Irene emptied her hand-cannon into the shadowy dark, sending Art-infused rounds flying through the dim hall. The glowing projectiles resembled a swarm of tiny fireflies before slamming against something dense and rubbery, bursting into faint flashes of light and vanishing without a trace.
She kept pulling the trigger until the cylinder clicked empty. Dropping the spent weapon, she retrieved her rapier and lantern, her whole body tense as she stared into the abyss.
That horrifying sensation had returned—the exact same sensation she had felt beneath the High Inquisition hall. It was a cold, soul-crushing terror that brought a creeping dread, making her mind feel as though it were slipping away.
"Get down!" Jeanne reached out, yanking Irene back by the collar just as a dark shape lunged out of the gloom.
Behind them, Skadi brought her colossal greatsword down in a sweeping arc. A sickening tearing sound echoed through the stone chamber, but the powerful force of the strike merely hurled the entity backward through the darkness.
"It's tough," Skadi said, stepping in front of Jeanne and Irene with a solemn expression, her hands locked onto her sword hilt as she prepared for a second strike. "My blade caught on its bone structure. Under normal circumstances, that blow should have cut it clean in two."
Foom!
Jeanne ignited the surrounding air, sending a wave of holy fire across the subterranean plaza. The golden light illuminated the creature before them, revealing an abomination that could never have evolved naturally on dry land.
The beast possessed a head reminiscent of a massive hound, but its jaw split far wider than any land creature's, lined with rows of irregular teeth. Its slimy skin pulsed with a sickly violet-blue hue, constantly secreting a thick, glistening slime.
It lacked eyes and a nose entirely. How it tracked its prey—whether through its damp tongue or some other sense—was impossible to tell.
Suddenly, several long, whip-like tendrils shot out from its back, tearing through the air toward the group. Jeanne and Irene reacted instantly, their blades flashing as they severed the appendages. The creature issued a garbled, unnatural screech that rang painfully in their ears.
Yet as the dust settled, they realized their initial attacks hadn't been useless. The impacts from Irene's hand-cannon and Skadi's heavy blade had left deep, ragged wounds across its carapace—wounds that were not regenerating.
It wasn't invincible; it merely possessed terrifying vitality. That was welcome news for the four of them.
Just as Jeanne stepped forward to finish the beast, the abomination opened its massive maw—and spoke. The sound was raspy and broken, but it was undeniably speaking a language of Terra!
"Why... why betray... We-Many?" The creature's head twitched as its sightless face turned toward their group. "Why... help... the enemy of... We-Many?"
It was unclear which of them it was addressing, but the three didn't pause to ponder its words. Eliminating the threat came first.
Jeanne plunged her banner spear forward while Skadi brought her greatsword down in tandem. With Skadi's raw force pushing the strike home, the spiked tip of Jeanne's flagpole pierced straight through the monster's chest, pinning it to the floor as dark blue blood ran down the shaft.
Strangely, the creature's foul blood slid off the golden fabric of the banner without staining it, as though the material repelled the liquid entirely.
Yet the creature's vital core clearly didn't reside in its chest—if it possessed heart-like organs at all. Snarling, it gripped the flag shaft with its clawed hands, trying to pull itself free.
Jeanne planted her feet, muscle straining as she forced the heavy entity backward across the floor, driving it hard into the stone wall.
Its physical power was astounding, rivaling even Jeanne's own formidable strength. It was the first time Jeanne had encountered a foe that could contest her in raw power.
Before it could break free, a small figure darted in from the side. Fafnir delivered a heavy kick straight into the creature's flank, knocking it off balance.
Pinned against the stone, the beast was instantly swallowed by a twin torrent of holy flames from Jeanne and Fafnir. It writhed violently within the blazing inferno, shrieking in agony.
Thick, protective slime oozed from its skin in a desperate attempt to douse the heat, but the holy fire burned far too intensely.
Under the scorching heat, the creature's body began to shrink and shrivel, its internal moisture evaporating at an alarming rate. It looked to be on the verge of collapsing into ash.
Yet just as Jeanne thought it was over, the creature tore itself off the spearhead, dragging its scorched body forward and stumbling toward her in a final, desperate charge.
Skadi, standing vigilantly beside them, swung her greatsword in a sharp horizontal arc. With its structure weakened by the intense heat, the blade passed through the beast, cleaving it clean in two.
The severed upper torso collapsed onto the stone, its jaws still twitching as it rasped out its final words:
"Why... kin? Why... as our kin... do you choose... to help... the ocean's... mortal enemy? Why... defy... We-Many's... will? Ishar-Mla...!"
Hearing the name Ishar-Mla, Skadi froze completely. Her crimson eyes widened as she stared down at the dying creature, her knuckles turning white as her hands trembled on the hilt of her sword.
Why had it called her Ishar-Mla? A cold dread settled in Skadi's chest. She remembered clearly that Ishar-Mla had died beneath her own blade!
Taking advantage of her shock, the creature's remains lurched off the ground like a spent cannonball, lunging straight for Jeanne with its remaining strength.
Jeanne stared at the incoming torso, baffled as to why it viewed her as the "mortal enemy" of the sea. Was it because of the ancient horn hanging around her neck? But she hadn't even used the relic since acquiring it!
"Enemy... of We-Many!" the beast hissed.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Before the creature could reach Jeanne, Irene reloaded her hand-cannon and unloaded a rapid barrage of fire straight into its skull.
The explosive rounds shredded what was left of the beast's head, riddling it with holes. With its neural tissue obliterated, the creature finally went limp, collapsing onto the damp stone floor. Its shattered head remained fixed on Jeanne, as if harboring deep regret that it had failed to kill its sworn foe or carry word back to the hive.
"Is it... dead?" Irene approached carefully, her lantern illuminating the mangled remains as she poked the flesh with the tip of her rapier.
"It should be," Jeanne replied, shaking her head. The sheer tenacity of the creature's life force was truly unnerving.
Skadi walked over slowly, her face pale and troubled as she inspected the corpse. She gave a faint nod. "It's dead. If you want to be certain... burn what's left."
After speaking, Skadi fell silent once more, standing frozen in place as the weight of the creature's final words pressed heavily upon her mind.
Irene noticed Skadi's strange demeanor and nudged Jeanne's elbow, giving her a questioning look.
Although Irene had heard the creature address Skadi as "kin," she kept her doubts to herself. She was cautious around Aegir by nature, but she wasn't foolish enough to turn on an ally based on the mad ramblings of a Seaborn.
"I don't know either," Jeanne whispered back with a quiet shrug.
Raising her banner, she summoned a fresh wave of flames, incinerating the remaining biological material into fine ash before stepping over to check on Skadi.