30 Chapter 29

Night came into the fray. The skies pushing down the pale sun and shifting back to the starless void, just like a canvas painted, no weaved by an extraordinary artist. and along with its inevitable descent came a splash, a splash that changed into a roar in the form of a Black Sea. Its depth unknown, its waves violent and rough, banging against the statue like a frenzied beast trying to reach its prey as it rose and rose without stopping. Among the dark waters, various lengthy silhouettes were wriggling along the statue, trying to reach the top along the rising water.

Then it stopped its rise when the water stopped abruptly, being just a few meters away from reaching the smooth surface of the statue's giant head.

Silence came, an unnerving silence. The four victims laying down on their backs, could be seen sweating profusely on top of the giant knight's head. Not daring to breath. Not daring to even move a muscle.

All of them could feel it. Their instincts were screaming at them, though most of them haven't honed their instincts yet, and despite their inexperience. Their bodies was in full-on autopilot, their movements frozen due to a primal fear.

Fuckin hell! That pervert really tailed me all the way here! I know it is him. He likes to be sneaky about his approach all the time, thank god for Sunny's shadow alerting us in time. Otherwise we would have been in a very different situation.

Ariel, now with his face pale, his back streaming with cold sweat. Grimaced in thought. His arms tightly holding onto the trembling body of Cassie, who seemed to have lost it. Her lips were dry, her face ashy with fear. Her hands were gripping Ariel's shoulders in a death grip. To the point that her knuckles have turned bluish from the amount strength she was using.

Nephis and Sunny were no better. Sunny's ugly grimace spoke for his state of mind. While Nephis was frowning, her grey eyes straight and unmoving. However, if one looked very, very closely. They could see the slightest tremble of her eyes. They could see her hands shaking ever so slightly.

It wasn't this bad when it was just chasing me! What changed?! Why is it so damn aggressive all of a sudden?! I thought it was the sea crashing against the statue, but it was this fucker trying his best make us fall of. Well too bad you piece of shit, this statue ain't going nowhere.

Is it because of Sunny and Nephis? Previously, I alone was so appealing to it that it chased me all the way here. But now with two divine ranked awakened and an unknown ranked awakened served to it on a silver platter. It has gone wild? With hunger? That's honestly the best answer I can come up with for this fucking situation!

Ariel's grimace slowly eased back into normal the more he thought about it. The primal fear from before being snuffed out by the second.

Huh? I'm fine now. So was that an ability? It was actually pretty scary. It seems my aspect came in clucth again.

Ariel's face recovered its colour, his body giving back to him control. His mind revitalised, pushed away the cloud of uncertainty and fear out. His eyes gaining back its intense focus. As if they were intentionally blurred, probably another result of the nightmare creature's ability.

But why won't it attack us? Last time I encountered this fucker, he was shooting his tentacles away at me like bullets. They followed me into the air like slippery eels, tens of meters away from the cursed sea. So what changed?

Ariel briefly eyed his surroundings with thoughtful eyes.

Then it hit him.

Right! The fucking humongous statue the size of several skyscrapers. One of the seven heroes. Does that mean that there is something special about these statues beside their headless bodies and their story? But how come it hasn't even been explained before? I mean all they were mentioned in. Was the time when they fought against the all-consuming darkness, a conflict which they failed at miserably. And their connections to the shard memories, the seven keys for the seal inside the crimson spire.

It's strange, very strange. My mind is telling me to believe this theory, but my gut says no. There is something else going on here.

Ariel tried standing up to investigate further, however. Two pale hands grabbed him and pulled him down onto the ground forcefully.

Ariel in his thoughts, was too late to react, falling onto his back again, his back scraping the smooth surface roughly. His eyes, found themselves looking into Cassie's pale face. Her shaking eyes on the verge of crying, her lips as dry as a withered bark of wood, a result of the fear assaulting her mind.

Right…not everyone has the same boons as me.

Ariel thought bitterly before he pulled her in closer to his chest. Wrapping his hands around her smugly, hoping to convey even a bit of warmth to her body, which was dangerously cold.

In response, her body clung to him in a futile effort of wanting to at least lessen the fear. The creature's ability still in affect strongly. But the more she resisted, the more she became affected by it.

Okayyyyy…. This is way more serious than I thought. Shit are the others like this too?

Ariel was getting slightly concerned as time went by.

"Nephis!"

"Sunny!"

"Can any of you hear me? If so, say something!"

…

…

…

Several seconds went by in silence, the very same silence as before, the same intense, primal fear tried to take hold of him.

Fuck! It's using it again!

Splash!

The sound of water splashing rang out, Ariel's heart sped up. His hands gripping Cassie's limp body, showing she has lost consciousness due to the presssure and fear.

Then, there it was. At the corner of his eyes. A black tentacle became visible. Its size and thickness comparable to a large metal pole. Dragging along a passed out Nephis by the heel of her foot. Sliding her across the ground slowly.

Ariel's eyes widened, his heart started pounding against his rib cage, his vision slowing down to a complete halt. Blood pumped through his veins. Making him go into hysteria.

What do I do?! Cutting its limb of with my sword won't work, ripping it of her by force won't work either, so no point in using force. Because it's absolutely useless.

Ariel's patient was running thin, especially with Nephis getting closer and closer to the edge. His mind going into overdrive for a solution.

Right! Right! Why the fuck didn't I think of that in the first place?!

As the last thought flew through his mind, his body was already in action. No longer holding Cassie. But rushing straight to Nephis like a bullet, sending out blasts of air due to the power behind his lunge.

Sword already in hand, it gleamed through the air, leaving a shiny trail of white particles after him, lighting up the dark of the night like a beacon. It headed straight for the tentacle dragging Nephis.

I'm sorry for this Nephis.

The sword swung down with such force and sharpness, it made a whizzing sound in the air, slicing through just above Nephis's heel, severing her foot so smoothly, the blood didn't even drip down because of the air pressure that came along with the sword.

Nephis was still unconscious, the ability once again proving to be the worst of the worst, despite the spluttering blood, despite the circled pool it was making in the dark of the night. There was no reaction from her, not even a flinch. The tentacle flailed around at the loss of its prey. Confused it lunged for the next target it could sense, its speed admirable even though it was only using one of its many, many limbs.

Its destination Cassie.

Ariel's pupils constricted in fury seeing it rushing towards its next target. He too, put all the strength he had into his legs. They in return constricted in their place before straightening, sending his body flying through the air like a phantom. His blue eyes glowing even more brightly in the night. The muscles on his arms pulled till they were straining and nearly tearing through his skin. 

The sword intercepted the cursed pervert in a powerful but beautiful deadly swipe of white light, with all the force behind it, the surrounding spaced hummed with vibration.

The shining blade made contact with its target, but all that power was wasted away when the sword didn't even manage to nick the flesh of the creature, in fact. a small crack forced itself onto the sword. 

Ariel was in no way deterred by his powerlessness. his eyes still emitting a blazing blue hue. this is what he wanted, the attention of this pervert all to himself. And it worked splendidly, the tentacle looked distraught for a second. The tip of its limb expanding a bit, similar to a snout. It sniffed the air like the pervert it was. freezing a moment later in place. 

Suddenly, it shot out towards him in such a frenzy that it cracked the platform beneath them due to its excitement. unlike before when it was lazily targeting the others, this time its speed was on a whole other level. Ariel barely had the chance to react, his instincts pounding through his body. Warning him of the imminent danger heading for him, and before he knew it, his left arm was already caught in its slippery protrusion.

Ariel didn't hesitate one bit. In a flash of white light, his arm was sent flying through the air, his eyes looking down on the tentacle mockingly as his arm regenerated in a flash. However, this sense of victory didn't last long when the tentacle shot up to grab him by the neck. An attack he managed to barely weave under.

I can't kill it, hell. I can't even hurt it. This is just one part of its body, going against it would be stupid. going down into the water to confront it is even a dumber idea, because even if I adapt to its attacks and abilities, whats the point if I cannot even damage it? I'll just be a cockroach who doesn't know when to die. I'm sure it would annoy it. I have only one option right now that guarantees my survival and the survival of the others.

It's pretty easy, I just have to play this game of mouse and cat. Stall it out until the sun comes out. That's probably the only plausible solution.

Ariel took a deep breath and resolved himself for the upcoming battle. His vision expanded all around him in a circle. His brain turning off, going into combat mode. Then two words came out of his mouth in tandem...

"Absolute Domain."

A/N:tell me if you liked the fight, and pls inform me if I did anything wrong. and if you can give me an idea of how you would've done this fight, like did Ariel's idea of just stalling it out seem plausible? also thanks for all the support.