[Mikhail’s POV]

Mortis banged his spear on the ground which resonated and produced a loud noise, enough to make anyone bleed ears.

Fortunately, we held our hands pressed onto our ears and freed ourselves of the pain, but that technique wasn’t completely successful either. We did a blaring sound, but it wasn’t as intense as the other guys of the Blood Knights felt.

But even after that mighty of an effort couldn’t clear us a path, as we were met with the beast, The Minotaur.

It was standing 10 feet tall and with two horns on his head. It looked like a concoction of a bull and a human. With his skin all hairy, which appeared to have burnt.

‘It may have ran through the fire itself.’

With a sword in my hand I looked towards Nikola, who seemed quite unwell. I turned my attention towards the beast. It was just one problem after another.

“Oh! Lord of Death…..help us.”

Avon prayed with his palms joined and eyes closed. I couldn’t understand the phrase ‘Lord of Death’ though that didn’t matter much as what he said after--’help us’ is what we actually need.

“It is him,” I pointed towards the Minotaur, “The Lord of Death.”

Avon shushed me over my statement and proceeded to pray. Maria stood still with her jaws open. Her face was frozen due to fear. I looked at Mortis and he seemed pretty afraid himself. I mean, of course they should be. Beating a Minotaur is a guild job and no individual had been to successful killing it.

“Mortis, mate. I thought you were helping us?”

“I- I- I was trying to…”

He stuttered as he spoke.

The winds carried the blazing fire to every other tree and eventually the whole forest seemed like it was burning and was up to roast the sky black.

The winds and the fire were still bearable, but a strike of a Minotaur is said to be so strong that it could kill a dozen humans in one shot. Many had already fallen victim to this vicious beast and we were about to be become the next unfortunates.

‘RAWR!!’

Came the beast running towards us with its right paw up in the air. Closing the gap between us, it ran two steps and then leaped in the air. Mortis made himself some space between us and held his spear horizontally up in the air. With this arms clenched and his feet wedged, he stopped the Minotaur’s paw before it could smash us. I sighed a relief, but in an instance got worried as I saw Mortis’ feet trembling.

It was clear that he cannot hold it longer and so we had to find a way out or else we all will be crushed, but the beast had some different plans.

It wrapped its palm around the spear and raised its arm. Mortis tightened his grip and tried pulling back, but that didn’t help as he was now dangling by the spear in midair.

Minotaur raised its left arm and swung it horizontally, pushing Mortis away from the spear. He travelled in the air and banged his back on a nearby tree.

The beast irrationally threw away his spear and gawked at us.

“Mortis—“

Maria screamed as she tried to get to him, but caught her hand and didn’t let go. Because if I had done that, then maybe she would fallen down too.

I shook my head in denial as she looked at me, but then the beast still wasn’t calm and lifted its arm to bash us again, but this time Avon was the one who saved us.

He outstretched his two fingers and waved them horizontally, producing a force field which withstood the raw power-punches of the Minotaur. I observed Avon and it felt like he was glitching, he couldn’t hold it long either.

I glanced around and noticed Krial’s eyesight, without any communication he understood what I needed of him. He freed himself of the soldiers coming at him and fired an arrow at the back of the beast’s head. The beast responded as predicated and went behind Krial.

Krial wasted no time and started running away from us, deeper in the forest. Avon fell down on his knees and saw Mortis. Maria followed his eyes and then quickly ran towards him.

I looked around and Nikola was nowhere to be found.

‘I shouldn’t think about him right now.’

I thought and looked at Avon immediately; grabbing him by his neck I pulled him as I ran in the direction of Krial.

“Not again!!...”

Avon screamed from the top of his lungs. Well, it did feel like I was doing the same thing again.

‘Déjà vu’

I said aloud in my mind.

“You are an Enchanter, right?” I asked him which made him pull his legs and stopping me in my tracks.

“How?”

“That doesn’t matter right now. You have partial control over the three elements. I need you to get me close to its eyes.”

I said instantly, my hand gestures were stiff and my voice as well. I was dead serious, because if I can’t make it time, then Krial could die.

“Okay.”

Avon answered with just one word and gestured me to walk some steps ahead. Instead of walking I sorted for running.

Avon started mumbling something behind my back, with his arms crossed in front of his vest,

“VALORE!!”

He yelled and directed his hand towards. A giant ball of wind lifted me up in the air and then Avon outstretched his fingers which sent me flying towards the beast.

“AHH!!”

I squawked as I travelled as fast a leaf in heavy winds, but again I brought back my composure and with my sword pointing towards it, I was ready to strike it down.

In my previous encounters with the Minotaur, I had learnt that any attack with an ordinary weapon was impermeable as its skin was rock solid and could deflect any slash easily.

But like every other animal it had something which wasn’t that hard.

‘I need to pierce its eyes.’

That’s right.

An eye is such a vital organ and it is always left unguarded. A small stone could do heavy damage if thrown at such a speed. Such is the case here, I am flying with the wind and so I leaped around the beast’s head and wedged the sword deep in its right eye.

I released my grip over the sword and rolled down thrice. With my right arm and knee screeching the ground, I halted next to Krial. He looked at me and then at the beast. He raised his bow and launched another arrow which bulls eyed the left one.

The Minotaur had lost its sense of direction and was wilder than before, but now we had time to prepare or maybe run. I saw Maria and Avon carrying Mortis.

“Can’t even take an attack from a Minotaur, huh?”

Out of nowhere, I saw Nikola walking. He kept his eyes over Mortis and swinging his sword the same way he did before.

“Guess, General Juan was wrong after all.”

‘General?’

‘Juan?’

I thought as the name seemed familiar to me.

“The Blood Knights can handle any adversity. I’ll show you how to defeat this foolish monster.”

Nikola boasted in confidence, with his chest pumped and tight grip on his sword, “This will be over in just seconds—“

As soon as he said, the beast with hands wriggling slammed him across the forest.

“Well, that ended quickly.”

I mocked as I tried finding Nikola deep in the bushes.

“Nikola. Oh! Nikola…. I really wonder why Edwin takes so much interest in you.”

I heard a voice and searched for it instantly. After glancing for a few flashes, I looked upwards.

A figure was levitating downwards.

‘I know him…’

I thought and as I thought the surroundings around us were now changing. The trees were vanishing, brown soil turned to white sand, sky became much more clear and a sound peculiar to that of flowing water could be heard.

I turned backwards and saw a lake with a giant tower in the middle which seemed to touch the clouds.

‘This is the Lake of Life?’

I looked at the beast and it was now on fire, engrossed in blue flames. It ran places to save itself, but with no vision its death was set in stone.

I observed the figure again and upon close inspection I concurred that it is a man.

The Figure was one of the five Elementus. The God who graced Kingdom of Terra, the one who holds authority over one of the five elements, Earth.

It was indeed ‘Lord Soli’.