Alwin looked up at the huge towering stone book… robot? It was certainly blocky like a robot, but it lacked any mechanical parts, so maybe robot wasn't the most apt description. What about golem? Yeah, golem had a better ring to it—except the book part of its name.

"Stop wasting brain power on how to describe it," Niwla scolded.

"To defeat thy enemy, you must know thy enemy."

"That's not how the saying goes."

"But, I added 'thy', which makes it fancy, so it must be true."

Niwla just rolled his eyes. And since he was in control of half of the main body, only one eye rolled, while the other remained transfixed on the blocky form of the stone book golem.

"We can argue later," Niwla said. "Dodge."

The stone book golem's fist plummeted down like a meteor. Niwla wanted to sidestep to the left, while Alwin wanted to hop and roll away to the right. The left half stretched sideways, while the right half curled inward, making the spirals of his Yin-Yang self more pronounced. For a heartbeat, they tore apart, seams of black and white sizzling open. Pain rippled through their system, snapping them back together like a wet, squishy spring.

"What are you doing, Alwin!"

"I'm a hop, skip, awaying from the attack. What are you doing?"

"Dodging out of the way, without wasting any stamina on pointless theatrics."

"They're not pointless. There are many points. So many points that I can't even name them all."

"That's just—"

A huge stoned fist crashed into them, creating another slime pancake once again. Though this time, the huge agglomeration of stone heaved upwards on its own, without them having to dig their way out of it.

"Ouch," they both groaned.

Their body sprang back into that signature spherical shape, wobbling and jiggling for a moment before settling. Above them, the stone book golem's other fist was hurtling down, set to obliterate them.

"Dammit, Alwin. Give me control. We don't have time to play games." Niwla shoved a wing into Alwin's face, his mental jelly form squishing under the feathers.

"No, you give me back control. The Yin-Yang Slime form was mine to begin with." He fought back, pushing against Niwla's wing. Alwin opened his mouth, biting down on his raw turkey wing.

"Fine!" Niwla conceded.

Alwin had the most experience with the Yin-Yang Slime; it was only natural that he had full control during the fight.

"Wait, really?" Alwin asked, opening his mouth and spitting blue feathers out of his mouth.

"Yes, really," Niwla said, hopping off the control seat.

A huge, beaming smile lit up on Alwin's face. He wiggled his tush into his seat. Both eyes of the main body grew wide like the moon. His mouth split open, revealing a set of half black and half white teeth.

Alwin rolled out of the way, the fist cratered the ground behind him. A meteor storm of stone fists chased after him. He hopped up and down, performing front flips, back flips, side flips, and sometimes just no flips.

"Stop dodging and attack!" Niwla shouted.

Oh, right, he was the attacker of the squad, not the dodger—if that even was a role.

"Yin-Yang Blast!"

A black and white orb shot out of his Core. They orbited around each other, detonating right in front of the stone book golem. A huge Yin-Yang Symbol forming.

Direct hit!

A torrent of fists punched through the symbol, blowing it away. Alwin rolled to the side, the world spinning around him as he just kept rolling. If one Yin-Yang Blast wasn't enough, why not more?

Five sets of black and white orbs launched out of his Core. They circled around each other in a haphazard orbit. Whites around white. Black around black. White around black. Black around white. They coalesced, Mana leaking into each other. A ginormous Yin-Yang Symbol detonated, shaking the entire room.

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A huge stone fist punched through the symbol, scattering the Mana into the wind.

Well, crud. That was the best he had. Knowledge wasn't worth the effort. Time to give up and go take a nap.

Niwla rolled his eyes at Alwin's feelings. His pupils came to a sudden stop at the top of his eyes as a thought crossed through his mind.

Fire.

The last stone book was destroyed using Fire. Maybe this was part of the challenge. They had to remember that its weakness was Fire from the first challenge.

"Alwin!" Niwla shouted. "Give control to Winal."

"Sure," he said. "Buddy, here you go."

Alwin hopped off the seat, rolled over to Winal, who was just standing in the corner watching everything unfold, then pushed him into the control seat.

A flash of light consumed the room. Fire and lightning burst out in arcs as Winal the Crimson Gold King Ant made his appearance once again.

He stared up at the humongous stone golem, books about to crash down on them. All six of his ant legs quaked in fear.

"I believe in you, Winal," Alwin said, shooting him a smile.

That was enough. The trembling stopped. In its place, flames and electricity sprayed as his confidence was renewed.

The fist slammed down. Winal moved three steps to the left, dodging. He climbed up the stony hand, his legs clicking against the rocky covers of the stone books. Dashing, he crawled up its forearm as it lifted up its fist.

Its other hand slammed down, attempting to slap the ant off its body. Winal dodged out of the way, crawling circles around the blocky hand. When he neared the top, he leaped off, straight toward the stone book golem's chest.

A swarm of Fire Blasts and Spirit Bombs surrounded him. Together, they were Mixed.

They exploded. The whole room shook. Smoke consumed everything and anything.

The stone book golem fell, whipping the smoke into a whirlwind as it toppled. Layers upon layers of stone-covered books peeled, cascading like a landslide. It slammed into the ground, shedding its hardened armor, sending shards exploding out in every direction.

Winal stood there, the tiny stones bouncing off his flaming and electrifying armored exoskeleton.

It was down, but was it out?

He turned to Niwla.

"Why not me?" Alwin whined.

Sweat poured down Winal's mental form. He had automatically defaulted to Niwla for a more knowledgeable answer. He should have consulted Alwin. Now, he had blown it. First Uchronia, and now a part of himself. He truly was a disappointment.

"I'm just messing with you," Alwin said. "Books are for wusses, so it's only right that you ask Niwla about them."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"And here you always claimed to be the smart one." Alwin pumped his eyebrows up and down.

Moving on from the dead end of a conversation, Niwla looked through the main body's eyes. The outer covering of books had been peeled off, leaving only stone pages forming the stone book golem's body.

"Stone page golem," Alwin said.

"Fair," he said. "Attack it again."

Winal nodded. He scuttled forward, climbing onto the downed stone page golem. Right on its chest, where the original stone book resided, he unleashed a storm of Mixed Fire Blasts and Spirit Bombs.

Another explosion rocked the room, and Winal remained unscathed.

The stone page golem remained unscathed, too, surprisingly.

"Again," Niwla said.

Winal deposited another set of Mixed Fire Blasts and Spirit Bombs on the chest of the stone page golem. When the smoke cleared, the only thing that had changed was that the air was vastly more polluted.

His mandibles blazed with power. Fire stormed while lightning blazed.

"Crimson Gold Cleaving Slash!"

Winal bit down on the stone paper chest. His mandibles struck the stone, but never pierced through. It felt harder than stone, than even steel.

"What's going on?" Alwin asked.

Winal shrugged. He, too, didn't know what had happened. He had put everything and more into that bite, all to prove that he was a useful part of themselves.

The stone paper golem below them trembled. It was picking itself up. Winal scuttled away, stepping on the stone fragments on the floor that crumbled under his feet, watching as the stone paper golem stood.

It pointed its stone paper finger at them, booming, "Power is knowledge. Knowledge is power. Do you have the power to wield such knowledge? Do you have the knowledge to defend such power?"

"Is it me, or did it hit its head too hard?" Alwin asked.

"It's not you," Niwla said.

Winal nodded.

"Great. So, did we hit our heads too hard?" Alwin asked.

"Perhaps," Niwla said.

Winal shrugged, lifting its two front legs into the air.

"Any ideas why it's talking all backwards?" Alwin asked.

"No—Watch out!"

Winal looked back just in time. The stone paper golem dug its fist into the ground, carving a trench deep into the white floor, about to hit them with the meanest uppercut it could.

The ant scuttled to the side, dodging the blow as it ripped past him. Another punch headed his way, and he scuttled away again. More and more uppercuts bombarded them, tearing the floor apart. Winal scrambled away before it could hit him each time.

"Maybe it did hit its head too hard," Niwla said.

"Wait, why are you agreeing with me?" Alwin asked. "Did I bite you too hard?"

"Nope, it's not that. Maybe the explosion knocked some of the logic runes or whatever it's using loose. Why else would it reverse its phrasing or how it's attacking?"

"Well, since you're taking that stance, I'm obligated to take the opposite," Alwin said, pouting. "It's not because of the explosion, it's doing this on purpose. It's—of course! It's so obvious! Why didn't I see it sooner?"

"See what sooner?" Niwla asked.

"Niwla, do you trust me?"

"Not in the slightest."

"Well, too bad. It's your turn to take control. Go all turkey on it!" Alwin cheered.

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