Deep underwater, many earth spheres follow an energy line. Inside Nox's sphere, Kayle's bubble bounces gently against the dirt walls. She glances at him and asks, "What was that place you came from?"
Still steering the earth sphere, Nox snaps his fingers. A wave of magic pulses through the interior of the sphere as he replies, "Planet Isha."
Kayle frowns and says, "Come on, you know what I mean. When you first appeared at the start of the Star Games—what was that place?"
Nox takes a deep breath before answering, "That's where I live..."
Kayle's expression tightens with frustration, but before she speaks, Nox continues, "It's called Black Paradise. A city that is free... but hidden."
"Ahhh," Kayle nods. "I remember reading about a restricted area deep within Planet Isha. That must be where Black Paradise is. I once overheard my father talking about why the nobles built that prison system in the slums—to force prisoners to dig toward that restricted zone. But every time they got close, they were attacked by... data creatures. So, I assume you guys made them?"
"My AI assistant, Susan, created those creatures to protect our home," Nox replies. "There were times we were almost discovered—once by some nobles, and another by the prisoners. But we handled it. We either won the battle, sealed the path, or moved our home to a new location."
Kayle's eyes widen. "Wow... Why are you guys so secretive?"
Nox leans back slightly, voice cool. "That's classified. But we have our reasons. All I can say is... it's for the good of the universe."
Kayle slowly nods, digesting his words. "For the universe, huh? Okay... then why join the Star Games? To become a God and change the universe?"
The spheres finally reach the sea floor. As they glow brighter, the ground trembles, revealing a wide opening. The spheres descend deeper into the underground.
"No," Nox answers. "That's not it. I'm trying to find worthy people—people I can trust. That's all I can say."
Kayle spins slowly inside her bubble, resting her chin on her hand. "So... you trust me?"
Nox smirks faintly. "I believe you're quite worthy. But only time will tell. When that time comes... you'll know everything."
"What was that earlier?" Kayle asks. "Why did you snap your fingers?"
"I was casting a spell—so God can't see or hear us in here."
Kayle raises a brow. "Hmm. You worried about God eavesdropping on us?"
Nox nods, his tone shifting to something darker. "Yeah. He's not what you think he is. Shit, maybe I'm saying too much... All I ask is that you keep doing what you're doing. When we reach the endgame, I'll explain everything."
"That's if we survive until the seventh stage..." Kayle murmurs. "Well, if we do—promise you'll tell me more?"
Nox looks at her and replies firmly, "For sure."
The earth spheres enter a massive cavern with a long, narrow path. They follow it in silence, until finally, they reach the end of the trail and find themselves staring at a towering, ancient gate.
Nox then magically summons the Storm Dragon's core as it shines brightly and causes the gates to open. Nox then speaks into a rune stone and says,
"All units, gather what you can. If there's any danger, notify me and I'll deal with it."
All of the many Earth Spheres then go into the dungeon. As they move through the maze, some begin to magically gather colorful ores from the walls.
Meanwhile, in Tomi's Earth Sphere as he's driving it, Vel and a few Stars are also with him. Vel is amazed at the beautiful dungeon they're in. Tomi then says,
"While the others are gathering resources, we're going to figure out the layout of this dungeon—to know what areas are safe or not."
Vel then pauses as she looks around and says,
"Wait... something feels similar... I got it! I can sense it! There are so many bonuses here in this dungeon!"
Tomi then says, "Bonuses? Wait, you're talking like how you got your bonus powers. I'll let Kayle and Nox know. But maybe this is the opportunity for us all to get stronger. Let's find these bonuses! Tell me where to go."
Vel closes her eyes as she tries to focus and says,
"Ahh... well, I can't really sense the correct locations, but once we get closer to one, I can get a good feel for where it is. But they're all over the place—so many that I can't even count them."
All of the Stars in the sphere then get excited, as they also want to get stronger so they can survive longer in the Star Games.
Meanwhile in the deep sea, Melon is swimming toward an energy line. Inside of Melon, Ignis is laying down as he then says,
"Tobias, if you're seeing this, you better start celebrating, because so far I've survived twice being inside a creature's belly."
Jen then says, "Well, technically we're in Melon's mouth, not his belly."
Ignis puts his arm over his face and says, "Well I'm still inside of it, so it still counts."
Crank is shadowboxing as he knocks on the meat wall and says, "Can you hurry, Melon? I want to test out my new powers."
Boa then says, "I'm also excited to see your new powers. But to be honest, I'm more impressed that you were able to use my powers so well that you can extract the animal souls I've already collected—and combined them with your own soul."
Crank then says, "Well, I don't know how I did it, but... it's a feeling, you know?"
Jen explains, "Yeah, Crank, we know. You tend to just do it somehow—without using much thought."
Crank laughs and says, "Yeah, whatever she said."
Melon then swims into a water cave, passing by many glowing stones embedded in the walls. As Melon enters a large open area, lights from crystal shards shine across the cavern. Melon spots something swimming far ahead but can only catch a glimpse as it vanishes deeper into the darkness.
Boa then says, "Something is watching us... I can feel Melon being scared of it."
Crank rushes toward the front part of Melon's mouth with excitement.
Melon then spots a giant creature swimming toward him. As it gets closer, it's revealed under the crystal lights—a massive Megalodon with dark-colored shards protruding from its back. The shards flash with various dark hues, and its glowing eyes match the eerie aura. As it opens its mouth, every single tooth shines with a different color.
Melon swims downward, dodging the bite attack, then spits Crank out of its mouth.
Crank swims forward, his body glowing yellow as it shifts into a wave of spirit fishes. The wave of fishes rushes toward the Megalodon and transforms into a giant spirit swordfish that stabs into the side of the beast.
The Megalodon roars and shakes off the attack, the shards on its back suddenly firing multicolored lasers in all directions.
Melon and Crank quickly dodges the chaotic barrage of beams.
The Megalodon then opens its mouth as all of its teeth glow and start to spin around it's mouth like a moving chainsaw. It spins faster as it fires out many sharp, giant colorful teeth.
Crank transforms into a small spirit clownfish as he dodges the incoming attacks. Boa then uses his magic—giant spirit hands burst from his shoulders. These hands extend out of Melon's body and block the Megalodon's attacks.
Crank gets close enough and transforms into a spirit octopus, spraying black ink all over the place. The Megalodon chokes, stops its attack, and spins in a circle, trying to clear the ink from its face. It then sees thousands of spirit jellyfish surrounding it.
Suddenly, one jellyfish shoots a jolt of lightning, causing a chain reaction as all the others release bolts of lightning. The Megalodon is shocked and stunned in place.
One of the jellyfish then changes into Crank. He dives downward toward the Megalodon and strikes with his fist. His arm shifts, changing into a smaller version of the griffin. Confused but going with the flow, Crank smashes the griffin arm into the Megalodon's head. The griffin opens its mouth and fires a yellow energy blast, launching Crank upward as the energy keeps pouring into the beast.
This also causes all of the spirit jellyfishes around to explode in a burst of yellow lightning.
The Megalodon then explodes into pieces.
Inside of Melon as he then opens his mouth, a glowing energy barrier keeps out the water. Jen and Boa watch in awe.
Jen says,
"Wow, he's so much stronger… and I hate it how he doesn't even know what he's doing."
Boa replies,
"At least he carried this victory with great honor. Look at how excited he is."
Ignis looks over to see Crank sinking while holding onto his neck, struggling to breathe,
"Guys, I think he's drowning. We should go get him."
Melon swims over and catches Crank in its mouth. Crank rolls inside, coughing water.
"I was dying...... with happiness! Did you see that, Boa?!" he shouts.
Boa nods as they hug each other,
"I did. Our honor can only shine brighter from here on out."
Ignis turns to the corner and mutters to himself sarcastically,
"Oh Tobias, I hope you're seeing how much I'm enjoying being in a group of weirdos. If I ever get a chance to go back home, I would."
Jen walks over and hugs him.
"Hey, stop talking to yourself and enjoy the moment. We've come so far."
Ignis laughs with her as Melon follows the glowing energy line, which ends pointing upward toward a surface. Boa looks around as Melon opens its mouth.
Boa says,
"I think it's some kind of gate. Wait—I can feel the dragon's core reacting to this."
He magically summons the Blaze Dragon's core. It glows brightly, causing the massive circular gate to open. Melon swims upward and reaches the surface, arriving in a colossal dungeon filled with thousands of pillars and waterfalls.
The group exits Melon's mouth and uses magic to walk on the water's surface. Ignis is the only one swimming.
"Hey, can you help me out here? I can't do that," he says.
Boa casts a spell that coats Ignis's body, allowing him to walk on water too.
They all look around in amazement.
"This is a dungeon, and it's huge," Ignis says.
"I'm sure this is only a part of it."
Boa nods and says,
"Crank, use your animal sensing. Try to feel where the Omega of the old pack might be."
Crank closes his eyes and focuses. He senses a small trace of green magic, then points.
"That way!" he says.
They then head in that direction, guided by the echoes of the many waterfalls.
Meanwhile, in another part of the dungeon, Gaia is in her mecha, flying and dodging the bear's claw attacks as she fires multiple laser shots into its body, causing a series of small explosions.
Suddenly, two giant diggers burst into the room—one from each side—drilling into the bear's flanks. The bear roars and swipes its claws, removing the diggers and tossing them aside. More lasers rain down from behind.
Gaia turns around to see Hopper and his team firing their laser rifles.
The bear roars again. The crystal shards on its back shoot outward and land all around the room. Each crystal begins to glow—then fires a beam of energy.
Gaia dodges the first attack, but the beam reflects off a shard and strikes one of the diggers. Just in time, Ortis and his team rocket out of the digger before it explodes. Ortis crashes to the floor after ejecting from his seat.
Rose roars as she drives her digger forward, weaving between the reflected beams. One by one, her teammates leap out. Rose slams a button, and her seat ejects high into the air.
The digger smashes into the bear and explodes, sending the beast crashing to the ground.
More reflected energy beams zip through the air. The team dodges and scrambles while firing laser rifles at the shards—only to watch the blasts bounce back.
Gaia flies in and punches one of the crystal shards, shattering it into fragments.
She yells into her comms,
"No projectiles! Only physical strength can destroy these shards!"
She rushes to the next shard. Hopper and his team jump-kick a crystal together, smashing it apart. Ortis barely dodges a beam, then punches a shard with all his strength—but it only cracks.
Rose charges in with a mighty kick, shattering it like glass.
Ortis glares at her with a mean look.
"Hit it harder! It's that simple!" Rose snaps, dodging a nearby energy beam that blasts the ground that sends Ortis flying.
One by one, the team destroys the remaining crystals. Gaia flies up and smashes the final shard on the ceiling.
She looks down and sees Hopper charging the bear alone.
The bear swings its massive claws. Hopper dodges, then tosses a flash grenade into the air. It explodes in a blinding flash.
He slides under the bear and continues firing his laser rifle into its body. Then, turns to face the bear's back, his rifle transforms into a rocket launcher.
He fires a giant missile into the bear's crystal spine. It explodes in a massive blast, finally killing the beast.
The bear crashes to the ground. Hopper lies on the floor, breathing heavily.
Gaia lands beside him. Her mecha suit digitally fades as she reaches down.
She offers her hand.
Hopper takes it, and she lifts him up.
"Well done. You've done a great service," Gaia says. "I hereby announce your worthiness and demand your name in respect."
Hopper's eyes tear up. This is a butler's most honorable moment.
"Lady Gaia, it is my honor to give you my name. It is Hopper Gates. I will forever serve you as your butler and your loyal Pawn."
Gaia smiles, then turns to the rest of her team.
"Gather this material. It's high quality!"
Her teammates begin collecting the rare shards.
Gaia tosses a device that opens a glowing portal. Each shard is tossed into it, vanishing in a flash of light into this portal.
Rose bumps into Hopper, who is still wiping his eyes.
"Great job, Hopper. You took down the beast and earned Gaia's respect."
Ortis crawls over, smoke trailing from his back.
"Rose, you distracted me! That should've been me! Maybe then Lady Gaia would've noticed me too!"
His head flops onto the ground, getting emotional. Hopper continues to also cry.
Rose laughs.
"I'm lacking too much. I joined Gaia's team to make things easier for her… but these two idiots are doing much better than me."
She lifts their spirits with her laugh.