The Shaman is so busy with Nyx and Elias in the vanguard, along with Oren's meticulous spells, that he doesn't notice Lilith's disappearance. Nyx draws the shaman's focus toward herself with her heavy blows to the goblin champion. The battle intensifies as both the goblins' vanguard and the party's vanguard clash. Suddenly, a gust of wind blows towards Nyx's side. A chill creeps down the shaman's spine. He grips his staff tighter, scanning the battlefield. Something feels off… an unseen presence is there. Watching. Waiting. He mutters an incantation, reinforcing his defenses, but the unease lingers. Then, pressure. His body locks up. His breath hitches. Invisible ropes bind him, before he can even react. He tries to scream but his voice becomes null. He is terrified by the unknown force and its strength. But he is unable to see anything around him. He tries to break free.
Meanwhile, Nyx strikes the hog with full force, reducing its head to a bloody pulp. The hog's brain gushes out from the top of its skull. Elias seizes the moment, slamming towards the champion with his claymore. The champion staggers, thrown off by the hog's collapse. He falls left, exposed. Finn still continues his rampage. Spotting the hog, he lunges forward to quenche his thirst for blood. He grabs the hog's tusk and cleaves the hog in two pieces. The cleaver's bloodlust takes a heavy toll on his body as his wounds leave him shaky. He suffers from severe internal and external bleeding. The bloodlust takes away his ability to feel pain, but his body struggles to keep up with his body's relentless pace. Finn breathes heavily, his vision swimming, yet the bloodlust still drives him forward. Finn lunges at the champion, but his killing spree ends abruptly when Elias intercepts him. Elias snatches the cleaver from Finn's grasp and knocks him unconscious with a strike to the neck. Finn's vision darkens. His body, slick with his own blood, sways and then collapses. Oren chants, "Wind Magic: Gust of Wind." A surging gust sweeps Finn away from the vanguard. Oren too falls back to take care of unconscious Finn alongside Rhea.
Ronan says, "Guys, I can play the flute once more." The party is fatigued from this sudden battle, Elias' broken left shoulder, multiple unconscious party members, and the goblin champion's relentless onslaught leave the party in a dire position. They are pretty much in need of Ronan's help. Ronan tries to play the flute, but the cunning goblins never let a single moment go to waste. A few of the riders let their wolves loose. The wolves are starving and the smell of blood maddens them even more. The wolves start to rush towards Ronan as he tries to play the flute. The wolves snatch the flute from his grasp and tear into him with their claws. Ronan tries to get the flute back, His fingers trembling, but he fails as the wolves are faster. Their claws rake against his flesh, and pain erupts through his body. Ronan gets injured pretty badly as the wolves bite into his flesh and bones. His whole body shakes as he screams with unimaginable pain. Oren chants,"Bloom magic: poison ivy". Vines burst from the ground, ensnaring the wolves and crushing them with poison-laced thorns. But the injury is quite heavy on Ronan's body leaving him unconscious too. With Ronan unconscious, the party is stranded. Their only healing rests in a Mimic Psyche artifact that no one else can touch. The Mimic Psyche is an artifact rumored to have been discovered in a similar labyrinth. It is a storage device that holds a Mimic's Psyche.
While Nyx and Elias shift their focus to Ronan, who was supposed to heal them but was instead attacked by the wolves, the goblin champion seizes the opportunity to strike. He delivers a killing blow to Elias' injured shoulder. Elias' hand is severed, and he lets out a scream of agony, yet he still reaches for his claymore with his remaining hand. The power of the focus pill had worn off. Blood gushed from his severed shoulder, causing dizziness. He tries swinging his claymore once more but it's of no use it's very heavy to wield using only one hand. Nonetheless, Elias raises his claymore one last time, aiming to pierce the champion's chest and reach his heart. But it is as if he strikes an iron wall, his blade barely leaves a scratch before his strength fails him.
The goblin champion rejoices seeing his enemy falter but in a matter of a few moments he is struck with a blast of pain. He sneers at Elias' pitiful attempt to kill him. Then, suddenly, pain. A sharp, gutting pain that shouldn't be there. He stumbles, confusion flashing across his face. The iron body spell should have shielded him. It should have made him untouchable. But now, as his strength falters, dread seeps into his bones. Something is wrong. Let's go back a few moments,
The shaman, bound by the invisible rope, struggles to break free, but instead, an unseen force tightens around his neck, crushing him. He feels a sense of horror and confusion. He looks around everywhere but can't seem to find anything in particular that can help him in this situation. The shaman tries his best to chant spells but everytime he does so his neck seems to get pressured even more. He feels a bit dizzy and even chokes. The pressure on his throat deepens. His vision blurs. Then, suddenly, the battlefield fades as his mind drifts to a time long gone.
He was just a child once, trailing behind the old shaman, watching, learning. Their village stood hidden deep within the dungeon, untouched by the Memorists. It was peaceful. They were a village that sought harmony and seclusion from the outer world to keep themselves pure from the madness of war and blood. Their primary goals were living a normal and peaceful life. They had very few interactions with humans the ones mainly being of the pure Ghorak tribe. The Ghoraks gave them commodities in exchange for medicine made by the goblins. The little kids played together while dreaming to cross this dungeon and venture towards the outer world. They had all dreamed, at least once, of fleeing their rusty old village and starting anew in the outside world. They were constantly building up courage to fight with the elders to leave the village.