Just as the effects of Inverse Shell were coming to an end, Mrs. Cooper yelled out her next move.

"Sealing Shell!"

In an instant, a giant seal—yes, the animal—erupted into existence around the fused Elders. On the back of that gigantic seal was a turtle shell similar to Mrs. Cooper's, minus all of the spikes. Or nubs in her case, after she was forced to break hers off when the fused Elders nearly burned her into a crisp. Instead of spikes, towering large white pillars were anchored into the shell's curve, with a myriad of rune-like characters spiralling down its length.

As the runes lit up with a silver glow, the Sealing Shell wrapped its flippers around the fused Elders, encompassing them within its form. A huge, smug grin formed on its face as its objective had been accomplished.

And then Inverse Shell vanished completely.

All of the momentum that Commander Cooper had built up, thanks to Alwin's explosively genius plan, sent him zooming forward at speeds that rivalled even the fused Elders.

In the few microseconds that Commander Cooper took to close the distance, the fused Elders had already begun to break out of their restraints. The gigantic Sealing Shell's face grew pale as it struggled to hold them down.

Explosions of fire and arcs of lightning erupted from its flippers. Its shells groaned and its flippers trembled. With one cataclysmic burst of power, its flippers were flung wide open, and it was sent reeling back.

As the Sealing Shell faded away into magical particles, tears poured down its cheek. A mixture of the pain that had been inflicted on it and how much of a failure it was—unable to even hold them back for a single second

But that was all the time that was needed.

The fused Elders couldn't react.

Commander Cooper smashed into them full force, beak first. His sharp pecker stabbed through them easily, leaving a gaping hole straight through their chest. Without even slowing down, Commander Cooper continued sailing forward, disappearing into the burning remains of Tentative Camp.

The fused Elders looked down at themselves. Their mouths were downturned with horror, eyes widening to match the size of the hole in their chest. They moved a single trembling hand toward the edge of the hole and brushed their finger along its perimeter. Weak flames and faint sparks danced around the fleshy rim as they tried their best to seal the wound.

Somehow, even after all of that effort, the fused Elders still lived.

There wasn't any hesitation in their next move. No infighting between or differences between the two Elders. They staggered forward, dragging their near-corpse in the direction of the distant Crimson Gold Sect.

No doubt to grab some sort of item—a relic, a salve, anything—that could heal such a grievous wound.

Alwin couldn't let them do that, not after all of the sacrifices to bring the fused Elders to the brink of death.

But he couldn't so much as move. The chains that they had placed on him still held him down. Its strength was fading along with the fused Elders' life force, but it was still too strong for him to bust out of.

There was nothing he could do but watch. The constant blasts of fire and lightning washing over his body destroyed whatever concentration he needed to form a spell in his Core.

Commander Cooper was still nowhere to be seen after his glorious crash course through the fused Elders. Where was the muscle when you needed it the most?

If offense was the best defense—then surely in some roundabout way that Alwin could spin, but was currently not in the right headspace to do so—the best offense would then be defense.

So why wasn't Mrs. Cooper doing anything about the fused Elders who were moving at a pace even a snail could beat?

His eyes swept the battlefield and found her.

She was slumped. Barely breathing. Clutching onto Cooper Trooper and to life.

The Shellmet, Selfish Shellfish, and giant oyster that protected him were gone, nothing more than magical dust in the thick plumes of rising smoke.

Even the normally jolly and oblivious Cooper Trooper could sense something was wrong. He reached up to his mother's cheeks, patting them, accompanied by baby blabber laced with worry.

Alwin recognized that look. Those sunken cheeks, dull eyes, and hollow breaths. Mrs. Cooper was in Mana Exhaustion.

Both Coopers were out of commission.

Were the Elders of the Crimson Gold Sect really about to get away with all of the death and destruction they had caused to Tentative Camp and its troops?

No, not like this. Alwin wasn't going to give them a chance to recuperate. To give them a chance to perform another medley of destruction.

Alwin pulled at the chains, willing his legs to push himself off the ground. No matter how much he struggled, they remained steadfast. All it did was cause the cuffs around his legs to eject more fire and lightning into his body, searing him with an unhealthy dose of agony.

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Still, he strained.

Still, he failed.

Was it really going to end like this?

All of a sudden, a door of light emerged right in front of the fused Elders.

They still had the strength to pull off such a technique? How?

What were they going to do with it? Simply escape or something far worse?

The answer was neither.

Monsters poured out from the gate of light.

Frogs with wings on their backs. Double-headed monkeys, each head shouting contradictory orders. A hulking bear with forearms so bloated with muscle, it moved more like a gorilla than a bear. Countless different species surrounded the fused Elders, pointing whatever weapon they were the most proficient with. Mostly their hands, but the occasional sword and bow cropped up too.

Most importantly, a familiar figure emerged from the gateway. A floating diamond-shaped crystal.

It was Lapis.

And she was accompanied by an army of mini-hers, her drones. They fanned out across the area, surveying the damage done to Tentative Camp. Information was relayed back to Lapis as she began to issue orders in her typical whimsical manner.

Aquatic-based monsters, including the winged frog from earlier, pulled away from the fused Elders. They split up, following the path the drones took before unleashing various water elemental skills.

"Wet Palm."

"Cloud Bubble."

"Waterball."

Abilities flew out left and right in a display of blue waterworks as they splashed against the raging flames. Water burst, bubbled, and hissed as it collided with the inferno. The flames weren't so easily conquered. They fought back with hisses of steam as the water barely made a dent.

While they continued to put out the fire, the drones continued to survey the area. One settled on Mrs. Cooper and her baby, while another landed on Alwin.

It looked at him with what he could only guess was an inquisitive look. There wasn't much to work with since the drone didn't have a face—unless you counted his reflection on its surface.

The drone hovered a moment longer, then called over another drone to assist in its survey. Together, they stared Alwin up and down, drifting back and forth along his entire length, scanning him from every conceivable angle.

They didn't seem to be concerned about the fire and lightning chains that held him down, far from it. In fact, they barely gave it a passing glance. Again, it was hard to tell since they didn't have a face, much less anything resembling eyes.

Still, they continued to comb over Alwin's entire body searching for... something.

After concluding their inspection, they paused. It looked like they were delivering Lapis a message.

Alwin watched as her body tilted upwards in surprise. She turned to face him. The expression on her face—which she didn't have—didn't give him any clues to work with. But he had spent enough time with her to otherwise guess what she was thinking.

"Slime boy, apprentice of mine? Is that really you? You're alive?" That was what Alwin thought she was thinking.

She floated over toward him until someone stopped her. It was a double-headed monkey. One head kept an eye on the fused Elders, the other spoke.

"What should we do with him?"

"Right," she said. "I say we get rid of him."

"Are you sure, ma'am?"

"Yeah. This guy's too strong, and he's almost dead. Not worth the manpower to restrain him."

"Understood, ma'am."

The monsters surrounding the fused Elder lowered their weapons and turned to Lapis. There was a brief pause of confusion from Lapis before she calmed herself.

"Oh, right. I forgot, I'm probably the only one strong enough to kill him even if he's nearly dead. Whoopsies."

Lapis floated toward the fused Elders, Chi Ren and Jin Ren. They merely stared at her, breath heaving as it took all of the energy left to just stand. The slightest breeze caused them to sway and nearly stumble over.

"I'm in a rush today, so nothing too fancy. Let's see…" Lapis mumbled to herself, glancing over their broken forms."I got it."

More drones poured out of the gateway.

The other monsters instinctively backed up as the drones descended upon the fused Elders. They could do nothing but watch in abject horror as the drones imprisoned them.

One by one, the drones interlocked with each other, forming a perfect diamond-shaped crystal with the fused Elders right in the center.

A single drone removed itself from the structure, giving Lapis a clean line of sight.

"Pew."

A single beam of light shot out from the tip of her crystal head.

It sailed through the opening, and the drone rushed back into place, sealing the fused Elders with that beam of light.

Inside, it refracted and reflected, twisting into a web of light that grew brighter and brighter, until the interior was just a blaze of blinding radiance. And the fused Elders disappeared into the brilliance.

All at once, the light vanished.

So did they.

Within the giant crystal structure was nothing. Not even a single speck of dust. The fused Elders were gone. Along with them, the Crimson Gold Sect.

Alwin breathed a sigh of relief. Things were finally over. He breathed another one as the shackles chaining him to the ground disappeared.

The drones disassembled and began scanning the remains, or lack thereof, of the fused Elders. Meanwhile, the other monsters simply looked in awe at Lapis. Even Alwin couldn't help but stare.

A reminder of just how powerful Lapis actually was.

Sure, the fused Elders may have been weakened, but even in that weakened Alwin could do nothing but watch.

And Lapis had erased them like an afterthought, using one of her less 'fancy' moves too.

It was frustrating.

A shadow hovered into his vision. Alwin looked up.

It was Lapis, accompanied by a floating drone right next to her. On its head was a single bucket of water with a tag, 'Super Extra Strength Virgin Holy Water' plastered on it.

"Oh, slime boy apprentice of mine. I will avenge you."

"W-wait, Lapis. It's me—"

Before Alwin could get the words out, the drone threw the bucket at him. Water exploded over his entire body.

Alwin writhed and convulsed in pain. Everything hurt. Everything burned. It was like every inch of his body was on fire—which technically half of it was.

Why won't the suffering end?

Through the pain, an idea screamed out at him. Something that might just end it all.

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