"Get out of there, Adam!"
One crystal twitched, then another, and soon they were all shaking violently.
Adam used his ability to launch himself in the air, but dozens of crystals shot up in response. A rainbow mess of death chased after him as he popped each pebble to dodge.
Cullen watched from the ground as he flew up hundreds of meters, fighting with the Abomination in the air.
"Sir?"
Whipping around, Cullen armed himself with the knife. But it was only a boy, the same one from before.
"What are you doing here?" Cullen lowered his weapon, confused.
"I noticed your friend was fighting a Jewel. You should really get him to stop; it's too dangerous."
Cullen looked back up and saw that the figure had reassembled itself and was trading blows with Adam.
"Do you know what that thing is?"
The boy nodded.
"It's one of the two Jewels I mentioned, the ones in the castle."
'So this is the Apex Predator?'
"How can we defeat it?"
Cullen wanted to ask where the core was, but he wasn't sure how the boy would react.
"You mean its heart? That's in the castle, along with the second Jewel. They each share one."
'What? How is that possible? If they each share a core, then that means it's one Abomination. But The Island said that each Grade-E has two…'
At this point, Cullen wasn't sure what rules were real or not. But he did know one thing: that Adam was fighting an unwinnable battle.
'Assuming this kid is telling the truth, that is.'
Looking up, he saw Adam rising even higher. The two of them had crashed into one of the massive pillars made from houses. The Abomination shredded the surroundings with its storm, and Adam emerged with even more matter to manipulate.
'I need to warn him, but I can't exactly fly up.'
"Do you know its ability? Or what happened to my friends?"
The boy thought for a second before answering. "It probably sent them to the castle."
Before Cullen could ask more questions, another person revealed themselves from behind a building.
"Greye?!" Cullen was stunned. "Didn't the Abomination use its ability on you?"
Cullen knew he had seen Greye vanish when the crystal touched him, but now he stood there without a scratch on his body.
"I used my ability right before it touched me," he said with a slight smile. "It was me who teleported myself, not the Abomination."
'So it was only Eric and Ryan who were affected.'
Cullen turned back to the boy. "But why would it teleport them to the castle? Isn't that where its heart is?"
"Yes, but it's also where the other Jewel stays to protect it."
'So its other part may be much stronger, which is scary to think about. I do have to remember that I'm talking with an Abomination, though, it would be foolish to trust everything.'
"Its goal may have been to split us up," Greye added. "Send half to one part and keep the other half here; this way, it can easily defeat us."
Cullen considered Greye's point and found it made sense. It also explained why it hadn't teleported Adam yet.
"Greye, if we reach Adam, can you teleport the three of us out to the surface?"
"No," Greye shook his head. "Something is blocking me from leaving this place; the only way back is through the chimney."
'Blocking him? Is it a power of The Amethyst Burrow or an Abomination created by it?'
"But you can still use your ability, right?"
"Yes, I didn't travel too far last time."
Boom!
Above, Adam created a massive explosion, sending a shockwave throughout the cavern.
"I don't exactly know how to reach him, but once we do, I think teleporting into the mines is our best option."
"The mines?" Cullen looked puzzled.
"Yes, I saw them when I teleported away the first time. We should be able to hide in there until we figure out a plan."
When they first arrived, Cullen noticed the city's edges were jagged rock walls with thousands of caves. He could see a few entrances now, but never considered going through.
"Is the cave system a part of the Abomination?"
The boy mentioned that the miners were forced to work there, but it wasn't clear if The Amethyst Burrow created that area or was just a part of the Earth.
"Probably not. It would be crazy for this Abomination to get any bigger."
Eric and Ryan were in the castle, Adam was fighting a mysterious Abomination by himself, and Cullen and Greye could do nothing to help. Even if they wanted to reach the castle, it was far too dangerous with that Abomination in the sky.
"I have an idea. Did you use your gun yet?"
"No?" Greye responded.
"Then shoot me."
Surprised, Greye looked at Cullen like he had three heads.
"What?"
Cullen dropped his backpack to the ground.
"Shoot me into the air and I'll get Adam."
Even the boy, who had been listening to the conversation, stared at him in disbelief.
***
BOOM!
"Shit!"
Adam threw a house condensed into a rock straight into the Abomination's body, but the explosion only knocked it back.
'This Abomination had no goddamn core! How am I supposed to end this?'
The crystals were practically indestructible, and even when he separated them, they just flew back together. On the other hand, Adam had cuts and bruises all over his body. Nothing severe, but he was the only one taking a beating.
But he had begun to understand the Abomination's ability.
The yellow crystals were the ones used on Eric, Greye, and Ryan. Strangely enough, the Abomination hadn't attacked him with those. The red crystals had some sort of push to them, knocking Adam back when he came into contact. The purple ones had a pull, like a gravitational force that sucked Adam in. The blue ones were sharp, forcing Adam to pay extra attention to those. They could easily pierce through his body if they gained enough momentum. The green ones could change direction instantly, without losing any speed.
It was too much for him to keep up with, but his instincts were starting to catch on.
"Just die!"
Adam summoned all the matter he could control into a single stick resting in his palm. Sweat dripped down from his forehead, and his limbs shook from the pressure. But soon, the stick molded into a pitch-black katana.
His ability was complete control over this, meaning it could take any form. The only limit to how much matter he could use was his ability.
The Abomination paused mid-air, sensing the danger in Adam's hand.
Although it didn't look heavy, it was. In fact, Adam wouldn't have close to enough strength to carry that much weight if his ability wasn't helping.
"Come on! Fight me!"
This weapon was similar to Eric's, being made of a compact material. And Adam knew of Eric's attack, where he released a portion of it to fire a devastating beam of water.
He raised the katana with both hands and pointed it at the Abomination. At the same time, a blue crystal came flying at him from his right side.
BOOM!
The tip exploded, creating a stone path and reaching the Abomination before Adam could blink. The force threw Adam back dozens of meters in the air, but not before the blue crystal left a large gash on his cheek.
Ahead, hundreds of crystals were thrown in every direction. Yet just like last time, they started to gather back into their original form.
Panting heavily, Adam was out of options.
Bang!
Below, the sound of a gun startled Adam. And when he looked down, he saw a green ball of vines flying up towards him.
"What the hell?"
***
'It worked!'
Cullen wasn't sure if his vines were strong enough to stop Greye's gun, but he only got the wind knocked out of him as a result.
As the vines retreated into his body, Cullen began to see Adam above him.
"Adam! Come down quickly, Greye will get us out of here."
"I need to kill this thing or it'll keep following us!" Adam shouted angrily.
"Its core is in the castle! We have a way to escape, but we both need to touch Greye!"
Adam looked down and saw Greye on the ground, then remembered him being hit by a crystal.
"How is Greye here? What happened to the others?"
But before he got an answer, Cullen was already falling to the ground.
'Wait… I didn't think of this part.'
He looked down, then back at Adam. He was laughing.
"Help me!"
As Cullen plummeted to the ground, he could only hope his vines would protect him. He left his backpack with Greye, but it's not like he had anything in there that would change this.
Luckily, he felt his tattoos come to life.
'Thank you.'
They touched the ground before him, slowing his fall enough for him to land safely.
A few seconds later, Adam landed next to him.
"We should hurry."
The Abomination above was plummeting down, a storm of crystals ready to obliterate them.
But it was too slow. After picking up his backpack, Cullen and Adam placed their hands on Greye's shoulder and disappeared.