"So... are we in an abyss at the bottom of the sea, or in a cave on a deserted island?"
The cave stretched deep, light was scarce.
Thankfully, luminescent fungi grew on the walls, and together with the halo of light Phoebe conjured using her resonance ability, they barely managed to push back the thick darkness.
Ray walked at the front. The damp, rotting air made it a bit hard to breathe, but aside from some discomfort, it hadn't caused any greater issues for now.
"Maybe both, maybe neither." Phrolova followed behind him, her gaze casually sweeping their surroundings. "Who knows, maybe we're actually inside the belly of the Tidebreaker Whale."
"That joke is positively freezing..."
And Phoebe?
That petite golden-haired girl was quietly using her resonance power to hold open a faint but warm halo of light in the darkness, illuminating the path for the team.
She kept her head down, saying nothing.
Only occasionally would she unconsciously touch her own lips, her eyes losing focus as she stared at Ray's back.
'Was that earlier... my first kiss?'
'But... if it was Mr. Ray, it doesn't really seem... hateful...'
'Wait! What am I thinking?!'
'Mr. Ray did that to save me! There was no other meaning to it! I shouldn't think such things, I should be properly grateful to him instead...'
'Sentinel above, please forgive my momentary improper thoughts.'
Even though the girl kept admonishing herself in her heart, whenever her gaze fell upon his broad back, a vague, chaotic emotion would always quietly spread.
As if...
she had quietly melted into a storm where all emotions were intertwined.
"Phoebe?"
Noticing the unusual silence from the girl behind him, Ray turned his head, concern in his voice. "You don't look well. Haven't recovered yet? Do you need to rest?"
"Huh? N-no, I'm fine!" Suddenly addressed, Phoebe's movements froze instantly, her cheeks rapidly coloring a wine-drunk crimson. She avoided eye contact, her explanation disjointed. "I was just... just worried about the Tidebreaker Whale! Yes, that's it! L-let's hurry! We need to find the exit quickly and investigate this!"
Before the words had fully left her mouth, she quickened her pace, almost breaking into a jog as she brushed past Ray, taking the lead at the front of the group.
Ray watched the girl's retreating back with puzzlement, then instinctively turned to look at Phrolova.
The latter merely gave him a cold glance. Without uttering a word, she seemed to have conveyed volumes, before silently following as well.
...
...
"If this is truly a remnant of the last Dark Tide eruption... with just the three of us, will we really be able to withstand it?"
On the way, Ray muttered quietly to himself.
Truthfully, he had never seriously considered how to fight against the Dark Tide, let alone had any certainty about it.
It was just that when Phrolova posed that question, he had answered almost without thinking.
Now, having calmed down a bit, he couldn't help but start to ponder how he should confront the Dark Tide.
As for regret?
Not really.
Even if he had to do it over, he would still choose this path.
"Phoebe, do you remember how the last Dark Tide eruption was stopped?"
Phoebe paused slightly, lowered her head in thought for a moment, and then answered softly, "Let me think... The last eruption was twenty years ago. At that time, the Saintess Fleurdelys was receiving the Order's coronation, but the Dark Tide descended without any warning. In the end... the Saintess chose martyrdom. She used herself as the price to seal the Dark Tide, ending that catastrophe."
"...Saintess Fleurdelys."
Ray softly repeated the name, his heart sinking.
Does that mean, without a Saintess, we stand no chance at all?
Who knows?
Since they had already set foot on this path, it was too late to turn back now. If they didn't even dare to try, how could they know it was impossible?
It's just that the price of failure might be... everything.
They continued forward for a stretch. The space ahead suddenly opened up.
No...
Rather than an open space, it was more like they had abruptly been placed at the very bottom of a deep-sea abyss.
This area had been separated from the ocean by some indescribable force.
Above their heads was a suspended, surging dome of massive waves, while all around, stretched a decaying world built from shipwrecks and pitch-black reefs.
"This space... has been separated?" Ray stared blankly at the surrounding world, feeling as if his very understanding of reality was crumbling.
The scene before them defied logic, resembling more an alien realm constructed from fantasy.
"Look over there, quickly!"
Phoebe suddenly pointed into the distance.
The other two followed her gaze. Ahead, on a raised platform, space seemed to have been torn open by an invisible force. Deep within the rift, an eye was quietly gazing at this world, a gaze originating from the abyss.
Just feeling that gaze was enough to seize them with an unprecedented chill.
There was no anger, no hatred, not even any discernible emotion in that eye.
Only pure indifference, unknowability... and a patience bordering on eternity.
It was precisely because of this that it was all the more terrifying.
"...It's a Threnodian." Phrolova spoke, her voice betraying no fluctuation whatsoever.
"That's a Threnodian?!" Ray's pupils contracted sharply.
"No. Not its true form. Just a wisp of its lingering power."
BOOM——!
A mournful cry tore through the heavens.
Before anyone could react, a colossal shadow came crashing down from the wave-covered dome above!
As the dust settled, they could see the massive entity was none other than the Tidebreaker Whale—now covered in wounds, its life force flickering weakly, as if it had just undergone a desperate struggle.
"That's the Tidebreaker Whale!? How did it get so badly injured?!"
Immediately after, a figure descended from above, landing and blocking the path of the three.
"Lorelei? No... this form..." Phoebe rubbed her eyes, staring at the suddenly-appearing Echo.
Although its shape resembled the Lorelei that inhabited the Misty Waters, perhaps due to contamination by the Threnodian, it had been utterly corrupted, twisted into a creation of the Dark Tide.
"What kind of monster is that?"
"Unclear. But it's obvious it doesn't welcome us."
Phrolova frowned slightly. An invisible frequency gathered at her fingertips, ultimately coalescing into the phantom image of a red spider lily.
The situation was more troublesome than she had anticipated.
The lingering power of the Threnodian had actually found a new vessel.
Her original plan had been to control this power at minimal cost. Now, it seemed, it would be difficult to obtain without a fierce battle.
"So... this fight is unavoidable?"
Ray stepped forward, his swift blade sliding from its sheath with a shing.
"Then, let's go."
Before his words had fully faded, Ray shot forward like an arrow from a bow, his long blade aimed directly at the twisted creation.
Violence might not be the universal answer, but at this moment, it was the most direct language.