Groll’s spell abruptly stopped.

Not by choice.

But because something violently interrupted it.

A wet sound cut through the violet fog.

SCHLK.

And then...

Gurgling.

Max’s eyes widened.

’Finn.’

That had definitely been the rogue goblin doing his job properly.

For barely a second, Max felt relief. The sorcerer had stopped casting the deep sleep spell.

But that relief lasted exactly half a second.

CRACK.

The sound of a whip striking flesh echoed through the hallway.

"AGH!"

Chloe was sent flying backwards, crashing onto the floor.

Vasha held a long black whip covered in glowing red runes. Her elegant expression had completely vanished. Only anger remained now.

"You troublesome little piece of trash, you should’ve stayed in your chains," the orc hissed.

She raised the whip again.

Max reacted instantly.

"HEY!"

He raised his hammer, ready to throw it straight at the orc woman’s face.

But something dropped in front of him.

THUD.

A massive hairy shape blocked his path.

Eight giant legs dug into the stone floor.

The giant spider they had freed from its cage.

Its many eyes glowed with pain. And the obedience mark on its neck burned intensely.

The creature trembled as it positioned itself in front of Vasha. Forcing itself to obey.

Max clenched his teeth.

"...Damn it, it turned against us."

Neros immediately appeared beside him, sword in hand.

"I’ll handle it."

He lunged at the spider with a swift slash.

SWISH.

The creature dodged with a leap.

Another slash. Another jump.

The spider was absurdly fast and agile.

Neros frowned with visible disgust.

"Insects like this disgust me."

The creature screeched and lunged at him again.

Max barely stepped back and activated the collar.

Ten magic circles appeared behind him.

CLACK.

CLACK.

CLACK.

His skeletal knights began materialising.

And instantly died.

BOOM.

An enormous fist literally punched through three of them at once. Others were hurled into the walls, falling apart midair. Two exploded into fragments the moment they hit the floor.

A chill ran down Max’s spine before he even saw him.

Heavy footsteps slowly advanced through the fog.

THOOM.

THOOM.

THOOM.

A gigantic black silhouette emerged in front of him.

Skar, the Black Scourge.

Again.

That damned monster again.

The enormous orc looked at the scattered skeleton remains on the ground. Then he raised his gaze toward Max.

And smiled.

A huge smile. Violent. Happy.

"I knew you’d come for your little friend."

His deep voice echoed throughout the hallway.

"I’ve been waiting for you."

Max felt his entire body tense up.

Pure instinct.

Every fibre of his being screaming the exact same thing.

’RUN. ESCAPE. GET AWAY.’

But he couldn’t.

Not while Chloe was still fighting. Not while Neros battled the spider. Not while the entire hallway had become absolute chaos.

And honestly...

It felt like they were losing.

Then something shot out of the violet fog.

A small grey figure.

Finn.

The goblin appeared behind Skar with his dagger ready to slit his throat. His eyes burned with pure hatred.

"YOU’RE THE BASTARD WHO KILLED MY COMPANIONS!"

The dagger came down.

And never reached him.

Skar caught Finn midair without even looking behind him.

Like catching a fly.

Max’s eyes widened.

"FINN!"

The orc slightly turned his head toward the captured goblin.

And smiled even wider.

"I can’t believe..."

He tightened his grip around the small body.

"...an idiot like you came back to a place this dangerous."

And then...

SLAM.

He smashed Finn’s face against the wall.

The impact sounded horrible.

Far too loud.

The stone cracked.

And the goblin’s head burst against it.

Max froze.

His brain simply stopped working for a second.

’...No way.’

Finn’s body dropped to the floor like a broken doll. Without moving.

Without breathing.

Without anything.

Skar looked at the blood on his fingers with obvious annoyance.

"Disgusting."

He shook his hand.

"Now I’m going to have to wash up before dinner."

"Ngh—!"

Neros finally managed to catch the giant spider midair.

He grabbed it by the abdomen while it screeched desperately.

And with one brutal movement, he sliced off several of its legs.

SHK.

The creature let out a monstrous shriek.

Neros squeezed the spider’s body.

And webbing violently shot toward Skar.

FWOOSH.

The orc’s legs became trapped in a thick sticky layer.

Skar looked down.

And started laughing.

A huge, sick laugh.

"HAHAHAHAHA!"

He slammed one foot against the floor.

"This is a fantastic way to challenge me!"

The laughter echoed throughout the hallway.

"But you’re not defeating the famous Black Scourge with something like this!"

Neros roared and charged forward.

His sword came down directly toward the orc’s torso.

CLANG.

Silence.

And then...

CRACK.

The sword shattered in half.

Half the blade spun through the air.

Neros froze completely, holding only the broken hilt.

Skar laughed again. Even louder this time.

The sound filled the entire corridor.

Max slowly stepped back, breathing unevenly.

He saw Chloe trying to approach again, but Vasha kept blocking her with the whip.

He saw Finn’s unmoving body lying against the wall.

He saw Neros staring at his destroyed sword in his hands.

Again.

Everything was going wrong.

Terribly wrong.

And Max...

Didn’t know what to do. Didn’t know where to retreat.

Didn’t know how to escape this situation.

For the first time since arriving in this world...

He truly felt like he had lost.

This was definitely worse than a "Game Over."

Skar kept laughing in front of him. Like an impossible final boss that couldn’t be stopped.

And Max could only think one thing.

’I want to go home.’

To his room.

To his computer.

To his video games.

He wanted to sit in his chair. Open any game. And press the restart button.

The released creatures screeched in pain because of their obedience marks.

Vasha continued striking the floor with her whip, preventing Chloe from getting any closer.

And Finn’s unmoving body remained lying beside the cracked wall.

Max breathed heavily.

His mind was moving too fast.

Too slow at the same time.

He had no plan.

No way out.

No idea how to defeat something like Skar.

And the enormous orc kept laughing in front of them.

"Is that all?" he asked between laughs.

He slowly spread his arms.

"I expected much more from the castle’s heroes!"

Neros tightly gripped the broken hilt of his sword. His feline ears were completely pinned back. Pure frustration.

"...Damn it."

Max took a small step backwards.

Skar took one forward.

THOOM.

The stone trembled.

Fear once again spread through Max’s entire body.

And then...

FWOOOOOOOSH.

A massive gust of wind violently exploded through the hallway.

The violet fog vanished instantly. Torn from the air as if it had never existed.

Everyone instinctively covered their eyes.

Max’s hair was blown backwards by the force of the wind.

The hanging fabrics along the walls began thrashing wildly.

Even Skar stopped laughing for a moment.

"What the hell...?"

And then the white light appeared. Incandescent. Covering the entire hallway.

Max could only wait for the "Game Over" screen.