MLII C6, P7- "Colossus"

"Colossus" is the seventh Part of "Miracula Luxia II" 's sixth Chapter. It was released on 08.06.2021.
== Plot ==
Once again, Jared comes face to face with the true leader of the Darkness of Duskwood gang- the elusive Benedict. A powerful warrior whose only purpose is to protect his gang from a certain death at the hands of the warriors around them... and to eliminate those who would be foolish enough to oppose him.
In this battle, Jared will learn that the attack on the docks which took away the live of his dear grandmother... was not a coincidence. Through trial and error, he will learn who is responsible for this crime and attempt to avenge those who have fallen because of him.
The lives of our heroes are about to change, However, it is still unclear whether it will be for good... or for worse.
== Story ==
As Jared prepares to attack, several of the bandits turn their attention on him. They attempt to stop him, but are easily dispatched by Aleks and Meggy.
Jared and Allister work together to distract the rest of the bandits, then turn around to attack their leader.
Although the boys are clearly intending to strike him down as fast as they can, the bandit is more prepared for this battle than he seems to be. In a few moments, he leaps back and throws a dagger at Allister, narrowly missing him.
However, as soon as he tries to rejoin the fight, he notices that he is stuck. Although the dagger did not harm him directly, it managed to pin him to a nearby tree.
He tries to pull the dagger out, but it does not budge. 
He tries again...
And, once again, no success.
He turns back and looks at his allies, who seem concerned.
"Mr. Kaos?"- He says- "I think that I might need some help over here!"
Without thinking twice, Aleks rushes to help the boy. He tries to pull the dagger out as well, but finds out that it does not budge.
"Hmm."- He mutters- "Normally, it should be able to come out. Without much difficulty, that is. But something is really confusing me... "
He inspects the dagger closely. Soon, he notices a faint spark. It is coming out of the weapon's blade.
"Aha!"- He exclaims- "Looks like this dagger is no ordinary tool for destruction! It's enchanted with powerful magic!"
Allister raises his eyebrow.
"Enchanted?"- He wonders- "With what?"
Aleks shakes his head.
"It's too hard to explain, kid. But it is powerful, worryingly so."- He says- "Stay still. I will remove it, but it will take some time before I can break the spell."
Jared looks back and sees that his friend is unable to fight alongside him.
"Allister!"- He yells- "Are you alright?"
Allister nods.
"Yes! Don't worry about me!"- He yells back- "Just keep fighting! I'll be back soon!"
Jared nods and turns back to the bandit leader. He draws his weapon again.
"I do not know who you really are."- He says to him- "But it does not matter. You and your bandits have done a lot of damage to our community, trying to hurt our people and burn our homes down. Your actions cannot be described by anything else, other than cowardly and foolish. No matter who you are or who you were, you will join the rest of your allies in the deepest chasms of the Netherworld. We will make you pay for your crimes."
The bandit leader smiles.
"Oh, I think that your family knows me way too well. They all know how much they hate me."- He says- "And, when you find out, I'm sure that you will do the same."
In the distance, Lethal glares at the bandit leader. His hand is close to his blade.
For some reason, he wants to fight him. However, he does not have the strength (and/or courage) to do so.
The bandit leader laughs.
"Well? Why don't you ask your grandfather?"- He says, mockingly- "He will tell you everything."
Jared is confused by what the bandit leader is saying to him. However, he does not have time to respond as the man takes him by surprise and knocks him back.
As he gets up and draws his weapon, the bandit does the same.
"Come on, kid."- He says- "Entertain me."
Jared shakes his head.
"There is no entertainment here."- He mutters- "Only justice."
He leaps forward and manages to damage his enemy before he is forced to retreat. 
He attacks again and manages to disrupt the man's magic.
The bandit tries to cast another spell, but Jared's attacks manage to distract him.
"Your black magic is nothing new to me, vagabond!"- Jared yells- "How about you start getting serious already?"
Although the bandit has been calm and collected until now, Jared's words successfully enrage him to the point when he nearly goes berserk.
He wildly hurls fireballs at the boy, who manages to avoid most of them. One of them manages to burn his right arm.
As a response, Jared casts a light spell, which illuminates the bandit and blinds him for a split second. Jared takes advantage of this sudden opportunity and strikes his unwary opponent, managing to knock him into the wall of a burning building behind him.
A plank falls on the bandit's head and manages to severely wound him in the process. Jared watches as the top of his head begins to bleed.
Meanwhile, the bandit leader stands up and touches his wound. He casts a healing spell and soon, it is as if he was not wounded at all.
He laughs.
"Very impressive. You're just like her, always fighting until the very end. Never surrendering, for the sake of your friends and family. Your loyalty towards them never wavers, no matter what happens."- He says- "However, the outcome will always be the same."
He draws his weapon and attacks Jared. During the battle, his blade manages to touch Jared's wound, forcing him to take a step back.
The bandit laughs again.
"So, this is the legendary Jared Kaos. A wanna-be hero, who winces at the smallest wound."- He says- "You're no hero, kid. You're just a commoner with extraordinary powers. You will never be like your father!"
Jared smiles.
"Actually, this was all just a trick."- He responds- "Meggy! Go!"
Suddenly, Meggy leaps at the bandit and slashes him in the chest with her sword.
"Die, bandit!"- She yells as she continues to attack him, apparently enjoying this- "I'll make you pay for hurting my friends!"
At first, it seems like she has severely wounded him. However, it is soon revealed that her attacks have little to no effect,
Finally, the bandit loses his temper.
"Enough of those silly games!"- He yells and grabs Meggy.
Then, without hesitating, he throws her into a nearby building, rendering her unconscious.
He turns to Jared, but it seems like he took the opportunity to get away.
"Where are you, coward?"- The bandit leader says, mocking him- "I will find-- "
Suddenly, Jared appears behind him and stabs him in the back with Demonslayer. Slowly, some of his life energy is drained by the mighty blade and restores its user.
"Why, you... "- The bandit mutters and tries to attack again, but Jared manages to leap back before anything happens.
Suddenly, the palm of Jared's right hand starts to glow. Magical energy flows from it into Demonslayer.
A few seconds later, he swings the blade at the bandit. A powerful gust pushes him back and slams his head into the same building where he threw Meggy.
As he tries to stand up, Jared points his weapon at him.
"Every leader that I fought during my time as an adventurer has eventually fallen to my blade."- He says- "It is clear that your fate will be the same. The question is whether you will die quickly... or painfully."
The bandit smiles.
"I choose neither!"- He yells and attacks.
After a few more unsuccessful attempts to weaken his enemy, Benedict finally realizes that he is not going to achieve anything without his allies. A magical shield surrounds him, successfully blocking all of Jared's attacks.
"This is the same shield that he used to protect himself in our first encounter."- Jared says to himself- "Does he really think that I will be fooled twice by this trickery?"
The bandit leader jumps back. He sees a small pack of bandits nearby and gets closer to them, while blocking Jared's attacks.
Soon, the bandits see them. The grab a few rocks from the ground and start throwing them at our hero.
While Jared struggles to avoid them, Benedict laughs.
"Well. As you can see, I still have people who are ready to fight by my side."- He says- "What about you, kid?"
Jared looks back at him. He shakes his head.
"We will see about that."- He says, grabs one of the rocks and throws it at the bandit's shield.
The impact is strong enough to crack it.
"What?!"- Benedict yells- "How? How is this possible?"
Jared does not respond. Instead he throws another rock at the magical shield.
And then another.
Soon, the shield is about to break.
"No! This is not supposed to happen!"- The bandit leader yells- "You're not supposed to win!"
Jared takes a few steps back. He draws Demonslayer and glares at Benedict.
A few seconds later, he charges. Once he is close enough, he jumps into the air and slams the blade into the ground.
The impact is, amazingly, strong enough to break the shield into pieces with ease. At the same time, the bandit leader is thrown back into his allies, knocking them back.
He stands up and realizes that he accidentally pushed them into a nearby fire. In a few seconds, there is nothing left of them.
Benedict looks back and notices that Jared is pointing his bow at him. Before he could react, he aims it at an unstable building above him and shoots an arrow.
Soon, he shoots another one and watches as the building falls on top of the bandit. Soon, he hears his scream and realizes that he has died.
He sits on the grass and watches as the rest of his allies eliminate all of the bandits that survived the battle.
Aleks and Allister approach Jared as Lethal inspects the area where Benedict died.
"It is over."- Jared says- "It is finally over."
Aleks nods.
"We've won."- He says- "Once again, the heroes have prevailed."
Meanwhile, Meggy wakes up. She looks around lazily, yawns and stands up.
"Jared."- She says as she approaches her friend- "Did we... did we win?"
Jared nods.
"We did it, Meggy."- He responds- "The Darkness of Duskwood will not bother us anymore. I made sure of it."
Meggy smiles and pats him on the shoulder.
"I knew that you would win!"- She says- "Well done!"
Jared smiles back.
"Well, I couldn't have done it without you."- He responds- "You are as much of a hero as I am."
Meggy blushes.
"That's very sweet of you!"- She says- "Say, do you always say treat ladies this way?"
Jared shrugs.
"Well, I... "- He says and smiles- "I... I guess."
Meggy pats him on the shoulder again.
"You know what? I'll say it."- She continues- "You're a real charmer."
Jared smiles and hugs her. She hugs him back.
As the four of talk about their recent endeavors, Lethal continues to inspect the wreckage. He lifts the smoldering planks from the ground and inspects them, trying to determine how painful it was for Benedict.
Finally, he reaches the bottom. Expecting to see the corpse of his dead enemy, he looks around, but fails to see anything.
He digs deeper and comes across something metallic. He pulls it and realizes that it is a handle.
Upon closer inspection, he realizes that he has discovered a trapdoor.
He looks at his grandson.
"Umm, Jared?"- He says- "You might want to take a look at this... "
Jared approaches the wreckage and inspects the trapdoor. He realizes that his mission is not over yet.
"It seems like our enemy has managed to escape again."- Aleks says- "What a shame."
Although all of his allies have lost hope, Jared himself does not give up. He opens the trapdoor and descends into the cave below.
He takes a torch from a nearby wall and looks around.
"This place is like a maze!"- He says to himself- "If a bandit like Benedict is hiding in here, it would take us hours to find him!"
Just as he steps further into the cave system, he hears a rumbling sound. He looks at the ceiling above him and narrowly avoids a falling rock.
In a few seconds, the entire cave system starts to collapse. It seems like Benedict does not like trespassers, especially those who are capable of harming him.
Jared tries to run back, but realizes that the exit has been blocked by tons of rubble. Having no other options, he runs forward, avoiding rocks and trying to stay alive.
Finally, the rumbling stops. Rocks stop falling from the ceiling.
Jared looks around. He realizes that he is completely trapped. He tries to call for his allies, but receives no response.
"This is bad!"- Jared says- "I need to find a way out!"
Meanwhile, Aleks wonders why his son is not coming out. He descends into the cave and sees that the way forward is blocked by rubble. A lot of it.
He climbs the ladder and informs his allies about this anomaly.
"A cave-in has separated him from us."- He says- "It's not natural, that's for sure."
Lethal gasps.
"So."- He says- "Someone is playing with the forces of nature?"
Aleks nods.
"It seems like it."- He responds- "We need to find a way to set him free! Immediately!"
Lethal shakes his head.
"Such a cave-in cannot be moved away by a normal person. Or, at least, nobody who's as strong as us."- He says- "We can still dig a new passage into the cave, but it will take us days. But I... I'm afraid Jared can't survive for that long."
Aleks sighs.
"It doesn't matter! Do it!"- He yells- "My son is trapped in that dark place and I'm not going to let him die! I promised his mother that I will protect him, that I will be by his side! Just because he's not under your care doesn't mean that you can simply stand back and watch!"
Lethal stares into his son's eyes. He sees the determination within them.
It is clear that Aleks is not going to give up. And he wants to save his son as soon as possible.
There is only one thing left to do...
"Very well."- Lethal says and grabs a nearby pickaxe- "Then we will dig a tunnel ourselves!"
Allister and Meggy nod. They grab two pickaxes and descend into the cave.
Lethal looks at Aleks.
"Son, we will find Jared. Mark my words."- He says- "I just want you to be calm. Everything will be okay. He will live through this. Nothing will happen to him, I assure you."
He smiles sadly.
"You know that I love all of you, right?"- He continues- "I will never abandon you, even if it means that I will die trying to keep you safe."
Aleks nods.
"It's the same for me, dad."- He says and pats him on the shoulder- "You're a good grandfather. Jared always depends on you, but now? Now, he needs your help more than ever."
He looks at him.
"Are you ready to save him?"
Lethal grins.
"Of course I am!"- He exclaims- "What are we waiting for? Let's go!"
Soon, all of them dig through the dirt, slowly excavating a passage into the cave.
"Jared, are you in there?"- Aleks yells- "Can you hear me?"
No response.
"I can't seem to hear him either."- Lethal says and shakes his head- "The place must be huge. Who knows where he is right now."
Aleks nods.
"No matter how long it takes us, we will find him."
Lethal nods as well.
"Indeed, we will."- He says- "Now, let's proceed. Time is of essence and every second could be vital for my grandson."
Our heroes continue to swing their pickaxes at the dirt, continuing to excavate the tunnel.
"Jared, I know that you're in there. Somewhere."- Aleks says to himself- "Stay calm, my boy. We will reunite soon."