The final stretch of the Observation Ring was a battlefield of nightmares. The Twitch Lurkers poured from the black sludge in waves with their bodies appearing and disappearing.
While Noct-Eels rained from the darkness above with their silent swimming forms.
The three of them didn't stop moving as they cut through the waves.
Lyria stepped aside as a lurker flickered into view right where she had been standing a moment before. Her blade drove upward through the bottom of its jawless head, and it dissolved into mist.
Two eels rushed at Mila from different angles with mouths open wide. She hummed a note that made their bodies vibrate and shake apart. Then she slashed through them with both blades moving in crossing arcs, and they broke into pieces.
A lurker appeared on the railing next to Aether with its needle-arm jabbing at his face. He moved his head just enough to dodge with the needle passing inches from his eye, then he touched the creature's arm. His Entropy Delay slowed its movement down to a crawl, and with a simple push he sent it tumbling into the darkness below.
Lyria's sword flashed through the air in a blue arc and two lurkers fell in half with their bodies splitting cleanly. She pinned an eel to the floor with her blade as it tried to phase through the stone. Mila threw her sword with perfect aim and it stuck another creature to the wall by pinning its head.
When two eels flew at Rhianna who didn't see them coming from behind, Aether fired his gun without taking time to aim properly.
The first shot hit the lead eel and turned it into mist and crystal bits that hung suspended for a second. The second shot caught the other eel mid-jump and made it burst apart like a balloon popping.
A lurker grabbed Lyria's boot with thin tendrils that wrapped tight. She felt sharp pain but didn't show it on her face. Her next swing was slower though with the movement slightly off.
Aether saw this immediately and stomped hard on the lurker's back with his full weight. The crushing sound was silent under all the mental noise filling the air, but the lurker let go right away.
Aether grabbed Lyria's waist and pulled her forward out of danger. Her sword cut a bright path through the air as she finished cutting off the lurker's arm with one clean stroke.
Another lurker appeared, bigger than the others with a body twice the normal size, and it slipped behind Lyria during the chaos of fighting. Its arms spread wide to grab her from behind. Without looking back she flipped her sword in her grip and stabbed backward, the blade going right through its chest with perfect placement.
Blue light poured from her blade into the creature's body. The lurker's skin dried up as the light touched it and turned grey. With a quick pull she freed her sword, and the monster's chest collapsed in on itself with a wet sound.
The last two creatures were working together as a team. One lurker flickered in front as a distraction with its arms waving. The second one appeared behind Mila with its needles aimed at her spine.
Lyria threw her blade like a spear with the sword spinning through the air. It pierced the first lurker through the chest before pinning it to the wall.
Aether saw the second lurker's attack by watching how the air moved behind Mila in ripples. He didn't have a clear shot with his rifle but his body was already moving forward anyway.
He stepped into the creature's path with his arm already rising to block.
The needle-strike smashed into his arm with force that should have broken bone, but his borrowed power spread the impact across his entire body. The stab turned into a push that he could handle without serious injury.
Without waiting he smashed his forehead into the creature's round head with all his strength. It fell backward while stunned and dazed, just as Mila's blade came back around and cut deep into its side.
The lurker dissolved into mist that curled away.
Quiet fell over them, then the mixed-up sounds of their fight echoed back from the walls around them.
They stood there breathing hard, surrounded by melting monster parts that were slowly sinking back into the sludge. Ahead at the balcony's farthest point stood a single figure before a massive dead control console.
She was looking out into the abyss with her back to them. Her short hair was deep black like obsidian, falling in slightly messy waves down her back with natural grace. She stood perfectly still with her body composed and strict in grey and black clothes with a white jacket over them.
Aether trembled not because she was beautiful though she was. But he saw her figure blurring like static before then Rhianna disappeared completely.
Where she had been standing, a galaxy spun in the air.
Not just a picture or illusion but something that twisted the very fabric of space itself. A swirling mass of countless stars mixed with clouds of purple and gold and dark blue that both collapsed inward and burst outward at the same time.
One look showed both the birth and death of everything at once. This quickly changed into a symbol floating where she had stood moments before.
A Sigil of pure Chaos.
At its center was a six-pointed star made of broken jumping lines that wouldn't stay still. Around it spun a ring of cracked overlapping half-moons with gaps in the circle like pieces had been erased from reality.
The colors kept shifting between space-like shades of purple and black and gold. Tiny bits of star-dust drifted from its edges like ash. Even though it wasn't physically real it seemed to jump and spin just at the edge of sight, a symbol that refused to stay fixed in one place.
Then it vanished like it had never existed, and Rhianna was simply back standing there as if she'd never gone anywhere.
Mila waved enthusiastically while breaking the spell of silence. "Rhianna! We got the treasure!"
Rhianna turned to face them slowly.
First she checked Lyria for injuries with her eyes scanning carefully. Then noted how tired Mila looked with her shoulders slumped before finally studying Aether with intense focus.
Her light gray eyes had tiny sparkles in them like stars from the galaxy he'd just seen floating in the air. She looked at him calmly but with such focus that he felt like she was taking him apart piece by piece.
"So this is the Chief?" Rhianna asked in a soft tone.
Aether nodded and gave a small smile as he walked closer to her. "That's me." He leaned in slightly with his golden eyes meeting her gray ones. "I must say, you have the most stunning eyes I've ever seen."
Rhianna just watched him without changing expression. Her head tilted to one side as she kept studying him like an interesting puzzle. "And you are an odd one. You give off a feeling that's similar to those from the Deep Domain."
Mila giggled while appearing at Aether's left elbow. "That's because the Chief can tap into a Domain after making a Shackle with one of us! He used Lyria's skills to survive!"
Rhianna hummed. "Aegis Union will go insane over this discovery. The Chief may become a permanent lab rat if this ability can be copied to others."
Lyria frowned instantly at the suggestion. "The Paragon wouldn't allow it to happen."
Rhianna didn't acknowledge the protest as her gaze remained locked on Aether. "You don't seem scared of that possibility."
Aether's smile widened in amusement. "Why should I be scared? I'll simply escape if it comes to that."
For the first time Rhianna's expression shifted slightly. Her eyes widened just a bit with the starfield within them swirling with sudden interest. "If it does happen, please put on a good show. Things have been dull lately around here."
Aether chuckled at her response. "Sure, I will. But the best view is from the front row, so I hope you'll tag along to watch."
Mila giggled while draping herself over Aether's shoulder. "Chief, are you trying to start a rebellion? Tsk, tsk. You really are dangerous to have around~"
"I'm merely suggesting it would be more enjoyable for everyone, that's all," Aether said lightly but his gaze still remained on Rhianna. "How could I ask such beautiful witches to betray their home?"
Mila giggled again while Lyria sighed and said simply, "The objective is complete. We can leave now."
Rhianna gave a nod in agreement. "Then we should hurry back. The Nightmare Zones will cycle to the next phase of intensity soon. It will become..."
Rhianna paused mid-sentence before she closed the distance between herself and Aether in two steps. Her hand came up with cool fingers grasping his chin and tilting his head up to face her. She leaned close with her eyes boring into his, glowing with that faint starlight.
"...Problematic," she finished with her voice softening. "Chief, it seems we will have to carry you out of here."
Aether blinked in confusion. "What are you talking about—?"
A groan tore from his throat without warning. It felt as if a dam inside him had burst open completely. A flood of magic poured into his veins like fire before it began spreading outward, striking his mind with hammering force.
Then he clutched his head with both hands as his knees buckled beneath him. And he dropped to the floor hard as the world dissolved into chaos around him.
He began hearing voices speaking to him from nowhere, then screaming and crying that filled his skull. The sanity he'd clung to began to break down like crumbling walls.