And now, dealing damage was no longer impossible.
No more regenerating petals, no more restorative dust that blocked every blow, the monster could finally be slain.
Flashes of orange-red light, the mark of true damage, began to flicker across its massive body each time Nautilus's blade struck.
He stepped back, inhaling deeply to steady his breath. Cold sweat trickled down his spine, every muscle in his body taut, screaming for rest. But he couldn't stop. He couldn't let fatigue slow him down.
His eyes locked onto the writhing creature before him. It was still strong, still dangerous, but now...it was no longer immortal. He could kill it. He would kill it.
A sound came from behind.
Nautilus flinched slightly, instinct urging him to turn, and the sight froze him in place for a moment.
Yuna.
She was standing.
Her stance was unsteady, her knees looked as if they could buckle at any second. Her HP bar was nearly empty, a single flickering red sliver left on the interface.
One more hit. Just one more, and she could be taken out.
But even so, there wasn't a trace of hesitation in her eyes.
She gripped her dagger tightly, fingers clenched so hard they turned pale. Her hands were trembling, her legs nearly numb.
But none of that mattered, because in her eyes, there was only one thing: resolve.
She wasn't giving up.
Despite the danger, despite her body barely holding on, despite the fear gnawing at her mind, Yuna stepped forward.
She would fight.
She glanced at Nautilus, then gave him a weary, yet fiercely determined smile.
"Let's finish this." Her voice was hoarse, breath shallow, but each word cut sharp as a blade.
Nautilus stood stunned.
Just for a second.
Then he tightened his grip on his sword, the fire in his eyes igniting stronger than ever.
"Yeah. Let's end it."
This time, he wasn't fighting alone.
The two of them charged in, one exhausted, the other wounded...but neither of them faltered. Neither backed down. Neither hesitated.
Only battle remained.
Until the very last second.
A storm of swordplay erupted.
The moment an opening appeared, Nautilus wasted not even a heartbeat. He lunged forward, feet sinking into the slick mud, but his posture remained steady.
His sword carved an arc of light upward, sharp and powerful. A descending tentacle was severed in an instant, sliced clean through.
Thick black liquid burst out like a geyser, spraying streaks of darkness into the air. But Nautilus didn't stop.
He twisted his body, using the momentum to follow up with a sweeping slash, forcing the monster to retract its remaining tentacles for defense. His blade clashed against its hardened shell, scattering brilliant orange-red sparks.
In that moment, Yuna struck.
The instant Nautilus created an opening, she moved in, eyes burning with unshakable determination.
Her hand gripped the dagger's hilt tight, the steel reflecting the pale light of the murky sky.
No hesitation. Her blade aimed directly at the beast's weak spot.
A perfectly placed thrust!
A shrill screech pierced the air, laced with raw agony. The monster's HP dropped faster.
It howled, flailing its tentacles at her, each strike like a crashing wave meant to overwhelm everything. But just before the blow landed.
CLANG!
Nautilus stepped in front of her, his sword cleaving through the attack with double his strength. The impact was so strong his hand trembled, but he held firm, his gaze unwavering.
At that moment, Yuna understood his intent. Without hesitation, she twisted aside and unleashed a flurry of precise strikes, targeting the gap Nautilus had just opened.
They moved as if they had trained together for years.
No words. No signals. Yet they understood each other through their eyes, their movements, their ragged breaths on the battlefield.
Like two interlocking gears, one creating the opening, the other seizing it.
Nautilus swung a powerful slash, slicing the air with a trail of light. Yuna slipped underneath, capitalizing on the brief window to deliver a series of piercing strikes, each aimed at the monster's weakest joints.
As she leapt back to avoid a counterattack, Nautilus was already there, ready to block it, retaliating with a fierce slash of his own.
Red pixel fragments burst into the air each time his blade hit its mark.
Their coordination didn't break. Not once.
The monster staggered back. Each step in retreat was a sign of its weakening. Its HP dropped faster now. The once ferocious tentacles moved slower, no longer as agile or violent as before.
Nautilus didn't miss the chance. He poured every last bit of strength into a wind-slicing slash, his blade gleaming with a cold light just before it struck the monster's body.
A tearing sound echoed, part of the massive body was severed. He retreated, breaths ragged, but his eyes never left the enemy.
Yuna leapt from behind, spinning midair, channeling her remaining power into a piercing thrust, but the monster still refused to fall.
It howled, thrashing violently in a final act of desperation. One enormous tentacle swung upward, aiming straight for Yuna, still suspended midair.
She couldn't dodge it in time.
But Nautilus saw it.
He gripped his sword tightly, legs kicking off the ground, launching himself like lightning. In a flash, he was between Yuna and the deadly strike. He swung his sword in a full-powered arc.
Nautilus's blade pierced directly into the monster's core.
Its massive body froze.
He could feel the force of the strike...feel the blade drive through the hardened shell, digging deep into its center. A shriek erupted, sharper, more piercing than anything before.
Yuna landed on the ground, staggering, her eyes locked on Nautilus.
He held his stance, hands clenched so tightly around the hilt his knuckles turned white. Then, slowly, the monster began to crumble from the point where the blade had struck. Bright cracks spiderwebbed across its body, as if fire was consuming it from within.
Nautilus let go of his sword and stepped back. Yuna exhaled shakily, her shoulders trembling with exhaustion.
A blinding flash exploded.
BOOM!
The monster's body burst into thousands of radiant pixels, drifting in the air like tiny stars.
Silence.
Nautilus stood there, watching the glowing fragments fade into nothing, before finally exhaling, his hand relaxing from the hilt. He turned to Yuna.
She looked back at him, her expression still shadowed with disbelief, as if unsure whether they'd truly won.
And then, a message appeared on their interface.
[You have defeated Large Nepents.]
They had won.
But they didn't dare relax.
Their breaths were still short, chests rising and falling with each heavy inhale, yet neither of them dropped their guard.
The ground beneath them was still littered with the wreckage of battle, splotches of black fluid, slashes gouged across stone, shimmering pixel fragments still hanging in the air.
The surrounding air reeked of iron, of sweat, of tension that hadn't yet faded.
Nautilus stood, green eyes fixed on the remains of the monster, but he wasn't really looking at it.
His gaze was sharp, distant, as though he was staring into a faraway place where the fight hadn't yet ended. His hand unconsciously gripped his sword again, fingers pale with pressure, but he didn't seem to notice.
Beside him, Yuna fared no better. Her breath came in gasps, her body screaming for rest, but she ignored it.
She could feel her heartbeat pounding in her chest, her legs trembling slightly from nonstop movement, her HP bar a single sliver of red, on the edge of fading out.
But she didn't let herself fall. Not now. Not when peace had yet to reach her heart.
Then, a hoarse voice broke the tense silence between them.
"Ren's still in danger."
Nautilus's voice wasn't loud, but it hit Yuna like a jolt, freezing her in place.
Her breath caught in her throat.
Ren.
Of course… Ren was still out there.
Unlike them, he had no one to back him up. No one to rely on. He was still fighting...alone, against the monsters.
Nautilus turned, locking eyes with Yuna. His gaze held no hesitation.
No more fear. No more doubts that had once kept him trapped in the dark for so long.
Only determination.
A resolve not to let history repeat itself.
Yuna bit her lip, tightening her grip on her short sword. Then she inhaled deeply, as if trying to push back the exhaustion gnawing at her body. She nodded.
They couldn't stop now. Couldn't hesitate.
Ren was still somewhere out there, fighting on his own. And this time, they wouldn't let him face it alone.
Without a second of doubt, both of them charged forward, leaving behind the dimming glow of their battle, diving into the thickening mist that awaited them.