The plane continued its violent plummet toward the earth, spinning so fast that the horizon was a nauseating blur of blue and grey. Screams echoed through the cabin, accompanied by desperate prayers and the sound of shattering glass.
"W-We're going to die!" Noen screamed, his hands clamped over his head in pure panic.
"No thanks," Ignaz said, his voice strangely cold and steady amidst the chaos. He swiped his hand through the air, summoning his own interface.
[User Shield ready to activate]
—Good thing I haven't had to use this in a long time.— Ignaz thought. —This thing has a massive cooldown.—
He tried to stand up but was immediately thrown against the bulkhead. "Everyone, stay calm!" he roared, though his voice was almost lost in the wind. He scanned the panicked faces in the cabin. "Is there a Tank here? Anyone?!"
An elderly man raised a trembling hand while shielding his face from falling luggage. "I am."
"System Rank?" Ignaz demanded, crawling toward him.
"C-Rank," the man stuttered.
"Perfect," Ignaz grunted. "I'm going to catch this plane with an elastic shield before we hit. You—protect the passengers inside the cabin from the whiplash!"
"I... I'll try!" the old man shouted, activating a faint amber glow around the seating rows.
Ignaz turned back to Noen, who was curled into a ball, waiting for the end. "Noen, I might not have always been the most honest guy with you..." Ignaz began, his tone softening for a fraction of a second. "But to me... you're a likable kid, shorty. And remember, I'm just as bound to Joris Gantz as you are!" He gave a quick, sharp wink.
Noen looked up, his eyes wide. "Stop talking so much and just do your thing!" he yelled.
Ignaz lunged toward the window. "Alright then!" He framed his fingers into a square, focusing every ounce of his energy on the space far below them. "Rebound Dominus!"
Hundreds of meters above the ocean's surface, a massive, translucent floor materialized out of thin air. It stretched 100 meters in every direction, shimmering with a strange, rubbery tension. Inside the cabin, the old man had stabilized the passengers and even the pilots. "Everyone is secure!" he cried out.
"Brace for impact!" Ignaz screamed.
The burning plane roared toward the glowing barrier, and then—
TWOOOOINGGGGG!
The shield stretched downward like a massive trampoline, the material groaning under the weight of the aircraft. The descent slowed drastically, the G-force slamming everyone into their seats.
"Come on! Come on! Come on!" Ignaz hissed through gritted teeth.
The shield reached its limit, stretching deeper and deeper until the belly of the plane was hovering just a few millimeters above the surface of the sea. The momentum died. The silence that followed was deafening, broken only by the sound of the waves lapping against the fuselage. Everyone was alive.
Ignaz collapsed onto all fours, his breath coming in ragged gasps. "The shield... I designed it... to only break the fall... not bounce us back up." He forced himself to stand, his legs shaking. "Everyone out! Now!"
Ignaz kicked the door open with pure, raw leg strength, the metal shrieking as it bent outward. He turned back toward the crowded, smoke-filled cabin. "Any Elementalists on this plane? Specifically a Water-type!"
A teenage girl stepped forward, breaking away from her parents' panicked grip. "I-I am!"
"Can you turn water into ice yet, kid?" Ignaz asked, kneeling down so he was at eye level with her.
"Of course! Watch this," she said, her fear momentarily replaced by pride. She leaned out of the open doorway and extended her hand toward the churning waves below.
"O-Olivia!" her mother screamed, lunging to grab her.
Noen stepped between them, placing a steadying hand on the mother's shoulder. He was still breathing heavily, his heart hammering against his ribs, but his voice was calm. "She'll be okay. She's in good hands."
Suddenly, the water beneath the plane began to groan. A crystalline white sheet spread rapidly across the surface, turning the liquid into solid, jagged ground.
"Wow," Ignaz muttered. "What's your System Rank?"
"B," she replied proudly. With a flick of her wrist, she manifested a staircase of solid ice leading from the fuselage down to the frozen sea. Olivia went down first, followed by Noen, Ignaz, and the elderly Tank. Together, they formed a line, helping the older passengers and children down the slippery steps.
Noen looked toward the horizon, and his blood ran cold. "I-Ignaz... that giant beast... it's right over there!" He pointed toward a massive shadow towering in the distance.
"Don't worry," Ignaz said, helping an elderly couple onto the ice. "We're safe for now. The government has to be on its way."
Noen slumped down onto the ice for a second, exhaling a cloud of frost. He squinted at something in the distance. "Look! Over there! An island!"
Ignaz paused, looking at the landmass and then back at the water. "Don't you find it weird that we're over an ocean at all? There isn't supposed to be a sea between Canada and the USA."
Noen rubbed his nose, thinking back to his geography classes. "You're right." He shrugged. "But worrying about that won't help us now. EVERYONE, FOLLOW ME!" Noen shouted, standing up. "We'll wait on that island until help arrives! Just watch your step, don't slide!"
Noen led the way, shuffling his feet across the ice without lifting them to maintain balance, and the others followed his lead. After a long, grueling trek across the frozen expanse, they finally reached the sandy shore of the island.
Ignaz was the last to arrive. He scanned the dense, dark jungle beyond the beach, his eyes widening in pure horror. He began to tremble.
"What is it, Ignaz?" Noen asked, looking back.
Ignaz's voice was a terrified stutter. "If im not completely dumb, tha- that's Bloodtide Isle." He clutched his chest, his face turning ghostly pale. "Because of the sheer number of magical beasts that live here... they also call it...
the Island of Death!"