Night fell over the island.
Darkness did not bring silence—only uncertainty.
"We'll take turns on watch," Elizabeth said. "One stays alert, the other sleeps. We need rest."
Samael nodded, too exhausted to argue.
"Alright… but who goes first?"
"I will," she replied. "You kept watch last night."
Elizabeth sat at the edge of the beach, her feet touching the cold water, her eyes fixed on the dark horizon. The sea stretched endlessly before her, like a living void, slowly breathing.
Behind her, Samael lay down.
Physically, his body could still endure.
Mentally… he was drained.
Exhaustion dragged him down like an invisible weight. His vision darkened, and he sank into sleep almost instantly.
Elizabeth remained awake.
I need to think of a way to deal with whatever's at the center of the island.
The thought felt absurd the moment it formed.
"But how…?" she murmured to herself.
She was just as lost as Samael.
The difference was simple and cruel: he wasn't in a mental state to carry that burden right now.
So it fell to her.
Elizabeth felt her fingers tremble.
Fear.
Frustration.
She hated it.
She hated the feeling of facing something far beyond her capabilities, where any plan—no matter how clever—ended the same way.
Death.
"Maybe use other creatures… distract it…" she thought. "But are there beings at that level? And even if there are… how do I provoke a conflict without dying in the process?"
There was no answer.
Only helplessness.
"This is so frustrating…" she whispered.
For a brief moment, a petty thought crossed her mind.
Why doesn't that bastard at the center of the island just disappear?
Then—
The water beneath her feet began to move.
Not like an ordinary wave.
But as if the sea itself had been pushed.
Elizabeth lifted her head.
The horizon… was moving.
In the distance, two colossal shadows emerged from the depths, colliding with one another.
Two sea colossi.
They were extremely far away—and yet, perfectly visible.
So massive they made the island look like a forgotten crumb.
When they collided, the impact caused the ocean to erupt into towering walls of water.
Over two hundred meters high.
Maybe more.
Elizabeth felt sweat run down her temple.
Her hands shook uncontrollably.
The idea of escaping by sea died in that instant.
She had been foolish.
The battle between the colossi intensified.
Waves began to form—huge, swelling—advancing toward the island.
"Shit…!"
Elizabeth jumped up and ran toward the pile of bones Samael called home.
"Hey, Sam! Wake up! Now!"
She shook him hard.
"Huh…?" he murmured, half-asleep. "Did something happen…?"
"We're running," she said bluntly. "Giant waves. Now."
Before he could respond, Elizabeth grabbed his hand and pulled him along.
When Samael emerged from the improvised shelter, he saw it.
In the distant sea, two entities beyond anything he had known in life were tearing each other apart.
Each collision raised massive walls of water rushing toward them.
The world felt too small to contain such beings.
Without thinking, Samael ran.
They entered the forest.
At night, it was dangerous.
But compared to the sea…
It was child's play.
They ran through the forest.
Everything was in panic.
Trees groaned under the violent wind, branches snapped, and creatures of all kinds fled in random directions—or attacked each other, driven mad by instinct.
A tsunami was coming.
And nothing on that island seemed prepared to face it.
After running for what felt like an eternity, they spotted an elevated hill in the middle of the forest. It was large enough to offer some safety—or at least the illusion of it.
"There!" Elizabeth said, breathless.
They climbed as fast as they could.
When they reached the top, they collapsed, sitting back to back, gasping for air as the world below descended into chaos.
"What… was that…?" Samael asked, his voice trembling.
It wasn't just fear.
It was something deeper.
A terror born not from immediate danger, but from the crushing difference between levels of existence.
They were on the first step of ascension.
Those things… had already passed the middle of the staircase.
Their mere presence evoked horror.
Like the distance between an ant… and a natural disaster.
"I don't know," Elizabeth replied, breathing heavily.
She was trembling too.
The forest below them was a living hell.
Creatures trampled each other, tore each other apart, fled without direction. Some attacked purely out of desperation.
And that…
That was just collateral damage.
Not even a direct attack.
Just the shockwaves from the collisions of those colossal entities in the sea.
As he watched the chaos unfold below, Samael felt something strange.
A sense of displacement.
He instinctively searched his memories—and found something he didn't remember acquiring.
A Memory.
"Since when do I have this…?" he murmured.
Memory: Recovery ClothRank: AwakenedTier: 1Enchantment: Recovery
Description:[A cloth with mystical recovery properties, obtained after killing an Awakened serpent-type demon.]
Enchantment Description:[This cloth can be used once to restore a weapon or a person.]
Without hesitation, Samael summoned the Memory.
The cloth appeared in his hands.
He wrapped it around the arm that had been broken—a wound that had never fully recovered.
The effect was immediate.
The bone realigned.
The pain vanished.
His arm felt… new.
Samael opened and closed his hand, surprised.
But there was no time to celebrate.
From within the forest below, something was approaching.
One of the wretched serpents, driven mad by the chaos, was climbing the hill toward them.
"Hey, Liz…" Samael called.
"What?" she replied, still watching the chaos around them.
"We've got a guest."
Elizabeth turned her gaze.
She saw the serpent.
She stood up immediately.
"Do you have a weapon?" Samael asked.
"I have a bow…" she replied, never taking her eyes off the creature. "But only a few arrows."
Samael extended his hand.
He grabbed hers.
Elizabeth looked at him, confused—then heard the Spell's voice whisper in her ear.
[You have obtained a Memory.]
Memory Name: Bow of Desperation
"This…" Elizabeth murmured, feeling the weight of the weapon materialize in her hands.
Samael smirked.
"You owe me one," he said, summoning his sword.
The serpent lunged.
And for the first time that night…
They didn't run.