The monster stood between them and survival.
Its red eyes glowed like dying embers. Its steel body gleamed under the crystal lights. The smaller swords embedded in its form, remnants of fallen participants, shimmered with fading mana.
Suho's chest heaved.
His shoulder had gone numb, not a good sign. Numb meant the nerves were damaged. Numb meant he couldn't feel how badly he was bleeding.
Hajun stood beside him, trembling.
"We can't kill that thing," Hajun whispered.
"We don't have to."
Hajun blinked. "What?"
Suho's eyes were on Quick Collider's body, unconscious, barely breathing, slumped against a broken pillar behind the monster.
"The construct is held together by his mana," Suho said. "When he consciousness, or in his case—dies—it falls apart."
"So we just... wait?"
"If we can survive long enough."
The monster roared.
Not a sound, an impact. The air shuddered. The water rippled. The crystal barrier cracked further.
