Moon lay on the cold stone floor of an empty room, far from the throne room, far from his team. His body convulsed in waves, every muscle contracting and releasing in rhythms he had no control over.

His acupoints burned as if molten metal was being poured through them. Throbbing, the spiritual energy inside them churning violently as his body tried to readjust to its natural limits after operating so far beyond them.

His vision blurred. Cleared. Blurred again. The ceiling above him swam in and out of focus like a reflection in disturbed water.

Mirage stood over him, his large white body blocking the light from the crystals above. The horse’s ears were flat against his head. His eyes were wide, darting between Moon’s trembling body and the corridor behind them. Every few seconds, a low, distressed neigh escaped his throat.

It was the first time he had been under such a predicament, Mirage didn’t know what to do.

He nudged Moon’s face with his nose. Moon didn’t respond. He nudged again, harder. But there was still little to no response from Moon.

Mirage pawed at the ground, his hooves scraping against the stone. He turned toward the corridor leading back to the team, ready to gallop for help.

"S-Sto...p."

The single word came out broken, squeezed through clenched teeth and a throat that felt like it had been scraped raw.

Mirage froze, turning back to Moon, his eyes glistening with something that looked remarkably close to tears. Another sorrowful neigh left him, quieter this time, and he lowered himself to the ground beside his master.

He pressed his warm body against Moon’s side and stayed there in an attempt to comfort him.

After ten minutes of agonizing pain, the convulsions began to ease. Little by little. The burning in his channels cooled from molten to merely scalding. The throbbing in his acupoints slowed from violent surges to a deep, persistent ache. His muscles stopped contracting and settled into a heavy exhaustion that pinned him to the floor.

Moon lay still, breathing hard, staring at the ceiling. Mirage’s warmth against his side was the only thing that felt assuring.

’Finally. It’s gone.’

Moon lay on the cold stone, his chest rising and falling in slow, shallow breaths. Every thought that formed in his mind arrived wrapped in pain, as if even the act of thinking had been bruised by what his body had just endured.

’This skill. The pain is worse than death.’

He had died before. Multiple times. But, none of it compared to the ten minutes he had just survived. Death was instant. This was prolonged, conscious agony that crawled through every fiber of his being without the mercy of ending.

But recalling how powerful the skill had made him, Moon couldn’t say it wasn’t worth it.

He had torn through dozens of Evolvers. Killed dozens of First Star fighters. Destroyed Layla’s entire force in a single combination. The lives, the experience, the spiritual energy he had accumulated in those ten minutes of power were staggering.

Despite the excitement itching at the back of his mind, urging him to pull up his status screen and see the results, Moon didn’t move. His body wouldn’t let him. His mind wouldn’t let him.

He simply lay there on the ground, eyes closed, the cold stone beneath him and Mirage’s warmth against his side.

Before he knew it, his consciousness drifted away as his body earned the much needed rest.

Mirage watched his master’s breathing deepen and steady. The horse didn’t move from his position. He lay pressed against Moon’s side, his large head resting on the ground beside him, one ear swiveling occasionally at any sound.

By the entrance to the small room, the Fire and Nature spirit hovered silently. Standing guard by the door without being asked, watching the corridor beyond.

Neither of them left his side.

Meanwhile, in the throne room, Moon’s teammates got to work.

The archer organized them into groups. Some gathered the bodies, storing them inside empty storage rings taken from the fallen for later distribution. Others cleared the rubble, pushing broken stone and shattered barricades to the edges of the room. A few mopped up the remaining water, wringing out soaked fabrics and drying the floor as best they could.

The throne room slowly transformed from a battlefield into something resembling an open hall again. The scorch marks and cracks in the walls remained, but at least the floor was clear.

Once the work was done, most of them sat down wherever they could find a dry spot. Some leaned against destroyed pillars. Others lay flat on the stone, staring at the ceiling.

The brute, however, had other plans.

He walked over to the ruins of Layla’s throne. The chair was mostly destroyed, the back shattered, the armrests crumbled, but the seat itself was still intact.

He turned around and sat down on it. Then, crossed his legs, placed one hand on the armrest that wasn’t there, and rested his chin on his other fist in an exaggerated imitation of Layla’s pose.

"Lower your heads before me, peasants." He said in the deepest voice he could manage. "I am your new ruler. Bring me exotic fruits and... whatever else she had up here."

The room went quiet for a second.

Then the tank sighed. "Someone get him off the throne before he starts asking for chained men."

"Too late." The brute grinned. "You. Tank. You are now my chained servant. Come fan me."

"I will break your legs."

"Is that any way to speak to your master?!" 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

A few tired laughs rippled through the group. Nobody got up to stop him. They were too exhausted, and frankly, too used to the brute’s antics by now to bother.

The archer shook his head from his spot by the wall, a faint smile tugging at his lips despite himself.

"Your highness, I wonder what Boss will think when he finds out that you took his rightful throne."

The brute’s eyes widened immediately, standing up instinctively. Then, a thought crossed his mind, and he relaxed, sitting back down.

"Hmph! The boss doesn’t care about such things."

The others laughed, shaking their heads in dismissal.

...

Moon’s eyes fluttered open as his natural body clock woke him up. Realising he had slept for a few hours, Moon began to stretch, checking out his body.

Overall, he felt much better than before, albeit he still felt some soreness.

"Time to check my status..."