The ground beneath Raithasu and the five Eclipse Units suddenly gave way.
Cracks spread across the surface in every direction. Before anyone could react, the earth collapsed beneath their feet, swallowing all six of them into the darkness below.
They fell.
Stone fragments tore past them as the sound of collapsing earth echoed through the depths. Then, one after another, they struck the ground.
For a moment, everything went silent.
Darkness surrounded them. Not a single ray of light reached the place where they had fallen.
Nyx slowly lifted his head. His body, still recovering from the impact, shifted like a mass of liquid before settling into its humanoid shape.
"Where the hell have we fallen?" he muttered. He looked around, unable to see anything. "Can someone turn on a light?"
Darev answered without a word.
He opened his mouth and unleashed a stream of fire toward the nearest wall.
The flames illuminated the darkness.
And suddenly, all six of them fell silent.
Their eyes widened.
They were inside an enormous cave, its walls stretching far beyond the reach of Darev's flames. But that wasn't what had caught their attention.
Gold.
Jewels.
Ancient weapons. Ornate chests. Mountains of coins and countless treasures filled the cavern, glittering beneath the firelight. Some of the riches were piled so high that they nearly reached the rocky ceiling.
For a brief moment, even the Eclipse Units seemed to forget why they were there.But Raithasu hadn't.
Before any of them could react to their surroundings, he moved.
Auren had barely turned his head when Raithasu's boot slammed into his face.
CRACK!
Auren's body shot backward. His feet scraped across the stone as he slid several meters before crashing onto the ground.
Darev's expression changed instantly.
"YOU—!"
Fire erupted from his mouth.
A concentrated stream of flames tore through the space between them, rushing straight toward Raithasu.
The attack struck.
For a brief moment, Raithasu appeared to be swallowed by the blaze.
Darev's mouth twisted into a confident grin.
"Burn."
Then the flames began to die.
His grin disappeared.
There was no one standing in front of him.
Raithasu had vanished.
Before Darev could turn around, a voice came from beside him.
"Too slow."
BAM!
Raithasu's strike smashed into the side of Darev's neck.The impact sent a violent jolt through the larger warrior's body. His head snapped sideways, and he staggered several steps, struggling to maintain his balance.
Damage spread across the struck area. Even a machine built for combat had limits, and Raithasu had just demonstrated how easily he could exploit them.
But the moment Raithasu's foot touched the ground, he felt something unexpected.
Heat.
An intense, unnatural heat radiated from Darev's body. It wasn't merely the warmth of the flames he had unleashed. Darev himself was burning hot enough to make close contact dangerous.
Raithasu immediately looked down at his own hand.
So that's how it works.
His eyes narrowed.
Touching him directly is a disadvantage. The longer I fight him at close range, the more energy I'll waste protecting myself from that heat.
He flexed his fingers once before raising his gaze toward Darev again.
I'll have to be careful.
He had barely finished assessing the situation when something wet struck his hands.
SPLAT!
Raithasu looked down.
A thick, viscous substance had spread across both of his hands, coating his fingers and wrists. Before he could tear it away, the slime tightened.
Nyx stood several meters away, his arms extended toward him.
"Got you."
With a sharp movement, Nyx twisted his arms.
The slime responded instantly.
Raithasu was ripped off his feet and hurled across the cavern. His body crashed into a pile of treasure, sending gold coins and jewels scattering across the stone floor.
The impact echoed through the cave.
Nyx tilted his head.
"That should keep you busy."
But he spoke too soon.
Raithasu pushed himself up from the treasure. A few coins slid from his shoulders as he rose, his expression still remarkably composed.
Darev was already moving.
He charged forward and drew back his fist.
Raithasu turned toward him, but Darev's punch came faster than expected.
BOOM!
The blow struck Nyx instead.
"AAAAAAAAH!"
Nyx's scream rang through the cavern.
His body distorted around the impact, the slime that formed his arm and shoulder rippling violently as he was knocked sideways.
Darev stared at him.
"...Why were you standing there?"
"YOU PULLED ME INTO IT!"
Nyx's furious voice echoed from his misshapen body.
Raithasu watched them for only a second.
Then his eyes sharpened.
Interesting.
His gaze moved from Nyx's liquid-like body to Darev's burning skin.
Nyx can change the structure of his body. Physical attacks don't affect him the same way they affect the others. And Darev's body generates extreme heat, meaning direct contact comes with a cost.
A faint smile touched Raithasu's face.
Their powers aren't invincible. They just require the right approach.
Across the cavern, Auren finally rose to his feet.
The red smoke surrounding him thickened.
He lifted one hand toward the enormous piles of treasure. Several chests, along with hundreds of coins, began to tremble.
Then he tried to lift them.
Nothing happened.
His expression hardened.
He increased the force of his telekinesis. The air around the treasure seemed to tighten, yet the objects refused to move as he intended. Auren's attempt failed, leaving the treasure exactly where it had been.For the first time, he appeared genuinely unsettled.
Raithasu noticed.
His telekinesis isn't working properly here?
He couldn't be certain why. The cave, the distance, or something else might have interfered with Auren's control.
But he filed the observation away.
Every weakness mattered.
And every second of this fight was giving him more information.
Then Sera moved.
She hadn't rushed into the battle like Darev, nor had she wasted time testing her strength against Raithasu.
She had been watching him.
Watching the way he moved. Watching how he reacted to Darev's heat. Watching how quickly he recovered after being thrown into the treasure.And now she had noticed something else.
Raithasu's eyes.
A small, knowing smile appeared on her face.
"Found it."
Before Raithasu could turn toward her, Sera flicked her hand.
A thin stream of poison shot through the air.
It struck directly into his eye.
Raithasu recoiled.
"GH—!"
His breath caught in his throat. Pain flared through his eye, and he instinctively turned his face away, trying to recover his vision.
Sera didn't waste the opportunity.
Nyx's arm shot forward.
Raithasu reached out and caught it, intending to seize Nyx before he could attack again.His fingers closed around the slime.
Then Nyx's arm liquefied.
Raithasu's grip slipped straight through it.
Before he could withdraw, the slime spread across his arm and attached itself to his body. Nyx pulled hard, dragging Raithasu backward across the stone.
Raithasu dug his heels into the ground.
The slime tightened.
His body lurched toward Nyx.
Darev saw his opening.
A cruel grin spread across his face as he approached, raising his fist for another devastating punch.
Raithasu's vision was still compromised. His body was being pulled backward, and the slime had left him struggling to regain his footing.
For the first time since the battle began, his opponents had managed to put him in a genuinely dangerous position.
He glanced at Nyx.
Then at Darev.
If I can't break free in time, that punch will land.
His instincts took over.
Raithasu began pulling Nyx forward, preparing to use the slime-covered warrior as a shield against Darev's incoming attack.
But he never got the chance.
A metallic sound sliced through the cavern.
CLINK!
Chains wrapped around Raithasu's arms.
Before he could react, they tightened and pulled his hands apart, binding them in place
Auren stood in the distance, one arm extended. Red smoke curled around his body as he maintained control of the chains with his telekinetic power.
Raithasu's expression changed.
Darev was already in front of him.
"Got you now."
He drove his fist into Raithasu's stomach.
BOOM!
The force of the punch shook Raithasu's entire body.
Pain tore through his abdomen, and his breath nearly escaped him. The impact was powerful enough to cause serious internal damage.
But just before the blow could inflict the full extent of its injury, flames surged around Raithasu's torso.
A thin layer of fire formed between his body and Darev's fist.
The flames absorbed part of the impact and disrupted the attack, preventing the punch from causing the deeper injury Darev had intended.
Raithasu staggered, but he remained standing.
Darev's eyes widened.
"Fire?"
Raithasu slowly raised his head.
The flames surrounding his body grew brighter.
"You're not the only one who can use it."
He twisted his arms against the chains. Fire spread along the metal links, forcing Auren to reconsider how long he could maintain his hold.
Raithasu's breathing steadied.
The pain in his stomach remained, as did the poison burning through his eye. He wasn't unharmed, and he knew better than to pretend otherwise.
But he had learned enough.
Darev was dangerous at close range because of the heat radiating from his body.
Nyx could restrain and manipulate opponents through his liquid-like form, but his body could still react painfully to certain impacts.
Auren could control objects with telekinesis, although something in this environment appeared to interfere with his attempt to move the treasure.
And Sera was observant. She had identified an opportunity and exploited it before the others even understood what she had seen.
The five Eclipse Units weren't simply powerful.
They were learning.
So was Raithasu.
He looked at each of them in turn.
Fighting all five at once is a mistake.
His fingers curled into fists as flames danced around his hands.
If I want to defeat them, I'll have to separate them and take them down one by one.
Across the cavern, the Eclipse Units reached the same conclusion.
Auren's gaze moved toward his companions.
Darev wiped the damage from his neck and adjusted his stance. Nyx reshaped his injured body, his expression twisted with anger. Sera remained silent, studying Raithasu's every movement.
None of them could afford to underestimate him again.
Auren's voice broke the silence.
"Don't attack him alone."
Darev glanced at him.
Darev glanced at him.
"What?"
"We've already seen what happens when we give him individual openings." Auren's red smoke thickened. "His speed, his reactions, the way he identifies our abilities. We won't beat him by taking turns."
Sera's eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
"Then we attack together."
Nyx's body rippled as he moved back into position.
"And don't give him time to figure out anything else."
Raithasu heard every word.
He didn't object.
He was thinking the same thing.
Five opponents. Five different abilities. One mistake could give any of them the opening they needed.He slowly raised his burning fists.
The Eclipse Units spread out across the treasure-filled cavern, taking positions around him.
Raithasu stood alone at the center.
For a moment, neither side moved.
Then Raithasu smiled faintly.
"Come on."
The flames around his hands surged.
"Let's see if you can actually work together."
Auren lifted his hand.
Nyx lowered his stance.
Sera prepared her poison.
Darev's body began radiating heat.
And somewhere in the darkness above them, the cavern's ancient stones groaned.
The real battle was about to begin.