Teresa ran behind the String Puppets, who were dashing toward the dying flames in a mindless hunger to devour whatever was there.
Because of this, the creatures were unable to notice the human lingering behind them as she headed in the same direction they were.
She carefully used this to her advantage, making sure to avoid overstepping and meeting their eyes. Whoever was at the top, she was determined to save them from the danger somehow.
As they reached the gigantic hand that seemed to have been buried into the ground, with the other parts of the statue nowhere to be found, the String Puppets began climbing the hand, some dropping to the ground as they were pushed aside by others fighting for space.
In mere moments, the white statue seemed to have been swallowed by an encroaching darkness.
Teresa stopped and hid herself behind a tree close to the statue's hand while watching the dying flames.
The four-winged beast was constantly trying to keep up with her in the air; however, it repeatedly fell to the ground as it had yet to master how to maintain its speed.
In the end, it dropped behind Teresa, completely exhausted.
The young girl glanced at it and bent down to pick the beast up from the ground.
"Sorry, Effie. I stressed you…" she looked back at the statue, noticing the Puppets had almost reached the top.
Teresa bit her lip in frustration. She was not certain she could even make the climb, as she was also exhausted, not to mention how reckless and foolish it would be for her to rush in to save someone who might have already been devoured by now.
It was simply impossible.
'I guess we can't do anything now, but I really hope it's not that guy,' Teresa thought with a solemn expression.
Seconds later, as the first wave of String Puppets reached the summit of the massive hand, their movements became erratic.
Their limbs tangled together as they converged upon the source of the dying flames, and then, without warning, the head of one of them was cleanly severed and sent hurtling into the air.
Its body collapsed shortly after, as the faint glow above flickered once before vanishing entirely.
For a brief moment, there was nothing…
Then a figure leapt from the top.
The descent was immediate and without hesitation, the individual plunging from the height of the hand as the remaining Puppets reacted at once.
Their attention shifted entirely as they gave chase, those at the top diving after him while the ones still climbing abandoned their positions and hurled themselves downward in a mindless pursuit.
Teresa's gaze sharpened as she tried to discern the figure, but the motion was too swift and obscured by the swarm that followed, though one thing was certain.
They were still alive.
The falling figure adjusted midair, their body shifting in controlled motions as they attempted to mitigate the speed of their descent, using the momentum of the fall to veer away from the cluster of Puppets plunging alongside them, while maintaining a firm grip on the sword in their hand.
It was evident they were not aiming to land.
Instead, they angled toward the side, using the uneven structure of the stone hand and the protruding ridges along its surface to redirect their fall, pushing off at intervals to avoid being surrounded midair as the Puppets closed in from multiple directions.
Even so, the gap between them was rapidly diminishing.
Teresa watched for only a moment longer before making her decision.
"Damn it…"
She stepped forward and immediately shifted her direction toward the nearest tree.
Her movement remained precise despite the fatigue weighing on her body, as she used the massive trunk to propel herself upward, forcing her body into the air with all the strength she could muster.
Fortunately, her timing was exact.
The figure was losing control.
The descent had slowed, but not sufficiently, and the Puppets were already converging toward the point of impact.
Teresa reached out with urgent desperation.
At that same instant, something changed.
Thin, almost imperceptible strands spread outward from her position, extending rapidly across a radius of several meters, connecting directly to multiple Puppets at once.
For a fraction of a second, everything stilled.
Then the reaction came.
The Puppets caught within the radius scattered abruptly.
The creatures veered off and broke formation, surging toward her position instead, colliding with the others and forcing them aside as the entire cluster shifted.
The space around the falling figure cleared.
It lasted only a moment, but Teresa did not hesitate to dwell on it and instead used it to complete the rescue. She caught the person midair and then dropped to the ground.
The force of the impact drove both of them backward, their combined weight carrying them over a low stone ledge just behind the hand as they lost their footing and plunged into the ridge beyond.
The strands snapped almost immediately after, and the String Puppets surged once more.
Teresa and the unknown figure struck the slope and began to roll, their bodies dragged along the uneven terrain as they tumbled downward, the ground sloping sharply before leveling out into a lower stretch of land scattered with stone and thick, creeping vines.
By the time their momentum waned, the Puppets had already reached the edge above.
"Not now…"
Teresa forced herself up slightly.
Her body protested as she tried to move, aware they would not make it much farther in time.
Out of nowhere, something descended from above.
A massive shape cut through the air. Its four wings spread wide as it descended toward them at speed, its body far larger than before, now closer in size to a small whale, its dark form casting a looming shadow over the ground as it reached them in an instant.
Teresa looked up with a smile.
'Effie… you grew so large in minutes?'
The four-winged beast seized both of them, lifting them from the ground before the Puppets could reach. Its wings beat forcefully as it carried them upward and away from the ridge.
Despite the instability of its movement, due to its lack of control in flight, it pressed forward regardless.
They passed over the fractured terrain, moving across a stretch of barren land covered in dense vines and scattered stone formations, the distance between them and the Puppets widening with each passing second.
But it did not last.
The creature faltered midair.
Its wings lost strength.
And then it plummeted.
The descent was sudden.
They struck the ground with force. The impact drove the air from Teresa's lungs as her body rolled across the surface before coming to a halt, while Effie crashed a short distance away.
Effie's massive frame collided with the ground with a heavy thud before going still.
Teresa, on the other hand, remained where she was for a moment. Her body ached, covered in bruises and bleeding from the fall as she struggled to steady her breathing.
Truthfully, she had pushed it too far for one person…
Evolving Effie into its Initial Form just moments before jumping in had drained thirty out of her forty Fragments, but it had been worth it, and the sudden exertion had left the creature unable to sustain itself.
Nonetheless, they had managed to escape.
Her gaze shifted to the side.
The person she had caught lay beside her, unmoving.
Looking closer, she realised it was a man around her age, and she felt as though she had seen him somewhere before.
His condition was not much better than hers. His body was still and his breathing faint, his face partially obscured by his crimson, curly hair, and his sword remained in his hands as though fused to him.
Teresa let out a quiet breath.
"…Good."
She closed her eyes shortly after.
The tension left her body as exhaustion finally took hold.
"At least… it's not him…"