The sea serpent responded immediately, its massive form stilling in the water. Its eyes, once blazing with anger, now held a glimmer of trust.
At that moment Nereus, though he knew it was premature, could feel the creature's subservience, a willingness to follow his commands born out of a newfound bond.
"We're getting out of here," Nereus told it, "but first, I need you to deal with those who have caused this destruction."
He sent the serpent a mental image of Devran and the twins, a clear directive to eliminate them.
The creature seemed to understand, a low rumble vibrated up and throughout its mighty reptilian body as it prepared to carry out Nereus's will.
Ruth and Rave, having already secured their essence crystals, were frantically searching for an exit.
The chamber was rapidly deteriorating, and they knew they didn't have much time left. "There!"
Ruth pointed, spotting a narrow tunnel at the far end of the chamber, partially obscured by fallen debris. "That must be the way out!"
Without hesitation, they began to swim toward the exit, but before they could reach it, the serpent struck.
Its enormous tail lashed out with terrifying speed, catching Devran off guard.
CRACK
The force of the blow was brutal, snapping Devran's spine with a sickening crunch.
Almost instantaneously his body went limp, lifeless, as it floated in a small cloud of blood in the water before being dragged into the depths of the serpent's stomach after being swallowed by the powerful jaws.
Meanwhile Ruth and Rave barely had time to register what had happened.
The serpent's attack had been swift and decisive, and now it turned its attention to them. But the twins were already at the exit, their survival instincts overriding any sense of loyalty or concern for their fallen comrade.
Unflinchingly they slipped through the tunnel, escaping the collapsing chamber just in time.
Nereus, seeing that Triton and Jonny had also collected what they could, forced himself to focus.
"Go!" he commanded, shoving them toward the tunnel. "Get out while you still can!"
"But what about you?" Triton protested, looking back as he was propelled forward by Nereus's forceful push.
"I'll be right behind you," Nereus lied, knowing full well that he intended to stay behind. "Just go!"
With no time to argue, Triton and Jonny reluctantly obeyed, swimming into the tunnel just as more debris fell, blocking the entrance behind them.
The exit was now sealed, and Nereus was left alone in the crumbling chamber, with only the serpent for company.
The situation was now effectively inescapable, and Nereus knew it.
The temple was collapsing, and soon there would be nothing left but rubble and ruin. But he couldn't leave—not yet.
The serpent, now much more subdued, was still there, and he could sense its growing distress ebbing from its form in frantic waves.
"It's all right," Nereus said aloud, though his voice was barely a whisper in the chaos. "I'm here."
And then, something unexpected...something remarkable, happened.
The serpent, which had been a massive, terrifying force of nature, began to change.
Its form shimmered, as the rocky and leafy projections began retracting as its body began to shrink and shift.
The transformation was swift, almost too quick to comprehend, and when it was over, the creature that had once been a monstrous sea serpent was now something entirely different.
Before Nereus swam a young mermaid, her dark green hair flowing like seaweed, her emerald eyes wide with a mixture of fear and awe.
She couldn't have been more than sixteen, her slender form covered in iridescent scales that shimmered with the same verdant hue as the serpent's once-mighty form.
Her tail, long and graceful, flicked nervously as she gazed up at Nereus, a silent plea for protection in her eyes.
Nereus stared at the girl in shock, the realization of what had just happened settling over him like a wave.
The sea serpent, this creature of immense power and fury, was now just a wee teen.
'Well I suppose the age is fitting based on the sizing of the serpent but this still almost shouldn't be possible!'
The chamber continued to fall apart around them, but in that moment, all Nereus could see was the girl before him, and the monumental task of keeping them both alive.
"Urghhh!"
Wasting no time, Nereus immediately began to draw upon his sea essence reserves while using his earth affinity to halt the fall of much of the rocky ceiling just above them.
However, the weight of such a herculean task quickly began to bore down on him as the last of the reserves of sea essence in his body quickly dwindled.
He could feel the exhaustion creeping into his limbs, much quicker than he had expected, but he figured it was no surprise as his reserves were nearly depleted after the intense battle and the effort to dislodge the Spatial Pearl.
Eve, the young sea serpent, swam beside him, seemingly unfazed by the chaos.
Her emerald eyes, filled with an ancient wisdom despite her youthful appearance, were locked onto his with an unwavering calm.
But as debris continued to fall around them, Nereus realized with growing horror that he didn't have the strength left to move the massive rocks that blocked their path to safety.
"Fuck things aren't looking too good right now," he whispered, more to himself than to her.
But shockingly she didn't share his despair.
Instead, she reached out to him, her slender fingers brushing against his arm with a tenderness that took him by surprise.
In that moment and before he could react, she leaned in and pressed her lips to his in a gentle, almost chaste kiss.
Almost immediately and evidently instinctively his lips responded in turn, quickly becoming the dominating force in their dance for oral supremacy.
But as small bubbles escaped from and tickled their still passionately interlocked lips, a warmth quickly spread through Nereus, a sensation unlike anything he had ever felt before.