Shaki jumped into the burning light beam, dragging the pawn with her hand.

She threw Broglodyte in front.

“Die for me!” she yelled.

HUH?! Slade thought.

The mindless pawn extended his arms, welcoming the purifying beam of light.

He became an unbreakable shield thanks to Shaki’s faction skill “Troglodyte Meatshield”.

But the pawn paid the price with his entire life force, burning out in a single breath.

BROGLODYTE!!! Slade screamed in his mind.

The scaly friend looked back as he burnt. Finally, he understood the slime’s gesture. His shaking hand returned the thumb up, before vanishing into dust.

Slade blanked out.

The flooding light disappeared along with Broglodyte.

“KSHIIIIIIIIIIIIII!” the Evil Eye screamed. Its rib-like supports crumbled. It collapsed, plumes of smoke wafting out from its body.

Milia fell on a knee, plumes of smoke rising from her arm. She had reverted to her human form, unable to fight any longer.

“We’re... alive?” Milia panted.

“We’re alive!” Shaki hugged her.

The gnolls cheered.

The minotaur’s scalded arm was regenerating thanks to Slade’s skills.

[Mana pool has reached critical levels. Remaining time left: 1 hour. Power-saving mode activated.]

Thank god, I don’t auto-suicide by healing allies… Slade thought.

“Thanks, buddy!” Milia patted Slade, who sat on her head.

A gnoll tried to pick up the Gnoll King’s Buckler, but his hand recoiled from its searing temperature.

“It’s too early to be happy! The Evil Eye pushed us back! We’re back at square one!” Ranna shouted.

More beholders gathered at the opposite end of the bridge. They came from all over the mine.

The outcome for the gnolls was grim. They were down from twenty-five members to only ten survivors. Terror took over the party’s euphoria, as they couldn’t make another push with their current number. Their goal only drifted further away from reach.

The tired beholders hanging from the side of the bridge retreated, substituted by fresh enemies.

However, those blocking the palace could not receive help. The battle clearly wore them down. Indeed, they shot rays sparingly, looking out for openings or stopping the gnolls’ movements.

This left a faint glimmer of hope in Milia. She picked up a wooden buckler from a dead corpse.

“I’ll open a way to the palace when my Avalanche charge is ready,” she said.

The beholders reinforcements climbed up the gate and shot a barrage of disintegration rays.

“We’ll die before then!” a warrior said.

The ten gnoll-borns huddled together, forming a circle of shield. They dropped one after another.

Helplessness crushed their spirit, as they could do nothing in front of impending death.

“We’re out of options…” the gnoll Matriarch said.

Defeat. The gnolls closed their eyes in resignation.

It was a painful, but realistic call for the Matriarch.

“I have enough mana to teleport a single person beyond the gate to run away. How about you, Troglodyte? since I ‘owe you my life’,” Metiva said.

She started drawing the sigils, her finger fluttering in the air.

“Is that a joke? I’m not leaving-” Shaki said.

“We surrender!!” A gnoll-born threw his weapons.

He ran towards the Evil Eye. A few steps later, he fell flat as a ray of light gouged his leg.

“Stay close!” Ranna shouted.

However, the unrelenting gnoll crawled away from the group.

“Spare us! It’s her fault! She struck the Pillar of Eye!” He pointed at Milia.

The party threw uneasy glances at each other.

“They forced us to be their meat shield!” he screamed.

“Shaaaaaa!” The Evil Eye shouted, stopping the beholder’s onslaught.

Silence fell. The gnolls gulped, their fate suspended in limbo.

“Sparing livestock condition: Eliminate the intruders,” the Evil Eye said.

“For real?!” Milia said.

“I fucking knew it.” Shaki turned around, thrusting her spear at Metiva’s throat.

She needed to take control of the hostage.

“Wait!” Metiva said.

However, her body guard deflected the flint tip and retaliated.

His flail struck Shaki’s cheek sideways, knocking her back. She spat blood and fangs from the impact.

Ranna lunged towards Milia.

“Huaaaa!” she roared.

They flailed at each other. Ranna kept track of the Gnoll King’s Flail as it was terrifying in Milia’s hands. It was only thanks to her superior expertise with flails that she could keep up with the minotaur’s overwhelming strength.

“Help me!” the gnoll called her hesitating brethren.

Fuck! I have to do something! Move! Slade pleaded.

The unmoving slime stuck on Milia’s hair, out of energy.

He didn’t expect this turn of events. Increasing the party’s size should have helped, like turtle hatchlings rushing to the sea in packs. However, the enemies caught them at a choke point before the gnolls could have spread.

“Shaki!”

Seeing the troglodyte getting pummeled, Milia bashed through flanking gnolls. She rushed at her aid.

The Dungeon rooks backed away from the surrounding gnolls, walking to the edge of the bridge.

“We’ve already lost. If we’re all going to die, you might as well surrender for our sake!” Ranna said, twirling her flail.

“Hey Matriarch, stop these stupid mutts!” Shaki shouted.

The witch froze. Her eyes swam in panic as she clutched the war banner.

“F-for the sake of my family, please die!” she said.

“Should have fucking killed you…” Shaki muttered.

“I didn’t want it this way, so don’t take it personally!” The gnoll warrior led the charge, driving them closer to the end.

A warrior carelessly tried to push Milia’s buckler.

She deflected him, and Shaki pushed him out of the bridge with a strike of her spear.

“Aaaaah!” he screamed as he fell to his death.

“Don’t underestimate the Minotaur!” Ranna said.

They cautiously closed on the pair of women. The noose was tightening around Milia and Shaki’s necks.

“I can’t die yet!” Milia roared.

She pushed forward, shoving Ranna on the ground. The gnolls lunged towards her, many flails flew towards her.

Gritting her teeth, the minotaur braced for impacts.

She recalled the brief moments of happiness she shared with Shaki.

Please, let me protect her, Milia prayed.

Bonk

The spiked balls bounced on Milia’s skin as if it was made of steel. A bluish translucent membrane flickered on her body.

Milia’s amber hair had turned dark blue.

“What’s going on?!” Shaki asked.

[Corruption activated. Skill: Minotaur’s Avalanche transformed into Minotaur’s Walk of Peace.]

What’s that?!

[Walk of Peace: Significantly increases poise and defense at the expense of speed. The user cannot run or perform a strike.]

Why?! Slade wondered, confused.

The minotaur’s skill turned from a fierce charge to a tame walk. Corruption had reversed values and nature.

“Don’t be afraid!” Ranna said, siccing the gnolls on her.

Bruises and blood appeared all over Milia’s body, but she didn’t budge.

Shaki stood behind Milia, stabbing the gnolls away as safely as she could.

“Huh?”

The minotaur grabbed a young gnoll’s buckler and lifted him.

“Wha- wait wait wait aaaAAAAAAAH!” he screamed.

She walked away and let him go over the edge.

Unable to save their brother, the gnolls stepped back in fear and respect to Milia’s strength.

The minotaur moved towards Metiva.

“S-stop her!” the witch shouted.

Milia didn’t mind the strikes of flail. She walked unwavering.

The Evil Eye recovered from the recoil of his previous spell.

“Entertainment insufficient.”

It commanded the beholders to resume the attack.

“Stop fighting, stop fighting!” Metiva yelled.

The gnolls gave up on the rooks and ran back to protect the Matriarch.

Milia hugged Shaki, stopping the disintegration rays with her bare back.

A witch fell on her knees at Metiva’s side. The back of her head pierced by the flanking beholders.

It was almost Metiva’s turn, who held the warbanner.

“Ranna!” she screamed in terror.

The female warrior jumped, covering Metiva with a shield. She fell to her knees, her guts spilling out.

The Matriarch held her friend in an embrace, as corpses piled up around.

[Corrupted mana exhausted. Skill: Peace of Walk reverted to Avalanche.]

Milia’s hair turned back from dark blue to its auburn color.

“Ack!” she yelped as the rays gouged her back.

“Milia! Stop covering me,” Shaki pleaded.

“Fuck… If only I was a better leader,” Milia muttered.

The two women were stuck between the countless beholders and the traitor gnolls.

Slade jolted, woken up by a familiar sensation.

What is it?! His body throbbed, riddled with goosebumps.

A chilling silence spread throughout the cave. The beholders stopped firing and stared at the ceiling.

The winds whispered a single word. The faint sound was barely audible, yet it echoed throughout the cave, sinking into the mind of every witness.

The dumbfounded gnolls saw the beholders, madly waving their tentacles.

The crowd led by the Evil Eye ran away, some of them plummeting into the chasm by accident.

A seed of light erupted at the gate, carving a spheric void into the stone.

It vanished as quickly as it appeared.

A maelstrom of blood and screams devoured the creatures. They latched onto the pavement, trying to withstand the impact. Instead, their flesh tore and disappeared into a red bead.

The gnolls stumbled towards the Implosion.

Finally, the compressed bead exploded in a macabre cloud of blood.

The Evil Eye blinked in disbelief.

Its family died.

“SKRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!” it let out a wail of sorrow, trashing severed tentacles.

The gnolls stared in awe at the ceiling.