The ground on the surface began to tremble with a low, unsettling groan, as if the earth itself were exhaling. Hairline cracks raced across the street, widening in jagged patterns between the buildings, as one by one, the structures responded: a brick storefront tilted forward, its windows rattling until it shattered completely.
At the centre of the chaos, was a small hole surrounded by barrels, upon barrels of wooden planks and random objects, all engraved with strange markings and names. As the small hole began to crumble and widen, the numerous barrels tilted, as they all fell into that ever growing darkness.
The ground itself began to fragment and tilt, widening as soil and stone crumbled inward, until it collapsed into a large sinkhole, pulling everything around it into the ground.
The homes tilted at an impossible angle, slowly falling as the ground beneath it gave way, with several more following suit, as an entire street was quickly swallowed up by the gapping cavity. Even numerous night sleepers were devoured by that abyss too.
Right when the ground began to settle though.. inside that deep abyss, a small orange light flickered in the darkness. And then another, and another, and another.
Waves, upon waves, upon waves of loud explosions and incinerating fire, bombarded the large opening in the earth. Filling it with brilliant fireworks and and force.
Quickly they all ceased, and following that.. a terrifying figure arose from it all.
A large spinal leg shrouded in a strange pitch black carapace protruded from the darkness, planting itself in the world above. It was not alone, as two, three, and four more followed along, all working together to hoist the rest of its colossal body upwards.
Completely, and utterly unharmed, a nightmare creature in the image of a spider towered above the sinkhole, its amour like body catching light like polished obsidian, with a cluster of red ruby eyes glowing vividly in the darkness, sparking hints of movement from the remaining Night Sleepers.
But that wasn't all. Two more nightmare creatures, crawled out of the the gaping cavity, both much smaller than the corrupted tyrant, but each still holding mighty power.
One resembled a centipede with myriad of crawling humans arms, and the other, a beetle that spewed a strange green fluid. As it dripped onto a Night sleeper below, it melted through its onyx skin, reducing it into a pile of mush in a matter of seconds.
The Chimera queen had finally broken through, bringing with it her two knights.
**
Epsilon felt a sudden weightlessness in his lungs, His face drenched in sweat and panic. Although it was far, he could already feel its presence without the use of his attribute.
'It's early!? Why is it early??'
That didn't matter right now, they had to leave immediately before it figured out where they were. But that wasn't even the distressing part. The ones who were in the most danger right now.. were..
'Cassius and the rest! If it ends up waking all those Night sleepers too, then they're finished!'
Turning quickly towards greed, he saw that he had yet again shrunk down even further in that brief amount of time.
"I'm sorry, but we'll have to cut our conversation short. I don't think we'll be seeing each other again, right?"
He quietly nodded. He seemed a little disappointed, but accepting nonetheless.
"I'll wish you good luck in your endeavours. Take this, a gift from me to you."
The golden lamp that rested on the pedestal, suddenly streaked through the air toward him. Before it collided into him, he snatched it out of the air just in time.
"The sorcery embedded into it has crumbled, so its very much useless right now. Think of it more as a souvenir of the time we spent today."
Even though he said that, it didn't mean it was completely worthless. Epsilon could still feel the materials potent magical properties, despite it not being his field of expertise. That just displayed how incredible it was.
Perhaps he would find another use for it in the future.
Turning his attention to Bob next, Epsilon noticed that whatever trance he was in, had abruptly ended.
'And just in time too.'
"Bob!? We need to go, now!"
He lifted his gaze up at him slowly, his single eye steady and unblinking, as if weighing every unspoken word. In that short amount of time, he had changed. The air around him felt.. older, somehow.
But, there was also loneliness.
He said with his voice now hoarse and filled with fatigue,
"I won't be coming with you, Epsilon."
Despite the chaos on the surface, the world briefly went silent. It took him a moment to process what he just said, but quickly enough he understood and regained his composure.
"What do you mean?"
"I.. there's nothing left for me to do here anymore."
And yet again, the truth hit him like truck. The composure he quickly regained began to crumble like a sand castle. Stammering, he struggled to arrange the words in his mouth, before they spilled out haphazardly.
"W-What about your people? And your Kingdom?"
He let out a painful sigh.
"There's no hope in saving them, corruption has already taken hold of their souls. Even if they were to be freed from their shells, they'd just transform into something unrecognisable. There's no hope of me restoring my old power either, or even gaining a new body."
Everything that he had set out do upon awakening, was futile. There would be no one to celebrate his return. No one to weep his death.
"There's nothing more I can do. I ran out of time a long time ago, and it was only thanks to you that I could see the truth. I can die here at peace, knowing that now."
He had given up.
"I'm sorry for tricking you, but.. you must leave me now. Unlike me, you have something waiting for you, don't you?"
He had Nero, his mother, and Emma still waiting for him somewhere. He had to preserve and keep fighting if he wanted to see them again, but Bob.. Mizar had no such person anymore.
While his dream had come to an unfortunate end, Epsilons was still just beginning.
Before he realized it, Epsilon had already taken half a step backward, and with every thud he could feel from the vibrations on the surface, he only took even more.
'What am I doing? I can't leave him..'
He had save his life so many times already, he had become a large part of his power. His annoying jokes.. his over inflated arrogance and never ending chatter..
They were irritating qualities.. but also kind of funny.
'This is.. I wanted this. I knew this was temporary, why am I caring? I need to go.'
But the moment he looked away, he felt something in his heart coil. It was then that he realized,
'He's important to me too.'
Before he could turn back once more, Ki Song took a hold of his hand, reminding him of their urgency.
"We need to go. We're running out of time."
She couldn't tell what was going on, but she was right. There was no time left to waste arguing away at him. Mizar's mind was made up.
Holding back the pain in his heart, Epsilon locked eyes with the treasuries exit. With that, the two began to run with all they had.
They had obtained less then they would've thought coming down here, but at the same time, more than they could ever imagine.
Right when he blinked, the world remained dark for a brief moment. As everything faded away from view, Epsilon could feel his own body growing sluggish, almost freezing in place.
A single voice then resonated in his mind.
"Epsilon.. one more thing."
It was Greed.
"The traces of Seras on you.. I thought that it was just because the two of you may have met in the past, but I'm mistaken, aren't I? It's something much deeper than that, much like how weaver has stained your soul."
He wanted to say something, but his body refused.
"If you are.. who I truly think you are.. then take my words as a warning."
His voice dropped to a grave whisper, as the weight of prophecy passed through his lips.
"You are fated for nothing but suffering. For the blood that flows in your veins, is a curse."