The collision between the sea serpent and the massive eel was titanic. The water rippled completely; shockwaves extended for dozens of meters, cutting down nearby abominations.
Uriel opened his mouth, biting into the great monster's tough flesh, managing to tear away a chunk of it.
The enraged great monster opened its serrated-toothed jaws to decapitate Uriel, who moved his enormous body, avoiding being bitten.
Both abominations wrapped around each other, entwined as they bit one another to make their enemy bleed.
Although the battle might appear evenly matched from the outside, it was evident that the sea serpent was losing ground. Its body made of darkness was breaking and repairing at tremendous speed while it avoided being bitten.
Even the friction tore parts from the sea serpent's body, which roared in fury.
Despite the damage the serpent was suffering, it continued accumulating wounds on the larger abomination, trying to overcome its thick scales.
As the battle continued, the serpent and the eel began their ascent toward the ocean's surface.
...
On the surface, Sunny was fighting for his life against a great beast the size of a fifteen-story building. The abomination was missing one of its heads along with several legs. At the other end, Dale was attacking its wings while a stone saint fought to restrain its two remaining heads.
The battle was fierce and intense.
It was the first time Sunny had faced something that vastly outmatched him in power. He felt the crushing weight of the great beast, which hindered his movements.
Avoiding the abomination's legs, he wielded the Sin of Comfort, opening a deep wound in its joint. Exerting all his strength, he managed to cut off the leg, driving the abomination even more insane and frenzied.
The sword's voice constantly mocked him in his mind, driving him madder and thus fueling his strength.
Moving through the shadows, he managed to sever the abomination's tail, then immediately moved to help Dale eliminate the wings and prevent the abomination from escaping.
Wielding the Jian sword, he tore off one wing completely while Dale managed to cut off another, leaving the abomination unable to fly and escape.
Smiling with madness, Sunny stopped, stepped back, and looked toward the ocean's surface, sensing two enormous figures ascending at a terrifying speed.
A second later, two titanic figures rose above the previously calm water, lifting dozens of tons of water upward. Sunny saw two massive bodies: a titanic serpent made of darkness biting the neck of a huge, roaring eel.
Then both abominations fell back into the water, splashing up more saltwater.
Looking away, he continued fighting his own battle for survival.
...
Uriel sank back again, moving away from the great monster to avoid being cut in half.
The massive eul lunged at Uriel as its minions caught up.
Releasing a roar, Uriel threw himself back into the battle, causing the water to churn with unparalleled violence, turning red from the blood of abominations dying by the second.
Waves rose dozens of meters high on the shore's surface; enormous columns rose, revealing shattered massive bodies, followed by two huge silhouettes that emerged and crashed back into the water.
The first figure was a dying sea serpent, its massive body missing huge chunks, leaking darkness. Yet its white eyes were still full of fury.
In comparison to the enormous sea serpent, the massive eel was missing large pieces of flesh, along with one of its eyes and a huge portion of its neck, beginning to spill red blood that stained the ocean.
Both abominations collided again. Around them lay enormous shattered bodies—byproducts of the clash between the two abominations.
Inside the dark manifestation, Uriel was gravely wounded. His essence was dangerously low. Although he had inflicted serious wounds, none were fatal.
Using some of the rationality he maintained for survival, he summoned Gunlaug and gave him a mental order.
"Attack and kill this eel."
Without hesitation, Gunlaug beat his wings, using his claws, teeth, and legs to add more damage to the abomination.
Naturally, Gunlaug was an all-terrain creature; the environment didn't matter. He adapted and made the most of it. The only drawback to fighting underwater was the lack of sufficient oxygen to unleash his flames.
The eel became overwhelmed by attacks from two fronts.
Taking advantage of this, Uriel slammed his body into the great monster, causing it to lose its balance.
Gunlaug launched forward like a projectile, using the water as extra propulsion.
Uriel felt his manifestation about to break. Smiling widely, he opened his mouth, widening the wound on the eel's neck further.
Gunlaug hurled himself into the enormous gap, beginning to burrow directly into its skin, tearing flesh and muscle as he went, penetrating deep inside the abomination like a hungry worm.
The eel grew even more furious in its attacks. The water pressed against Uriel, tearing apart his manifestation, which stopped trying to repair itself.
Wrapping himself around the eel, he contracted his body, beginning to break through the impenetrable scales.
With a mental shout, he exerted more pressure.
The eel shook violently, trying to break free from the iron grip.
Uriel felt it: his dark manifestation finally couldn't hold on any longer and shattered into darkness. The eel moved to devour him, but before it could, it froze, beginning to make erratic movements. Releasing a roar, a massive amount of blood poured from every opening in its body.
Then a figure emerged from inside the massive eel, which began to sink as the light in its eyes faded.
Uriel was floating in a black void, breathing only thanks to the water pearl that provided him oxygen.
[You have killed a Great Monster: Dalton, Guardian of the Seas]
[You have received a Memory]
[Your darkness strengthens]
Uriel smiled weakly as he felt something begin to drag him upward, pulling him out of the water.
A minute or two passed until he finally regained his senses and felt air on his face. Opening his eyes, he noticed the enormous corpse of the great beast lying dead on the beach, alongside a greatly reduced swarm thanks to wall artillery and the Awakened who had arrived.
Uriel dismissed the water pearl. He was exhausted, both physically and mentally. His essence was depleted, and he was sleepy.
To his misfortune, he was on the back of Gunlaug in his human form.
As he reached the shore, Uriel heard a voice in his mind.
"Hey, are you alive, Urie?" Sunny asked.
"You know, it's a little strange hearing another voice besides Shade's in my head, but... yes, I'm barely alive."
"What about the great monster?"
"I killed it. I see you killed the great beast."
"Yeah, it was easy. Although..." Sunny fell silent.
"What happened?"
"You'd better see for yourself." After saying that, he cut the communication.
Uriel directed Gunlaug to head inland.
After walking a few minutes, Uriel felt his heart sink.
He saw hundreds of bodies scattered across the ground, mutilated and shattered. Most were mundane soldiers and abominations.
Uriel saw great Corrupted and Fallen creatures and countless dead Awakened beasts. A large part of the wall was devastated, as if something enormous had crushed and destroyed it.
'What happened here?' he thought, his eyes dim.
He could only see destruction in his path and more corpses.
Gunlaug walked among the soldiers who were arriving and beginning to recover the bodies, searching for the wounded and survivors.
Gunlaug jumped over several rubble piles, seeing the refugees who had survived huddled against the opposite side of the courtyard of horror.
After searching, he found Master Verne's body—or half of it, at least. His eyes were empty, staring at the night sky with pale, colorless skin.
Elsewhere, he saw Master Dale, who had unfortunately died, becoming the third to fall.
Master Randal had died two weeks after the Devouring Swarm's attack, and now Dale.
Gunlaug turned, looking over the shoulder of his dark creature at Sunny, who wore a grim expression.
Uriel didn't have to ask; Sunny answered him.
"When we killed the great beast, a Nightmare Gate opened, expelling Corrupted creatures and a Corrupted Terror. The Saint of the Night House managed to kill it, and the Awakened—including me—managed to kill most of the abominations, but at a great cost."
Uriel looked around.
"I see." His voice sounded sad.
"Sunny," he said weakly.
"Do you think fate can change?"
"I don't know," he replied.
Uriel said nothing more. Climbing down from Gunlaug's back, he dismissed him, allowing him to begin his evolution to a higher rank.
"Yeah... I suppose you don't know," he said, walking away in silence, leaving Sunny alone, who watched his friend's back, knowing he needed time alone.
And so the third week of Falcon Scott came to an end.
...
That same day, evacuations continued, and more battles didn't stop—only increased over the following week.
Currently, Uriel was in the office of the government complex, the same one where they had met on the first day of arriving at Falcon Scott nearly six or seven months ago.
Uriel looked at the projected window of the city, with fewer people thanks to the evacuation of tens of millions.
Currently, only four of the eight were gathered in the spacious room, leaving some chairs empty.
Jet, Winter, Sunny, and Uriel were the ones still alive.
Uriel looked at his hands, seeing a purple peach. He no longer had the spirit to eat them.
"Dale was a good man," Sunny said.
Winter sighed and touched her forearm, where the edge of her tattoo was.
"It's nothing. I knew that fool was going to end up getting himself killed, sooner or later. There were six of us at the beginning, you know?"
"Back at the academy. After the second nightmare, only two of us remained, and now it's just me. I'll probably die soon. But I don't regret it, as long as it's for a good cause."
"I'm sorry," Sunny said.
"If you really mean it, little devil, make sure you stay alive. You're too young and adorable to die. You too, little dark hero. Don't feel bad for not being able to save everyone—sometimes it's simply impossible. Same for you, Jet, even though you're no longer young and adorable."
"Well, if you insist, I'll have to try. Though it might be problematic."
The atmosphere relaxed a bit. They remained silent for a few minutes until Jet sighed and looked at the tablet with the most recent data.
"I'll update you on the current situation. Most of the information has already been sent to your communicators, so review it later. The important thing is... The wall still holds, but barely. Three breaches have become five, as you already know. Army command believes we won't lose control of the defensive barrier unless something catastrophic happens."
Winter interrupted Jet.
"What's the point of continuing to talk about this? Let's get to the point. The priority objectives, well, they no longer exist. A great monster, a great beast, the tyrant, and the swarm are gone. That's excellent news. The only thing left is the Heart of Darkness."
"That's why I called you here today. The Heart of Darkness disappeared a week ago; there's no trace to follow. Instead, something else is moving—a massive, shapeless mass of darkness," Jet explained.
"That's a problem," Winter said.
"Uriel, do you have any idea what that is?"
"I don't know. Dark creatures are mysterious and intelligent. It's hard to know what they're planning."
"So we're in the dark," Jet said.
"For now, Saint Bloodwave will assist us if needed, along with Saint Tirys, for the eventual arrival of this abomination," Jet reported.
"Uriel, you'll be at the front line. You're connected to darkness, so you'll be able to discover things we can't."
"Understood." Uriel stood up and left the meeting room.