Chapter 28

Meanwhile, Davida and Duncan were searching for a way out, combing the caves slowly and carefully. Along the way, however, Davida kept getting distracted either by the variety of vegetation or the bio-luminescent rock. Duncan just shook his head in exasperation at his young miss behaviour. "Come on, Duncan, let's go! We've got to find Eru and Diane," Davida urged. Duncan rubbed his forehead, "Yes, young miss", he said, 'Who's the one that got distracted a while ago.'

Before them, a light on the end of the cave shone, illuminating the edge of the cave just enough to prevent them from seeing further ahead. Suddenly, they felt the cave rumbled as the wall and ceiling begin to crack. "Run, young miss!" Duncan warned Davida. She nodded, bringing out a pin from her coat pocket and crushing it. Duncan felt his whole body lighten up and saw Davida was already ahead of him. 'As expected from the young miss', he smiled proudly.

They stepped towards the light and found themselves inside of a dome brighten up by a bunch of bio-luminescent stones. Davida and Duncan stood dumbfounded, looking at the now collapsing tunnel. "What can cause this?" Davida murmured. Then, a bunny ear popped up from the rubble before its whole face was revealed. It cutely looked at Davida and Duncan before propping itself up and hopping away.

Davida has a look of bewilderment while Duncan felt that the little bunny was suspicious. Then they saw a hand emerged from a boulder, and a bloodied person stood up wobblily. Davida screeched, quickly running behind Duncan while occasionally peaking. The bloodied person wobblily walked towards Duncan before parted her hair, "Oh, it's you guys", she said with glee. Duncan sighed while Davida pouted, "Diane, you meanie. How dare you scare me like that!" she stomped her foot. Diane giggled upon seeing her young lady reaction, "Sorry, sorry. It's just too tempting, right little bunny?" she looked down, finding the little bunny was gone.

Diane's eyes boggled, "Where did the little guy go?"

Duncan's eyebrow raised, "Little guy? Do you mean a little bunny that hopped away just now?" "Yes," Diane nodded vigorously. "It hopped that way" Duncan pointed toward the little bunny that was slumping down on the floor. Sensing Diane's gaze, the little bunny turned its head at Diane and cutely raised its left hand. "There you are; I thought you escape again," Daine said, approaching the little bunny before lifting it and hugging it in her arms. I giggled, seeing the little bunny struggled to get free from Diane's hug. Then, I noticed something strange. Long pillars extended as far as the eye can see with a lantern hanging from each of them. The ceiling was dark, but the pattern is still visible, and the marooned-coloured floor gives this room an eerie atmosphere.

All of a sudden, the collapsed cave behind us disappeared, leaving us dumbfounded. We warily put up our guard while Davida's eyes glittered. 'Seriously, this girl….' I facepalmed in my head. Our mood lightens a bit thanks to Davida, but it would not last long. A giant golem fell down from the sky.

*BOOM*

A massive crater formed around the golem, and the shockwave nearly knocked us down. "Fuck, this again" I had some nightmare about this golem from the previous trial. "Get ready!" Duncan shouted, alerting all of us as we immediately get into a fighting stance. The golem eyes shine, and his body rumbled as it tried to move its giant body. The golem thrust its fist fiercely, aiming at me at the front. I barely managed to dodge it, and yet, the shockwave alone slightly damage me.

"Damnit!" I cursed, feeling the golem attack on my ribs. "This one seemed stronger than the last," Davida exclaimed, "But, this time, we're not restricted. Let's give everything we've got", she rallied bravely. Surprised flashed in my eyes as I don't expect Davida to say that. "Right!" I raised my sword high, responding to Davida's rally.

===

The black silhouette grinned, amused by the Fate Master and his party. "I was just like that back then", he reminiscent about his past. The black silhouette smile sadly, thinking about his former comrade from ages long past. He raised his head, looking at the vast red skies above and sighed, "Unfortunately, I couldn't join you guys in the afterlife."

He shook his head and focusing himself back on the Fate Master and his party. He saw how they use their teamwork to masterfully dismantle his golem. The black silhouette then smiled mischievously. He put his hand towards the screen, touching it gently before ripples formed on it. The view from the screen changed from a bird's eye view into a first-person perspective from inside the golem. "Let have some fun, Fate Master."

===

"I can feel it; the golem is weakening. Push on, guys!" Encourage Diane, then she cast a spell towards Duncan, slightly healing him. "Thanks, Di!" Duncan raised his aura, coating it around his body before charging straight at the golem. "Eru, switch"

"Right", I jumped back, letting Duncan get the golem's aggro while Diane cast a recovery spell at me. When I was recovering, I saw fireballs flew past me, hitting the golem, interrupting its movement ever so slightly. Just as I was about to recover, however, we heard crumbling sounds from the golem.

"It's nearly done guys, push through!" I charge ahead, raising my aura; I jumped high into the sky. "Davida!" I signalled to Davida, and she immediately understood. This move was something we talked about before but never had a chance to try it out. She threw a fireball at me, exploding it just before it hit me. The explosion propelled me forward while I used my aura to create clones of myself.

"This is the end!" I shouted before slicing the golem from head to toe together with my clone at high speed. When I landed on the floor, the golem's body hit the floor. Davida, Duncan and Diane's eyes widen, and their mouth was agape. "What is that move!?" Duncan asked in disbelief, "Creating a clone and using aura to move at high speed should not be possible for a mere 1st Grade Aura Master. What a monster", he exclaimed.

Watching them looking at me like that made me wants to laugh, "What? Never seen a genius before?" I sarcastically said. They all shook their head and seemed to want to ask me how did I do that. But, their expression turned sour all of a sudden. "What's wrong, guys?" Davida slowly pointed her finger behind me. I slowly turned and saw the golem standing imposingly behind me. The golem emits a familiar black aura as it shrinks its body, becoming human-sized.

It draws formed a sword from its own body before getting into a stance. It cockily raised its hand, doing a 'Come On' gesture at us. Sensing the danger from the golem, we get into formation, readying ourselves for the second round of the fight.