Imani…

My waves pulse outward, scanning through the water—but something distorts them. Interference. A disruption I can't identify.

The boss?

The Tower itself?

Shit.

I hover above the surface, eyes locked on the dark abyss below, my heartbeat hammering in my chest. Since I was a kid, I'd always loved the ocean—and feared it. The unknown depths. The monsters that could lurk beneath.

And now, with that thing hiding somewhere below, unseen, unfelt—those rows of spiraling spikes in its maw—

A shiver rips down my spine.

No.

I grit my teeth, channel my waves, and dive.

I won't let Imani drown.

I break the surface, plunging into the darkness below. The water closes around me instantly, stealing my breath. Visibility is shit. My perception is worse. But I don't need perfect readings—I just need a trajectory.

Imani's path. His momentum. His weight.

I calculate. Adjust. Then propel myself forward, my entire body driving through the depths like a bullet, waves enhancing each movement, pushing me faster.

But—

This silence.

It's wrong.

My pulse hammers louder, thudding against my skull. The pressure. The abyss stretching endlessly below.

I push Overdrive further.

Everything sharpens. Sound rushes in, a chaotic symphony of shifting water, distant echoes, and—

There.

Imani.

I try to send a wave—nothing. Blocked again. This interference… I still can't pierce through it.

But I see him now. Barely.

His massive frame moves with urgency, swimming hard, fighting toward the surface. Too slow.

I surge closer. He glances back, his body twisting mid-motion.

"Alo…nso?"

The wave is muffled, warped by the interference. I send a quick confirmation back.

I reach him, my tendrils snapping forward, latching onto his body as I push my waves against the crushing depths. He's heavy—damn heavy—but I force us upward, every ounce of power channeled into acceleration.

We move.

Faster.

Almost there.

Then—

A sound.

A deep, rumbling vibration that isn't part of the ocean.

My heart stops.

No.

No, no, no.

How?

How did I not sense it? How did I not feel it coming?

The darkness shifts.

It's not empty. It's never been empty.

It's closing.

The details emerge too late. The spiraling, jagged spines lining the inside of an impossibly vast maw. The gargantuan form hidden in the abyss.

We're right in front of it.

The mouth is closing.

No…

I channel my waves as hard as I can, pushing Overdrive to the limit.

But… it's not enough.

I curse, my hands twitching toward my swords—

And then—

A flash.

A pulse of blinding light.

My body jerks violently upward, an unseen force nearly tearing me apart from the sheer, unnatural acceleration.

What the—

I twist mid-motion, my vision locking onto Imani.

His veins—or something else entirely—are glowing. A deep, faint light, already dimming.

What… what just happened?

No. No time.

The force propelled us free, breaking past the crushing maw, launching us closer to the surface—but we're not there yet.

I push harder.

Waves raging through my limbs, legs kicking, arms cutting through the water. The pressure clamps down, the deep abyss trying to drag us back in.

I don't look down.

I can't see it. I can't sense it.

But I know it's there.

The monstrosity.

Lurking just beneath.

A creature so vast, so impossibly big, that no land-born lifeform could comprehend its existence.

But the surface—

It's right there.

I reach. I push.

And then—

I see them.

Tendrils. Three.

Rising. Closing in.

No way to dodge.

I whip around, my swords flashing free—

But Imani moves first.

His massive hand slams into my chest, a burst of force hurling me out of the way.

"No."

Why—

"Let me."

I'm propelled upward, momentum ripping me from his grasp.

Below, the tentacles collide.

One spike pierces straight through his shoulder.

Deep. Clean.

My eyes widen.

The impact shatters the water around him, a forceful wave surging outward. The final push breaks me through the surface.

I explode into the air.

"NOOO!"

My scream splits through the battlefield.

I see him.

Launched through the air.

Blood pours from his torn shoulder, his right arm hanging useless.

I dive.

Fast. Hard. Pushing every ounce of force into acceleration.

But—

The creature rises.

Tendrils lunge.

I grit my teeth.

I'm not gonna make it.

This…

SLASH!

BAM! BAM! BAM!

A blur of motion—steel flashing, bullets roaring through the sky.

The tentacles never make it.

They're partly severed mid-lunge, flesh and spikes exploding in a grotesque spray of dark blue blood. The creature shrieks, a high-pitched, gut-churning wail that rips through the air as fresh wounds tear open across its monstrous limbs.

Imani!

Wang and Chiara swoop in. Faster than the beast can react, they catch his falling form, pulling him free before another tendril can strike.

Meanwhile, Ayu surges toward me, running above the water, her blade still dripping with the remnants of her last cut.

From afar, Arjun and Lukas fire relentlessly, rounds slicing through the air, each shot hammering into the beast's remaining eyes.

"Alonso!"

Ayu's voice cuts through my mind.

I react instinctively.

I push off the air, closing the gap in a burst of force, grabbing her as we fly clear of the battlefield. Below, the others keep up the pressure—harassing the beast, keeping it from retaliating, the onslaught relentless.

"Are you okay?"

I exhale, lowering Overdrive as we drop back to solid ground. My heart slams against my ribs, the adrenaline still running thick.

Everything happened too fast.

"I'm fine. What about Imani? Chiara?"

My waves reach out, scanning through the battlefield.

I find them.

Wang and Chiara—barely holding on, dragging Imani toward the squads waiting at the edge of the battlefield.

"He's… badly injured," Chiara's voice comes through. "But he's breathing. He'll make it. But, his body…"

She hesitates.

I know what she's thinking.

That flash. Those shining pathways. That sudden burst before we broke free.

Had Imani just… awakened?

No time to dwell on it.

"Alright," Lukas' voice cuts in, sharp and commanding. "We need that red orb for Imani, now! The creature's crippled. Less than a fourth of its eyes remain. Stay sharp, dodge the smaller octopuses, and prepare for the next ambush. Chiara, cover Arjun. Alonso, cover Ayu. Wang, you can cover me."

"No."

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Ayu's voice is firm.

"I don't need cover. I can dodge it and run on water."

I turn to stare at her.

Her eyes meet mine, steady, determined.

Alright. I nod.

Without another word, I push upward, bracing for the next wave.

But that memory resurfaces.

I freeze—a fraction of a second.

The darkness. The silence. The crushing weight of that thing's maw closing in.

I swallow hard.

The fear lingers, gripping my chest like a phantom claw. That moment—that instant where I thought it was over—won't let go.

But then… Ayu's voice comes through again, softer this time.

"I have a surprise for you after this battle, so… let's finish this quickly, alright?"

A warmth cuts through the cold in my gut, an anchor pulling me back.

I exhale, forcing the tension from my shoulders.

A small smile tugs at my lips.

"I'm looking forward to it."

As I gain height, I scan the battlefield. The frenzied octopuses keep coming, one after another. The squads engage them from the region's edge, bullets slicing through the air, while Lukas and Arjun weave through the chaos, narrowly avoiding slashing tentacles.

"Wang, Chiara, take care of Lukas. I'll cover Arjun."

A short delay. Then confirmation.

"Save the new bullets for the boss. Be ready." Lukas sends as he leaps over a tentacle that crashes down, shattering the land where he stood just moments before.

I push forward, closing in on Arjun, my senses tuned to catch any shift in the water. Nothing.

The boss is still lurking.

Seconds pass. The battle rages. More and more octopuses fall, but their numbers seem endless.

I join in, releasing a barrage of older bullets, covering Arjun from above. But the unease crawls under my skin. That image from before… I can't shake it.

My fingers twitch for a fraction of a second before I clench them into a fist.

I glance at the others. All of them fighting with everything they have. Weaker than me—some unable to fly—yet still pushing forward, ready to face the boss without hesitation.

This fear…

It reminds me of the spiders back in the tunnel.

It reminds me of my dad.

Fear…

I close my eyes.

I force the image of the creature into my mind—not the unseen terror lurking below, but the one I fought above. Every tendril. Every spike. Every eye. Every jagged tooth lining its massive, spiraling maw. Every move it made in battle.

If I can understand it… then—

BOOM!

My eyes snap open, locking onto the disturbance.

A massive, spiked tentacle slashes toward Lukas.

It's fast.

Lukas reacts instantly, leaping upward—but the tentacle is faster.

It's going to hit.

A blur—Wang. He intercepts mid-motion, his body rotating at an impossible speed as he spirals across the tendril, his blade carving a deep, jagged line through its flesh. Dark blood spurts into the air.

Then—BAM!

Chiara's shot lands precisely where Wang struck, shifting the tentacle's trajectory just enough. Lukas barely clears it.

I prepare my own bullets, but before I can fire—BAM!—Arjun's shot strikes first, another direct hit.

I follow up. So do Ayu and the others.

Shot after shot, strike after strike.

The beast screeches in agony—and resurfaces.

My eyes snap wide.

"It's gonna send the waves! Shield yourselves!"

The others react instantly, pushing back just as the deafening roar erupts. The EM pulse crashes over them—disrupting movement, forcing a momentary lag in reaction. But they recover.

I push forward.

Bullets already charged, I fire at its remaining eyes—one after the other.

I unsheathe my swords.

The putrid stench of rotting flesh slams into me as I descend, aiming straight for its grotesque face.

It's not about not being scared.

I weave through its slashing tentacles, slipping past the spikes that lance through the air.

It's about learning.

My swords strike true, carving through its bulbous, staring eyes. One. Two. Three.

It screeches. I push Overdrive.

I accelerate—faster, sharper—hacking, slashing.

Faster.

My blades carve through its flesh in a relentless blur. Its spikes shoot toward me, but I'm too close.

Its mouth lunges—gaping, spiraling, the nightmare maw ready to consume me whole.

Too slow.

And then—

I see it.

I tilt mid-air, barely shifting past the closing jaws, the saltwater spraying against my soaked armor. My heart hammers, but my mind is calm. I understand it now.

A tendril slashes in from my right—I roll over it, spinning between the spikes. Another whips toward my back—I drop, accelerating downward just in time for it to miss by a fraction of an inch.

It's too predictable.

Another spike launches—I shift my body, letting it graze past, the air pressure tugging at my shoulder but never touching me.

It's too slow.

I accelerate. My blades slash, carving through more of its remaining eyes, thick, gelatinous fluid spilling out in dark streams. It screeches, the guttural sound vibrating through my very bones.

Wang appears beside me.

His sword flickers—impossibly fast, leaving a dozen fresh gashes across its writhing flesh in a blink.

Another shot BOOM! A blast of gore erupts as Chiara takes out another eye.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Lukas. Arjun. Ayu.

All of them fire in sync. The creature howls.

Its entire body thrashes violently.

Its eyes—nearly all gone. The sockets nothing but gushing, pulsing wounds. Its tendrils flail blindly, crashing into the cliffs, tearing apart the land beneath us.

But it's over.

One more strike. One more push—

It shrieks.

And dives.

The water erupts in a massive wave as the beast vanishes beneath the surface.

Escaping.

Hiding.

I hover above, breathing hard, my body trembling slightly from the rush.

It's not done yet.

"Lukas, you should go back with the squad. We can finish it off," Chiara says to us all.

"No," Lukas transmits between ragged breaths. "We need bait to finish it. And…" He spits blood from beneath his broken mask, the lower half cracked from his last desperate evasion. "The captain is the last to leave the ship, right?"

Bait?

Wait. Why did it go for Imani first, then Lukas? The pattern. It's… taking out the easiest targets.

Then—

My heart skips a beat.

I channel my waves fast, propelling myself forward, pushing Overdrive.

That final struggle.

It knows it can't win.

Then—

My eyes lock onto Imani and the rest of Climbers at the edge of the region.

A sudden explosion of water erupts before them.

It wants to take some of us with it.

But—

The column water keeps rising.

What the…

Its massive form, dripping with blood, nearly all its eyes reduced to mangled sockets, reveals itself completely.

Why didn't it attack with just a tendril? Why abandon the ambush?

Something's wrong.

Its massive mouth opens wide, still quite a distance from Imani and the rest. What is it doing?

Then it clicks.

The last fight. The dragon. The final desperate attack. The huge fireball.

Then—

The creature's tentacles extend wide, its rows of spiked teeth beginning to tremble.

No…

That attack—

For a moment, I freeze.

I know what it's about to do.

I know if I step forward, there's a good chance I'll die.

I know I could take the opening, finish it off while it attacks them.

But—

The image of Imani, pushing me away underwater, taking the hit for me, flashes through my mind.

The image of Abhijit, dying before my eyes.

The image of Imani and the rest—dead, knowing I could have stopped it—waiting to become reality.

I…

I accelerate and land in front of them.

Suddenly, all the spikes—even its jagged fangs—are released.

A concentric, all-out attack. Everything it has.

Hundreds of them.

All coming straight for me.

I can still dodge.

I can still escape with my life.

But—

They are behind me.

I—

I grip my swords tight.

Ayu…

I made a promise.

I have to survive.

No… I will make it.

"Houston."

"Pushing Overdrive to the absolute maximum. Dual-Overdrive, activated."

The world freezes.

Every spike, every projectile, every death-tipped fragment tunes into sharp, perfect clarity.

Nothing else exists.

The ground beneath my feet.

My waves, pushing me forward.

A spiral of dots and lines merging into my blades and gauntlets.

For some reason, I smile.

Come.

Come at me.

The first impact comes.

My swords shudder against the force, my arms screaming as I deflect the first spike. The sheer momentum nearly rips my shoulders out of their sockets.

Another.

My gauntlets screech, the recoil sending shockwaves through my bones.

Then—

Another.

The ground craters beneath me. My knees buckle. My ribs splinter under the force, pain lacing through my torso.

The storm doesn't stop.

They come.

Faster.

Harder.

A spike slams into my guard—CRACK. My arms tremble. My muscles scream.

Another.

A jagged fang crashes into my left blade. Metal screams. Sparks fly. The force nearly wrenches the weapon from my grip.

I twist—too slow.

A spike grazes my side. Flesh splits. Blood spills.

Another.

Bigger.

I brace—

CRACK.

The sheer force nearly buries me into the stone. My legs sink into the shattered ground, fractures racing outward from where I stand. The weight of it almost snaps my arms in half.

Another.

A spike slams into the side of my chest.

BOOM.

Armor explodes.

Metal fragments scatter. Blood sprays.

I lurch forward, gasping.

I have no time to recover.

Another.

I lift my swords—SLASH.

A fang rips across my arm, slicing deep.

Another.

A jagged spike crashes into my right sword. The blade nearly leaves my hand.

Another.

A spike. Too fast.

I tilt just in time—

BOOM.

The spike shatters my mask as its edge slightly touches it.

My skull rattles.

My neck snaps back.

My ears ring.

My vision swims.

The storm rages on.

The spikes do not stop.

The pain does not stop.

I should be dead.

But—

I take a step forward.

The ground beneath me shatters further, lines fracturing outward like a spiderweb.

Another spike. I deflect it, my blurred vision barely tracking the next incoming barrage.

Fangs. Spikes.

Hundreds.

I keep going.

My bones creak. My muscles tear. Everything burns.

But I keep going.

I don't dodge.

I defy.

My swords blur. My bones crack. My feet crush into the stone, anchoring me as I meet every strike, every impact, every impossible force.

The creature shrieks.

But I roar back.

It throws everything at me.

I throw myself back at it.

Blades swing in a blur. Spikes clash. Flesh tears. Blood paints the battlefield.

My chest heaves.

The world narrows.

I roar in defiance.

One final impact.

I slash with my two swords with all I have.

The fang is deflected.

Then—

Silence.

I stand there.

Barely.

My torso bare, blood and seawater dripping down my skin.

My arms hang, trembling, barely functional.

My breath rasps in my throat.

A faint click.

My mask.

It falls, hitting the ground with a hollow sound.

Silence.

Then—

A sound.

Faint. Distant.

I raise my head.

The other side—

The creature.

It's—

Gone.

Then—

Darkness.

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