The two spoke no more. One after the other, they swiftly ascended the passage leading to the top floor of the Proving Ground.
Phrolova was enveloped in a powerful Resonance force field. The Convent guards along the way were repelled by invisible sonic waves before they could even get close.
Rover followed closely behind. Although Blood Pact remained sheathed, his vigilant gaze never left her back, and he cleared away any nuisances approaching from the flanks.
The higher they went, the thicker the Threnodian energy—a mixture of fanatic devotion and utter madness—became in the air.
Finally, they broke through the last blast door and arrived at the highest point of the Hidden Sea Proving Ground—a vast platform overlooking a massive expanse of underwater ruins.
And the scene before them made both of their hearts chill.
In the center of the platform, Finlay hovered in the air. The Threnodian Gemstone before him radiated an unprecedented, sinister light. That light writhed like a living creature, tightly connecting to the massive dark shadow beneath him—the phantom of Leviathan.
Behind him, a spatial rift slowly tore open. Within it, the silhouettes of countless magnificent buildings could be seen, along with the endless, boundless Black Tide.
Countless pitch-black tentacles formed from Black Tide energy extended from the rift. They wrapped around Finlay's body and rooted into the platform's floor like tree roots, draining the energy of the entire Proving Ground. An even more ferocious Black Tide was continuously surging out of the rift.
The voices of Finlay and Leviathan overlapped, grandiose yet distorted: "'Salvation', 'Ascension', and 'Connection' shall be the final path. Believers will not sink into ruin, but have faith unto the salvation of their souls. You must obey my statutes and carefully keep my ordinances."
Rover shouted sternly: "Finlay! Don't sink into it! The Threnodian is bewitching you! You are the proxy of the Black Tide!"
Finlay's voice was laced with agonizing pain and twisted fanaticism: "Absurd! I will fight it, I will purify it! How could I be its puppet?! Sentinel, please bring the souls trapped in darkness back to the mortal realm! Let our wills be united once more!"
He's using the power of the Gemstone, attempting to completely control or even fuse with the Leviathan fragment, but this is actually accelerating the eruption of the Black Tide! Rover instantly understood where the true crisis lay.
Phrolova's eyes were icy: "Not only that, but he is also draining the foundational energy of the 'Shores'... He wants to completely devour this place to complete his 'Heaven'."
She could feel her connection with the Shores of the Lost being forcibly tugged away.
Finlay continued: "O breath coming from the wind, blow upon these lost ones! Make them submit!"
With this command, a massive number of Convent priests—completely corrupted by the Black Tide and stripped of their human forms—along with twisted Tacet Discords, surged out from all sides of the platform, flooding toward them like a tidal wave.
At the same time, the phantom of Leviathan behind Finlay let out a roar. The massive Black Tide tentacles lashed out at the two of them like whips of divine punishment!
"Troublesome!"
Phrolova scoffed coldly. Waving her spider lily baton, a rousing yet discordant movement played out. The swarming enemies looked as if they had been struck by invisible sledgehammers; their movements instantly stagnated, and some even disintegrated.
Her attacks became domineering and highly efficient, holding absolutely nothing back.
Rover acted simultaneously. His sword light flashed like cyan lightning, precisely slicing into the enemy tide. Every strike aimed straight for the core, dismantling the bewitched lives while nimbly evading the devastating tentacle attacks.
One at range, one in close combat. One controlling the entire field, the other annihilating threats. The two displayed an astonishing synergy that required absolutely no words.
Step by step, they broke through the heavy siege, closing in on Finlay at the core.
The battle was exceptionally fierce. Finlay's fusion with Leviathan's power, coupled with the augmentation of the Threnodian Gemstone, made him incomparably powerful. The Black Tide tentacles thrashed madly, and the mind-polluting whispers permeated every space.
During the intense battle, Rover said in a deep voice: "Finlay can summon Black Tide creations... 'A powerful proxy will walk among their followers, bringing both the life and destruction within the Black Tide to this world'... He is that proxy!"
Phrolova yelled over the din, "The Gemstone's power has amplified... but it's also on the verge of being completely corrupted by him!"
She only had eyes for that Gemstone, completely uninterested in Finlay's fate.
Just as the battle reached a fever pitch and Finlay's power seemed inexhaustible—
A warm, resolute blue light, entirely out of place amidst the rampaging energy, suddenly flared up from a corner of the platform!
The light originated from an ancient, battered lantern that had suddenly appeared.
It seemed to have traveled through time and space, silently hovering there, emitting a soft yet undeniable halo. Wherever its light reached, the violent Black Tide energy seemed to grow sluggish.
"That's... the lantern of Nabugale II mentioned in the stories? The lantern that the Sentinel granted power to repel the Black Tide back then?" Rover recognized it immediately.
The light of the lantern seemed to possess a bizarre purifying power. It didn't attack; it merely shone quietly upon Finlay.
"Ugh... Aaaargh!"
Finlay let out an agonized howl. The Black Tide tentacles on his body writhed violently as if being scorched.
That light seemed to illuminate the truth of the Threnodian's bewitchment deep within his heart, violently clashing with his original, unwavering conviction to protect Laguna.
"I... I..."
The madness and turbidity in Finlay's eyes receded like the tide, and a brief, incredibly precious moment of clarity appeared.
He saw his terrifying appearance fused with the monster. He felt the disaster he was unleashing. He also saw that lantern, which symbolized the origin of his faith and his pure heart of guardianship.
"The teachings of past generations... An enterprise begun with injustice will inevitably be consolidated by evil..."
He muttered to himself, his voice filled with endless remorse and sorrow.
In the next moment, he made a choice.
Using his last shred of conscious will, he forcefully threw his arms wide open—not to attack, but to embrace the surging Black Tide.
"Let my broken body... become a bulwark!" he let out a resolute cry. "Sentinel... please forgive me..."
A powerful Resonance force, mixed with the light of the lantern, erupted from within his body. It formed a massive sealing barrier, forcibly wrapping around and compressing the torn Black Tide rift and the phantom of Leviathan.
The light was blinding, making it impossible to look directly at it.
When the light dissipated, Finlay had collapsed where he stood. The phantom of Leviathan and the vast majority of the Black Tide that had poured out were gone, as if dragged into the endless abyss alongside his self-sacrifice.
Only that ancient lantern, its light now much dimmer, landed gently on the ground.
The platform temporarily returned to peace, but the lingering energy turbulence and the residual aura of the Black Tide stood as proof of the tragic intensity of what had just occurred.
And that Threnodian Gemstone, having lost Finlay's control, was currently hovering in the air. Its light flickered erratically, seemingly highly unstable from the impact just now.
A brief, dead silence.
Rover looked at the spot where Finlay had fallen, his heart a complex mess of emotions.
This lost Prelate had, ultimately, atoned for his sins in the most tragic and heroic way possible.
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