In the sweltering cavern that Mark had luckily escaped, the tainted Minotaur fared against the living warriors of stone as they swung their massive swords sending splashes of hot molten rock across the cavern's walls.
One struck down a blow, the Minotaur swiftly moved to the side, avoiding the devastating strike that sunk into the burning lake.
It followed with a leap, and struck the forehead of the statue, pushing it back, staggering.
And then it sank into the lava, its body sank beneath it entirely.
For a second, it seemed that it would be the Minotaur's grave, when its upper body came up and took deep breaths.
And although their faces were unmoving, the two statues simultaneously struck their swords with annoyance.
BOOM
A tall wall of lava spewed upwards, and the Minotaur was nowhere to be seen.
Inches away however, was it climbing atop the dais of one of the beautifully sculpted statues.
The demon beast hurried upwards, climbing from feet to leg to waist and to the top.
The statue was that of a creature like that of a man, but with longer limbs and ears, and on its long head sat a crown, and on its hip, a sword dressed with a stone scabbard.
The Minotaur struck its massive thick walled chest of muscle with fervor and rage, and then released a roar from its ravenous depths.
The roar echoed across the cave, and caught its guardians attention. They turned, to see their target, galavanting on a fellow stone comrade.
Now, if the tainted Minotaur was a creature of intelligence like the goblins, and for a stretch, humans, it would have headed for the portal just hundreds of meters away. Mark had reached it and lava could harm him, what problem could reaching it pose one with as invincible skin as it does?
However, it was taken by rage, and driven mad by the poisonous emotion. It roared, drumming on its chest and once it stopped, seeing that its opponents came, it smirked.
Its transformation craved for nothing more than destruction, it was delighted, and the stone warriors were things unneeding of rest, they could entertain it forever.
They walked at a steady pace, like lords in their courts, with their thick sword dragging through the lake and creating a ridge across it.
It then jumped, and descended, flipping in the still atmosphere with its feet stylishly landing on the exposed pommel.
The scabbard hadn't been carved with the sword as one so that it won't come off, unintelligent as it may be, the beast could tell that, that barely changed its plan however.
It then jumped once more, and this time it descended, and slipped from the sword, yet took a hold of it with its thick callused hands, and with its weight and might, the hand of the statue broke off, and they both began to fall–the sword still held tightly in its hands.
The sword, hand and Minotaur fell into the lake with a loud boom, the stone warriors were unrelenting, and they drove down their swords multiple times, diving them into the spot the Minotaur had sunk in.
Molten rock splashed, beads of lava spewed apart, and out came the Minotaur with a sword three times its size, and a hand attached to it.
It swung its sword mightily and there was a hiss in the still air in the cave. One was hit, and the sword struck it strongly, creating massive cracks on it and on the sword. The warrior that was hit staggered, and its chest came off, and it broke into two, turning it lifeless once more.
The tainted beast stood atop the broken upper body glaring at the second, still standing statue in what seemed to be the ultimate form of defiance.
The statue ran, the first since the battle began and jumped, descending its sword upon the corrupt beast.
Finally taking it seriously.
The Minotaur's body busted with red aura, its veins bulged under its skin, and it held up the sword for a guard.
The impact of the blows shook the room, generating a force that swept the lava around away and apart.
The two were stuck in a standstill, as their sword held against the other, none budging. The stone warrior then delivered a punch, which struck and fell the Minotaur. But it came back up like nothing had happened.
It held its sword in its right hand, and then sunk down its left in a crevice of the half statue it stood on.
And then it leaped, a statue fixed in one hand and a stone sword in the other.
The warrior responded with a down cut, but before the strike could reach it, the Minotaur lunged its left hand, flinging the lifeless statue half to the living's face and it staggered and fell, and as it did, the Minotaur, jumped atop it and drove down its sword through its chest, where the heart ought to be if it was a living humanoid creature, and the two fell, with the stone warrior sinking and unmoving, till it was gone entirely.
The stone statue will, their only command was to cleanse any evil that found its way into the room. Many had been slayed by them in their path through here, but they had ignored Mark for he wasn't evil, only a disgruntled young man, but the Minotaur had been oozing with evil since it transformed, and they failed in stopping it, becoming one with the room as the fiery lake melted them.
Now that the fun was over, the beast could focus once more on its target. Its black eyes scanned the room, and then stopped at the portal.
They widened, and instantly, it knew that that was where it ought to be. And so it ran and ran, splashing molten rock as it stormed forward.
It closed in the gap, and then took a dive down into the portal.