Shin, who had landed in a completely vulnerable position after spending all his energy.
His hand moved by instinct. He tried to invoke his Arcane Pulse to defend himself.
But then his gaze fell on Talon. Checking. Making sure one last time that he was okay.
His concentration divided at that critical moment.
"Arcane Pulse!"
The blue light enveloped...
Talon's dagger.
Not his.
Shin's eyes opened with absolute horror.
He looked at his own dagger. No glow. No magic.
The golem's arm kept approaching.
Shin raised his dagger instinctively, trying to invoke his magic in a desperate act.
"Arcane Pulse!"
Nothing.
The dagger remained opaque. No glow. No energy.
"Arcane Pulse!" he tried again, desperate, his voice breaking.
Nothing.
'No... I have no mana...'
And then he remembered. Without mana he couldn't use spells. And his sacred mantle would be disabled.
He was completely exposed.
Completely vulnerable.
Any blow would be more than critical.
It would be lethal.
The arm was descending. Seconds. He only had seconds before impact.
"TALON!" he screamed desperately, his voice breaking. "THE ARM! ATTACK IT NOW! YOU CAN DO IT!"
Shin tried to move. Roll. Dodge. Anything.
But his body didn't respond.
The pain in his ribs exploded like liquid fire that spilled throughout his torso. His legs gave out. He fell to his knees on the cold stone.
He couldn't move.
He couldn't do anything.
Only watch as the arm descended toward him like a guillotine.
Talon held his dagger.
It glowed with the blue light of the Arcane Pulse that Shin had transferred to him unintentionally. The power pulsed in the metal.
He looked at the arm that was about to crush his friend.
He looked at the core.
Bright. Exposed. Unprotected. Vulnerable.
'If I destroy the core... the golem will fall. Shin will be safe.'
His mind calculated quickly, too quickly.
'And the points... all the points will be mine.'
The arm kept descending. Three meters. Two meters.
'I can make it. I'm faster. If I run now...'
"TALON, PLEASE!" Shin's voice was pure terror. Absolute panic.
Talon turned.
And ran toward the core.
"W-what...?" Shin's voice broke like shattering glass. "What are you doing...?"
Absolute horror flooded his face. Incomprehension. Betrayal.
The arm was meters from him.
And Talon was running in the opposite direction.
"TALON, NO! THE ARM! NOOOOO!"
But Talon didn't stop.
His legs moved like never before. The dagger glowed in his hand like a promise. The core was so close. So bright.
'I'm going to make it.'
He extended his arm.
The tip of his dagger pierced the core.
CRACK.
The crystal shattered like a destroyed mirror.
A blinding light exploded from the center of the golem, illuminating the entire chamber in pure white.
And on his watch, his score changed.
[ +100 points ]
[ Total: 100 points ]
"I did it!" Talon gasped, looking at his watch with bulging eyes. An incredulous smile drew on his face. "I made it! I passed the exam!"
His voice resonated throughout the place.
Full of relief.
Of euphoria.
Of victory.
And at the same time, a deafening sound became present.
CRUNCH.