"Quick! Shoot that ugly thing!" The words practically tore themselves out of Rohan’s throat before he could think them.

Rohan was in full panic mode. In the heat of the battle, he failed to take into account the time they’d spent fighting Liam, forgetting that a thousand-strong horde of Spike Beasts were still marching in their direction at that very moment.

The narrow entrance tunnels leading into the core chamber had turned black with bodies. Spike Beasts poured in over each other, their hunched silhouettes and jagged spikes filling the passageways like a flood of meat.

The front ranks were already spilling into the room, scraping over the floor as they toppled over each other in a frenzy.

Now that they had lost their master, their bodies returned to their own control, sending them back to their normal mindless state.

For a horrible second, Rohan’s mind went blank just staring at the beasts practically tearing at each other just to get a piece of the juicy Awakened meat that lay in wait.

’Too many... there are far too many.’

Even with Liam dead, even with the stone vines going limp around the chamber and the sleeping effect likely about to break the unconscious Awakened, it didn’t matter if they were simply stampeded by that many beasts.

"Elane!" He broke her out of her stupor with that shout. His first command fell on deaf ears, and only now was she fully aware.

"Forget Liam, and shoot that damn thing! It’s our only hope of getting out of this alive!"

That was the only thing in his eyes right now. The motionless body of the somehow still alive Pseudo-Commander boss. That was the only way any of them were making it out of this gate alive — its death would collapse the space containing this gate, forcing the dimension shut forever from that moment onwards.

That was the only path to salvation they had.

The malformed thing lay collapsed, with Rohan and Elane on one side and the scrambling horde on the other.

He entered a mad sprint, breaking through his previous records for speed, praying he made it to the body of the boss before the horde did.

Any chance they had of making it out alive would be dashed if they had to make it through hundreds of maddened Spike Beasts before reaching the boss.

The first arrow flew out immediately, Elane grasping just how desperate their situation was and rushing to let them off.

It struck the boss’ body in the side of the neck, but like a mirror of the previous situation, it sunk barely a few inches before coming to a halt. Though, it did seem to penetrate a little further now that its body was completely limp, muscles no longer tensed under Liam’s control.

But it wasn’t enough.

"Don’t aim for its neck, go for the heart!" Rohan screeched.

There was at least a dozen inches of chitin plating, skin, muscle and bone between them and its extremely well protected heart. Aiming for its less protected brain wouldn’t do them any good, as the thing was already mindless — the heart was the only thing keeping its body alive now through sheer muscle memory.

Even without a mind to tell it what to do, it still continued to pump like a well oiled machine crafted over generations of hard work.

Through sheer will and adrenaline, Rohan made it to the body before the horde did, immediately aiming his strongest strike at the chest of the malformed beast. Even with all the noise around him he could hear the thumping of the powerful Pseudo-Commander’s heart, making it easy for him to locate it.

The Elite spear came free from Rohan’s grasp and tore savagely into the beast in a spray of blood, driving it in endlessly with every scrap of strength he had left.

He completely ignored any strain and pain his body felt under the intense stress, only focusing on getting to that damned heart!

The first Spike Beast from the horde reached him and lunged at him from the side, launching an array of spikes as it did so.

Rohan didn’t even look at it, letting his Firestone Skin do all the work of fending off the beast’s attacks. Though he knew he wouldn’t hold for long like that. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Another arrow of Elane’s came over in that instant, landing directly in the opening he’d created in his incessant thrashes at the beast’s chest, digging the wound a few inches deeper.

"Nearly there!" Rohan scowled.

He could see from the corner of his eye that some of the Awakened were starting to awake from their slumber, looking sluggish in their demeanour, as if they’d just woken from a coma.

He was grateful that he and Elane arrived late after seeing how weak everyone looked.

His face dropped when he saw the first Awakened be devoured by the horde. They were scattered all across the core chamber, most of them at the far end opposite to where the entrances were, but an unfortunate few were closer, succumbing to the incoming horde before they could even realise what was going on.

Elane switched her targeting to those Spike Beasts nearest to the stirring Awakened. She grit her teeth as she made the decision to protect and save them over ensuring Rohan’s safety while he tore at the chest of the boss, but she had trust in his Elite Firestone Skin to hold out long enough.

’Just one more inch!’

Rohan entered a flow state, barely even registering his surroundings at this point — his gaze focused solely on the rib cage that had just revealed itself. That was it, the final obstacle between him and the beast’s heart.

By now he was completely encased in over two dozen Spike Beasts all trying to get a piece of him. To the outside, Elane wasn’t able to tell whether he was still alive or not — she could only place her hopes on him clutching on to life and delivering the finishing blow.

’Finally!’

Unaware of the pain his body was experiencing, Rohan felt a wave of euphoria as he broke through the beast’s rib cage, its heart finally within his grasp.

Rohan didn’t hesitate to clutch it in his hand and crush the last remaining life out of it.

He felt something hard slide out of it and into his bloodied fist, but by that point, his mind couldn’t take it any longer.

Every ounce of energy inside of him had been expended, and his consciousness slipped away.