“Where’s Gluttony?” Charlotte asks, lifting David out of the lava field.

  “Guys, Ruben…he’s gone,” Violet announces as she, David, and Kai regroup with the others.

  As the group processes the devastating news with sorrow, Athena stands apart, checking on Demeter.

  “Why isn’t that abomination after you?” Demeter asks, shaken from all the damage she’s taken.

  “It realized it couldn’t catch up to me, so it turned its attention to the souls,” Athena replies. “It’s not as dumb as it looks. You, on the other hand, should have listened to me.”

  “You would not have gotten past those souls. They’re quite strong.”

  Athena stands with a fierce, commanding presence, her piercing gray eyes reflecting a sharp, calculating gaze softened only by a few loose strands of her long, dark hair, which is otherwise tied back neatly. Her fitted breastplate is etched with intricate battle scenes and symbols of strength and justice, embodying both power and purpose. Below, a leather skirt layered with metal plates grants her agility, while polished bronze greaves and bracers shield her forearms and shins.

  She holds the aegis shield firmly on her left arm – a broad, imposing shield adorned with the snarling head of a gorgon at its center. The aegis shimmers with an otherworldly sheen, its surface layered with fine, snake-like scales that ripple as she moves. In her right hand, she wields a finely crafted spear, its long shaft ending in a gleaming silver tip.

  Charging toward the group, Athena raises the aegis in front. Kai dashes in to intercept, but the gorgon’s eyes light up, instantly encasing him in stone. Athena follows up with a swift spear thrust that narrowly misses his forehead, instead chipping off a piece of his rock-solid hair as he falls flat to the ground. Violet summons a gust, pulling Kai back to the group, while David, Charlotte, and Heysoos charge forward, weapons raised and ready for Athena.

  Charlotte swings her flail, the mace head arcing around to strike Athena’s back. At the same time, Athena’s and David’s shields collide with a resounding crash, locking them both in place. Moving swiftly to the side, Heysoos launches his chained hooks, aiming to entangle Athena’s arms. Just before any of their weapons make contact, however, a reflective barrier expands from the edges of the aegis, enveloping her in a full three-sixty defense.

  Vivian, perched atop the enlarged Catutu, orders David to move back as she fires an arrow that splits mid-flight, targeting the gorgon eyes on Athena’s shield. But just as they’re about to hit, vines shoot up, intercepting the arrows.

  “There you are! The one who shot me from behind!” Demeter says.

  Having freed himself from the rock, Kai dashes forward with Violet by his side, both of them sprinting past Athena to pursue Demeter. In response, Demeter summons tall grass and small trees once more, using the landscape to hinder their pursuit. Hell souls in the vicinity join the chase, but Demeter skillfully weaves through their ranks, her focus fixed solely on reaching Vivian.

  A fiery cyclone envelops Catutu, shielding her and enabling her to channel Lisa’s laser beam through the swirling flames. Meanwhile, Vivian unleashes additional lasers from her palms, all aimed at Demeter. With quick reflexes, Demeter uses vines to launch herself out of the attack's path. As a new vine-wreathed tortoise emerges from the ground, it draws the attacks away from Demeter, though it’s obliterated before it can fully take form.

  By then, Demeter has already perched herself in a nearby tree. Using vines to gain momentum, she swings her sickle with deadly precision, the blade extended by her vines as it slices down from the top of Vivian’s face. Wyn immediately summons a cyclone around Catutu, but it’s too late – Vivian’s lifeless body slips from Catutu’s head and crashes to the ground. At the same time, Demeter is sent spiraling upward.

  “VIVIAN!” comes the anguished cry in unison from Mira and Lisa, their voices a raw cacophony of despair.

  Distracted by the anguished cry, David instinctively turns, giving Athena an opening to strike him with the edge of her aegis. Her blow narrowly misses as he hastily retreats toward Catutu. Charlotte and Heysoos are quick to follow, with Kai and Violet joining them, leaving Athena momentarily unchallenged.

  Fueled by anger, Wyn propels himself into the air. Unable to locate Demeter, he dives down at Athena with all his might. His chakram blades clash against her aegis, sending sparks flying. He shuts his eyes to avoid the gorgon’s gaze and expands the cyclone swirling behind him, aiming it to strike her exposed areas. However, Athena swiftly activates her reflective barrier, shielding herself from the cyclone’s reach. Meanwhile, Demeter tries to intervene, rushing to support her niece, but is swiftly repelled by a barrage of projectiles and charging souls who block her path.

  Athena summons her spear, but Wyn reacts instantly. He spins the chakram blades rapidly, using centrifugal force to swipe Athena’s aegis aside. The reflective barrier fades, but Athena grips the shield tightly, refusing to let go. Seizing the moment, Wyn propels himself toward her mid-air, his blades plunging into Athena’s neck and chest. She staggers back, fighting against the pressure, and with a swift, precise motion, she thrusts the spear toward Wyn. He narrowly dodges, but the spear grazes his cheek, slicing through with a sickening cut.

  While Wyn writhes on the ground in pain, Lisa fires lasers defensively. Athena raises her shield, advancing carefully with her spear poised in her other hand. But as the group’s projectiles increase in intensity, she’s forced to dodge, abandoning her guarded approach.

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  The instant Wyn notices the barrier drop, he pushes through the pain, launching himself at her and grabbing her from behind.

  “YU! YOUR BLADE! PLAN D! PLAN D!” he shouts.

  Yu responds without hesitation, raising his blade skyward and extending the handle to its full length. Mira joins him, igniting the blade’s tip with fire. Struggling to free herself, Athena begins encasing her body – and Wyn’s hands – in rock, unintentionally tightening his grip.

  As they hover above Yu’s blade, Wyn summons his weapons – the thick, glove-like contraptions shattering the stone encasing his hands. He drives a chakram blade under Athena’s armpit, then repositions himself, planting his feet on her back. With a powerful kick and the added force of a narrow descending cyclone, he sends her hurtling downward, crashing onto Yu's crescent blade.

  Unable to dodge in time, Yu and Mira brace as Athena lands heavily on top of them – but the blade has already plunged deep into her stomach.

  A gust from Violet quickly lifts Athena into the air, followed by a powerful mace strike from Charlotte to her face. Icicle spikes burst from her skin as the blow lands. A thunderstrike follows, crashing into her stomach where the crescent blade still protrudes. Meanwhile, Yu and James freeze Athena’s arms and legs in place. After asking Yu to recall his blade, David leaps onto Athena, his fury overwhelming him. He relentlessly pounds her face with his sword and shield, each strike laced with raw emotion. Tears stream down his face, mingling with the intensity of his blows as he vents his anguish and rage.

  Demeter, unable to clear the souls surrounding her, weaves through them, making her way toward Athena. The tortoise and tall grass, once effective distractions, are becoming less potent as the souls grow more familiar with her tactics, adapting to her moves and countering her efforts quickly. As she advances, Lisa fires precise laser beams in her direction, but Demeter dodges with swift movements. Suddenly, a demon dashes past Demeter, its claws scraping her face. Though no visible wound appears, the brief distraction gives Yu and James the opening to freeze her in place.

  A fiery gust follows, propelling Mira’s whip forward, and the combined force shatters the ice, sending Demeter crashing to the ground. Without hesitation, Lisa leaps on top of her. She fires electrifying laser beams at point-blank range.

  “Hold her in place and get out!” an unfamiliar voice commands.

  Lisa springs back, retreating swiftly as a stream of water surges over Demeter, solidifying into ice and trapping her within. Charlotte sends Heysoos’ chained hooks flying around her. At her signal, the ice shatters, and as Demeter struggles to regain her balance, the chains tighten around her legs. The anchor locks onto her neck, sending her crashing face-first to the ground. Above her, a massive portal opens, and a colossal figure descends, its immense weight crushing Demeter beneath it. It's Gluttony – unfazed by Heysoos' anchor, which seems insignificant against the overwhelming mass of the entity. Just like that, the battle is over.

  After sending Gluttony back to his domain in the middle of the level, unable to tolerate the unbearable stench, a group of nerds joins David, offering him words of comfort for his team’s losses. Meanwhile, Wyn’s team rushes to check on him. After Catutu licks at his nasty cut, Yu and James carefully carry Wyn over, and together, they rejoin David’s team.

  “I don’t know how to feel anymore,” David cries, his voice heavy with exhaustion and grief.

  The nerds broke their code to stay safe from the war, stepping in when the losses of Ruben and Vivian hit them hard. Anger and sorrow surged through their ranks.

  “There are Zeus and Poseidon left, and those two are as strong as our level moderators,” a nerd says.

  “We’re done here. We can’t fight anymore,” Wyn says, his hand shakily pressed to the gash on his face, his voice hollow.

  “If Steve and Wei can’t do it, then we have no shot anyway,” Charlotte adds, sobbing quietly.

  “We’ll rest. If the bonkers make it to the seventh level, then we’ll fight again, Mister Nerd,” Lisa says through her tears.

  Rex, the demon who dashed right past Demeter during the fight, briefly considers greeting Wyn’s team but decides against it. Instead, he watches them grieve for a moment before returning to the battlefield to help clean up the remnants of the Heaven army.

  The nerds allow the group, Skill Tree, and Neutrals to collect their share of essence before opening portals to return them to the tent area of the seventh level. Catutu leaves to reunite with her cat siblings and assist CATOTO on level zero. As the souls step through the portals, David grips Ruben's and Vivian's bands tightly, his hands trembling. He softly asks his team to let him keep the bands for himself.

  “I’m so sorry, David. If I had summoned the cyclone faster, Vivian could still be safe. I’m…,” Wyn says, his voice quivering with guilt.

  “Don’t dwell on it,” David replies, his voice thick with emotion as he places a hand on Wyn’s shoulder. The smile on his face is broken, filled with unshed tears. “Without you and your team, we would’ve lost more.”

  There’s a brief pause as David’s grief catches up with him, and then, without a word, he pulls Wyn into a tight embrace. Both men are crying, their shared pain mixing with the silent understanding that sometimes, there are no words to heal such wounds.

  Having been told that Fatima and Eugene are already inside David’s tent, along with Crowd’s team’s bands, David’s team gathers inside. Wyn’s team, on the other hand, plans to spend time recovering together in Wyn’s tent. However, when Wyn opens the tent flaps, the team is taken aback to find Cateto peacefully sleeping on the table, unaware of their presence.

  They gather around the table, and Mira, unable to contain her excitement, gently lifts Cateto in her arms, hugging him tightly. Cateto stirs awake and immediately bursts into tears when he sees Wyn’s team surrounding him.

  “You are all alive!” he sobs.

  The group embraces him, their relief and joy tangible as they come together for a group hug. Despite being told that Catutu had already tended to Wyn’s wound, Cateto instinctively starts licking the gash on Wyn's face.

  Unable to join his brothers and sisters due to his injuries, the nerds had placed Cateto in Wyn's tent to rest, giving him some time to recover.

  “Let’s rest and hope things go well up there, eh?” James says, his voice tinged with exhaustion.

  “Christine…,” Yu voices his concern for the former member.

  “I know you’re worried about her, but there’s nothing we can do anymore,” Mira replies, her tone soft but firm. “We’re too exhausted to be of any help to anyone.”

  Wyn’s gaze drifts to the ground, “...We’ve lost so much already, and this is just the beginning.”

  Cateto, as requested by Wyn, boinks each of them on the head, sending the team into a deep, restful sleep. Once everyone is settled, he curls up on top of Mira’s sleeping bag, purring softly, a small oasis of calm amidst the chaos. Meanwhile, as Skill Tree and Neutrals rest, the fierce battle on level zero rages on.

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  For Gluttony's description, go to Chapter 6

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