'Think faster! What can I use to turn the tables?' Adam's mind raced urgently, his eyes darting left and right until they finally landed on the unconscious boy. No matter what he decided, Julius needed to be awake.
"JULIUS! WAKE UP, YOU IDIOT!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, startling Thomas.
"The boy can't help you. No one can," Thomas said, smiling ominously.
Simultaneously, Julius snapped his eyes open in confusion, his vision a mess of swirling forms. Blood filled his mouth as he struggled to remember how he ended up in this state. However, a message written in mana appeared before his eyes, interrupting his thoughts.
After reading it, he heard Adam's voice in the distance.
"I can't beat you... But why are you even attacking us in the first place?" He asked, his voice sounding defeated.
"Ha. You're finally becoming reasonable. You'll understand everything soon enough." Thomas' ominous smile widened, his sharp fangs glistening in the cave.
'AAAH. How am I supposed to buy time if you don't answer?! Fucking ape!' Adam screamed inwardly but kept his face desperate, unwilling to let the knight suspect anything.
"Can't you give me a hint? If you do, I'll surrender..." He said, his face bitter and his luminous eyes dimming.
Thomas pondered shortly before nodding his bestial head. He needed the ghost to cooperate to ensure his mission's swift success.
"Eleanor sends you her regards. Alina, too, I guess?" The revelation caused the eyes of Adam and the busy Julius to widen in shock, especially at the mention of Alina.
"I see. It was that snake woman's doings... How is the boy's mother doing?" He asked while thinking. 'Keep wasting time. I need one minute, no, thirty seconds.'
As Thomas opened his mouth to answer, he couldn't help but notice the group of kids in the back. Louise was sewing Arun's clothes together in the shape of a bag, confusing him.
Then, he saw the kids throwing the beast cores they harvested during their adventure inside, making him frown. Were they planning something? Or were they too stupid to understand that no one would leave this place alive?
The answer revealed itself shortly as Julius threw the makeshift bag at Adam's feet.
"Question: what would happen if an unstable beast core is further destabilised by my mana?" Adam, dropping his act, said with a playful smile while saturating the bag with his mana.
In response, Thomas gazed at Adam warily. He didn't know the question's answer, but he could see the kids hiding behind thick earth walls.
"Answer: Boom! HAHAHA." Adam said, laughing, his eyes flickering with madness as the beast cores swelled inside the bag, ready to explode at any moment. Then, he destabilised them, enhancing the energy they could release before floating at top speed towards Louise's walls, traversing it.
Thomas sighed at the ghost's unwillingness to surrender. What could a few low-tiered beast cores change, even if they exploded? His body was just too durable. Nothing below tier four could hurt him.
However, his eyes narrowed as his keen hearing caught Adam's panicked voice inside their protective wall. "Are you crazy? Add more layers. Quick! Shiro, too. Tell her to use her affinity."
Simultaneously, the cores swelled so much that the large bag was deformed, forcing Thomas to feel a sensation of unease despite his confidence. He swiftly ran back, creating distance from the bag before...
The cave shook crazily as a freezing cold explosion engulfed the place, its effects reaching all the way to the entrance!
"DON'T CAST SPELLS. USE MANA TO COVER THE WALL!" Adam urgently screamed, with creased brows, feeling the walls of mana he erected crumble like glasses under the explosion's pressure.
The entire party did its best to protect the wall, as it was their last rampart against certain death.
However, their efforts seemed to be insufficient. The wall froze entirely before loudly commencing to crumble. They'll be exposed and vulnerable in a few seconds.
As despair gripped everyone's heart, Adam screamed yet another command. "DESTROY THE GROUND!"
Julius swiftly grabbed his gladius and instantly struck with all his might. Shiro followed his actions, melding her elemental affinity with her mana control.
After enduring the two heavy blows, the already weakened ground cracked and collapsed. Not only under their feet but in the whole passage.
As they plummeted into the dark abyss of the mountain, Adam noticed another falling silhouette a few dozen meters away, making him smirk.
"So, Mister tier four, how do you like myself-invented grenades?" He asked teasingly, his eyes glowing with joy, and added. "Oh, my bad. You can't answer after being frozen solid! HAHAHA." He madly laughed while conjuring two fingers to stick a talisman on the ice statue Thomas had become before placing it in Julius' pouch.
The boy gazed at Adam in disbelief. They were falling into the unknown, about to crash on the ground and die, but his big brother still thought about this card game.
Adam gazed back, smiling mischievously and said. "Rule number one. Always take your spoils. How are you going to brag if you don't, huh?"
"..." Julius lost the ability to speak for a second before saying in frustration, "We are going to die, big bro. To whom are you going to brag?"
"Humph. Since when do you have so little faith in me?" Adam asked disdainfully. He wasn't stupid enough to jump out of the frying pan and into the fire.
"Ask Shiro if you don't believe me," He added, shrugging his shoulders before laughing mockingly at the screaming Arun. 'You wanted an adventure, right? I hope you are satisfied.'
As they plummeted into the abyss, Adam's mind raced with questions. What lay beyond this darkness? Would they find safety or further peril? How would they climb back? The uncertainty gnawed at his thoughts, intensifying the urgency of their situation. With each passing moment, the unknown threatened to consume them, leaving them to wonder if they would ever see the light of day again.