Isaac breathed heavily. His muscles ached, and his arms felt like stone. He couldn't keep up with Harper much longer.
He glanced at Aiah, still on the ground, pale and trembling. Too weak to stand.
Across the chamber, the captives huddled in fear, helpless.
His jaw clenched. 'I can't win like this... not without a price.'
He took a shaky breath and whispered…
"Abyssal Overdrive."
[Activate Abyssal Overdrive? Y/N]
[Warning: Corruption will increase.]
He exhaled, letting go of hesitation.
"Yes."
Black, smoke-like energy burst from his skin, swirling around him like living shadows.
His veins blackened as power surged through his limbs. Muscles tightened. Smoke bled from his eyes. His breath grew heavy… wild, feral.
He gripped his axe, and charged.
Harper's body still burned with crimson light, pulsing from the earlier explosion that had wiped out the swarm.
With a growl, Harper met him head-on.
Claws slashed. Isaac ducked low, driving his axe into Harper's ribs.
A sharp cry tore from Harper's throat.
He twisted, slashing at Isaac's face, but Isaac deflected the strike and returned one of his own.
They moved like blurs, too fast for human eyes. Harper leapt into the air, diving like a meteor. Isaac met him with a roar.
Claws and axe clashed, the impact rattling the entire chamber.
Isaac's strikes hit harder. His senses were sharper. His eyes didn't blink. He fought with the fury of a storm.
Every blow from Harper was matched, countered, reversed.
Dust rose. Blood sprayed. Walls cracked.
Then, a breakthrough.
Isaac slammed his axe into Harper's shoulder and dragged him backward until they crashed into the stone wall.
Harper staggered, his arm limp and mangled.
Isaac approached, slow and cold. Black mist trailed behind him like death.
His face was expressionless. Almost inhuman.
Harper's eyes narrowed. Blood dripped from his wounds, but his body began to twitch.
His shoulder started to snap back into place. Flesh reformed. Muscles knit together.
He was healing.
Isaac didn't wait.
With a guttural roar, he lunged.
Harper moved to block, but Isaac's strike came like a thunderclap. The axe missed his chest by inches, but the shockwave sent him skidding.
Another swing. Harper ducked.
Another. He twisted, but caught a deep gash across his side.
Blood flew. He stumbled back, breath ragged.
Isaac didn't let up.
He pressed forward, each blow faster, harder. He fought like a storm, wild but sharp.
Harper dodged again and again, but even when he escaped a killing hit, shallow cuts still landed. His arms were bleeding. His chest, bruised. His speed was slowing.
The tide had turned.
Harper wasn't attacking anymore. He was just surviving.
Isaac's power was brutal, relentless. Each step, each swing, carried a weight Harper couldn't match.
'What is he?' Harper thought, panting. 'No man should have this strength…'
Panic bloomed behind his eyes.
He turned, and bolted toward Aiah.
Isaac's eyes widened.
"Aiah…!"
Harper grabbed her. She was too weak to resist.
He pulled her up, holding her in front of him like a shield. One claw pressed against her throat.
"Take one more step," Harper growled, "and I'll rip her apart."
Isaac froze. His axe hung mid-swing.
Harper's chest heaved. Blood dripped from his lips, but his twisted smile remained.
Just then, all five cocoons began to tremble.
They cracked, slowly at first then split open with a wet, sickening sound.
Harper's twisted smile grew wider. "Perfect timing," he whispered.
From each cocoon stepped something... wrong.
Their bodies were humanoid but broken, like beasts forced into human shapes. Long limbs dragged across the ground. Their skin was gray and stretched tight over muscle. Bone spikes jutted from their backs. One had no eyes, only a mouth filled with jagged teeth. Another had too many arms, twitching and clawing. Each of them gave off a low, hungry growl.
Then their heads snapped toward the captives.
They could smell them. Or sense them. Or feel the warmth of their life force, whatever it was, it pulled the humanoid forward.
They began to move, slow at first... then faster.
The captives screamed and scrambled backward. Chains rattled. Some tried to run, but there was nowhere to go.
Isaac's grip on his axe tightened.
Aiah, still held in Harper's grasp, turned her head slightly. Her voice was soft and weak but full of fire.
"Go, Isaac. Save my people. You've already saved me... more times than I can count."
He didn't move. "No. I'm not leaving you."
She gave him a faint smile.
"You will come for me," she said. "I know you will. Even if it takes forever... I'll wait."
Her eyes shimmered with tears, but she didn't look afraid.
Harper growled, tightening his grip on her.
The creatures were nearly on the captives now.
Isaac's breath shook.
He had to choose.
He looked at Aiah… then at the captives… then at the monsters, now inches away from their prey.
With a heavy heart, he made his choice.
With a roar, he turned and sprinted toward the captives. His axe gleamed in the dim light, black mist trailing behind him.
The first monster lunged.
Isaac met it head-on, swinging his axe straight through its chest. The creature screeched and dropped, but its flesh already began to stitch back together.
Another one pounced. Isaac ducked, slashed, and rolled, his movements wild but sharp.
He yelled back, voice cracking, "AIAH!"
But Harper was already moving.
With a low snarl, he dropped to all fours and ran, faster than any beast. Aiah's limp body hung over his shoulder, her fingers barely twitching.
"No…!" Isaac shouted, turning back…
…but one of the monsters slammed into him, driving him into the stone floor.
He gritted his teeth, rage burning in his chest. He slammed his axe into the creature's skull, but it wouldn't stay down. None of them would.
He could still hear Harper's footsteps, fading fast.
Aiah was slipping away.
The captives screamed as more monsters closed in.
And then, the notification system appeared.
[Abyssal Overdrive: 00:25:38 remaining]
[Cooldown Time After Use: 00:30:00]
Isaac's eyes widened.
He was running out of time.
And Aiah was already gone.
He had twenty-five minutes to save everyone… or lose everything.