Warning: Pov switches.
*****
A humongous monster emerged from the very bottom of the tunnel, leaping straight up toward Kiyotaka. Another beast burst through the side wall, digging its way out and lunging at him from the flank. Moments later, two more emerged, all closing in on him at once.
Parrot gritted her teeth as she ran, her eyes locking onto the forward wall as it began to crack open. She was moving far too fast to stop, so she pushed ahead. Just as another monster smashed through the surface directly in front of her, she leaped and spun in midair, wrapping the glowing rope around her body. The sudden leverage yanked Kiyotaka clear of the snapping jaws below.
Without breaking her stride, she hit the ground and kept running. Another beast lunged for the airborne boy, and she prepared to yank the rope once more. Suddenly, a sharp tingling ran down the rope, a signal demanding her weapon. She released her grip on the sword, letting it slide along the rope toward Kiyotaka while she continued her desperate dash through the tunnel.
***
His mouth opened just inches away from the monster, and weak words escaped his lips.
"I make the Vow to not use this Memory again until what it means to be Trapped is changed."
His ears fell off. His lips burned and melted into themselves, and his nose dissolved as well. He felt the agony until the sensation suddenly vanished.
His entire body began to bleed as raw scars formed across his flesh. Suddenly, eyes opened through every single wound. Countless eyes.
Those eyes were luminous, each glowing with a different color, and every single one carried deep pain.
They were all unique, yet they shared one single purpose.
All of those eyes turned in different directions, looking directly at every monster surrounding them.
The monster's mouth opened in slow motion, revealing its countless grinding teeth. In that exact moment, Kiyotaka requested Parrot's sword through the rope.
The second property of Parrot's ability allowed her to transfer not just physical stats between allies, but items as well, provided they were not Memories or Aspect abilities.
Kiyotaka's luminous eyes all shifted at once. Some turned up, some looked down, and others peered sideways. Suspended in midair, he spun, retracting the rope toward Parrot and dodging just as the worm surged past his original position, its massive jaw snapping shut on empty space.
'I need stability.'
One of Kiyotaka's glowing eyes locked onto Parrot, who was running carefully to read her surroundings. She caught the detached gaze staring right at her. The eye darted toward one of the massive circular ridges above.
Understanding the signal, Parrot accelerated, reaching the safe ridge where no acid leaked. She stood firm, immediately sharing her newfound foot stability with Kiyotaka through the blue rope.
Kiyotaka landed squarely on the passing monster. The momentum of the collision failed to throw him off thanks to the stability shared by Parrot. He drove the sword deep into the beast's flesh and sprinted down its back, dragging the blade along in a blur. As he ran, the monster's side split open.
Another beast burst out from the wall, aiming directly for what should have been Kiyotaka's blind spot. But eyes had already opened across the back of his neck, staring fixedly at the incoming jaw. The creature did not hesitate, leaping forward to crush the host worm Kiyotaka ran upon.
Kiyotaka leaped and inverted midair, dodging as the second monster bit viciously into its own kind. Landing on the attacker, Kiyotaka drove the sword down with both hands and slid along its thick body.
The beast snapped the first worm completely in half, causing both severed pieces to plummet into the pool of acid below.
'It will take twenty seconds for them to reach the bottom.'
Another one of his eyes shifted toward the melting substance platform, which was growing looser by the second.
Countless monsters continued to burst from the walls, their eyeless heads lunging from every angle. Kiyotaka moved through the chaos. With eyes dotting his arms, legs, and back looking through the tiny gaps in his clothes, no angle remained hidden. He leaped from one thrashing worm to the next, damaging them in the process.
A massive jaw snapped inches from his chest, but the eyes on his torso tracked the movement instantly, allowing him to twist his body mid-fall and drive the blade straight into the creature's maw. Acid-laced saliva sprayed past him, sizzling against the air as he yanked the sword free and kicked off the monster's flesh, throwing himself into the air.
As Kiyotaka sliced deep through the flesh of another thrashing beast, the wound burst open. Instead of blood and acid, a swarming mass of tiny parasites looking exactly like the larger monsters, only far smaller poured out from the cut. His luminous eyes tracked every single movement, instantly tallying the horde in a fraction of a second.
'Four hundred and seventy-two.'
...
'I cannot eliminate all of them.'
Without hesitation, Kiyotaka released his grip and sent the sword sliding back through the blue rope toward Parrot.
The instant the weapon left his hands, his slow-motion perception disappeared, and the parasites rushed toward him at high speed.
***
Goosebumps broke out across Parrot's entire body as she witnessed Kiyotaka's slaughter of the worms.
'This.... Is a Utility?'
She watched the relentless slaughter until hundreds of parasites burst out toward the blue rope. A sudden bulge traveled back along the line at terrifying speed, far faster than the swarming parasites. Her sword reappeared in her hands before the swarm could even close in, and the instant her fingers wrapped around the hilt...
the entire world slowed down.
She did not waste a second being shocked. Looking directly at Kiyotaka, she saw the parasites inches from his flesh. She yanked the rope tight and sprinted at full speed, finally able to unleash the true potential of her Aspect ability.
Leaping onto one of the massive beasts, she struck. Unlike Kiyotaka's precise cuts, her blow carried the full force of an Awakened boosted by her primary Aspect. Where her blade bit, the monster's flesh exploded.
Spinning through the air, she pulled the rope tighter, yanking Kiyotaka out of the path of another lunging beast.
She vanished midair, reappearing on the far side of the wall. She sprinted upward, leaped again, and retracted the line to deposit Kiyotaka safely onto a ridge. She blurred across the space once more as Kiyotaka shared his footing stability back through the line. Dodging another monster effortlessly, she obliterated it with a single brutal strike.
Before the explosion even settled, she kicked off the dying creature, landed on another, and tore through it just as fast. A tingling vibrated from the lower end of the rope. Glancing toward Kiyotaka, she spotted a beast lunging at him from below, so she flicked the rope to the right to swing him clear.
The next signal flashed from the right, so without looking, she whipped the rope to the left. Kiyotaka was directing his own evasion through the line.
The entire passage shuddered as dozens more monsters burst through the stone. She looked up and saw the platform of unknown substance break completely loose, plummeting down the tunnel.
Every beast turned toward the falling mass, ignoring the humans entirely. Parrot watched their sudden shift.
'They have no eyes, yet they track movement directly. They are chasing the essence.'
A monster broke through the wall right below her. Instead of retreating, Parrot leaped onto it, using its head as a springboard to launch herself back toward the falling island. The sheer force of her kick slammed the beast backward.
Three distinct tugs vibrated down the rope simultaneously. She yanked the line toward the single clear gap in the chaos.
'Is he really just a kid?'
She intercepted the space between the falling platform and the swarm of lunging beasts, diving straight into the horde and carving through them effortlessly.
The platform plunged past her into the depths, leaving her with no clear path down to protect it. Sprinting across the falling corpses toward a nearby ridge, she sent her sword sliding back along the rope toward Kiyotaka.
***
Several monsters lunged toward Kiyotaka, who was moving without the advantage of slow motion.
The moment the sword slid along the rope and reached his grip, the world turned back into slow motion once more. Yet, he did not attack.
He dodged the first beast, landing on its back and sprinting downward until another monster opened its jaw and leaped directly at him. Kiyotaka jumped high into the air, landing on the second creature and running down its spine just as it bit deep into the first monster.
A third beast burst from the side wall, its maw splitting wide open. Kiyotaka leaped sideways, using the flat side of his sword to deflect off its teeth, redirecting his fall toward a fourth worm rising from below. Step by step, he danced across the swarm, using their own momentum to guide them into a single packed line.
Once all the monsters were aligned beneath him, Kiyotaka released his grip and sent the sword sliding back through the blue rope toward Parrot. This time, he held onto his perception, keeping the world in slow motion.
Parrot caught the blade midair and leaped down into the narrow gap. She drove through the lined-up horde, her sword obliterating every monster in a continuous streak.
Below them, the massive platform of unknown substance finally slammed into the floor of the tunnel.
The impact triggered a violent eruption. A massive wave of acid splashed upward, surging up the passage to swallow everything in its path.
As the burning tide erupted around them, Kiyotaka passed his slow-motion perception back through the blue rope to Parrot. Blessed with the heightened vision. Parrot grabbed Kiyotaka by his clothes. She blurred through the exploding wave of acid, moving far too fast for the burning liquid to even hurt them, carrying them both safely through the deadly spray.
She left Kiyotaka on the ridge and dashed into the substance, cutting down whatever crossed her path until she emerged on the other side with Crow.
She dashed back through the substance, this time returning with Cow.
She dashed once more, bringing Hawk back with her.
She repeated the dash until Kiyotaka, Hawk, Cow, and Crow stood together.
In less than a single second, she crossed the substance dozens of times, yet every time she returned, she came back alone.
Deer had fallen into the acid.
Parrot tried to rush out again, but she collapsed to her knees from utter exhaustion. The rope vanished, and her sword reverted to its original form.
"Urghhhhh."
The four walked over to her while Hawk simply stared down into the depths.
"It is her Flaw. A minute after using her Aspect abilities, she feels all the pain she inflicted on others without dying. Because she shared the rope, she also feels all the pain the person on the other end inflicted."
Parrot's eyes lost focus, and she drifted into unconsciousness.
Hawk glanced toward Kiyotaka, who stood nearby without a nose, ears, or lips, concluding he likely lacked a sense of touch as well.
He knelt down and carried Parrot in his hands.
"You can probably read my lips, but do you know sign language?"
Hawk looked up at the massive drop they had just traversed.
"All the monsters seem to have fallen into the acid as well. Let us rest here until she wakes up."
Kiyotaka nodded and began following them toward an edge with the least amount of acid. He noticed Crow and Cow staring downward, trembling.
As the group looked ahead, Kiyotaka's countless eyes focused on Hawk before closing and leaving only two.
'I have figured you out.'
[You have slain a dormant monster, Parasite]
[Your ink is beginning to flow.]
********
I really wanted to write this action sequence as soon as I could. It looked so good in my mind, though I don't know if I managed to capture it fully in words. Let me know if this month's pinch of action was good.
A hint btw, there's a curve ball in this chapter.
I guess that's it?
Uh yeah, just a heads-up: in a few chapters, there will be Sunless POV chapters right from the start of trapped land.
That's actually it frfr.
Peace.