The Sphinx (III)

"Hideous form? It's completely far from hideous." Zero hissed, but when the White Minotaur stepped out of the golden light, the Minotaur form changed. The fur of the Minotaur turned pitch black, and large boils and muscles bulged all over its body. Horns curled backward, and sharp teeth protruding from its mouth were shown. It was a complete makeover when the Minotaur stepped out of the light.

"No way." Agnis gaped. She did not expect the whole changeover from a pure-looking creature to the complete opposite. But instead, what stood before her was now a monster that looked like a demon.

Zeraph ran forward and was head-to-head with the Minotaur. But instead, he used his swords to combat the Minotaur without fear. The swing of his sword was instantaneous to the point of being difficult to follow. With each cut, blood oozed out of the Minotaur's skin.

"What are you doing, Zero? Are you going to sit back and let someone else finish your job?"

"No!" Zero slashed down with his claws, tearing pieces of flesh from the Minotaur. The Minotaur jumped backward, and at that moment, Zero whipped his tail from turning in a full circle. His tail struck like a whip causing an explosive snap that tore through skin. The Minotaur was thrown back in one hit, slamming into the wall.

"That's more like it."

"Let's see who can get the last blow. The winner buys food for a week."

"You're on. It's got to be a three-star food with buffs."

"Deal."

Like two children, they excitedly played together, trying to outdo each other. Zero used his claws, teeth, and tail to create damage. He would blow streams of blazing, hot fire into the Minotaur when he had an opening. Zero and Zeraph were exchanging blows at the Minotaur, and the Minotaur was also dealing hits to both of them. Zeraph used his lightning-fast sword techniques to slowly whittle away the Minotaur's health. The Minotaur's health was halfway down to red.

"Watch out!" Agnis cried out from the back. This whole time, she was making the Minotaur into a porcupine. "It's going for a large-scale attack!"

As if the Minotaur heard Agnis' voice, a powerful swing of his arm came crashing down. A shockwave of energy burst forth, causing everyone in the immediate vicinity to fly backward. The Minotaur ran towards the golden light. Its black skin transferred back to pure white, and its health rapidly went back to full.

"You've got to be kidding me." Zeraph spat. He was bloodied from the last shockwave. Zeraph and Zero's health was down by a third.

"We need to keep him away from the golden light."

"We can see that, sherlock."

"Hey. No fighting against each other," Agnis retorted. This time she was the first one to dart forward. Her blades were blazing blue with fire. Then, with a swing of her blade like a bat, she knocked the Minotaur unexpectedly a few feet away from the golden light. "Holy Wrath!"

Agnis' dual sword attacked in rapid succession like a whirlwind. Her crooked smile erupted from the corner of her lips. For a moment, Zero couldn't help that she looked beautiful. She was an avenging valkyrie that flew down from the sky with her white hair blowing behind her. But then, the Minotaur returned to its ugly form and got up.

Zeraph ran around from the outside in an arch; he held his swords in his sheath, ready to pull out. When he came into the vicinity, he yelled, "Black Storm!" Matching Agnis' battle power with his, they synchronize each other's attack again, chipping down upon the Minotaur.

"Hey. Hey. Let me get in a couple of hits." Jack came bounding forward. Even though he was slower than Agnis and Zeraph, his power made up for it. The whole time, his swing did not connect until this moment. The Minotaur was momentarily held in place; furthermore, Jack could put in his attack. "Hammer Falls!"

"Holy Wrath!"

"Black Storm!"

The three yelled in continuously spamming skills one after the other. Their overpowering skills and abilities were pushing the Minotaur back. The health of the Minotaur was drastically going towards half. Magic flew at the Minotaur from every direction. At times, the soldiers fighting the Red Minotaurs had the chance to slip in their attacks. Especially the mages that stayed close together near the healers.

From left to right, the sound of clashing horns against metal, the burning smell of flesh, and the sweat mixed with blood could be seen on the marble floor. Tom, Eron, and Evan's group was doing well keeping the Red Minotaur minions at bay. Even though every time they killed a few, more replaced it in a matter of seconds. Zero weaved in and out, taking out the Red Minotaurs that came too close to him. He easily shredded them with his claws, teeth, and fire.

This was the moment the Zero was waiting for. He had let Jack, Agnis, and Zeraph attack continuously, keeping the Minotaur busy. Finally, the Minotaur again raised his arms and slammed down, creating a shockwave. All three flew backward from the impact and lost a large amount of health. Each one of them guzzled down a health potion trying to stay alive.

Zero was out of the vicinity of the attack and did not get harmed. He ran towards the Minotaur, who was running towards the Golden light. The Minotaur could make it to the golden light and change into his usual white color.

Take this! He thought. Zero blew Dark Fire onto the Minotaur with a sharp intake of his breath. The flames completely encompassed the Minotaur in black, burning away the pure white skin.

A hallowed scream erupted from the mouth of the Minotaur as if in complete pain. With a couple of steps back, the Minotaur flailed around, trying to get rid of the Dark Fire. Every time the Minotaur tried to get back into the golden light, a hissing-like sound could be heard burning the skin of the Minotaur. The golden light that cast healing magic affected the dark elemental fire, creating a chain reaction on the Minotaur. Rage filled the Minotaur; this time, its sight was set on Zero. Zero dashed away before he could be bulldozed by the Minotaur's attack.

Each stomp, each roar, more and more Red Minotaur appeared. There were over twenty Red Minotaurs present in the large room. The attacks were more vicious and chaotic. Sometimes the Red Minotaurs would surround the soldiers in large groups. Tom, Eron, and Evan's group had difficulty defeating multiple Red Minotaurs in one area. Alan was busily moving from one group fending for his life and taking out the strays as best as possible.

"Zero! I need some help here!" Alan called out. He was face to face with a Red Minotaur by himself with just his dagger. The gaping mouth of the Red Minotaur was aiming to bite off a chunk of Alan's neck.

"I'm busy!" Zero was dodging each horned attack from the Minotaur. Finally, he had to jump to the left and blow Dark Fire on the Minotaur again.

"Help!" Alan called out.

While fighting with his group, Evan finished the three Red Minotaur and rushed toward Alan. With a broadsword swing, the Red Minotaur was cut in half.

"Are you okay?" Evan called out. He pulled Alan back to his feet.

"You don't know how glad I am right now."

"No time to be lying around." Evan kicked hard at the Red Minotaur that came from the side. Alan dove head first with his dagger into another Red Minotaur behind Evan.

"We're equal now."

Evan laughed. "Yes, we are."

Alan joined in with Evan's group. They slowly defeated the surrounding Red Minotaur as they moved toward the other group.