Dead

Everyone was then silent, and Raja said, "What do you mean no, Gen? Have you forgotten everything we've been through together?"

And Gen said, "Raja, I just want to understand the feeling I get when I'm imitating the orb. So I'm going to go ahead. Feel free to do your thing until I get the silver orb."

"Gen, wait! Don't leave me behind, please!"

Gen then ignored him and said, "I'm going to the silver orb. If you guys want, you can stay and participate in Raja's play."

And Lina said, "I'll stay then. It will be fun to fight these guys."

"Be careful. From what the man with the stone essence said, they are all awakened. Their essence is not at such a high level, but depending on their level, you might have a hard time."

"Gen. Since when do I need you to take care of me? Stop talking nonsense, and get to the silver orb once and for all."

Gen then said, "Okay, as you wish. What about you, Briny? Are you staying here, or do you want to go to the Silver Orb with me?"

And Briny said, "I don't know."

Lina then said, "Go with Gen. That way, we can split our group evenly."

"That's right. I'll go with you then, Gen."

Gen then said, "All right, but Lina, I know you don't care how the group is divided. You just want Briny to leave so their group won't be apprehensive about her presence."

And Lina said, "I don't know what you're talking about. Just go at once. We still have a lot of orbs to get."

Gen then started toward the silver orb with Briny, and Lina went toward the men.

Raja then said, "Lina! I knew you wouldn't leave me!"

And Lina said, "Of course not, Raja. I'm not a heartless person like Gen."

Raja started to cry and said, "Thank you, Lina! I knew you were different."

The leader of the other group then said, "It looks like you stayed for your friend, but that's too bad. Without the orbs, I'll be forced to take his life."

And Lina said, "Don't do that. I don't have the orbs with me. Our group leader took everything with him. So even if you kill him, you won't get the orbs."

The man then said, "I don't care. Go after your leader and get the orbs. You have ten minutes."

And Lina said, "But I'm not strong enough to fight him."

"I told you I don't care. If in ten minutes the orbs aren't here, your friend is dead."

"... Okay. I'll find a way to get them.", and then she turned to go after Gen.

Raja then said, "Lina!"

And Lina turned to Raja and said, "Don't worry, Raja. I won't let you die. Even if I have to fight Gen to do it."

"No, Lina. I can't end our group like this."

"What are you talking about, Raja?"

"Goodbye, Lina. Tell Briny I'll miss her, and tell Gen to go screw himself."

"Hey Raja. What's this? What are you planning to do?"

Raja then smiled and then used the sword that was pressed into his neck to cut his neck. Everyone was shocked to see this, and Raja's body fell to the ground.

Lina then fell to her knees and shouted, "NO!", she then bowed her head and began to cry.

One of the men from the other group then said, "Leader, why did you kill him? Even if we got the orbs, we would still need to use him as a hostage to escape."

And the leader of the group said, "What do you mean I killed him? Didn't you see what happened? He just cut himself."

Another man in the group then said, "Damn. What do we do now?"

And the leader then said, "Let's get out of here as soon as possible. If that girl with the water essence comes back, we don't stand a chance."

The rest of the group agreed with the leader's words. They then turned and were about to start running away when suddenly they heard, "Where do you think you're going?"

They then turned toward the voice and saw that it was Lina who was speaking, with her head still down on the ground.

The leader then said, "Ignore her."

Lina then said in a very low tone, "What do I do, Raja? They decided to run away instead of trying to take me hostage."

And Raja said, "Damn. We'll have to change plans then. Lina, follow my pace and let your imagination flow. You need to think you are omnipotent."

"That's easy, but do you have a plan that I should follow?"

"No. Do whatever you want, and I will accompany you. I will establish a mental communication with you."

"Okay."

Lina then said, "Freeze!", and then the men looked back once more as they ran towards the corridor. They then saw that something strange was happening. Lina began to get a black aura around her body, and slowly, it began to change. She grew a few centimeters. Two red horns appeared on her forehead, a pair of black wings on her back, and a tail. She then lifted her head from the ground and roared upwards.

The men seeing this were amazed, and one of them asked, "What is that?!"

And another man said, "Is it the essence of some animal?"

Their leader then said, "I don't know what it is, but keep running. Let's not take the chance."

Briny, upon hearing the roar, looked back and said, "Gen! Something has happened to Lina. Maybe we'd better go back and help them."

Gen then looked back, saw Lina's new appearance, and then said, "Damn it!"

And Briny said, "What is it, Gen?! How serious is her situation?!"

"It's not that."

"It's not? What is it then?"

"It's just that Lina looks so cool like that. I just thought about how I would look if it were me in her place."

Briny was about to speak, but then they heard Raja's voice say, "You had your chance, Gen. Now go imitate the silver orb."

Briny then said, "What? Where did that voice come from?"

And Gen said, "Let's get going. I'll explain it to you on the way."

BRiny then said, "All right.", and went with Gen toward the silver orb.

Lina then looked at the changes that had happened in her body and said, "I like it, Raja."

And Raja said, "Good. Now, let's get to them before they leave the room."

And Lina said, "You don't have to tell me that.", and then Lina pressed her foot down on the ground and started running towards the other group.

She then shouted, "You're not running away!", which caused the men to look back and see her approaching quickly.

One of the men then said, "Damn! She's coming towards us!"

And the leader said, "Keep running! It won't be long until we reach the corridor."

The men then focused on the corridor and kept running, not even looking back, and after a while, one of them said, "We're almost there."

Lina then said, "What now, Raja? This way, they'll run away."

And Raja said, "They won't run away. You'll get there before they escape."

"I don't think so. They are already too close to the corridor. Even if I run as fast as I can, I won't make it."

"Who said anything about running, Lina? Have you forgotten that I gave you wings?"

"That's right, I forgot."

"Let's not waste any more time."

"Yes, but how do I fly? I think it's obvious, but I have never done it before."

"Relax. You just need to think about flying, and my essence will do the rest."

"Okay."

Lina then started thinking about flying, and right after that, she started to fly.

She then thought, 'Raja was not lying. It was easier than I thought it would be.", and then, she went quickly towards the men's group.

The men kept running without looking back while their leader was shouting, "Don't stop! We're almost there! After we get to the corridors, she won't be able to catch us!"

The men then kept running to a point where they came within a few meters of the corridor, and one of them said, "We made it!"

Another one of them said, "Whew. For a moment, I thought we weren't going to make it."

The leader then said, "Stop talking. Get to the corridor before you sing victory.", and then the men stopped talking and ran towards the corridor. 

Still, just as they were about to enter it, Lina appeared above them and punched the wall above the passage to the corridor, causing several rocks to fall, thus blocking the passage to the corridor.

Seeing this, all of them got shocked, and the leader of the group then said, "Dammit! We were so close!"

Lina then turned to them and said, "I told you that you weren't going anywhere. Now you're going to pay for what you've done."