Chapter 234: Three Seconds is Plenty

Zephyra struck first. She drove both palms flat against the cold concrete wall, unleashing her dark mana in a sudden rush.

Her shadow expanded across the stone like spilled ink, racing along the walls and shooting straight down into the water. The creeping darkness surged beneath the surface, wrapping around the Kraken’s lower tentacles and pinning them to the submerged pillars.

The Kraken roared in anger as its huge body swelled, struggling against the dark shadow binding.

Instead of just thrashing, the beast slammed two of its free tentacles into a massive concrete intake pipe, tearing it straight out of the wall. Thousands of gallons of rushing water burst from the shattered pipe, creating a whirlpool that shook the cavern wall where Zephyra stood.

The sudden rush of turbulent water disrupted the surface of the pool, threatening to tear her shadow grip loose.

Above the churning water, Amber folded her golden wings and dove toward the beast like a falling star. She spun in mid-air, her twin sabers cutting through the black smoke in a blur of star-metal.

She sliced clean through a barbed tentacle whipping toward her chest, but it was almost like the Kraken anticipated her angle. It suddenly blasted a high-pressure jet of acidic water straight from its siphon, aimed directly into her dive path.

Amber banked hard to avoid the caustic jet, the acidic spray hissing against the outer feathers of her golden wings.

The forced detour threw off her strike. Instead of hitting the center of its forehead, her right saber only clipped the outer rim of the calcified armor plate.

A shallow fracture cracked across the stone shell, but the pulsing core remained protected beneath thick armor.

Evren dropped from the intake pipe, falling through the black smoke directly toward the monster’s crown. He focused his Gravity Domain downward to crush the beast into the lake, but the Kraken fought back with sheer brute mana.

The beast contracted its mantle, firing a massive concussive water blast straight upward at Evren.

Relying on Kinetic Flow, Evren read the trajectory of the water jet a split second before it fired. He kicked off the air with a pulse of kinetic force, altering his descent and letting the roaring water geyser blast harmlessly past him into the ceiling rafters.

Concrete rubble and twisted iron rained down into the dark pool as the ceiling took the hit.

Down in the water, the severed tentacle that Amber had cut was already boiling with thick red bubbles. In less than seven seconds, the limb fully regrew, its jagged bone hooks snapping aggressively as it thrashed the water into red foam.

The Kraken realized its head was the target and curled four massive limbs tightly over its skull like an armored dome.

"It’s learning our rhythm," Amber called out through the soul-bond, circling high beneath the shaking rafters. "It won’t let anyone get near that forehead plate."

"Then we take away its options completely," Evren replied calmly, landing on a floating concrete slab.

The Kraken suddenly churned the entire lake into a violent vortex, pulling all floating debris toward its center. The concrete slab beneath Evren’s boots cracked and began sliding toward the monster’s gaping beak.

Two barbed tentacles burst from the foam, lunging straight for Evren’s legs to drag him under. Evren leaped straight up, flipping through the air as the jaws snapped shut on the empty stone.

"Zephyra, now!" Evren called out.

Zephyra had already repositioned, shadow-stepping across the cavern to the opposite wall where the emergency floodlights cast long, dark silhouettes across the water. She pressed both hands against the rock, channeling her shadow directly into the Kraken’s own cast shadow across the reservoir bed.

Zephyra had already repositioned, shadow-stepping across the cavern to the opposite wall where the brilliant radiance of Amber’s golden wings cast long, dark silhouettes across the water.

She pressed both hands against the rock, channeling her shadow directly into the Kraken’s own cast shadow across the reservoir bed.

The dark mana snapped tight, locking onto the monster’s true shadow. The effect was instant. The Kraken’s entire body froze, its four guarding limbs locked rigid in mid-air.

The beast let out a muffled, gurgling roar, its eight red eyes bulging in panic as it tried to fight the complete paralysis.

"I can only hold something this massive for three seconds!" Zephyra yelled, her breath coming in sharp gasps as dark mana drained from her core.

"Three seconds is plenty," Evren said. He kicked off the falling air, ready to strike.

Amber folded her wings again, dropping at maximum velocity with both sabers blazing with golden mana. Without the tentacles able to shift, Amber struck the partially cracked forehead plate with pinpoint accuracy.

Both star-metal blades slammed into the fracture with full force.

The calcified stone armor plate shattered like glass, sending white shards flying across the lake and exposing the glowing core. Amber kicked off the beast’s skull and soared back up toward the rafters.

Evren fell from the peak of his leap, dropping twenty feet straight toward the exposed core.

He channeled every ounce of his Gravity Domain downward, doubling the force of his fall and locking the beast’s head completely flat against the water.

Golden lightning roared along the Frost-Bane Cleaver, buzzing with millions of volts of electricity. Evren brought the weapon down with both hands, burying the blade to the hilt directly into the center of the core.

A blinding explosion of golden lightning and freezing cold burst through the monster’s skull. Sub-zero frost spread outward from the cleaver, freezing the surrounding flesh and shutting down its regenerative channels, while golden lightning vaporized the core into ash.

The Kraken’s eyes dimmed, and its giant body went completely limp, sinking into the dark water.

A warm pulse washed over Evren’s chest as his Core Siphon activated. The shattered core dissolved into a stream of crimson light, shooting up from the lake and flowing smoothly into his spatial storage ring.

Zephyra released her shadow, exhaling a deep breath as she wiped a bead of sweat from her brow.

Amber landed lightly on the concrete ledge beside Evren, sheathing her twin sabers. "Now that was a real fight."

The reservoir groaned violently as deep fissures tore through the ceiling and walls. Without the Level 80 boss holding the rift open, it was collapsing in on itself.

High above, the red spatial rift pulsed rapidly, swirling into an exit vortex. Evren grabbed Amber and Zephyra, using his Gravity Domain to launch all three of them straight up through the vortex.

A second later, the dark, flooded facility vanished in a flash of red light.

The trio tumbled out onto the stone promenade along the District One canal, landing firmly on the dry walkway. Behind them, the red crack in the sky shrank into a single spark and snapped shut with a soft pop.

The canal water calmed down, the boiling red foam disappearing into the normal dark water. Across the bridge, thirty Solar Crown hunters stood behind their barricades, staring as the rift collapsed.

"The breach is closed," Evren called out calmly, not even breaking his stride as he walked past them.

He headed straight toward the restaurant, with Amber and Zephyra following close behind. The dining room was quiet, chairs overturned from the quick evacuation.

Evren went straight down the service hallway to the reinforced basement shelter and turned the manual wheel. The lock clicked open with a soft chime, and the steel door swung outward.

Calista was standing right by the doorway, her hands clasped tightly against her chest. The moment she saw Evren, all the fear and worry in her sapphire eyes vanished.

She stepped forward, moving quickly and steadily across the tiled floor without a single hitch in her stride. "Evren!" she breathed, stepping straight into his arms.