Onyx, feeling emboldened by Sami's willingness to defend her, tried to cast a spell, but sadly her magic fizzled out. She crossed her arms in anger, realizing there was nothing she could do to actually help in this fight. A surge of frustration mixed with guilt washed over her as she watched the Minotaur.
She could still see the Minotaur fighting to break the chains as he kept moving toward her and Sami. Onyx felt ashamed at seeing him this way, knowing that it was partly her fault. Though seeing the Minotaur as this angry beast made Onyx miss the boy he used to be. Sadly, it's been a long time since the Minotaur was a small child.
Sami, though, wasn't paying attention to anything but the chains on the Minotaur. Each time the Minotaur would break a set, Sami would quickly summon more.
Each time he summoned the chains, the purple energy within him seemed to pulse outwards, visibly strengthening the orange links, making them stronger than the last set.
"ENOUGH!" the Minotaur yelled, breaking all the chains at once with a mighty roar that shook the trees.
Sami didn't have enough time to summon more as the Minotaur quickly charged at him. A breaking glass sound could be heard as the shimmering golden barrier he had set was quickly broken by the Minotaur's massive strength. Onyx clenched onto Sami's shoulder as he tried to turn intangible once again, his breath coming in ragged gasps.
The Minotaur's punch went straight through Sami's body. The Minotaur roared out, throwing punch after punch, each one going straight through. Sami, though not getting hit by the solid force, still felt each impact as his nose slowly began to leak more blood, his head swimming.
Wanting to leave this stalemate, Sami threw up multiple shimmering barriers, causing the Minotaur's enraged punches to slam into them instead. Sami's form began to flicker, his muscles straining, before becoming solid once again.
"How long do you think you can keep this up, boy?" the Minotaur goaded Sami, throwing another punch, shaking the barriers. "Do you think that you can win, a novice like you? How pathetic."
"Aww, what's wrong, little cow?" Sami mocked. "Having performance issues? What, you can't break through a novice's barrier? Now that's pathetic."
"Sami, you fucking idiot," Onyx thought to herself as the Minotaur roared out in anger. His punches became quicker as cracks in the barriers began to form.
"Oh shit, okay, what was the spell that Lyra used again, um," Sami panicked as he began to speak out loud. "Gladius Longus, Appare!"
A sword appeared in his hand, glowing with a fierce orange light that pulsed slightly. The sword itself was different from the one Lyra summoned, as this one was much shorter and lighter than the one she used.
Sami was also shocked at how light the sword actually was. He spun it around in his hand, a flicker of apprehension in his eyes. Sami never really liked using swords, never really liked to harm others.
Heck, it's the major reason why he doesn't go hunting himself for meat. The act of harming another person goes against who he is.
Another reason why his wanting revenge would've never happened before learning about magic. A knot of reluctance tightened in his stomach at the thought of actually using the blade.
The Minotaur took a pause from his punches as he looked at the now summoned sword in Sami's hand. He couldn't help but be amused at his attempts to fight back. A lazy grin spread across his bull-like face.
"Do you think that puny blade will hurt me?" He chuckled, looking down at Sami in amusement.
"You haven't broken through my shields yet," Sami replied. His right hand clenched the sword tighter, as he felt a small bout of anger go through him.
"Um, Sami," Onyx whispered into his ear, her small claws digging slightly into his shoulder. Her voice was full of worry, her tiny body not stopping the small shaking her body was going through.
"Not now, Onyx. I'm trying to think of an idea to get us out of this," Sami muttered back, keeping his tone low in case the Minotaur overheard them.
Onyx, though, kept shaking. "No, you don't understand," she commented. "He is just toying with us; if he wanted, he would have broken through the barrier easily. It's just a game to him, win or lose. It's about the chase."
"What?!" yelled Sami. His tone took on urgency as he now realized the meaning behind the overly calm demeanor of the Minotaur.
"Oh, don't be scared now," the Minotaur laughed. "I offered you a chance to go free, and you didn't take it. So now stand your ground, boy, and die with honor!"
With a loud roar, the Minotaur's body began to glow a bright red before he threw a punch. The barrier broke with the full strength of the Minotaur. The red aura leaving the Minotaur's body, he began walking forward.
Crash!
Shards of the barrier fell to the ground, as the shockwave of the hit caused Sami to take a step back. Onyx had to hold on strong to Sami's shirt to not accidentally get blown off his shoulder.
Sami oddly enough didn't feel any pain from the barrier breaking. Though at the moment, Sami didn't dwell on it as he had to react quickly to the Minotaur charging at him.
Thinking quickly, he summoned a single chain out of the palm on his left, aiming at the Minotaur's feet. The Minotaur leaped over the chain, causing his charging to slow down. Giving Sami enough time to throw the sword at the Minotaur.
"Percute ferro, rege! Flue velox! (Strike with steel, rule! Flow swiftly!)" He shouted, causing the sword to take on a small orange glow as it flew fast at the Minotaur.
The Minotaur, even though distracted, quickly dodged the attack, his large body moving quickly to not get hit. Sami, in the middle of the dodge, continued with his attack and pressing forward.
Shocking the Minotaur that Sami would risk being in close to attack him. The Minotaur hurriedly threw a right hook to catch Sami off guard. Sami slid under the attack, summoning a sword in his hand as he got back to his feet.
"Percute ferro, rege! Flue velox! (Strike with steel, rule! Flow swiftly!)" Sami shouted again, aiming for the left side of the Minotaur's body.
Even though the sword was thrown from close range, the Minotaur somehow managed to dodge the attack. The sword flying off, getting stuck in a tree like the other one did earlier.
"What a great bout," the Minotaur cheered as he tried to kick Sami.
Sami rolled to the left of the attack, allowing the kick to harmlessly hit the ground where he was at. Onyx jumped off Sami right before the roll, backing up out of the danger of the fight since she was no use.
The Minotaur kept throwing punches as Sami kept jumping back out the path of each hit. The punches Sami couldn't dodge, he would block with his barriers. Though each punch was strong enough to break each barrier as soon as it was summoned.
With a loud roar, Sami was sent rolling backwards across the ground, coming to his feet to stop the motion of going backwards.
"Give up, boy," the Minotaur's voice boomed, echoing across the clearing as his eyes glowed red. "Look at you, breathing heavily, sweating everywhere. There is honor in knowing defeat; accept your death, boy."
Onyx glanced over at Sami as she heard what the Minotaur said, worried about Sami. Sami in turn looked tired with his hair disheveled and his clothes being ripped all over the place. Onyx was debating on whether she should go defend Sami or not.
Sami, though, didn't even register any of that. Actually, he couldn't help but smile since his plan was working. Snapping his fingers, he called out, "Vincula Constrictoria!"
Unlike his normal chains that were smaller in size, these chains were almost double the size. Sami also remembered the spell his grandfather used to hold the Gbahali in place. The Minotaur, thinking the chains were coming from the ground as in the earlier attack, made a mistake.
Even though he dodged the initial chains, suddenly he felt as if something was holding him back. The Minotaur began to roar as he started grabbing at his throat, purple chains began to flicker into sight, wrapped around his neck. The Minotaur then tried to step back to get some slack on the chains, when Sami countered it.
"Vincula Constrictoria!" Sami shouted once again, snapping his fingers as more chains wrapped around the Minotaur's throat before bringing him closer to the ground, landing at Sami's feet.
The Minotaur tried to grasp the chains but his strength seemed to wane. It seemed these chains were sapping his power as time went on. The Minotaur tried reaching for Sami's feet but could barely move. Gasping for air but slowly the gasps began to silence as he was held slightly off the ground by the chains.
Sami once again snapped his fingers allowing the two original chains that wrapped around his throat to disappear, allowing the Minotaur to fall to the ground still held by his neck by the new set of chains.
He made sure to summon more chains to hold him on the ground. Sami also gave enough slack around the Minotaur's throat so he would be able to breathe somewhat.
Onyx, in a daze, rushed quickly at Sami, as she saw him fall back on his butt. Sami was breathing very heavily as he felt something hit his chest. Sami glanced down and realized it was Onyx. Feeling the soft form of her bunny form, he could also feel the tears coming out her eyes as she cried.
Not saying anything, Sami just glanced up at the sky as he took in deep breaths. Noticing the sky went from the bright sunny day it was to the sun setting as the world seemed to shatter.
Finally, the illusion keeping them trapped in the fake world broke, allowing them to see the real forest. Ironically, he was in the same place he considered his safe zone. In the center, past the Minotaur, he could see the desk he made with Mercer. The best ending to a terrifying adventure.