The corridor narrowed the further in they got, with the sea around them reflecting a strange blue glow as light passed through it.
Ren led the way, every step they took echoing softly through the watery palace. And at this point, they had no idea where they were.
They'd keep following the path and for the past ten minutes, hadn't seen any new branches. Even though there were corners, they still had to follow the same path.
And the strange part was the way that the architecture bent upward and twisted sideways, and yet they walked straight as if gravity was under constant negotiation.
They continued on their way, turning a corner that opened into a slightly large hall.
No sooner had they taken a few steps in than footsteps echoed ahead. Too many to be coincidence.
A squad of golden-eyed Tidecallers walked out through the mist on the other side of the hall, weapons in their hands.
"This isn't a coincidence is it?" Thorn muttered.
"No." Ren narrowed his eyes as the Tidecallers walked towards them. "Shing is leading us towards him. These are just a few of what we have to face to get to him."
The group opened their mouths and spoke in unison.
"You shall not pass." Sёarch* The NovelZone.fun website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
Ren didn't break stride. Neither did Thorn.
The battle erupted like a dropped stone in still water.
The first golden-eyed Tidecaller surged forward. Ren vanished with a burst of motion, reappearing behind the enemy and cleaving clean through his back. Blood sprayed into the air.
Thorn met the second with a roar, his bone hand shielding him from a thrusting spear before his sword erupted outward, extending into a spike that punched through the enemy's skull.
A third Tidecaller unleashed a torrent of pressurized water. Ren spun sideways, bracers glowing, deflecting the blast and sending it careening into a fourth. The redirected wave crushed the warrior against the wall, his bones cracking under the force.
Ren followed with a focused burst of kinetic energy, the explosion folding both warriors into the wall.
Thorn tore through the final two, his sword whipping through the air like a snake, dancing through the corrupted warriors and tearing through them.
His blood bound bone arm drank deep of their blood, marginally growing stronger and slowly building its ability.
When the last body hit the floor, Lilith stumbled forward with a choking sound.
"Lilith?" Ren turned, eyes narrowing.
She dropped to one knee, coughing violently.
Blood.
It smeared her lips and splattered on the floor. Her soul energy flared to life around her body, glowing wildly, fluctuating like a flickering storm.
"Stay back!" She rasped, as Ren stepped forward.
The moment he reached for her, the soul energy snapped toward him like a whip. He stumbled back with a grunt, narrowly avoiding being scorched.
"She's losing control." Thorn said, his voice grim.
Ren stepped around to face her. "What's happening? What's wrong?"
Lilith's breath was ragged. "Shing. His beams... when I fought him back in Patino, they poisoned my soul."
Ren's fists clenched. "Why didn't you say anything?"
"Because I thought I could fight it." She looked up, eyes glowing faintly. "And I still can. But only if I kill him. That's the only way it stops."
Thorn turned to Ren. "We can't keep pushing. We need to get her out."
"No." Lilith said, pushing herself up. Her soul energy flared dangerously. "I'm not going anywhere until he's dead. He came for me. This ends with me."
Ren stared at her for a long second, then sighing in defeat. "Lilith's right. We don't know how to solve this without killing Shing. So, we end it."
"Then, let's get out of here." Thorn said, glancing around as the blood of the dead seeped through the floor into the water. "Before anymore sea dragons come to meet us."
They moved through the corridor again for ten more minutes before arriving at a corridor where the walls curved up into an arch.
It opened up into a massive circular hall. Ten statues lined the perimeter, each ten feet tall, armored like Tidecaller soldiers, and were made of water. They were standing on pedestals that were also made of water.
Their bodies gleamed, perfectly still, and their solid water weapons were lifted in various poses of readiness. The domed ceiling above shimmered with their distorted reflections.
As they stepped in, their boots sloshed softly in the thin layer of water on the floor.
Every sound they made in the hall echoed louder than it should. Even their breath seemed amplified.
They walked cautiously toward the hallway on the other side, crossing the center of the hall.
That was when the statues' eyes opened.
Golden.
Every statue stepped off its pedestal at once.
"Shit!" Ren cursed. "Lilith, conserve your energy! Don't engage!"
He raised both hands, unleashing a wide Push of resonance. The wave slammed into the first few statues, sending them skidding back.
But one broke through. The statue surged forward, its water trident spearing downward.
Thorn lunged to meet it. His sword whipped forward, cutting cleanly through its torso.
Nothing.
The blade passed through like mist, and the water reformed instantly.
Thorn snarled. Then, with a twist, he extended his sword, curving it backward. The blade punched through the statue's chest.
There was a crack, and something shattered.
The statue exploded into a cascade of water. Floating within it was a shattered core. A sphere made of bone.
"They have cores! In the chest!" He yelled.
Ren narrowed his eyes. He raised his bracers and began firing concentrated beams of kinetic energy, thin and fast, each aimed directly at the center of a charging statue.
One exploded. Then another. The water splashed to the ground.
Another statue surged forward. Ren's blast glanced off its chest.
Thorn surged forward, rolled under the attack of its trident, then punched upward with his bone hand, cracking the outer layer of the water shell.
His sword followed behind in a brutal upward arc, cleaving through the core in a spray of shattered bone and water.
More came. Ren's blasts hummed in the air, and Thorn met every one that broke through.
One statue attempted to flank them, and Ren leapt backward, launched himself off a Push, and landed on its shoulder, slapping his palms on the surface and unleashing a blast of kinetic energy.
The statue burst like a geyser as its core shattered.
He flipped down to his feet and looked up to see that there were no more statues. They'd destroy them all.
All that was left were the shattered cores, the pool of water around their feet, and the reminder that Shing was still alive.
And he wanted them dead just as much as they wanted him dead.