Smoke filled the area, forming suffocating clouds within the dense mangrove.
Despite the impaired visibility, they found brief relief in the absence of enemies.
Swarms of dragonflies and flies, more persistent and far harder to eliminate than the tadpoles before, circled the bridge like restless corpses.
At the front of the group, Giovanni produced the strange smoke. His raised palm continuously transmuted the air, scattering and disorienting a significant portion of the threats.
"Cough… cough!" Shelly struggled more than the others to endure the situation. Watery eyes and ragged breathing betrayed her discomfort.
Even so, she never failed to tear apart any small creature bold enough to cross the veil of smoke, destroying it before it could strike.
Eric, taking advantage of the passage opened by Giovanni and guarded by Shelly, followed not far behind, reducing clouds of insects into lumps of flesh that plunged back into the water, never to surface again.
'Why is it always insects?!' Giovanni thought.
It was already troubling enough how often he found himself in life-or-death situations; still, there was clearly a pattern forming.
A nearby scream echoed.
Pain. Discomfort. Fear.
The sensations traveled from Sofia's body to Giovanni's, pulling his attention sharply toward his friend.
A gray, furry dragonfly had collided with her arm, its tiny legs embedding themselves into her flesh.
Its mandibles worked quickly, tearing through the thin fabrics Sofia wore and grinding into the tender meat beneath.
'Get off me!' Gritting her teeth, she crushed the insect's head with the pommel of her sword in one smooth motion.
The exoskeleton gave way easily under the impact.
Like the rest of the creature, its internal organs and blood were drained of all color, turning into a pungent, gray mash.
[You have slain a dormant beast, Hueless Dragonfly]
With her free hand, she tore the embedded legs from her skin, opening several small holes alongside the gashes left by the bites.
Fresh blood trickled from those and other recently inflicted wounds.
'Is it deep?!' Giovanni's concern invaded her mind, pulling her focus away from the pain.
'No! I can still fight.' She reassured him, unwilling to let him waste his attention on her.
The sight of opened, bloodstained bandages scattered across her body filled the delicate boy with a growing anger.
Lacking armor, she was the most vulnerable among them, frequently injured even when ignored by most monsters.
This couldn't continue.
'Here, put this on!' Giovanni hurriedly pulled off the [Grafter's Tunic] and tossed it to his partner, leaving himself in only the bodysuit. They were the same height, so sharing wouldn't be an issue.
He would be more exposed to danger, but that was the least of his concerns right now.
Briefly surprised, Sofia didn't hesitate to slip into her friend's garment amid the chaos.
Relief. Pain. Happiness. Comfort.
Feeling protected, a grateful smile danced across her lips mere seconds before she beheaded a second aberration flying toward her.
The battle was far from over.
***
At that point, the group had been crossing the swamp for over a full day, following the path mapped in advance without deviation.
As unpleasant as the constant insects were, they were the least of the dangers lurking there.
Throughout the region, nests and submerged ruins lay packed with awakened creatures, but by far the greatest threat was the aerial roots.
Like brushstrokes of living paint, they were harmless when isolated. Yet in denser regions, where many intertwined into a single "painting," nature itself became utterly deranged.
Creatures were seized by uncontrollable frenzy, and even from afar, sensing only through seismic perception, Giovanni knew he had to avoid those areas at all costs.
'Our pace is too slow; we need to speed up.' He had predicted that, at best, it would take two days to reach the waterfall. At this rate, they would barely make it out of the mangrove.
Sofia walked beside Giovanni along the bridge, her expression strained.
Her recent wounds had been cleaned and covered with gauze created through transmutation, costing the boy a considerable portion of his energy.
Both Shelly and Eric staggered slightly, struggling to maintain a semblance of normalcy even as forming long sentences became difficult.
"We're not that far from getting out anymore. Can you manage to pick up the pace?" Giovanni asked, concern edging his voice.
"It's… possible," Eric murmured, eyes heavy. Shelly was worse, fighting to walk straight, barely paying attention to the conversation.
'They won't make it to the waterfalls, Gigi…' Sofia didn't want to say it aloud, but she was beginning to doubt they could last another day without rest.
The fact that they had endured nearly seven days of fighting and bleeding without a single moment of sleep was already remarkable.
'They just need to get close enough. Then we'll carry them the rest of the way.' He had done it before. Why would this be any different?
Uncertainty. Fear.
The residual pain in his soul pulsed faintly, reminding him of the price already paid.
Sofia squeezed his hand gently. She truly appreciated his attempt to remain optimistic, even in a situation like this.
The group passed several striking landmarks, including familiar robots sunk into polluted water.
The same machines he had encountered in the flower field, shortly after arriving in the nightmare.
"Can you tell what those things are?" Giovanni pointed toward one of the geometric-looking battle robots.
Sofia examined it carefully and shared her conclusions with the group.
"It's very… similar to Gaius, but more advanced. The craftsmanship is incredible! They originate from someone's aspect rather than conventional methods."
So they, too, had once been earth-controlling golems? The difference between the two versions was like night and day.
Had Giovanni faced one of these activated in the desolate lands, he would have raised the white flag without hesitation.
Even more frightening was the thought of someone capable of creating an army of them.
Despite his exhaustion, Eric seemed genuinely interested in the ancient civilization's creations.
The giant snapped his fingers in front of Shelly's face, drawing her attention.
"What now…?" she rubbed her eyes, drowsy.
"Your echo. Its name," Eric went straight to the point.
After briefly reviewing her own runes, Shelly confirmed:
"[Sculptor's Lesser Golem] is Gaius's original name… satisfied?"
Eric nodded, as if a long-standing question had finally been answered.
The exchange didn't go unnoticed by Giovanni, who reflected silently.
'Seamstress, sculptor… was this place ruled by a labor union?'
Prompted by his thought, Sofia recalled the painting she had seen on the ceiling of the room where she'd been summoned.
'Seamstress… you mean that strange four-armed, masked figure?' she asked, confirming they meant the same thing.
'That's the one. I saw an altar dedicated to someone called the Seamstress of the Veils when I arrived. We also passed massive statues of the old woman before everything went to hell.'
His casual tone almost made it sound trivial.
Almost.
Hearing all this for the first time, Sofia stared wide-eyed, her frustration leaking into Giovanni's mind. 'I can accept if they hide things… but why didn't you tell me this?!'
She wanted to unravel the secrets of an unexplored region, and her teammates, unfortunately, didn't share the same enthusiasm.
Well, Giovanni had forgotten.
'It wasn't important at the time!' He defended himself, anyway.
'Is that your excuse for everything? Show me what's inside that thick skull of yours!' Sofia pressed, jostling him by the shoulders.
That argument wasn't ending anytime soon.
***
While the shorter couple bickered like skittish cats a few steps ahead, Shelly and Eric had a conversation of their own.
The mangrove, a place that consumed the emotions of those who lingered too long, should, in theory, be dreadful.
But for Shelly, it was a hidden blessing.
Her flaw, [Wild Heart], violently amplified every emotion and sensation in her body. Anger, fatigue, discomfort, pain, disgust, happiness, pleasure, the list went on.
It was like being trapped in constant PMS from the moment she woke until the last second before sleep.
Maybe worse.
What mattered was that, for the first time in months, her mind responded logically to her surroundings.
That should've been the bare minimum. What a joke!
Her body was still a mess, though.
The giant turned his gaze toward the drowsy girl and asked with interest, "How effective is your ability on others?"
Caution gripped her chest. Why was Eric suddenly interested in her aspect? Better yet, how did he even know it could be used on other people?!
"…Why do you want to know?" It was the most polite answer she could manage.
"I wish to use it to my advantage." His tired voice couldn't have been more direct.
She wanted to say she was surprised, but Legacies were exactly the type to say something like that without batting an eye.
Normally, she would have refused to share any information about her limitations.
But she knew she wouldn't last much longer. The damn music was chewing through her brain, and her body felt as heavy as an anchor.
Any solution was welcome.
"As long as you're not too far away… I could consistently activate it for you. My ability is limited to one target at a time, though."
Meaning she'd have to stay back, like a bitch in some hypothetical fight. And whether Eric could even use her power effectively was debatable.
It had taken her months of practice to stop making fatal mistakes.
"That will suffice. We'll create a keyword to signal when I wish your power to be activated." Eric seemed to believe he could handle it, genuinely, and that pissed her off.
"Hold on… You do know that during acceleration, you can't see shit, right? It's blink-and-you-miss-it," she argued, skeptical.
"I inferred the limitations of your gift from your combat performance. I am aware of them." His violet eyes gleamed with dangerous emotion.
Absolute confidence.
"It is merely a proposal." He concluded, leaving the choice to her.
Shelly's resolve wavered.
After a few seconds of awkward silence, she gave in.
"If you die because of this, I'm pissing on your grave. Say the word' fox,' and I'll get the message." She clicked her tongue, annoyed.
"So it shall be." The conversation ended as quickly as it had begun.
They both looked ahead just in time to notice that the pointless drama of their companions had ceased.
Something was wrong.
***
Giovanni realized the problem early.
There were no monsters.
The brief respite after the dragonfly swarms should have been a relief. It wasn't. Even as he teased Sofia, his senses swept the surroundings, alert for any anomaly.
Swish…
The still water moved. Waves too small for wind, too precise for chance. Something swam beneath the gray surface, fast and hidden.
Sharp scales broke the dull mirror of the water and vanished again.
"Guys…" Giovanni murmured, the color draining from his face. "Remember that talk about the lizards' mother?"
Swish.
Swish.
The movement appeared simultaneously in different places. It looked as if multiple creatures were approaching.
Five pairs of eyes emerged from the water. Black and round like onyx.
Serpentine heads rose above the surface, pale as snow. Long necks moved slowly, mechanically, without fury, without haste.
There was no madness there.
Only emptiness.
Giovanni stepped to the edge of the structure, gazing into the darkness, sensing the enemy before actually seeing it.
"Shelly, help me create a platform. We can't fight on the bridge!"
Gaius was already moving. The ground trembled, and an island rose in haste, torn from underwater.
The creature accelerated.
Eric summoned the metallic, black helmet and placed his hand over the bone amulet on his chest, still pulsing red.
Bathed in the light of the firefly cage, it emerged fully. Four meters tall. A robust, muscular body, protected by natural armor.
Giovanni swallowed hard.
Sofia needed only a glimpse to understand what they were facing.
"I-It's a Fallen…"
The mouths opened together.
And the world trembled beneath the weight of its roar.