Endel felt cold sweat run slowly down his back.
He tried to keep his grip firm, but the rifle still trembled in his hands.
The creature standing before them was too fast, too strong, too merciless.
Every swing of its scythes tore through the air as if the corridor itself shuddered in rage.
Carlos met the next strike, and only his Arcana saved him from death.
A dull clang, a shower of sparks — and the next instant he was slammed into the wall. The corridor shook, plaster crumbling from the ceiling.
"Still alive?!" Endel shouted, knuckles white around his rifle.
"More than alive!" Carlos barked, forcing himself upright. "But damn it, this bastard is clearly in love with me!"
The monster only hissed in reply.
Its "head," a mass of writhing black tentacles, tilted forward. The scythes flashed in the dim light and crashed down with another volley of blows.
Carlos barely managed to cross his arms in defense.
Metal struck metal — the impact echoed through his bones, rattling his entire body.
The armor absorbed most of the damage, but that didn't mean he felt nothing.
Each clash was a hammer to his chest, each strike a blade slicing into him.
Endel raised the rifle and opened fire.
Red laser bursts carved through the dark, searing tentacles.
But the monster barely reacted.
The shots left only tiny scars, too shallow to stop this abomination.
"Useless! Too fast!" Leina cried, springing aside. Her hands clenched, the air around her spiraling into a vortex. "We need to knock it off balance!"
Her blast tore down the corridor, slamming into the monster's side.
It staggered — only to lunge forward again, fiercer than before.
Carlos struck with his gauntleted fist, aiming for what might have been its face.
The hit landed — but the tentacles simply scattered and reformed.
"Shit!" he roared, leaping back. "It doesn't even have a head! How the hell do you kill it?!"
The monster hissed again, mocking them, and swung its scythes in a deadly arc.
The corridor grew even tighter with each clash, every second an all-out struggle.
Leina darted from side to side, searching for an opening.
Endel fired again, but every shot felt pitiful. At least he could hit — but the damage was negligible, and his frustration mounted.
"Our gun's worthless. We need something stronger… or a full volley to the 'head,'" Third commented in his mind.
Endel agreed — but he needed the right moment.
Carlos endured.
Every scythe was a hammer, every slash the sharpest blade in the world.
Any single strike could split him in half if not for his Arcana, if not for the fury and adrenaline burning through him.
He would've been dead already.
"Come on, bastard!" he roared through clenched teeth. "I'm still standing!"
The monster seemed to understand the challenge.
It struck with both scythes at once, crossing them in a brutal X.
The force pinned Carlos to the wall — metal screeched, tiles cracked, the corridor thundered.
Endel's heart pounded so loudly he almost lost focus.
He saw what was happening to Carlos.
He raised the rifle and emptied the magazine into the tentacles. The corridor flashed red with each burst.
The creature shuddered but refused to release him.
Carlos hit the concrete floor, gasping for breath. His armor was torn, dented, smeared with blood.
The corridor trembled with each strike, debris raining from the ceiling.
The monster gave him no respite — its attacks were chaotic, but every one lethal.
Spiked tentacles sliced through the air, smashing everything in reach, while Carlos's brown-silver armor vibrated, struggling to absorb the blows.
Dust clung to his chest, mixing with sweat and blood.
Still the monster did not relent.
Its barrage was like a storm, leaving no time to breathe, no space to move.
A scythe raked across his shoulder.
He tried to block with his arm, but the tentacles clamped down, pinning him.
His teeth ground as bones strained, the ground and metal groaning with the force.
He rolled, desperate to escape, but the monster pounced.
A scythe crashed into his chestplate, hurling him against the wall.
The corridor roared, concrete raining down as if the building itself couldn't bear this hellish duel.
Still Carlos pushed himself up.
"Damn you!" he growled as another scythe flashed past his face.
Every move was agony, every breath fire.
The narrow corridor gave him nowhere to retreat.
The monster swung again — both tentacles at once.
One strike dropped him to the floor, chest slamming the concrete, armor screeching.
The air shook with each impact, each swing a shriek of metal.
Carlos fought to rise, to free his arms, but the tentacles crushed them harder, bending to break him.
Pain burned through him, and still the attacks rained down.
A scythe slammed into his leg, another into his shoulder.
The floor vibrated under him, rattling through his bones.
His arms screamed, muscles shredded, shoulders aflame.
"I… can't…" he gasped as the tentacles coiled tighter, locking him down.
But they freed his arms.
His breath came ragged, panic mixing with rage.
The monster's assault never slowed. Each strike blurred together, a blur of steel and bone.
His thoughts cracked, vision dimming into a gray fog.
Only pain remained.
Carlos balanced on the edge of despair.
He wanted to close his eyes, to fall into the dark.
But then — through the ringing in his ears, the monster's roar — he heard a voice.
Rough, but familiar.
Endel.
His comrade, his brother in misfortune.
Always serious, always too sharp for his own good.
And Leina.
Ice outside, fire within.
He remembered how she had fought in Endel's house, wild, as if she craved the madness of battle more than even he did.
That memory sparked a flame.
His weary blue eyes flared with new resolve.
"Why should I die here? To this filth?! No… not yet. Too much ahead. I won't allow it!"
Carlos drew in a ragged breath, teeth clenched, dragging himself from the abyss.
Whatever Endel and Leina planned, he wouldn't let the creature past him while he still breathed.
Even if it cost his life.
"Leina!" Endel shouted.
"I know!"
She froze, compressing air with everything she had. Her hair whipped upward, face red with strain, sweat streaming.
"Hold on a little longer!" she cried, then unleashed her spear of wind.
The compressed blast tore down the corridor, smashing into the creature's shoulder.
The impact shredded its tentacles, one scythe crashing to the ground in a spray of blood.
For the first time, the monster roared in pain.
Carlos seized the opening, forcing himself upright.
His body buckled, knees giving way, blood coughing from his throat.
But instead of retreating, he lunged forward.
His trembling arms locked around the beast's scaled legs like iron shackles.
"I swore…" he rasped, blue eyes blazing. "You won't pass!!!"
"Hit it!" he bellowed with every ounce of strength left. "I'm holding it — kill it!"
"ENDEL! NOW!" Third screamed through Endel's mind.
The creature thrashed in fury, striking Carlos again and again, but he only laughed.
It felt his pain now.
Blood spilled, armor cracked, but he refused to let go.
Endel didn't need Third's cry — he felt it too. This was their chance.
He charged forward, slotting a new battery into the rifle mid-run.
His heart thundered.
One strike would kill him instantly, but he couldn't stop.
The monster swung — but Leina's wind deflected the scythe.
Endel closed in, pressing the rifle muzzle against the writhing tentacles.
Time slowed.
Noise vanished.
The building stilled.
Carlos's laughter hung in the air.
Leina's scream tore at his ears.
The monster's hiss rattled his bones.
Only one sound remained — his finger pulling the trigger.
"Die," Endel whispered into the writhing mass. "Burn in hell."
"I'll be back, creature!!!" Third howled with manic glee.
The rifle fired, the laser burning through the tentacles, searing them from within.
The explosion left a glowing haze, bloody fragments scattering across the walls.
The monster collapsed with a torn, guttural wail that echoed down the corridor.
Its tentacles twitched weakly, grasping at nothing.
The stench of burnt flesh filled the air, the ground shaking under its fall.
Endel's hands shook as he kept the rifle raised.
Carlos released the legs and dropped, chest heaving, armor cracked and bloody.
His endurance was gone, but his Arcana had held.
"…Shit," he wheezed, staring at the black blood pooling. "I almost died…"
"But you didn't," Endel muttered, steadying his breath more for himself than Carlos. He still aimed at the corpse.
He fired again.
And again.
Straight into the "head," into the chest, wherever it might hurt.
The beast didn't move — but he couldn't stop.
"Good. Finish it just in case," Third praised, still rattled from the brutal fight. Especially for Carlos's sake.
Leina approached slowly, arms falling to her sides, face pale, hair plastered to her forehead.
"I think… it's over," she whispered.
Endel crouched, wiping blood from his face.
Then he saw it — in the torn chest, a faint glow.
Among the shredded tentacles, something pulsed.
A small black crystal, like a heart.
He reached out, carefully pulling it free.
It vibrated faintly in his palm, beating like something alive.
"What is it?" Carlos asked hoarsely, struggling to sit.
Endel stared at the crystal, a strange weight pressing in his chest.
"Looks like… a core," he said quietly.
Silence fell. Only their ragged breaths and the crystal's dim light filled the corridor.
"Like in those mangas? A demonic core? Mana stone?" Leina asked, eyes narrowing with curiosity.
Carlos shot her a strange look — since when did she read that stuff? — but he let it go. Too tired to press.
He slumped against the wall, gasping for air.
Endel tightened his grip on the crystal, saying nothing.
And then — the system messages came.
One by one, filling their vision.
As they read, their faces shifted.
Especially Endel's… and Third's.