Leon saw the castle in the distance and couldn't help but smile.
They had finally made it. After so long, it felt unreal.
"This is just the beginning." Noah said quietly.
Leon understood what Noah meant. The castle was just the beginning of their problems. But Leon didn't care — for now, they had made it to safety.
"Guys—"
He wanted to share the discovery with the others but right then...
A giant tentacle grabbed Leon, coiling around his body.
He couldn't move. His entire body had been frozen as though he were a statue made of stone.
'Crap.'
His mind raced. He could escape by exploding the tentacles holding him, but his eyes fell toward Noah.
Noah simply stared at him without blinking. His expression was serious. Too serious. Why was there no panic in his eyes?
A few tentacles flew toward Sunny and Nephis. Leon's eyes narrowed. He could either try freeing himself, or protect the other two because of the lack of Ember Charge.
'Damn it...'
A chain of explosions sounded throughout the empty sea. A blinding flash of light flickered for a quick second as the tentacles were batted away from Sunny and Nephis.
The tentacles were undamaged, as though the explosions were a minor inconvenience to them. But it was enough to change its attention.
He looked at Sunny and Nephis who were rushing towards him.
CRACK
A sea of pain rushed through him, as he felt his body grow limp. Every single bone in his body felt crushed.
"Aghhh!" Leon screamed in agony.
Immediately, he was dragged into the sea.
Leon's entire body hurt. He was barely holding onto his consciousness. He thought of quickly healing himself, but the tentacle would just crush him again.
He could feel his body being dragged deeper and deeper into the sea at great speed.
Leon gritted his teeth. Everything was dark. The pressure in his ears grew as the depth increased.
The tentacle had him completely. Arms pinned, chest compressed, every breath feeling like a battle he was rapidly losing.
'Okay... Think.'
First instinct — detonate. Fill the water around him with ember charge and blast the thing apart.
He stopped himself immediately.
'Underwater explosions.'
He knew this. Or at least he was fairly certain he knew this — which, in his current situation, would have to be good enough.
Water didn't compress the way air did. That was the key thing. In open air, an explosion expanded outward in every direction — force pouring off across a wide area, heat spreading and damage being distributed.
Underwater was different. The surrounding liquid fought back against any expansion instantly. The steam bubble from a detonation couldn't grow freely — water pressure collapsed it back almost as fast as it formed, like a barrier around the explosion, and that collapse created a second shockwave.
Which meant the force had nowhere to go except —
'Inward.'
Directly into whatever surface the explosion was pressed against.
In open air, the crown created a fireball. Underwater, pressed against the tentacle —
'A hammer.'
A concentrated hammer of heat and pressure backed by the entire ocean. There was the other problem though.
Aurelia's flames weren't normal fire. They didn't need oxygen — he'd confirmed that in the Soul Devouring Tree's nest. They could exist down here with no limitations.
But spreading was a different matter. The water pressure would suppress any outward expansion the moment the flames tried to move. Which meant —
'All the force goes into the tentacle. None of it goes anywhere else.'
He would also take some of it, since it was unavoidable at this range. He decided that was fine.
There was also the small issue that this wasn't actually water.
The darkness pressing in around him didn't feel like ocean. It felt like something considerably older. Which meant detonating flames inside it was either going to work, or was going to —
His thoughts slipped sideways as the tentacle tightened another fraction and something in his ribcage made a sound it wasn't supposed to make.
'—It'll probably be fine.'
He summoned the egg directly against the point of contact. Pressed it against the tentacle's flesh.
Activating [Prismatic Abyss], he opened up the boundless amount of fire the egg had consumed during the Soul Devouring Tree battle.
The egg cracked, orange light beaming through the darkness. With a mental command, he released everything.
The detonation was nothing like above water.
No roar or expanding fireball. Just a dense, brutal concussion — all that stored energy with nowhere to go except the exact point where the egg met the tentacle. The pressure wave hit outward in every direction simultaneously, and then immediately got crushed back by the surrounding sea, doubling back on itself, hammering the contact point twice in the span of a heartbeat.
The tentacle was torn apart by the flames of a Great Devil.
Just for a second, Leon was far away from any other tentacle. Which was more than enough for him to begin moving.
Ember Charge: [80/1000]
Ember Charge: [65/1000]
The explosions upward were pathetic compared to open air — half the force bleeding off into the sea before it could push him anywhere. Each detonation bought him a meter, maybe less.
He kept going anyway.
His lungs were burning. He had no idea how long he'd been holding his breath. Long enough to feel himself slip from consciousness.
Another tentacle found his ankle. He detonated against it without breaking his upward momentum.
Ember Charge: [40/1000]
Each explosion was smaller than the last, the flames struggling against something that wasn't just water pressure. Something that actively resisted light and heat.
'Right. True darkness.'
He kept going anyway.
Ember Charge: [25/1000]
Something moved beneath him.
Something enormous. A displacement of pressure so sudden, it nearly reversed his direction entirely. Something vast shifting in the darkness far below.
Leon didn't look down, even though his attribute was practically begging him to.
Ember Charge: [15/1000]
The pressure suddenly eased.
He finally broke through the surface.
***
Air.
He inhaled and immediately vomited seawater. Inhaled again, and kept moving because stopping meant going back under.
His eye adjusted slowly to gray light.
The sea was already retreating around him, pulling back as the sun crept above the Forgotten Shore. He was in the crater. No castle, no platform, no sign of the others.
He was constantly being dragged down by the retreating sea, with nothing but masses of coral nearby.
One was close enough. The Azure Scythe materialized in his hand. He threw it at the coral and held on.
The impact shot through both arms like a lightning strike. His grip nearly failed, but he locked his fingers around the handle through pure stubbornness and stopped falling.
He hung there for a while — just breathing.
Ember Charge: [15/1000]
Ember Charge: [5/1000]
He ran the last of it through his arms before the grip could give out entirely. Just enough to keep the muscles doing what he told them to.
Then he began climbing the coral.
***
He was sprawled atop the coral as the sea finished retreating below him. The crater dropped away beneath his feet.
There was no castle in sight, nor was there a stone platform.
Noah stood beside him.
The last bits of ember trickled over his body, as his bones tried realigning themselves.
"You got lucky." Noah said.
"That wasn't luck. That was applied knowledge of thermo—"
He paused. His ribs reminded him that they were shattered.
"That was mostly luck." He admitted.
He started figuring out which direction the castle was.
The pain in his body was unbearable, but he still held on.
He couldn't really move around. But somehow, the crown kept leaking flames, even without any charge from it.
Aurelia was probably using whatever will she had left to continue healing his body.
A few minutes later, he could finally move around, with the cost of more pain. Slowly moving his body, he edged toward the platform he was on.
He looked down, seeing the boundless depth of the crater below him. The coral wall he was on felt like a lone tower, rising above the abyss.
'Not good...'
He had to get out of the crater as soon as possible before the sea could consume him.
Leon's breath evened as he flicked his hair backward.
"Now what? They reach the gateway in the castle?"
Noah chuckled. "There is no gateway in the castle."
Leon looked at Noah. "What?"
Noah sighed. He then pointed his finger in the direction where a large shadow usually loomed.
Leon groaned.
"You've got to be kidding me..."
The Crimson Spire.
"How long will they take?" He asked.
"I'd say 6 months. Not entirely sure."
Leon put his face into his palms.
"This is just great..."
He sighed as he laid down.
"We have to get back."
Noah nodded.
"First get stronger."
Leon looked at Noah with a frown.
"You've been spamming that crown ever since we got here." Noah added.
Leon summoned the crown as he looked at it with a grim expression.
"You're right."
He let it vanish from his hand as he slowly pushed his body up.
"No more crown. We'll get better memories."
Noah nodded.
He wanted to descend the coral, but the descent seemed to be infinite. He continued looking around, this time activating his aspect to see further.
That's when he saw a bunch of taller coral trees a distance away from him.
He could technically jump from wall to wall to avoid the sea, but how long would that last?
The deep sea creatures would eventually find him.
Leon sighed as he began descending the coral.
'No point in staying here.'
As he used the Azure Scythe to descend the platform inch by inch, he swallowed down all the pain he felt for moving his body even a fraction.
"Can you get hungry?"
Noah blinked. "What?"
"You've been a ghost this entire time." Leon grunted, dropping to the next ledge. "I eat. I sleep. I nearly die constantly. What do you do?"
Noah considered this with surprising seriousness.
"I don't think I get hungry." He paused. "I'm not sure I feel anything physically."
"Nothing?"
"Cold, maybe. Vaguely."
Leon looked at him. "You're telling me you've been standing next to me this entire time feeling vaguely cold and nothing else."
"It's more of an awareness than a feeling." Noah said. "Like knowing a fact. The way you know it's dark without needing to be afraid of it."
Leon reached the next coral platform and sat for a moment, breathing through the pain.
"That sounds horrible."
"It has its advantages." Noah said. "I wasn't the one who just got crushed by a tentacle."
"Fuck you."
Leon looked at the next gap. Too wide to step across. He'd have to jump it, which his ribs were going to have strong opinions about.
"Can you get bored?"
"Constantly." Noah said immediately. No hesitation at all.
Leon laughed despite himself. It hurt.
"What do you do about it?"
"Watch you make terrible decisions, mostly."
"Riveting." Leon stood up slowly. "Do you sleep when I sleep?"
Noah thought about it. "I don't think I sleep. I think I just... stop, a little. Like holding my breath."
"That's unsettling."
"You asked."
Leon jumped the gap. His ribs expressed their opinion very clearly.
He landed, stumbled, caught himself on the scythe, and stood there for a moment, waiting for his vision to clear up.
"Can you feel pain?" Leon asked.
"No."
"I genuinely cannot decide if that's better or worse than what I'm experiencing right now."
"Better." Noah said flatly. "Objectively better."
As Leon took deeper breaths, Noah frowned while staring at him.
"Why so many questions? Isn't talking less going to reduce the pain?"
Noah asked him.
Leon's chest heaved as he tried to force words out of his mouth.
"It just feels... like we've never had time to talk like this."
Leon began moving again toward the next wall.
"Do you ever want things? Like actually want them, not just know that we should have them? Like a burger?"
Noah was quiet for a moment.
"Sometimes." Noah said.
Leon waited, but nothing followed. He didn't push it.
The next coral wall was taller than the last. He tilted his head back and looked up at it, then at his shattered ribs, then back up.
"This is going to hurt."
"Considerably." Noah agreed.
Leon started climbing.
"So what lies next for Leonar?" He asked, in the tone of someone narrating their own story.
Noah glanced at him sideways. "The castle."
"Riveting. And?"
"It'll get complicated." Noah said. "I don't know how long you'll take to get there. I can't tell you the specifics."
Leon waited.
Noah sighed. "Let's just say everyone will have a hard time."
"Everyone always has a hard time."
"More than usual." Noah sighed.
"And Cassie."
Noah said, as he paused for a moment.
"She'll probably have to make an important decision."
"Important decision." Leon repeated. "Sounds grand."
Noah didn't respond to that.
Leon stood there a moment longer, looking out at the vast empty crater. The lone coral towers rising from the dark below. The distant shadow of the Spire somewhere beyond the horizon.
The wind moved through the silence.
"You know," Leon said quietly, "there's something almost poetic about this. A lone wanderer, battered and broken, standing above the abyss. Ready to face whatever comes next."
He let the moment breathe.
"The world may have knocked him down. But here he stands."
Noah stared at him, dumbfounded.
"You're bleeding from three places and you can't fully extend your left arm. You really want to narrate an epic tale right now?"
"I really do." Leon admitted.
"You have one eye. Your ribs are shattered. You just vomited seawater twice. The crown is empty and you're stuck alone in a crater."
Leon considered this.
"The lone wanderer part was implied."
"Get on the wall, Leon."
Leon got on the wall.
***
Sunny and Nephis were on top of the wall, looking at the distant castle.
Their expressions were dark and depressing.
Cassie was right behind them, her head lowered. The three stayed silent, refusing to speak.
They were convinced that Leon was dead. No matter how strong he was, no one could survive having their body crushed like that.
Especially not Leon, who didn't have the opportunity to consume multiple fragments like the other three.
Nephis looked down from the tall wall as she grimaced.
"I think it's better to stay up here for the time being."
Sunny didn't seem to hear her, as his expression looked lost, staring into the distant city.
Cassie too looked indifferent, as though she couldn't be bothered by a few monsters showing up right now.
Nephis sighed.
"Guys. I'm sure he wouldn't want us like this."
Sunny lifted his head slowly.
"Yeah. He would probably say a joke right now."
Cassie shot her head up.
"Can we keep moving?"
The two looked at the blond girl with small frowns on their faces.
"I don't want to... lose another friend."
Cassie muttered slowly.
Sunny stared at Cassie for a while, before taking a deep breath.
He grabbed her shoulders and said,
"Cassie."
She looked up towards Sunny's face as he continued.
"We don't know if he's dead yet."
Nephis frowned as she turned away from them, trying to hide her face.
Cassie's face grew expressionless. Then, a slow, sad smile appeared on her face. She slowly nodded.
Sunny released his grip as he turned back toward the distant castle.
They all knew these were just empty words.
They all knew it was nearly impossible for him to be alive.
And yet they lied to themselves.
Sunny clenched his fist till blood began dripping down.
The blood dripped down, eventually getting carried away by the wind.