Both of them swiftly ran over to the poor man and checked his condition. Shaan gently patted the man's cheek while Nalira immediately checked his pulse to confirm his condition.
"So, how is he, Nalira?" Shaan's face instantly tightened. "I've been patting his cheek over and over, but he's not responding at all. Is he…?""
Nalira shook her head instantly. "No. He's...."
"He's what?" Shaan's face began to show signs of frustration. 'Ugh, why does she always speak so slowly?'
"He's not dead. His pulse is weak… He's just unconscious."
"Thank goodness." Shaan let out a sigh of relief. "Damn. What the hell is going on? How could he end up like this?"
Nalira shrugged her shoulders. "Dark creature... Now we need to take this man to Chelsie for treatment."
Without wasting any more time, they tried to carry the poor man to get him treated. However, no matter how hard they pulled, they couldn't move him an inch from the puddle. His body remained completely still in place.
"Damn. This is useless." Shaan slowly laid the man's body back down. "It feels like something is holding him in place. But this area is too dark—I can't see a thing."
"Wait." Nalira snapped her fingers, and fire appeared in her hand at once. "Shaan, look at that," she pointed to a pile of rocks holding one of the poor man's legs. "We need to get rid of all these rocks first, so we can save this man."
"Yeah, I agree."
Together, they moved the piles of rocks one by one until the pile gradually lessened. Good, although it took some time, at least this method was proving effective. Now, it would be much easier to pull the man out.
"Come on, just a little more," Shaan grunted as he pushed the last chunk of rock with all his strength. "Almost there, come on—"
Using all his might, Shaan finally managed to dislodge the last of the rocks. Without wasting another second, the two of them pulled the man out of the puddle and leaned his body against one of the nearby pillars
"Ah, finally." Shaan let out a long breath. "At least, this man is safe. Now we just need to get this man to-"
"Shaan... there's something behind you." Nalira slowly picked up her sword. "Don't move, and I'll try to attack it."
"Huh?" Shaan turned his head instantly, looking around. "Na-nalira, what are you talking about? I don't see anything at all."
"You don't see it because… It's following you."
Hearing that, Shaan swallowed hard. "Nalira, you're not joking, are you? I seriously don't see—"
Suddenly, Shaan felt something wrap tightly around his ankle, yanking him to the ground. His face slammed hard against the rough floor, sending a wave of pain through his body and blurring his consciousness.
"Ugh, crap. What's going on?" With hazy vision, Shaan looked behind him. "T-Tentacles? What are those tentacles?"
"Shaan, calm down. I'll try to-"
But before Nalira could help, the tentacle suddenly dragged Shaan's body away from her. Nalira tried to slash at the tentacle wrapped around his leg, but it moved with incredible speed, making it difficult for her to land a clean strike.
"Argh, damn it!" Shaan reached out, trying to grab onto anything nearby. "Robin Hood, do something!"
[I've already tried.] Robin Hood kept firing arrow after arrow at the tentacle that was still dragging Shaan's body. [Damn it, damn it. This thing moves too fast—every shot I take keeps missing. I can't get a clean hit at all.]
'Crap, how do I get out of—'
'Slash!'
Nalira's slash cut through the creature's tentacles in the blink of an eye. In just a second, a roar—deep and guttural, like a lion—echoed through the entire room.
"Thanks, Nalira." Shaan quickly unwrapped the tentacle from his leg. "I probably would've been dead if you hadn't stepped in."
"We can't lower our guard. That creature is going to strike again."
[But this place is too dark. We need more light if we want to track its movements properly.]
'Agreed. I'm with Robin Hood on that,' Shaan muttered through clenched teeth. "Nalira's fire isn't enough to light up this whole place. There has to be something here we can use to illuminate the room. But what—"
'Click'
A sudden sound echoed through the chamber, followed by the flickering of yellow lights that lit up across the room in quick succession. They weren't as bright as standard lights, and only a few of them were working—but it was enough. Finally, Shaan could see his surroundings much more clearly.
"Strange… why did the lights suddenly turn on?"
"Uhmm... Are you guys okay?"
"Chelsie?" Shaan's eyeballs briefly widened. "Did you turn on this light?"
The purple-haired woman nodded her head slowly. "Yes, I managed to find the switch inside this room and just pulled it."
"But, how? How did you find it?"
"The daemonist I helped told me that, Lira," she explained. "After I managed to help him, he mentioned that there was a switch not far from where I was standing. So, I decided to look for it and luckily, I found it."
[Great. With this, we can track the tentacle's movement now,] Robin Hood said enthusiastically.
"Still… we can't let our guard down," Nalira said, her eyes scanning the room cautiously. "That creature is still nearby. We have to stay alert."
"C-creature?" Chelsie froze for a moment. "What creature are you talking about?"
"Chelsie, we'll explain everything soon. But right now, we need your help." Shaan pointed toward the pillar nearby. "There's a wounded Daemonist over there, dan he needs help."
"Alright, Shaan. I'll go to him right away and—"
All of a sudden, several other tentacles emerged from the puddle and darted quickly towards Chelsie. Luckily, Shaan and Nalira realized it and swiftly cut down all the tentacles before they could touch Chelsie.
"Oh my, W-what is that?" Chelsie's face immediately paled.
"Elsie, hurry up and get out of here and save that guy. Hurry!"
"We will handle these tentacles."
"A-alright!" Chelsie immediately ran toward the injured man and began chanting her healing incantation.
"Robin Hood, go help Carmen protect Chelsie while she casts her healing spell," Shaan commanded as he kept slashing at the endlessly emerging tentacles. "Don't let anything interrupt her!"
[Got it, Shaan. I'm on it.]
"Now go—hurry!"