The squad tries to eliminate the heads quickly, but more keep respawning in different spots. The indestructible heads begin to rise, as if being squeezed up from the ground beneath. They reveal towering vine golems, each sporting Itzamná’s head. Despite their size, the golems take their time flexing their flexible vine muscles before charging at the squad.

  Wyn creates an enveloping cyclone fused with fire, obliterating all golems within reach. Yet, more keep storming in, some pushing others forward, and soon they begin breaking through the cyclone. Even Lisa’s laser beams are struggling to eliminate them all in time. Then, the ground beneath them shakes. Wyn struggles to maintain the cyclone, but his focus breaks as the squad is suddenly elevated, now standing on a golem’s shoulders.

  As the creature flexes, Lisa falls off while Mira hangs onto Wyn, who’s also holding onto the golem’s flexed bicep. Swiftly, Wyn jets himself into a cyclone and kicks Mira forward, allowing her to use flame jets to stay afloat. Quickly, Mira creates fire pillars around Lisa, protecting her from the surrounding golems. Lisa then fires a beam that destroys the golem they were on, which also blasts through a line of others, clearing the path as Wyn swoops her up into the air.

  With the whole squad now airborne, the golems change their tactics, shooting water streams from their mouths. Wyn evades the attacks to reach Mira, who’s struggling to dodge the streams herself.

  “When we destroy them, they keep spawning from the ground!” Wyn says.

  “Should we dig the ground, Mister Wyn?” Lisa suggests.

  After a golem fully emerges from the ground, the earth quickly seals itself, leaving the squad with no opening to effectively dig deeper. Realizing this, they decide to rise even higher to stay out of the reach of the streams and strategize. However, their meeting is abruptly interrupted as the golems begin stacking on top of each other. Their vines merge seamlessly, quickly matching their height level.

  Wyn rises even higher, then signals Lisa. She fires a powerful beam, cutting through the tower of golems below them. But the other towers of golems have caught up, and they begin to unleash heavy punches, forcing the squad to be on the move. Wyn swiftly repositions to unleash another enveloping cyclone, this time descending to ensure the swirling vine fragments don’t hit them.

  “...I need you two to distract them,” Wyn says hesitantly. “Give me some time to observe the battle.”

  Lisa and Mira clear a spot for Wyn to land safely, and once on the ground, the sisters defend him as he watches every detail of the fight. After a few moments, something catches his eye – when the destroyed fragments of a golem touch the ground, the earth becomes wet, and they get absorbed, along with the seemingly indestructible head of Itzamná. Within seconds, a new golem emerges from a random spot.

  To test his theory, Wyn creates two layers of tall walls, the outer one taller than the inner. As he builds the walls, he traps one golem inside the inner one. Once the walls are set, he gathers the squad and positions Lisa on the outer wall while Mira joins him on the inner.

  “Lisa, make sure you don’t destroy the others while I experiment with this one,” Wyn says.

  Immediately, Mira summons a fire pillar, incinerating the golem inside the wall, leaving nothing behind but Itzamná’s head. As the head begins to be absorbed into the ground, Wyn detonates it with a cyclone, revealing roots spiraling out of the back, now dangling in the violent winds, searching for something to latch onto. Mira fuses with Wyn, but the flames only scorch the roots. Undeterred, Wyn curves the cyclone to prevent the head from spinning out of control, keeping his focus on it, while Mira shifts her attention to help Lisa fend off the golems pressing on the damaged outer wall.

  Eventually, the head wilts, seemingly dying from the lack of a foundation to root into for an extended period.

  “One…two…three…four…,” Wyn counts patiently, his gaze sharp. “Do you see any new ones popping up from the ground?” he asks.

  “I can’t tell! They’re so big, and there are too many of them, Mister Wyn!” Lisa replies.

  Wyn lets the outer wall break after bringing the squad to stand inside the inner wall.

  “Let’s hope this works,” Wyn says.

  He desummons the wall and creates four electrifying fiery cyclones around the squad, each one moving in circles. Slowly, he pushes them outward, relentlessly destroying all the golems that continue to charge in. Wyn pushes his limit, keeping the cyclones swirling even as his body begins to tire. But, in return, the squad’s combined efforts begin to pay off.

  As the cyclones subside, the only thing slowly falling from the sky is a pool of essence.

  Meanwhile, the serpent creates a cyclone aimed at David and Yu. As David fights against the force with his jet flames, Yu clings tightly to his neck. At the same time, Maya spins downward, using the cyclone’s force to sink herself into the now vine-free ground, while Anxiety transforms into a rope-like form. Timing it perfectly, one of the rope’s ends is caught by Maya’s eyelid and pulled deep into the earth. After a few more revolutions, Maya stops spinning, allowing the sunken part of Anxiety’s mass to turn into roots that seep through the ground, anchoring the moderators in place. The rope’s other end reaches out for David, and though the injury limits its length, it’s enough for David to grab on while Yu stays safely on his back.

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  With the cyclone still raging, the serpent darts toward the duo. Yu, still clinging tightly to David’s neck with one arm, choking him in the process, hurls water orbs at the serpent, slowing it just enough for David to strike it with powerful thunder strikes from above, each hit landing and setting the serpent aflame. The cyclone subsides as Kukulkan ascends, spinning to shake off the flames.

  David signals the moderators to stay put, knowing they might need to serve as anchors again if another cyclone strikes. Meanwhile, Yu propels himself forward with a surge of water, extending his weapon upward to strike the serpent. Free from the burning flames, Kukulkan curves its body to evade Yu’s strike. Unfazed, Yu sends water streams upward, curving them to distract the serpent.

  The moment David sees the serpent moving to strike at Yu, he watches its movements intently. As the serpent lunges, David strikes with thunder, forcing it to dip slightly before it veers off erratically to avoid further attacks. Just when the god stabilizes, another exact copy of the serpent appears – this one is Yu’s. Surprised by the copy, Kukulkan charges at it.

  Unbeknownst to the serpent, Yu is already on the ground, having shaped water into Kukulkan, fusing it with David’s fire. As the boiling water makes contact with the serpent’s naked pink body, it reacts violently to the pain, its skin turning an even deeper red. Seizing the opportunity, David unleashes a barrage of thunder strikes, while Yu spins the blade tip to its burnt side, embedding it deeply within.

  Kukulkan crashes hard onto the ground, which is then engulfed in a large stream of boiling of water. While struggling, the serpent shoots a cyclone from its mouth at the duo. David jumps in front of Yu and shields the attack that reels them backward. Another cyclone follows, this time is an ascending one. Yu quickly extends his crescent blade and stops the extension before it hits Anxiety so Anxiety can grab in and anchor the men from the blowing force.

  Freed from the water, the serpent charges at David, who’s holding onto Yu with one hand. Not taking the risk, David swings from Yu’s grasp and, with a burst of jet flames, propels himself out of the cyclone, crashing into the serpent with his shield. However, due to the shield's size, the serpent manages to sink its fangs into David’s shoulder. It thrashes violently, but David remains steadfast. Up close to the enemy, he unleashes a series of thunder strikes from above, each hitting the serpent square in the head, while heating his shield, immediately freeing himself from its grasp.

  The cyclone dissipates, but David continues his barrage, forcing the serpent’s head down to the ground. At Yu’s shout, David ceases the attacks and leaps backward. Kukulkan slowly raises his head, while Yu has already jumped off a stream, his blade held high above his head. At Yu’s signal, David calls down a thunder strike that precisely hits Yu’s blade, boosting its force as it dives into the serpent’s head. The blade tip penetrates through the head, which is pressed against the ground, and Yu keeps it down by releasing a water stream beneath the blade.

  David runs to the side and leaps onto the serpent, pressing hard his heated shield against its neck, halting its attempt to launch a cyclone at Yu and its own head. With unyielding determination, he relentlessly jabs the lower head near the neck. Yu, not permitting the serpent to rise, keeps it firmly pinned down, enabling David to continue his barrage. David doesn’t stop until the serpent finally goes motionless. As its long body dissolves into essence, David falls to his knees.

  “Let’s leave the essence for now and go help Wyn and the girls!” David says.

  “Your shoulder, how is it?” Yu asks as the two rush toward Anxiety.

  “It hurts, yes, but cat saliva should heal it nicely!”

  The duo wants Anxiety to reach Wyn’s squad quickly. However, it appears the two moderators are stuck in the ground, struggling to free themselves.

  “You two are completely useless…,” David mutters.

  “Well, at least they tanked a lot of hits for us. Without them, we would’ve suffered severe injuries,” Yu responds.

  “You’re right…Well, let’s leave them and just run.”

  Before they take off, they hear Wyn’s voice from the sky, “You guys okay? We had to fight the other one.”

  “Hey guys! The serpent’s gone now, for good!” David replies, waving.

  “What’s with the moderators?” Lisa asks curiously as Wyn descends with the squad.

  “They’re stuck and can’t unstuck,” Yu replies.

  “Wow…So useless…,” Wyn mutters.

  “See?” David says.

  “Well…,” Yu responds, but has nothing more to say.

  The team eagerly collects the essence, starting with Kukulkan’s and then moving to Itzamná’s. Returning to the moderators, who are still stuck, Wyn conjures a powerful cyclone to lift them from the ground. Before they spiral out of control, he dissipates the cyclone. Even so, the moderators are flung in different directions, though not too far from where the team is.

  The moderators slowly begin gathering the Hell souls that had escaped earlier through Anxiety’s wound, collecting as many as they can. Once their task is complete, they each open a portal. Anxiety lets the souls walk in first, following closely behind as the portals seal shut.

  “We should just take them out – for essence,” Wyn says, his voice low.

  “You mean the moderators?” Yu asks cautiously.

  “The nerds will believe whatever we tell them anyway.”

  “That’s a bit harsh,” David interjects.

  “I agree with Oppa. The moderators always leave us behind after a fight,” Mira adds.

  “Right, sis? Big D cares about them more than us. Imagine if all of them had fought alongside us from the first level to now. None of our friends would’ve died,” Lisa says, her voice tight with anger.

  The team falls into an uneasy silence after Lisa’s words, their gazes dropping to the bands on their wrists. Mira holds James’ and Jesús’ bands to her chest, her trembling eyelids betraying her sorrow.

  “Let’s just rest for now. It was a rough battle,” David says gently, breaking the silence.

  With that, the team decides to stay behind for a well-deserved rest, soaking in the beautiful landscape. They settle near a river, attempting to keep their composure and act calm. But soon, their excitement becomes impossible to contain. They glance at each other, grins spreading across their faces. All at once, they leap to their feet, cheering loudly. Arms wrapped around one another’s necks, they jump in joy, reveling in the moment.

  Rightfully so – the only thing standing between them and the King of Heaven is one final challenge: level six.