The dark energy on Nox's fingertips pulsed like a beating heart, and both Aina and Eve watched with tense expressions. After a while, the dark blast surged forward through the air.
Unaware of the approaching calamity, the members of the Order of the Flaming Rose were still focused on the pool. They gazed at it with reverence as if it were the most beautiful thing they had ever seen.
And then it happened.
Shadow Oblivion descended into the pool like a comet and exploded with a deafening roar.
The entire cavern trembled as the blast unleashed a shadowy energy, obliterating everything in its path. A mountain of water rose from the pool, almost touching the ceiling of the cavern. When the water crashed down, a fierce shockwave spread out in all directions!
"W-what is happening?"
"Where did this come from?"
As for the robed figures, they were too slow to act. Caught completely off guard, most of them were killed by the blast, and some were flung through the air like ragdolls as the shockwave generated from the water slammed into them.
Feeling the entire cave tremble as though it would collapse, Aina channeled more mana into her [Holy Barrier], keeping it steady.
Although giant rocks and debris plunged from the roof of the cavern and slammed into the transparent bluish holy barrier, causing faint ripples, the barrier held against the chaos.
After a while, things settled slightly, and Aina took down her barrier, her gaze fixed on Nox, who was approaching the pool.
A few seconds earlier, after using Shadow Oblivion, several system notifications announcing experience points had flashed by, but these... these experience points were only from the robed figures.
With a frown on his face, Nox rounded the rocks and the dead bodies of the robed figures, coming up to the murky pool and glancing inside. There, he could see the outline of humanoid creatures moving slowly within the still water.
"It's still alive," Nox muttered under his breath, turning to the two women that were with him.
Although his voice was low, both Eve and Aina heard him perfectly and rushed over quickly, staring into the pool as well.
"The more time passes, the more I'm starting to believe what that Flaming Rose member told me is actually true," Nox said, a grim look flashing through his eyes.
"Wait, let me try something," Eve suddenly said, pointing her fingers toward the pool. A flicker of dark magic appeared, and in the next moment, the dark magic arced through the air into the pool.
It slithered through the still water, heading straight for the creature underneath. Upon impact, a mini shockwave occurred, sending faint ripples through the air, but apart from that, nothing significant happened.
In fact, the blast was nowhere close to Nox's Shadow Oblivion. This was because it was not supposed to be an offensive skill in the first place.
A deep frown appeared on Eve's face as she saw this. "Usually, my skill [Dark Curse] should be able to invade the body of a beast and slowly corrupt the inside of said creature, making it decay, but this beast is very different. Even in its dormant state, it could still somehow fight against the curse."
The others listened to Eve and fell into deep thought. If this beast was this powerful in its dormant state, how terrifying would it be when it was finally awakened?
"It could be even stronger than the elemental beast in Snowhelm." Nox shivered. Because the entity was relatively deep inside, he couldn't use [Analyze] or [Beast Senses].
The condition to use this skill, after all, was for him to see the target face to face. Nox now had a strong urge to dive into the pool and check out this hybrid, but that would be plain foolishness.
He glanced at the pool and shook his head. For all he knew, this pool could be the cause of the beast becoming a hybrid. The last thing he wanted was to turn into a monster and attack his loved ones. Thinking of all this, Nox threw any thoughts of entering the pool out of his head.
"Wait, let me try something as well," Aina said. "Perhaps it's because your skills are related to darkness; hence, the reason they don't have much effect against another creature of darkness."
Eve and Nox thought what Aina said made a lot of sense.
Conjuring pulsing white energy in her palm, Aina unleashed it into the pool.
A mini explosion occurred, and apart from the creatures squirming a bit faster, there was no noticeable reaction from the hybrid.
"The holy energy does have an effect, but it's minimal," Eve said.
'What do I do?' Nox pondered seriously in his mind. 'Should I spam Shadow Oblivion until I get rid of it?'
Tension filled the air, and time was ticking as the trio continued to rack their brains to come up with a plan. The hybrid creature beneath the water seemed to sense their indecision, and its outline in the pool was becoming more distinct, as if preparing to make its move.
Nox noticed this and became even tenser.
At that moment, an idea struck Eve, and she suddenly said, "The hybrid is drawing strength from the pool. That much is clear. I think if we can sever its connection to this water, we might weaken it significantly."
"Sever its connection?" Nox raised a brow. How would they do that without diving in? The moment they touched that water, who knew what could happen?
In mid-thought, Nox's eyes gleamed with enlightenment as he understood what Eve was saying and recalled the mountain of water that had risen from his attack a few minutes ago.
There was only one way to sever the hybrid's connection with the pool...
"We destroy the pool?" Nox asked.
A dark smile, very pleasing to look at, appeared on Eve's face. "Exactly."
"Two dark energies and one light. It should do." Catching the hang of things, Aina nodded as well.
"Two dark energies and blood," Nox corrected. The runic pattern that had been on cooldown appeared in front of Nox.
"Okay then." Eve nodded. "Let's overload it with everything we've got—light, dark, whatever. If the hybrid remains inside the pool, breaking it will either kill it or weaken it enough for us to finish it off."
Nox nodded and stepped back, raising his hands as shadowy tendrils coiled around his fingers. Aina followed suit, her hands glowing with radiant holy energy. Eve prepared her dark magic, her eyes narrowing as she focused on the target.
"On my count," Nox said. "Three… two… one… NOW!"
However, just before their attacks could land, inside the murky pool, a pair of eyes snapped open, causing the surface of the pool to ripple.