Within the facility, water quickly poured in, beginning to flood the base of the vertical chamber. The entire place continued emitting a blaring alarm, both at the presence of a Fulminare and the damage to the exterior.
"Shit…It must've grabbed him!" Alexander huffed, arriving at the middle level.
Everybody else was gathered near the waist of the steel colossus, only given moments to think within the sudden chaos.
"He's not dead, is he?" Lily questioned, tapping her chin.
"No, his vitals are still coming in…Don't know how long he'll stay that way out there though," May answered, checking the phone in her pocket.
All eyes looked towards Haoyu, who was calm in thought the entire time.
"We'll vacate the facility—through Erebus," the drone emitted the words decided by Haoyu.
"What?" Shin questioned in quiet shock.
"Erebus? We don't know the first thing about—" May reasoned.
Haoyu typed on his arm rapidly, "I've downloaded the information compiled on how to pilot it."
"Hold on—this thing never saw the light of day. It's never been piloted—we don't even know if it might explode the moment it starts up," Shin responded with a huff, ruffling his hair impatiently.
"Yeah, this seems risky…" May said.
"Humanity evolves by taking risks. If we want to survive, we must reach out and take it," Haoyu explained, turning his inorganic gaze towards the others. "I can think of no better horse to bet on than that one."
The scale of the titanic weapon existed to them like a beacon of light, as the facility rumbled and rang.
"Alright. Let's do it," May agreed with a nod.
"Yeah, yeah! Let's get in the big robot!" Lily jumped up.
From the control held by Haoyu, a latch retracted on the colossus' side, extending a platform that connected to the floor. While the others boarded, Alexander remained, watching them.
"You coming?" May looked back.
As the sound of water pouring in like a lively waterfall mixed with the frequent sirens, Alexander remained with a smile, "You guys go ahead. I'm no good inside that robot—I'm a hands-on guy."
At the edge of the entrance into the steel weapon, Haoyu turned his focus to the one staying, "Alexander, I hope you're not suggesting you'll be fighting a Fulminare. You're incredibly strong, and I don't doubt you will be able to defeat a Fulminare in the future, but–"
"I'm not letting him fight alone," Alexander reaffirmed with a resolute expression before putting on a smile with a thumbs-up. "Just get ready to back us up!"
"...Right. Good luck," Haoyu accepted.
–
From what he could tell, by the unbothered look on the figure of a gold complexion, was that being underwater hardly affected it. If he had to guess, he was at the greater disadvantage. Just as he thought of attempting to swim up again, the figure suddenly crossed the distance within the blink of an eye.
He raised his fist, though was quickly countered by a quick flick of the Fulminare's wrist, knocking his hand into his side.
"--?!"
A cold sensation ran over the affected limb; a quick glance down found frost binding his wrist to his waist. While his movements were restricting, a quick flex allowed him to shatter the ice-forged restraints–
"Guh…!"
A casual backhand to his left cheek loosened his balance, bringing him to stumble before catching himself. While it hardly looked like the silver-haired figure had exerted any effort, only giving him a simple slap, it felt like he'd been hit by a speeding train.
[...Blunt trauma detected. Engaging physical defenses…Hardening skin, toughening muscles…]
He spat out the blood that built up in his mouth, tasting the copper as the crimson liquid blended into the ocean water.
There was no rush from the Fulminare, who watched him the entire time with a scornful, cold gaze, as if simply toying with him.
It was frustrating; that look as if he were nothing more than a pastime for the invader.
["I'm going to punch that look off his face."]
As the frost-bearing Fulminare marched towards him, each step freezing the water around the being, he clenched his fist. While being beneath the sea slowed his movements, he opted to counteract it, if only for a moment.
[Maximization of triceps, rotator cuffs, deltoids, hamstrings, and calves activated. Optimizing current action; "Mjolnir Impact."]
As the muscles in his arms tightened, briefly swelling to make room for the necessary force, he kept his eyes locked on the arrogant being.
Just as the Fulminare came within a few steps—he let his fist roar. Like a piston firing, his shoulder cocked his arm forward at such speed that a pocket of air was formed in the water. The expression on the prideful Fulminare's face shifted as the force rippled through the sea, roaring forth with a fleeting shine of azure.
It was like a railgun being shot from within the waves, even forcing the invader back as the force tore right through mounds of submerged sand. The impact was nowhere close to landing, however–Seven planned otherwise.
He used his other arm, cocking it back and thrusting his fist downward, expending the momentum as it shot him straight upward. The Fulminare noticed a moment later, quickly ascending, though it was too late.
Within a second, the deafening territory of the sea was pierced through as he blasted himself above the surface. The moment he rose above the tide, he watched the glimmer of the sea beneath him shift, overcome with a white haze–
"Huh?"
Completely expecting to fall right back in, his feet instead landed on a solid surface. All around him, quickly expanding, the surface of the sea became encased in ice. As he looked around, perplexed as the sudden glacier he found himself standing upon, the earpiece buzzed in his ear.
It took a moment before the static became decipherable words from the monotone engineer, "//…Seven, can you hear me?//"
"Yeah, I can. I'm engaged with a Fulminare right now, a 7.8 Magnitude," he relayed what he knew, feeling the coldness of the ice beneath the soles of his boots. "It's able to manipulate ice of some sort–I don't know the full extent."
While he waited for a response, ruptures in the surface around the platform of ice appeared.
"//We'll assist you in any way we can. Just hold out—//" May's voice followed in his earpiece.
He responded quietly, witnessing the figures that rose from beneath the surface, "…Hold that thought."
Devoid of flesh, the entities were built of clear ice, yet moved like living beings. One resembled a faceless man; one, a two-headed bull; another, a four-armed swordsman.
'Some sort of ice constructs? What type of power even is this?' He questioned.