Chapter 38: • Vengeful Beast

"Where did Spheris go!?" Cerene's voice quivered with fear as the looming figures of the Gorgoliths closed in.

"He just disappeared." Thorin said with a flabbergasted breath.

"I said it all along, didn't I?" Nero lamented. "We should never have trusted that wasteland freak. You think Bastopher would've left us, if he was here? No." Nero was quite vexed... and terrified. He gripped his ice-made hammer tightly, as a surge of adrenaline coursed through his veins.

As for Cerene, she didn't quite believe that Spheris had just vanished and abandoned them to die. Something must have happened. After watching him closely for the past week, she had come to recognize his intelligence, perhaps even his cunning. And as an intelligent person, he would know that he still needed them alive, if he intended to survive this dreadland.

Thinking about Spheris, a thought suddenly struck her like a gust of wind. Her voice cut through the tension, announcing to her comrades that she had an idea.

"An idea?" Nero raised an untrusting brow. "The last time you had one of those, we got into a wooden caravan like food on its way to be eaten."

"Can you stop being a child for two minutes?" Cerene scolded.

One of the Gorgoliths puffed out vapor from its hollow nostrils and slammed its head on the red shield Akemi had created.

"Can't hold..." Akemi wailed a whisper. Thorin frowned at this. The Second Wing Avatar was in no mood to die.

"Cerene, tell us your plan." he said with urgency.

Atlant's Temple's plan was not at all arduous to understand, but it was inventive. With a nod from Nero, he conjured ice with all his might, channeling his Essence to conjure as much ice as he could, creating a frigid barrier between them and one of the monsters.

Akemi focused the shield on the other Gorgolith, making sure it couldn't go through. Thorin followed suit, directing his flames to melt the ice into a deluge of water.

As the water melted, cascading towards the confused Gorgolith, Cerene seized control and manipulated the liquid with purpose. She hurled the wave of water, crashing it into the oblivious creature with tremendous force.

"Now, Nero!" she cried.

Nero acted swiftly, stomping his feet to the ground, icy veins growing in his hands as he freezed the water upon impact, turning it into deadly shards that pierced through the monster's thick hide.

The creature let out an ear-splitting shriek of pain, its blood began to stain the whitish blue of the ice and dripped down to the ground. The Gorgolith was dead.

Roar!

An emotional outcry came from the Gorgolith at their opposite side. It was enraged, crying in agony at it's slain mate before it. The team pivoted to see Akemi trying to hold it off with her force shield.

"Too... strong." Akemi mumbled.

"Akemi, let's go." Cerene said.

"Will attack." she replied.

Nero and Thorin took steps backwards. The plan was to run as soon as they had killed the first Gorgolith. But Akemi did have a point, if she let go of the shield, the Gorgolith would simply break through it and chase after them.

"Akemi, we're meant to make a run for it!" Cerene cried.

"Akemi! We got to go!" Thorin yelled. "Leave the shield."

"You... go." Akemi said, determined to keep the shield in place long enough for the rest of them to escape.

"We're not leaving you here, Akemi!" Cerene protested.

Clash! The Gorgolith slammed its bony head to the shield once again. Its eyes blazed with a great intense rage, fully fueled by the loss of its mate. It roared consistently, agony reverberating through every thunderous cry that emanated from its gaping jaws.

Clash! It blowed the shield once again, the sheer power behind the collision caused cracks to spiderweb across the red force barrier.

Akemi moaned in resilience as she tried to maintain her power, focusing as much of her Essence as she could on the wall. "Must... go!"

"Not without you!" was Cerene's response.

"Akemi, let it go! We have a better chance if we run!" Nero exclaimed.

"Ugh! What is she doing!" Thorin grunted in frustration. "We can not die here."

Clash! The beast continued. The crack increased.

"Akemi, it can't hold for much longer!" Cerene pleaded, approaching her friend. "Let... it... go."

Akemi turned around to face Cerene, a despondent, knowing look in her face. "Must... go." she repeated.

Panic overwhelmed everyone, their hearts beating to the same tune of trepidation, and a solemn realisation settling on them like a heavy blanket of despair. Were they really going to abandon Akemi with that vengeful beast?

Thorin was the first to turn around to leave, his shoulders sagging with disappointment as he exhaled a weighted sigh.

"What are you doing?" Nero asked him. "We can't leave her here."

"Nero, she wants us to." he replied, an expression on his face conveying that it was a difficult decision for him to make.

"Doesn't mean that we should." Nero's eyes darkened to a staidness that was new to Thorin.

"We have to continue the conquest," Thorin explained. "She understands that. One of us has to destroy this Realm. One of us has to win."

Clash! The beast crashed into the shield once again, its movements were becoming more desperate and irate. It was completely set on killing every single one of them behind that shield.

"Please..." Akemi begged them. "Go."

Cerene furrowed her brows, standing focused and adamant. "We're not leaving you here, Akemi. So unless you want all of us to die when that Gorgolith breaks through, let go of the shield and come with us."

Before Akemi even had the chance to reply, the barrier shattered, finally succumbing to the relentless assault of the enraged Gorgolith. The force of the impact sent Akemi and Cerene flying backward, crashing to the ground near Thorin and Nero who stood in front of the slain Gorgolith encased in ice.

"Cerene! Akemi!" Nero cried. They both started to help the girls to their feet.

The Gorgolith, meanwhile, roared victoriously as it prepared to launch its final assault. Nero and Thorin exchanged glances then looked up at the beast, magma was dripping menacingly from its gaping maw. It looked deranged.

"Get up, Cerene." Nero said, scrambling to hoist her upright while Thorin assisted Akemi. Panic threatened to overwhelm them as the Gorgolith readied to surge forward. A tense decision hung in the air: hold on to the girls or abandon them to leap out of harm's way.

But then... "Spheris?" Thorin questioned, casting a glance at the person who had clasped his arm. Spheris also seized Nero's, saying nothing but a simple; "Hold on to each other."

Seeing Spheris, the Gorgolith became even more ballistic and advanced in range. He glanced at the shadow cast by the fallen Gorgolith. Praying that it would be large enough to accommodate them all, Spheris activated [Leaping Shadow], and in an instant, they were enveloped by the darkness, escaping the imminent danger as the attacking Gorgolith collided with the icy corpse of its fallen mate.

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