"Sylas??? Sylas????"
Epsilon kept shaking his body, and slapping him on the cheek to shock him awake, but even with the chaos erupting behind him his eyes refused to open. He was knocked out cold.
'Whyy!'
There was still 1/3rd of the bridge left to cross until they reached safety, but having to lug two unconscious humans on his back, all while being attacked by an Awakened Terror, would be an impossible task.
Galahad was too far and too weak, and although Gracia was present, she lacked any hands to even carry him with. Even then, her corpse like body was in no state to do any manual work either.
It was then, that a dark realization hit him.
'I have to leave one of them behind.'
He didn't want to believe that to be true, but when he checked desperately with his [Judgement] attribute, it also found that out to be the case. There didn't seem to be any hope for the two of them.
'Bob??'
Desperately, he sought the dark spirit in his head for help.
"I'm sorry."
But even he could not see any hope in this situation.
He had to choose quickly. Gracia, or Sylas? Well, the answer was obvious is hindsight. Sylas was more than willing to trade his life for Gracias own.
But Epsilon didn't want to believe that he could abandon him so readily, not after Sylas had called him his friend.
'Friend.'
It was a term that he wasn't very familiar with. Sure there was his brother, but they were.. well.. brothers, and twins at that. It was a given that they would get along. Yes, there was Emma too, but she.. was precious to him in a different way.
Sylas was someone that he could depend on. He was not only just his mentor, but also..
Knowing all of that, he couldn't just abandon him in a heartbeat. He couldn't abandon any of them.
Unbeknownst to him, the effects of the enchantment that Sylas had implanted into the Ocean Dweller, were just about to take effect. It was a double edged sword that could work against him too, but a joker that could reorganize the playing field right now, was just what they needed.
Its effect was simple on the surface. It could draw upon the attention of the most powerful creature in the area.
In a situation where it was used, one of two things would occur. Either the strongest creature would be the Awakened Terror itself, and nothing would change. Or a creature even more terrifying than the Ocean Dweller would come upon them instead.
In the scenario of the latter, whoever was stabbed by the dagger would be the creatures primary target, but it was what would came afterwards that would be the problem.
'Could we even survive being in the presence of such a thing?'
Was what Sylas had thought, and that question was now left for Epsilon to answer.
The cavern shuddered like a living thing, deep groans rumbling through its stone heart. Dust cascaded from the ceiling in thin, ghostly veils, and the sharp crack of splitting rock echoed from unseen depths. The air vibrated, as a low, resonant hum seemed to crawl up through the ground and into the bones.
In its rage, the Awakened terror suddenly froze. It felt something coming. Something powerful.
Stalactites trembled, some breaking loose to crash and splinter against the floor, their sound lost in the growing roar. The walls flexed with each pulse of movement, grit sifting down in a choking haze. Every heartbeat brought another tremor, another sharp jolt that sent ripples through the lake and made the torchlight quiver.
Until eventually, it couldn't handle it anymore.
The caverns walls burst open like a wounded artery, as fragments of stone rained down upon them all. Quickly shielding Gracia from the rubble, he slowly turned back to look at what emerged from the gaping hole, only to freeze in terror.
But what was even more daunting, was the fact that he recognised it.
A vast limb, jointed and armoured, thrust through the opening, claws grinding against the rock as it dragged the rest of its monstrous bulk into view. The creature's carapace gleamed wetly under the flickering torchlight, layered in plates as dark as obsidian and etched with veins of sickly green. Each movement made the ground quake, the air fill with the shrill scrape of chitin against stone.
When its many eyes opened, they burned with cold intelligence; reflections of light scattered like stars across a nightmare face. The cavern filled with its hiss, a sound both sharp and guttural.
It was the Nightmare creature he had seen in his dreams, the mother of the Chimera Mass that had nearly wiped out the Cohort in the past.
The Chimera Queen, a Corrupted Tyrant.
But that wasn't all. Trapped in between its sharp fangs was something even more threating, a creature that Epsilon recognised, but Bob knew personally.
It was a humanoid creature, with onyx black skin that seemed to be covered in some kind of shell. Their face, a blank slate with no significant features, not even with a nose or a pair of eyes to see. If they did have a defining trait apart from their strange form though, it was their long black fingernails that were more like claws.
It was currently struggling against the Corrupted Tyrant. Successfully pulling its fangs apart, before they immediately chewed back on its body, failing to pierce its skin.
It was a Night Sleeper, more specifically, the one that had restrained itself from consuming Epsilon all the way back then.
The Arachnid upon locking eyes with the Ocean Dweller, screeched once more as it easily jumped the distance from the caves radius to the stone bridge, and pranced right on top of the Ocean Dweller.
Its sheer weight easily pushed it off, as the two tumbled down into the lake, causing it to erupt. Water exploded outward in a vast, white plume, rising higher than the bridge before raining back down in heavy sheets.
The appearance of the Chimera Queen had bought him a bit more time. Now that it was fighting against the Ocean Dweller in its territory, it would struggle compared to before.
'I can't waste anymore time, I have to get out now.'
Epsilon hoisted Gracia onto his shoulder, supporting her body with one arm, while he grabbed Sylas by the collar struggling to drag him against the ground.
'No! I'm still to slow!'
Even with his doubled strength, dragging a whole person with one hand across the rest of the bridge simply couldn't be done in the time he had left.
'What would.. what would Nero do??'
And then, Sylas's words from before this battle, rang out in his mind.
"All of us could get killed by your hesitation."
He knew just what to do.
Light bloomed around him, not gentle or warm, but fierce and alive, a current that surged through every vein and nerve. It was originally a hum beneath his skin, that then roared into brilliance, wrapping him in a radiant halo that pulsed with his heartbeat.
It was the brightest it had ever shined.
His muscles thrummed, senses sharpened, and even the ground beneath his feet seemed to vibrate in recognition. It was overwhelming, terrifying even, but somehow intoxicating. Despite standing with giants fighting beneath him, he didn't feel small or fragile. He felt limitless, as though he could tear through anything with a single thought.
"It's not that I need to do it, it's that I have to do it. If my Aspect demands me to sacrifice, then that is what I must do."
He had burned 7 years of his life, all for this.
Hitting the bridge like a storm unleashed, footsteps pounding in a rhythm too fast to follow, each impact cracked against the boards with a sharp, echoing thunder. The wind struggled to keep up, tearing at his clothes and hair as he blurred forward, more motion than shape.
The world around him slowed to a crawl. The air behind him rippled with heat and sound, the echo of his passage lingering long after he'd vanished into the distance. For such power and speed, he had traded 7 years, not even to fight, but to run away.
But if it was to save someone who called him friend, then it was worth it in his eyes.