[Aren POV]
Wind tore past his ears as ether surged through his body. With Spiritual Flight, Aren could barely manage to carry Daniel as they made their way across the Lagoons.
The column of smoke was already thinning by the ti they arrived, but the mont they descended...the place was a hazard zone.
What had once been smooth stretches of sand and shallow water was now a complete ss. Large piles of sand had accumulated everywhere, along with small shards of glass barely being ford.
And at the center of it all—a massive hole pretty much split the beach open.
"Signs of a fight..." Daniel muttered. "Let’s get closer."
The mont they landed, the sll hit Aren instantly. Two kinds of rot hit his nose. The first being the sll of a corpse sowhere, probably a monster’s...and the second was rotten ether being emitted.
Defilers...why are they even here?
Up close toward the crater, the damage looked even worse. The ground had caved inward almost like a jagged funnel that led straight down into darkness. The edges were blackened as if sothing had burned its way through before detonating above the sands.
Aren stepped to the edge and looked down. It was hard to see, but as he squinted, one thing beca clear as day—
Marcus, crashed into the wall, lying in a crumpled heap of his own blood.
"What the hell—?!" Aren muttered. "Daniel, quick!"
"I see it."
Light flared around his arm, forming into the familiar shape of his lance. Without hesitation, he stepped forward and hurled it straight down into the hole.
The weapon tore through the air like a bolt of gold, spinning once before—
THUNK!
It slamd into the ground beside Marcus, embedding itself deep into the stone. Plates folded out imdiately, becoming a shield against an incoming attack.
"Co on, they need us," Daniel glanced at Aren before stepping up.
"Yeah."
They both pushed off at the sa ti, plunging straight into the darkness below.
***
[Back to the Present]
The cave remained silent after Daniel uttered the words.
The Defiler stood back up slowly, cloak torn with debris sliding down his shoulders—but the man shook it off like it was nothing.
"...Heh. That actually surprised ."
For a fraction of a second, his eyes narrowed and his mouth twisted into a wicked grin. Despite the situation, he laughed loudly to himself.
"HAHAHA! I didn’t know you guys had reinforcents!"
Both Aren and Daniel decided not to respond, yet their actions were far enough of an answer. Aren summoned his Gauntlet in place of his twin swords, while Daniel pointed the tip of his lance at the man.
"You’re outnumbered," the senior said softly. "Give up."
"You really think that matters?" the man said in between hysterical fits of laughter.
Aren could already sense sothing was wrong. The mont the man’s hand began to rise, he dashed instantly.
His foot kicked up a storm of rocks as his body shot forward, lightning surging in his feet as he closed the distance in a single step. The Defiler’s grin hadn’t even faded yet—
And Aren was already there.
His full fist drove forward with no wasted movent. Every kilo of force compressed into a single point as the gauntlet slamd straight into the man’s abdon.
For a split second, the Defiler’s body folded around the strike, his breath forced from his lungs as the impact went through.
"...Gghh—!"
But it wasn’t enough to stop him...
"Too late, boy."
From the point of impact, a thick, blackened wave erupted outward from the Defiler’s body. The air itself seed to decay as it spread, heavy and suffocating, carrying that sa sickening stench.
Rot.
Aren twisted his body mid-motion, already pulling back, but the wave had already reached them.
Behind him, Emily dropped first.
"—Khhk—!" Her body seized as she collapsed to one knee, fingers digging into the stone as her breathing shortened imdiately.
Iris staggered back, her rifle slipping in her grip as her vision blurred. "...Shit..." she muttered, before her legs gave out beneath her.
Daniel imdiately grabbed the two before plunging his lance back down to where Marcus was laying unconscious.
"Shield of Faith!"
Instantly, light flared around him, pushing and resisting the rotten ether. But from here, Aren could study his expression and knew that it was taking everything he had to keep up the shield.
Shit...Luna!
He turned around, imdiately dashing to her before putting himself between the wave of rot and her body.
The pressure that he thought would crush him...didn’t. Aren’s body tensed instinctively as the wave washed over him, yet...nothing was wrong.
He still felt the weight, the feeling of how heavy, disgusting, and wrong it was...yet, it didn’t overwhelm him like it did the others.
And by the looks of it? Luna felt the sa. Her breathing was heavier, her burned hand trembling faintly at her side—but she was still standing. Still conscious.
Just like him.
"What in the...?" Aren muttered.
But the realization ca fast. His body was already familiar with the energy. He’d felt it before multiple tis already.
And the only thing the girl in front of him shared with Aren in this situation?
Sun City.
They’d both fought for their lives there, slowly drowned in so much rotten ether that their bodies had subconsciously developed a resistance.
His eyes flicked briefly toward Luna, and he knew she understood it too without needing to say a word.
Aren turned around as he slowly let out a heavy breath. Behind him, Luna pushed herself upright, her footing firm despite the slight tremor in her hand.
The Defiler watched them— a black bruise stained his chest but he gave it no mind.
"...Just the two of you?" he said, a grin slipping back onto his face.
Luna slipped by his side, Ice already creeping up her arms. That was enough of an answer. The Defiler chuckled softly, his own ice beginning to clump and crystallize on the floor.
"Good. You know for a second, you almost had ! I was actually scared that—"
"You talk too much."
Aren dashed forward, comncing the fight for their survival.
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