"Ahhhhh," Enzo sighed deeply as he fell to the ground on his back, causing a small puff of dust to rise.
Immediately after, two others joined him as they sighed in relief, feeling the weight of the battle lifted from their shoulders.
Together, Victoria, Thane, Nibbleskin, and himself had joined hands to fight against the skeleton king and the subdued sky monitor.
It had been a long, drawn-out fight that saw the death of the two guardians of the canyon.
"Hmmm, that was easier than I thought," Victoria commented calmly, standing over them with a look of accomplishment.
'Of course it was, you monster!!'
Enzo couldn't help but comment in his mind. This was the most dangerous thing he had done in his entire life. Yet she spoke of ease? Truly, she was suffering from success.
"Who killed the monitor, by the way? I didn't receive a notification," Thane sat up and asked.
It wasn't news that he needed a weapon that suited his power. There was an unspoken agreement that would see him get one to better their chances in future fights.
But even though he struck the last blow, he didn't receive a notification of the kill. Obviously, someone had gotten it.
"That's me, no luck unfortunately," Enzo said calmly with a raised hand as he looked up at the starry sky. It had really been a drawn-out battle, but its reward was considerable.
They had downed two of the three guardians of the Grand Canyon in one fight, what remained now was the sentient blood, after which they could get out of this place.
He would finally be able to go home and be done with this dreadful nightmare.
"Ohhh, okay." Thane nodded and fell back to the ground. He had a serious feeling that Enzo was lying but couldn't prove it.
And he was too injured to care. He was still a weak kid. He could take him…
"Hm?" Victoria turned around suddenly after hearing a snort as she noticed they were fast asleep.
"Sigh, this place is so boring," she thought as she proceeded to walk over to the head of the sky monitor before taking a seat.
She would stand guard until they woke up. They had worked hard.
.
.
.
.
.
"Of the three, the most dangerous is the sentient blood…" The next night, the group strode towards the center of the canyon, rejuvenated and strong after a night and day of rest.
"It is a parasite specie… Lady Victoria should have some experience," Thane said.
They had one obstacle remaining, and that was the sentient blood. However, this obstacle was more like an impenetrable wall made from the hardest of minerals.
The sentient blood was a species of parasite that mimicked blood, invading the bodies of creatures and consuming their minds. It was as much of a terror as the skeleton king, if not more.
The worst part was that… it had no real body.
It existed in all the creatures it had infected.
"Yes, I remember the green one in PAX 5. It was hard to escape," Victoria spoke with a tinge of disgust and apprehension.
Yes, the truth was that fighting and killing a parasite species this strong was very hard, even for someone like Victoria. The only thing one could do was escape it.
It was also a good thing, since all they needed to do was get to the teleportation portal without drawing its attention.
That would be the best outcome if they could achieve it.
"There it is." As they took a turn around a rocky pillar, the base of the mountain in the middle of the canyon came into view.
The mountain was massive, not so different from the Yuno Mines mountain. Even from this distance, Enzo could smell the aura of death protruding from it.
But strangely, he felt a form of relief wash over him. Maybe finally he would be able to go home to his parents, to his family.
Deep inside the mountain,
A pool of blood sat unendingly deep. Stagnant, it stale until, all of a sudden, it started to churn.
"Hey, it seems like brother Winsbery is done cooking," a strangely human voice resounded from someone around the pool as a young lady pointed outward into the middle of the pool.
There, a head slowly emerged, swimming out of the pool with a creepy wide grin on his face. Soon he was at the bank of the pool and quickly emerged from within it.
"Welcome to the land of the living, brother!!" The young lady with her silver hair hugged the man, not caring for his half-naked body stained with blood.
"Unfortunately, he missed the party. The skeleton king is dead."
Another man emerged. He was leaner, older, and with a pair of large horns on his forehead. The group was a strange bunch naturally, all having varying looks.
But all of them had one thing in common:
Their eyes leaked with a red liquid that made them look infected.
"What's the TOA on Lady Victoria and her friends?" The one who had just left the pool asked with a grin that wasn't only evil but also dangerous.
"They will be here soon," another voice resounded, causing the others to feel a wave of apprehension as a figure pushed from within the shadows, her red hair dripping with liquid and her look very similar to…
Victoria.