A rumbling sound came from the corridor
The hidden door slowly opened from the wall
Sylffie's group emerged from the passage
"Quick, let's get to the Royal throne now"
But before they could take another step-
"Who's there?"
It was the guards, they were right outside the door
"Tch…" Sylffie clenched her fist "we've been found"
The guards immediately surrounded them
Without hesitation, Gill charged forward
BAM!
His shield slammed into one of the guards and sent him flying
"Quick, to the throne, now!"
The group broke through the formation and ran
"Hey, stop right there!"
The guards chased after them
The group were run as quickly as they can
They sprinted through one corridor after another, taking every turn they could
At one of the corners, Helen suddenly stopped
She turned around and raised her staff
"Earth Wall!"
The ground erupted
A wall of earth rose between them and the pursuing guards, blocking the corridor
They turned to continue running-
Only to find another group of guards standing directly in their path
They had already formed a defensive formation, completely sealing the way forward
"Tch…"
Gill stepped to the front of the group and raised his shield
Sylffie and Tobari also take out their weapon and ready for another battle
Then Helen took her mana potion, but before she could open the lid Rikka stopped her
"Don't drink that yet"
He grabbed the crown and tossed it toward her
"Take it"
"Why?" Helen asked while caught the crown
"You're don't have much mana left right? Then you should focus on getting this to Veyn. It's more important"
"Yeah, he's right" Gill added "We can handle the guard here, I'll make an opening, then you can go to the throne"
"And don't forget" Sylffie said as she pulled an arrow and aimed at the guards "Give the crown to Veyn"
The arrow flew toward one of the guards
Clang!
A shield rose and deflected the projectile
The formation shifted
Several guards stepped forward and swung their swords
Gill met them head-on
Clang!
His shield caught the incoming blades
With the sword engulfed with flame, Rikka swung his sword at the guards
Slash!
Their body dropped on the ground
The Gill moved and bashed the guard's formation with his shield
BAM!
He didn't stop there, he raised his hammer and swung it right
BAM!
The blow broke apart their formation
"Helen now! Go!"
Helen immediately sprinted past them
"Stop right there!"
One of the guards broke away and chased after her
But Tobari was already behind him
His dagger struck the guard before he could reach Helen
She didn't look back
Helen continued running through the corridors
One turn
Another
Until she finally reached the Royal Throne
She grabbed the doors and forced them open
Everyone inside immediately turned toward the entrance
Helen stood there, breathing heavily
Then she raised the crown above her head
"We've got the crown!"
"Tch… that stupid old man"
Cael immediately dashed toward her
But Auel intercepted him
His sword flashed
Cael twisted away from the blade
At the same time Aren also moved toward Helen with his 2 swords
"Bind!"
A golden ring appeared in front of Aren's path
But he easily stepped around it and continued toward Helen
"Helen! Gave that crown to Veyn! Quick!" Gramm ordered while he tried to chased after Aren
Helen threw the crown
But Aren kept moving at her and thrusted with one of his swords
Clang!
Gramm arrived just in time
He took the attack directly against his armor
The blade dug into the metal, nearly breaking through
Aren didn't stop
His second sword swept toward Gramm
Clang!
Gramm raised the shaft of his axe and caught the blade against it
He shoved Aren backward and swung his axe
Aren jumped away
The crown continued through the air
Veyn moved toward it
But before he could reach it, Elric raised his weapon
It transformed into a magic staff
He calmly began casting
The throne room suddenly trembled
Cracks spread across the floor
"What's happening?!" Helen shouted
Veyn stopped and looked around
The floor beneath the center of the room continued to crack
The tremors grew stronger
The crack widened
Then-
The ground began to rise
Something was emerging from beneath the floor
Higher
Higher
Until a massive figure emerged from the ground
A golem
It towered over everyone in the room, its head nearly touching the ceiling
Its entire body was made of enormous stones
The sudden eruption disrupted everyone
The crown fell beneath its feet
The golem clenched its massive fist
Then it swung at the nearest person, Auel
He jumped aside just before the fist struck
BOOM
The impact shook the entire room
Everyone lost their balance
Veyn quickly stood up and ran toward the crown
But Elric already moved and transformed his weapon into a spear, and thrusted it at him
Veyn twisted aside, narrowly avoiding the spear, then slashed toward Elric with his dagger
Elric blocked the attack with the shaft of his spear and kicked Veyn away
He was about to pursue him when an arrow flew toward his head
Elric tilted his head
The arrow passed by
"Tch…"
Ashley had already drawn another arrow; she held her bow steady
Nearby, Gramm and Helen were still recovering from the golem's attack
Aren suddenly charged toward them with both swords
CLANG!
Someone blocked the attack, it was Gill
He raised his shield at the right time
Rikka followed immediately, his flaming sword sweeping toward Aren
Aren jumped aside
Another arrow flew toward him
He leaped backward and avoided it
Sylffie entered the throne room and quickly moved behind Gill
Rikka glanced at the enormous golem standing in the center
"Come on… do we really have to fight another golem?"
Gramm looked at him
"Wait, what do you mean by that?"
"Yeah, we just fought a golem before we got the crown" Helen explained
Rikka looked around
"Wait where is the crown right now?"
"It's over there" Helen said while pointing the crown lying beneath the golem
"What!? How did it get there?"
"Hey, I just wanted to give it to Veyn"
"You two stop fighting" Gram tried to stop them "Helen how much mana do you have"
"Not, much" Helen pulled out her mana potion and drank the last one
"Rikka help me handle this guy"
He pointed toward the golem
"Helen and Gill hold that golem"
"Sylffie take the crown and get it to Veyn"
Helen frowned
"I already told you I don't have much mana left. How are we supposed to beat that thing?"
"You don't have to beat it"
Gramm tightened his grip on his axe
"Just hold it back until Veyn gets the crown. Once he has it, this fight should be over"
They nodded and immediately do as Gramm said
While everyone was still recovering from the golem's attack, Cael suddenly dashed toward the crown
He reached it first and snatched it from the ground
"Heh… got it"
But he sensed something behind him
Cael quickly turned
Tobari was already there
His dagger came swinging toward Cael
Cael narrowly avoided the blade
Tobari didn't give him a chance to recover
He attacked again
Cael tried to retreat, but his footing gave way
He fell
The crown slipped from his hand
Cael quickly pushed himself back up and tried to take the crown, it already gone with Tobari
"Tch… Elric!"
Then the golem hit the ground with his foot
BOOM!
The room shook again, and made everyone lost balance
Tobari who was running at Veyn fell down and dropped the crown
Ting!
"There you are"
Cael ran toward the crown and tried to retrieved it
Before he could reach it, an arrow flew toward him
He stopped just before it struck
Sylffie dashed past him and grabbed the crown
Cael immediately turned
He charged toward her at incredible speed
His blade swept toward her
Sylffie raised her dagger
But she was too slow
Clang!
Auel appeared between them and blocked the attack
He kicked Cael backward
"What are you doing, take the crown quick!"
"Tch… I know that"
Sylffie continued to retrieved the crown, while Auel dashed at Cael
Meanwhile, the golem's attention shifted toward the crown
Its enormous hand reached down
"Earth Missile!"
BAM!
The missile struck the golem's hand and knocked it slightly away from the crown
The golem changed its attention toward Helen, and smashed its hand toward her
"Flame Snipe!"
A concentrated burst of flame struck the golem at tremendous speed
But it barely reacted
The massive fist continued toward Helen
"Perfect Wall!"
BAM!
Gill stepped in front of her
His shield absorbed the blow
Helen immediately moved away
Gill raised his hammer and struck the golem's hand
BAM!
The impact pushed it slightly backward
But the golem barely moved
It was far larger and stronger than the one they had fought before
On the other side, Gramm swung his axe at Aren
Clang!
But Aren blocked it with both of his swords
Then Rikka came in and swung his sword at him
Again, Aren twisted his body and dodged the attack
Rikka didn't stop and kept swinging his sword at him
But Aren blocked every single hit
BAM!
Suddenly Gramm bashed at him with his body and pushed him away
Rikka and Gramm ready to attack again
But then Aren did something
He created another clone of him, both of them attack
On the other side, Ashley shot her arrow at Elric
"Ricochet Arrows!"
The arrow bounced repeatedly around the room before changing direction and flying toward Elric from multiple angles
Clang! Clang! Clang!
But Elric blocked every single arrow with his shield
"Explode!"
The arrows shined but Elric threw his shield away before it could explode
BOOM!
The arrows exploded harmlessly away from him
Veyn took the opportunity
He dashed forward and thrust his dagger toward Elric
Elric dodged and countered with his spear
Veyn twisted aside and immediately swung again
Elric's spear transformed into a sword
Clang!
Both their weapon clashed on each other but Elric kicked Veyn away with his leg
"Power Shot!"
An arrow flew at him, but he changed his weapon into a shield and blocked it
He got push back a little bit but he looked at Sylffie ran toward the crown, she almost there
Then Elric's sword transformed again into a spear
Elric hurled it
"Sylffie watch out!" Veyn shout at her
Sylffie stopped
The spear flew past her and slammed into the ground
She had barely avoided being impaled
Veyn dashed at him and swung his sword
But without him knowing, Elric had a rope around his own arm, and the rope pulled him toward the spear
After reached the spear, Elric reached the spear, pulled it from the ground, and swung it toward Sylffie
Sylffie dodged it and almost got hit
Elric ignored her
His eyes remained fixed on the crown
He dashed forward and grabbed it
The moment his fingers closed around it, he sensed movement behind him
He turned
Tobari thrust his dagger toward him
Elric shifted aside
His spear swept toward Tobari
Tobari dodged and countered
Clang!
His dagger struck Elric's chest
The armor absorbed the blow, but the force was enough to throw Elric off balance
He fell
Tobari take the crown and threw it at Veyn
"Veyn!"
The crown flew through the air toward Veyn
Elric pushed himself back up
His spear flashed
Slash!
It hit Tobari's arm but didn't cut it
Elric continued to kick him away and transformed his spear into a bow
He drew an arrow and fired at the crown
The arrow struck the crown in midair
The crown was pinned against the ceiling
An arrow came at him from behind, but he realized that and transformed his weapon into a shield
Clang!
Another attack followed
Sylffie swung her dagger at him
Elric blocked it with ease
Then he glanced upward
The crown was slowly slipping from the arrow holding it
At the same time, Veyn was already running toward it
Elric shoved Sylffie aside and charged after Veyn
Before she continued, Sylffie looked at Tobari
"Hey, you alright!"
"Don't mind me"
Tobari struggled to stand
"Just get the crown to Veyn"
She nodded and ran to retrieved the crown
Veyn got blocked by Elric, he kept pushing him away from the crown using his shield
Then arrow came from both sides, Ashley and Sylffie
Elric twisted away from both projectiles while maintaining pressure on Veyn
Above them, the crown continued slipping
The arrow finally lost its grip
The crown fell
Sylffie immediately sprinted toward it
Elric didn't want to let that happen he changed his shield into a spear and ready to threw it
But Veyn attacked before he could
He kept attacking at him
Elric couldn't do anything to stop Sylffie from catching the crown
The golem suddenly shifted
Its enormous arm pulled back
Its fist began to tremble with power
At the same moment-
Sylffie's hand reached the crown
She caught it
But something strange happened
The crown began to glow in her hands
Sylffie stared at it
"W-What's happening…?"