TBATE-A New Chance

42. Statue

ARTHUR

"Incredulous work, Effeminate One."

"I want to hear it from the red-eyed goddess." Regis sounded, still inside my core.

"You suprise me more by the minute, Ascender. How did you manage to find the exit so quickly?" Caera said, gazing at the towering statue.

"Luck." I said. "What makes you think this is the exit? I don't see a portal in sight."

"Yes, because the massive statue in the center of a watery void is anything but the exit." Regis thought.

"So insightful." I sighed internally.

Arien unsheathed his blade. "Lady Caera is right. The exit portal must be tied to that statue."

He walked up to the statue, pointing his sword at it. "I'll carve us a way into the statue right now!"

A subtle shift in the atmosphere signaled that something was coming. My heart thumped loudly, and hairs rose up on my arms, and my body told me to watch out.

Regis scuddled closer to my core, saying. "Arthur, I don't like this one bit, something's coming."

My eyes widened as the statue swatted Arien away with it's entire hand. The jarring sound of human bone being crushed by stone was heard, and the nimble swordsman was flung through the air like a ragdoll.

He plummeted through the air, landing with a loud splash that could be heard from where we were standing.

Taegan and Caera both yelled for their teammate's name. One pulled out his twin maces, and another her red blade. A heartbeat later, she coated it in...

Black flames?

Caera managed to acrobatically land a strike on the imposing statue, or rather, a thin barrier of aether surrounding the thing.

Unblemished, the statue moved it's large hand so quickly that the normal eye couldn't see. Yet my aether-enhanced eyes saw it make contact with their bodies

Briefly, I was able to catch their arms and legs twist into unnatural positions. They were flung away much like their friend before them, landing precisely next to him.

Wasting no time, I summoned Dawn's Ballad. With gritted teeth, I coated it with blue flames, intertwined with purple sparks.

My power was much greater than the three ascenders that now lie half-dead behind me. Yet, a sense of incredible dread washed over me.

So, with a deep breath, I activated Static Void. The world lost it's color, as I seperated myself from the flow of time.

My heart sank deep, and my whole body trembled. The statue, which should've been immobilized, began to turn it's blank head until what should've been it's eyes met with me.

Defying the power of my Static Void was one thing, but the statue almost seemed to be...

Pondering something?

I could feel it's smoothed over, nonexistent eyes focus on my core. It executed a sudden, violent and precise movement. Unlike those three which it swatted...

It simply flicked me in the chest instead.

My ribs cracked under the force of the attack, and my body landed and tumbled in the shallow waters around.

I gasped for air, my chest was on fire. Every single bone was cracked, piercing my lungs, and my heart. My own outpouring of mana was the only thing keeping me alive right now.

I rose to my knees, only to see the three Ascenders lie there. Their bodies twisted, their faces mangled, and the water around them stained a murky red.