"Me? Why me??"
"You're faster than me. Or at least you should be if you don't mess up like that again."
It was an obvious answer in hindsight. Gracias starving body was very light, but as they've just seen, her ability to distract the Ocean dweller was not omnipotent. Now that it was aware that there were two others trying cross, it would be on high alert, with the possibility of it ignoring her completely.
The fastest of the two needed to cross to the other side as quickly as they could so that they all could get out of there. Killing the Ocean dweller was not a necessity.
Epsilon bended down slightly, sliding an arm beneath her knee while wrapping his opposite arm firmly around her back. With a smooth lift, he drew her close against his chest, cradling her.
With a faint hesitancy in his voice, Sylas muttered,
"Don't make me regret this."
**
"I'm bored...."
Galahad stood right at the border of the bridge, leaning on his staff. His eyes were droopy and tired, but focused at the empty exit on the other side.
"What's taking them so damn long."
A burning feeling was slowly starting to sear his chest. It didn't literally leave any burns, but the longer he held it back, the more uncomfortable and fidgety he began to grow.
"Just one step.. they won't mind right? It's their fault for taking so long!"
He was just about to step forwards, but then something changed in his vision. Two hands emerged towards the end of the cave, followed by a complicated set of exaugurated motions.
Galahads face brightened.
'It's the signal.'
He duplicated himself once before stepping onto the bridge, and immediately after the ocean dweller reacted. A large tentacle rose out of the waters, and crushed him right below its weight.
Epsilon watched in horror. Slowly turning his head to Sylas, he asked,
"Sylas... What did you tell him to do? Die?"
"Focus! The second that tentacle moves out the way, start running."
"...what?"
A piercing yellow glow pushed out from underneath it, then only a moment later, a second, and then a third tentacle piled straight on top of it, sealing it shut.
The tentacles began to shake, as if struggling to keep down whatever they were pushing with all the strength. And slowly, they began to rise as the bright yellow light emerged once more.
Standing beneath it all at the centre of that radiance, was Galahad himself, donning his Supreme memory Armour.
'It's still heavy.'
One of its passive enchantments allowed it to absorb and expel physical force. In other words, whatever damage was being dealt to him, would be absorbed by the armour, and released from the point it came. The Awakened Terror was currently fighting against itself, and it didn't even know.
There was an issue that Galahad had to solve before hand though, and that was actually being able to wear the armour without its sheer weight crushing him too. That was a simple fix thanks to his Aspect that Sylas so generously suggested.
All he needed to do was repeatedly clone the armour, meaning its power, and weight was divided too. Eventually it was light enough for him to stand up in without getting crushed, while holding enough power to still negate the Awakened terrors attacks.
It wasn't as effective as before, but it was still doing a good enough job of keeping him alive.
'It still hurts.'
But if its like this, he would be able to stall it for a while. At least that was what Sylas told him.
**
Meanwhile on the other end of the bridge, Epsilon was already sprinting like his life depended on it. Because it did, obviously.
Every muscle in his legs were straining, with each step feeling like it could buckle under the weight they carried, yet the very fear he had, as well as the hope he was holding onto tightly, forced him to keep pushing forwards. He could not stop, there were too many people depending on him.
But as he looked ahead, he couldn't help but despair at the fact that Galahad was only occupied by three of the Ocean Dweller tentacles. If his memory served him correctly, and his intelligence wasn't as poor as he thought, it wouldn't be wrong to assume that there were five more still waiting in the lake.
Gracia was already battling it again, and if what Sylas had said earlier was true, he would have to deal with more than just the one tentacle from before.
And of that, he was right. Just on a proportion he did not expect.
By the time Epsilon crossed the halfway point, the water subtly began to change. Without warning, its surface bulged, rippling outward in great concentric waves. A low, guttural churn rumbled from beneath, as something vast rose from its depths.
It shattered into froth and turbulence as a colossal shape heaved upward: a monstrous dark octopus, its immense body gleaming wet, its mantle towering like a shadow over them all.
Despite how far down the water was, its sheer height was able to cover that distance. And it wasn't even a titan, who were said to be colossuses that could tower over entire cities.
'It came out? Why did it come out?? And it got bigger?'
That was its ability, the power to change its size at will. It was how its tentacles were able to reach them despite it being all the way down in the depths.
A white light was circling around it, but after fully observing its new size, it suddenly paused. A weave of strings manifested in front of it, as they transformed into a sword. The white light then disappeared, as the now floating sword, rushed forwards and started to hack away at the giant.
Of course, it couldn't even cut past its skin, but despite how and insignificant her blade was, she fought.
'She's alright. She's already started engaging it.'
Epsilon subtly titled his head to look behind him. To his dismay, Sylas was nowhere in sight.
'What?? I could've sworn he was following me?'
When he looked even further back, his confusion heightened to an unimaginable degree.
All the way at the end of the bridge, he sat alone in stillness, body grounded and composed. His legs, folded neatly, crossed in a steady base, with knees touching the floor, resting gently above it. His spine raised straight yet relaxed, like a tree rooted deep but reaching upward with ease as his shoulders soften downward, arms resting naturally, and hands placed on the knees.
His face is calm, lips neutral, eyes closed, despite the utter chaos encompassing them all. Around him, an air of quiet focus formed as though time itself had slowed to give him time to concentrate.
Sylas was meditating.
'That bastard tricked me!'
But things kept getting worse.
Then, with a sudden groan from the depths below, the surface of the water heaved once more, as the fourth of the tentacles broke through.
It rose higher and higher, slick with dark sheen, curling against the stone sky. Then another followed, thicker, ridged with muscle slapping against the side of the bridge hard enough to make it shake. Soon a sixth, seventh, and eighth surged upward in unison, towering like living pillars.
Each one writhed and coiled, dripping cold brine, their sheer size making the bridge look fragile, insignificant. They swayed as if tasting the air, testing their surroundings, then slammed down with force that rattled the whole cavern.