FeelinLucky and Candy both looked worse for wear. I could see their health bars and they both were at about twenty-five percent of their max. Lucky was without his Flesh Hulk so I could only assume it had been destroyed. Both of their mana bars were also low. All in all, they were both running on fumes.

            Candy smashed her lollipop on the tile floor. Where she hit, the ground cracked even more, before erupting into a shower of debris. Rising from the earth and growing faster by the second was a massive tree, dripping a glowing translucent liquid. Candy spent the last of her mana to cast her strongest heal, Tree of Life. Immediately, I could feel my wounds healing at an alarming pace.

            Rage burned in the cultist’s eyes. His target; Lucky. In a fit of anger, our enemy hurled his ax, but not at Lucky. The weapon flew directly at Suzuha and Rocky. Sadly, Tree of Life could not remove debuffs.

            Suzuha cried out in pain as the ax traveled straight through her, dealing an exorbitant amount of damage. Her health bar quickly depleted and showed no signs of stopping. I watch in horror as the ax cleaved into the ground behind her. The attack was not over yet as the ax began to glow a bright red.

            I yelled out for my friend, “Suzuha, move!”

            The paralysis wore off the moment the ax exploded in a shower of metal and flames. We all turned to see Suzuha and Rocky blasted forward from the impact of the sudden explosion. Smoke and ash engulfed our friends.

            “AGH!” FeelinLucky screamed as he smashed his right palm on the ground. His book glowed a sickly green as black shadows spread on the floor towards the cultist. Skeletal hands rose from the pale darkness, clawing into the cultist and rooting him in place. Lucky channeled his spell for as long as he could, but his remaining mana was quickly being drained.

            Kit-Kat threw her sword into the air, almost reaching the vaulted ceiling. Her leg muscles tensed as she jumped after it, catching it before it fell. As she was in mid-air, her body shrunk back to its original size. A whirling blade of death fell from the heavens, directly towards the rooted cultist.

            My body moved on its own. Muscles tensed and time seemed to slow, but not due to the Haste spell. Instinctual Movements activated without me forcing it. The world around me slowed. My body moved with lightning speed. Punch after punch, followed by kick after kick slammed into the cultist. Bones crunched under my fist. That should have bothered me, but this was life and death. My only concern was getting us out of here alive. Craters of flesh peppered the cultist.

            Kit-Kat finally came down, slashing deep into the cultist’s chest. Our enemy screamed out in pain as the light in his eyes faded. His body shrunk as he fell face-first into the tile.

            “We were so close…” The cultist breathed his last words before his body shattered into a puff of digital smoke.

            His death meant nothing to us. Our concern were our friends. As the smoke and ash dissipated, Suzuha and Rocky were visible. Rocky lay on top of Suzuha. He must have tackled her out of the way and shielded her with his body.

            Both their health bars continued to deplete. Next to the bars was a little red symbol of a flame. They were both under the burning condition. Rocky’s back easily showed it, as it was now blackened from the earlier explosion.

            Candy ran to their positions, pulling a vial of blue liquid from her pack. As she downed it, her mana bar began to fill back up. Placing her hands on Rocky, blue light spread from her to his body. The burns dissipated and the fire symbol vanished. Rocky’s health bar stopped falling as well.

            Luckily, Suzuha had more health due to her gear, allowing Candy to wait a second for her to regain the mana needed to cast Cleanse again. It was a race against the clock. Which would happen first, Suzuha losing all her health points, or Candy’s mana returning.

            We all held our breath as we watched in fear. While Candy’s tree was healing a tremendous amount, the burning effect was apparently very strong as it was damaging Suzuha faster than the regeneration could handle.

            Candy counted her mana until the exact amount she needed was reached. The same blue glow washed over Suzuha, removing the burn. I could see her health bar…it was at a grand total of five.

            We all breathed a sigh of relief. We finished the dungeon, and without a single casualty. I fell back onto the tile floor, absolutely exhausted.