A deathly silence hung in the air as Aliyah realized the gravity of the situation.
"Do you have a plan?" she asked out of nowhere. "Sorry... of course you don't."
"Actually, I do," Julian replied as he stepped toward the green liquid and kicked it.
His foot dissolved instantly, yet the splash burned a clean hole through the wall. It took a bit for his foot to regenerate, but his point was made.
"I see..." Aliyah nodded slowly. "I'll make sure to make this whole tunnel unstable. I just need you to buy me time."
"I know," Julian said. "I'll try my best, and if this turns out to be the last time we see each other, I just want you to know I had fun."
It was a stupid sentiment. He didn't even know why he blurted it out.
But for some reason, that sentiment made Aliyah turn around and start summoning ice before tossing it in heaps toward certain parts of the ceiling.
Not taking her effort for granted, Julian reloaded his crossbows and began to jog in the direction they came from.
He knew he didn't stand a chance. With so little miasma left in the air, even a single hit could kill him.
But even so, running ahead and hitting a dead end was far more dangerous than fighting head-on and collapsing the ceiling onto the evil spirit.
And so, when he got far enough away, Julian stopped. Using the Spiritual Essence in the ring, he proceeded to use telekinesis to lift up the corrosive green liquid and hover it slightly above the ceiling.
Just hovering it didn't waste nearly as much Spiritual Essence as he had expected, so this was perfect for an opener.
Narrowing his eyes, Julian entered a fighting stance. Just then, the tremors grew even stronger as a figure appeared in his sight.
It was the chimera he had seen before. This time, its eyes glowed with genuine fury. It ran on all fours like a tiger, and it was incredibly fast.
So fast that the moment the chimera appeared in his sights, Julian let go of the corrosive liquid's control, causing it to fall.
His timing was perfect, as it only took the chimera two lunges to arrive, and the first thing that met its arrival was a splash of corrosive liquid straight in its crimson eyes.
"SCREEEEEEEEECH!"
The chimera screeched loudly as it recoiled backward and began gnawing at its eyes. It was instinctive, and it tried every move to get the liquid out of its eyes, but nothing worked.
When it finally realized that too, it began to sniff the air and then lock directly onto Julian.
Yet by now, Julian had begun to run toward Aliyah, leading the chimera along.
The chimera began to salivate and dropped to all fours again. Then, it kicked off in a blur, arriving right behind Julian and slashing at his back.
He had just enough time to stop and duck under its four legs. As it slid past him, Julian unleashed his crossbow directly into the chimera's behind.
His accuracy was unmatched, and so the chimera let out another screech as it began emanating more miasma.
The miasma nourished him slightly, but Julian knew that within just a few minutes, the chimera's eyes would be back to normal, and it would kill him in an instant.
So while it was disoriented, Julian used this chance to use telekinesis to hover the corrosive liquid in the air and then shoot a bolt straight through it. To his surprise, he actually managed to pierce the chimera's skin.
But then again, his moment of happiness was short-lived as it raised both its arms and struck the ground. As the tremors once again returned, the ceiling slightly shifted, bits and pieces falling down.
Some landed on Julian and pierced him, but he didn't pay any attention to that as he tried his best to follow the momentum.
It lunged, he would evade by the skin of his teeth, and then he would shoot it with the same corrosive + bolt combo. It worked like a charm until it didn't.
Click.
Julian glanced at his hands and realized he had run out of bolts. And with no ammo, he was basically screwed.
The chimera lunged, catching him before he could react. A claw pierced straight through his abdomen, pinning him to the wall. However, even with such an unfavorable position and another attack coming his way, Julian's expression remained cold.
With the last of his Spiritual Essence, Julian picked up a huge chunk of the corrosive liquid and tossed it onto the chimera's head.
As the chimera's head melted, Julian saw its skull and then its brain. He weakly raised his hand and clenched his fist, but no bolt came. He had no more Spiritual Essence left either.
It was an opportunity to kill it once and for all, and yet it slipped out of his fingers just like that.
However, for a single moment, it eased its claws on him, allowing Julian to push away and, with a hole in his abdomen, run toward Aliyah.
Dazed, the chimera didn't follow. But as its skull finally mended, its eyes flashed in a fury of rage as it neared Julian even faster than before.
Another claw came piercing through the right side of his chest, but by now, Julian was in the area they had been in earlier.
The walls had cracks all throughout, and the ceiling was on the verge of falling. In the distance, he saw the familiar white robe of Aliyah, who was urgently gesturing for him to approach.
Hopeful, Julian took a step forward despite the claw in his chest. But right as his foot set on the ground, the chimera kicked him straight into the wall like a bug, shattering all the bones in his body.
His consciousness was fading quickly. Even the pain that should have made him pass out was barely noticeable.
He knew what this feeling was. He had felt it back in the snow camp when his heart was impaled.
Death.
He was about to die.
As the chimera's strike neared him, he raised his hand as if, by some miracle, he could block it.
But nothing of the sort happened as his entire arm was blasted off at the shoulder.
Now he was nothing but a pile of flesh stuck to the wall with no chance to fight back.
It was pitiful.
Everything he had done so far was deemed meaningless in front of a slightly strong evil spirit, which, in the grand scheme of things, was nothing but cannon fodder.
Why?
Why couldn't he just get more power and snap its neck?
No...
Why did he so arrogantly search for a powerful Soul Artifact while being so weak?
It felt as if his life was flashing before his eyes, but just then, he saw a shard of ice come from the left.
It momentarily dipped into the corrosive liquid and then sped up, piercing through the chest of the chimera and coming out the other side.
Out of the corner of his eye, Julian saw Aliyah. She was exhausted and bleeding from her nose, her hand extended.
"W-What are you waiting for!" she yelled. "I'll stop it, so come here!"
'Come here?' Julian glanced at his body. 'If only it was that simple.'
But as he began losing all hope, he saw the chimera's figure starting to blur.
Out of instinct, Julian's right hand regrew as he grabbed the hand of the chimera.
For some reason, when the chimera moved, Julian's body didn't break apart, and even more surprisingly, he managed to hold the chimera in place.
It was an unnatural amount of power that he shouldn't have been able to wield at the moment. But of course, right as he began seeing the light, the chimera's fist slammed into his body.
Once, twice, five times, ten times...
The barrage of ice continued, but by now, the chimera was dead set on killing Julian before moving on to Aliyah.
So when all the pieces clicked together, Julian finally made his choice.
In between the strikes of the chimera, Julian focused on healing his upper body and then uttered a few words Aliyah likely didn't want to hear.
"Collapse the tunnel."
"What!? No way in hell am I doing that!" Aliyah shot back. "You're distracting him, and I'm shooting him from the side, just—ugh!"
She fell to her knees and spat out a mouthful of blood. Julian looked on with an understanding look, and then he shook what remained of his head.
"If I'm really such an abomination, then I will survive, Aliyah."
Raising her head, she stared at him with tear-filled eyes. For once, she had gotten a companion she could trust. Somebody she could share her secrets with, and somebody she could consider a genuine friend.
And now, that certain somebody was dying before her.
The longer she stared at his determined gaze, the more helpless she felt. If only she had more Spiritual Essence, and if only she had just realized how impossible this all was...
But she knew convincing him wasn't possible, nor did Julian have any room to be convinced.
And so, she rose to her feet once more and wobbled away with her hand brushing the wall and drawing a path of ice.
"Julian..." Aliyah muttered, not turning around. "If you make it out alive... you better come find me. I live west of here, right before the desert. I'll be waiting..."
Her voice cracked with every word spoken, but in the end, she finally halted and slammed her hand into the wall.
For a moment, nothing happened.
But that was when the ceiling of the tunnel shook and began to collapse. The ceiling fell as the chimera stopped mid-swing and turned toward the limping Aliyah.
The chimera struggled, but Julian's grip held firm, refusing to let it move. A faint, distant smile crossed his face as he watched her fading silhouette until the chimera's fist closed in and struck him head-on.
From then on, there was only darkness.