While he hid behind a row of trees, a loud, thunderous bang rippled through the surroundings.
What followed was a violet light that flooded his vision for a few moments before abruptly cutting out.
He exhaled a long breath of relief and collapsed onto the floor as exhaustion finally caught up to him.
What Oliver had just completed was anything but a simple feat.
Without the original components of a portal, or even the blueprints to reference, it would have been impossible for a regular engineer to replicate the same result. Yet it had taken him only nine days to reconstruct the original using the broken scraps he retrieved from the camp, as well as the pieces he forged from leftover materials.
As for the power source, he only needed to divert enough from Argenta's headset to lock their coordinates and jumpstart the process.
That, too, had been his own creation. For something to suppress Argenta's gift, it required an autonomous core capable of continuously drawing in and converting her rampant power into usable energy.
That was how he could temporarily jumpstart and sustain the gate, though it had taken multiple attempts and was useless in the moment.
Until a null world opened, they would remain trapped within the isolated boundary, though it didn't hurt to prepare before the opportunity arrived.
"Where do you think they are now?"
Argenta was seated on a heap of soft materials resting atop a lump of stone that was being slowly overtaken by small vines. Vines Oliver had to cut away by hand, as he had done repeatedly day after day.
It didn't escape him that the Spire was attempting to track the little girl from afar, but had not made her a priority at the time.
If he had to provide a possible reason, it would be that it had discovered how invaluable she was. But he couldn't begin to guess how it acquired the knowledge.
"Are you worried?" he replied with a teasing grin.
"No, I mean… yeah, about big sis and everybody else. Everyone except him!"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say." He withdrew with a chuckle before reaching up to rub her forehead. "Try not to worry too much. Even if he bites it, I'm sure he wouldn't let the same happen to them."
"Really? I guess that would make you really happy, huh?"
Oliver's eye twitched slightly at her words, but he managed to maintain the same smile.
"What are you talking about? Why would I–"
She mimicked his teasing grin. "I'm almost nine years old now. I'm not just a tiny little kid anymore. And you two are really bad actors, so I can tell how you really feel."
"I still don't know what you're on about, but if anyone's faking, it'd be you with your little pretenses."
"I'm not pretending at all."
"Oh, really? I guess I should've told you I installed mind‑reading into your headset. Somebody misses her big bro!"
"Gah!" She slapped her hands over her head. "You can't do that! That's so mean and wrong! I have to clear my mind, clear my mind, clear my mi–"
"Kidding…"
He held her head back as she angrily and embarrassingly reached for him to no avail.
It wouldn't be any good to let her thoughts spiral for too long. That would strain the device, something they absolutely could not afford, so the best option was to distract her and shift her mood.
Still, he would be lying if he said he felt the same apprehension.
Knowing exactly what that silver‑haired fool had endured even as an adolescent made it hard to expect anything but success, even against something like a Spire.
And even if it was Oliver's wish, letting it be fulfilled in a place like this would be a dull end for both of them.
You'd better make it back in one piece, damn idiot.
…
The length of the fall was comparable to the moment they first entered Hortusole, due to their velocity being actively reduced.
It was a vast, cavernous space with a surreal atmosphere.
Even as they dropped and the wind brushed past their heads, they could still hear every noise reverberating from below.
At the center of it all was a towering crystalline formation shaped like layered petals rising upward in a symmetrical bloom.
Its surface appeared translucent and opalescent, catching light in soft greens and pale blues, as if carved from enchanted minerals rather than woven from biological substance.
The structure rested within shallow, mirror‑like water that reflected its shape.
"It's the perfect map for the final boss!" Yon joked after unconsciously swallowing. "But then… where is it?!"
"Give it a moment."
Soon after Cosmo's statement, it emerged from the formation as though pushing through a curtain.
Its body resembled a humanoid trunk. Thick and solid through the torso, with layered ridges and grooves running across it like tightly packed bark.
Its shoulders were wide and heavy, bulging outward like knotted masses of wood, yet its frame still appeared sleek enough that speed would not be an issue.
Several circular openings ran across its chest, limbs, and torso, each containing a violet iris that stared outward. Its head was narrow and mask‑like, crowned with thousands of long, platinum‑glowing tendrils that flowed freely like hair.
It was an avatar manifest for a single major purpose: to eliminate the integral factor to its failure, which now swooped down toward it.
Those violet eyes met a pair of silver ones and locked.
"Alright, I accept your challenge." Cosmo surprised them with a strange response to a request none of them had heard. His body oriented upright mid‑fall, and the bandages, usually wrapped around his arms, flew out from his sleeves.
With his uniform still on, even the curious among them wouldn't be able to glimpse the skin beneath, but it was still the first time he had ever done such a thing.
"Blue… she's in there," he said, glancing toward the structure.
"Really? Isn't that a bit too obvious?"
"It is. But remember, it's probably reacting to outcomes we can't see yet, so it's definitely aware that I could find her no matter what. Keep your eyes open, and know that there are always more than two options."
"Understood."
"Yon, you go with her, and I trust you to mind your priorities if it ever comes to 'that.'"
"Roger."
Isn't that a bit harsh?
There was only one possible meaning to Cosmo's last sentence.
It would fall to Yon to ensure Blue abandoned the cause if saving Rita became impossible.
He didn't want to accept that notion, but he could only hope such an ultimatum never came.
Then again, as he said, there are always more than two options.
"Red, Tyson, you two are with me… Try to keep up, and if you can't, at least cause as much collateral damage as possible."
The moment their Captain finished speaking, a loud impact replaced his position, and he was gone.
Or rather, he had been rammed into at a speed so unbelievable they couldn't perceive what had happened until after.
The force reducing their descent shut off, and when they looked down again, they realized the creature was gone as well.
That was their cue to begin their objectives.
"Territory: Golden Web!"
From one end of the hollow to the other, chains shot outward, connecting all sides in a vast entanglement at varied heights.
Blue and Yon moved first. He held his scabbard forward, her feet connected, and he flung her toward the structure before grabbing a chain to fling himself after her.
Tyson and Red suspended their fall entirely before ascending once more toward what appeared to be fireworks exploding above them, though they knew better.
A pair of rootlike arms had extended into blunt whips that repeatedly clashed with a pair of bandages manipulated to mimic their ferocity.
Each strike shook the air as both blurs relentlessly battered each other, even as gravity dragged them downward.
Their movements became slightly easier to follow once their battle descended into the web of chains covering nearly half the cavern's height, since several of them broke and rattled along the way, until a red‑haired boy dove into their midst.
He launched a strike toward the Spire with a gauntlet of flames, which it avoided by breaking its deadlock with Cosmo.
The attack wasn't wasted, however, as its follow‑up was aimed at one of Red's chains.
That move would ignite every chain linked to it, as well as many others in the vicinity.
SPLASH!
Three figures crashed into the shallow water at the bottom, while a fourth hung upside down above them by his own link amidst the entanglement of flames, eyes sharp and ready for their second engagement with the anomaly.