"What? Verdant are you sure about this?" Crimson rushed to his brother's side and took him by the shoulders, giving him a rough shake.
"If Gilgamesh was right and that was no where near to the beast's full power, don't you think it's wiser to let him handle it? He was the only one unaffected by it."
Verdant shook his head. "He wasn't the only one. I was able to resist it as well, and I think I know why."
"Is it because of your and the beast's nature?" Gilgamesh was intrigued by Verdant's ability to remain unaffected. Aside from himself and Ishtar, he had thought that there would be no one else who could resist that strange power.
It turned out that even Ishtar's defenses weren't enough to keep the beast out of her mind. Verdant being able to meant that it had to be something to do with his nature.
"It is," Verdant answered, but did not go into further detail.
Gilgamesh nodded and asked no further questions. He left Verdant to his siblings, and returned to Ishtar and the others.
Sylvia had her hands together as she bit bottom lip, then asked "Should we leave too?"
Gilgamesh smirked, "Only if you want to. You three are under my protection, so if you choose to come with me then its only natural that I guarantee your survival."
Sylvia and Marshall exchanged glances before deciding that they would continue one with Gilgamesh; Ishtar's mind was already made.
Crimson decided that he would join Verdant, and forced the rest of them to return to the surface. Thus, the six of them continued down. Crimson left the miniature sun behind with his siblings; it would stay with them until they reached the exit.
He conjured up a new flame for the six of them, and soon they were lost to the darkness yet again.
It took hours of walking 'downhill,' before the path straightened again, and it soon began to get narrower. Ahead of them, they saw dim lights coming from all over, and noticed that the cave was started to lose its structure.
Holes appeared in the walls, through which they could see an entirely open layer of earth. Pretty soon, they stepped out from that cave into the open space, and noticed that it was far larger than they had initially thought.
It was an entirely hollow space under the surface, spanning several million kilometers. It was filled with glowing crystals and all manner of rock formations, while the ceiling itself seemed to be made of magma, but was simply too far away for them to discern much else.
Ahead of them, they saw a massive crack in the wall of the hollow chamber of earth, and could feel a similar bone-chilling wind escaping from it. That crevice seemed to stretch even further into the earth.
Whatever was at the other end of it gave off a terrifying sense of lingering, life-threatening danger.
"What do you think this is? A natural formation in the world?" Crimson directed the question to whoever wanted to answer it.
Marshall went over to a crystal and tried to break piece off of it with his hands, but that didn't work. He took out a hammer and gave it a solid whack, but instead his hammer was damaged. "I dunno, but this crystal sure is tough."
Verdant didn't waste time looking around. His focus was on the crack in the wall, and he continued walking toward it at a steady pace.
Gilgamesh knew there was something different about Verdant ever since he had decided to come with him. There was a purpose to his actions now that made it appear as though he knew what he was walking into, and what he needed to do.
Still, Gilgamesh didn't think it was all too important. He instead focused on Ishtar and enjoyed the view with her.
He even went over and broke off a piece of crystal for her, much to Marshall's dismay.
Verdant and Crimson stood at the entrance to the crevice and stared into the unending darkness laid before them. Verdant's eyes narrowed, and his body leaned forward as though something was pulling him in.
"Let's go," He said while walking ahead of them.
As the group continued into the darkness, the lights of the glowing crystals were soon lost to them. Crimson prepared himself to summon a flame, but upon trying so he found that he could not do it.
The crevice was wide enough for them to stand side by side and still fit comfortably, and there did not appear to be any obstacles before them. Even so, they moved forward knowing that anything could happen at any point.
As they continued walking down, a sliver of greenish light appeared in the distance, seeming to permeate the darkness from the other side.
"That is..." Verdant's voice trailed off into silence, and the other's were left to wonder what he was about to say.
"Ouch! That hurts, Marshall." Sylvia cried out in the dark, and Marshall responded with a grunt.
"Take it easy," Gilgamesh said. "If you're already unnerved, then you should turn back."
"Not until that thing is dead." Coldly, Marshall's reply surfaced from the blackness and made his intention clear.
He was not going to turn back until the Beast was dead.
The further ahead they went, the closer they got to that green light. There was a thin crack in the wall through which the light was spilling out from, and once they broke through that wall they entered a dome-shaped chamber.
The first thing any of them noticed was a massive hole in the ground, no smaller than the channels they had descended when they first entered the underground passageways. Staring down into it, there seemed to be no bottom.
"It's almost like... something made this..." Sylvia noted.
Verdant paid it no mind. Instead, he walked to the center of the earthen chamber and found the source of the light.
There was a giant crater there, extending over a wide area of the ground. Despite its size the crater was not that deep, only about a dozen feet. At the center of it, where the crater was the deepest, there was an unearthed portion of the floor that opened up to reveal a layer of transparent, cracked stone.
Crimson came up to the crater behind Verdant, and they stared into it. Verdant's eyes dimmed, as though his life was slowly leaving him, and his consciousness with it. Not even the light spilling out of the crater was reflected in them.
Gilgamesh and the others arrived last. They gathered around and looked into the crater, trying to figure out what they were seeing.
Behind the transparent stone layer was an element the likes of which they had never seen before. It was as though it were composed of pure, green light, and was buried deep below ground.
They could tell that what they were seeing was just a tiny piece of a massive structure, but they had no idea as to just how massive it actually was.
Gilgamesh stepped down into the crater and started walking down toward the center, intrigued by this light. A peculiar sensation struck his nerves and jolted throughout his body wherever the light touched him.
When he felt that, there was a figurative itch in the back of his mind that he could not possible hope to scratch. It hung there and tormented him, but no matter what he did he could not alleviate it.
As they stepped down into the crater and approached the strange element buried beneath the stone layer, a familiar chilling breeze entered the chamber from the large hole behind them.
It slowly spread throughout the space, but soon gathered around the rims of the crater, laying in wait.
As they were all within the crater, though, they could not feel its presence. It evaded their spiritual sense perfectly.
As for Verdant, he felt as though his body was possessed by the source of the light. From the moment he saw that glowing element trapped beneath the earth, he felt an irresistible desire to place his hands upon it.
His subconscious itself was taking charge of his body and driving him toward it.
As they grew closer and closer, Verdant's breathing quickened while Gilgamesh's mind was beginning to piss him off. Something kept poking at him from within, but he could not tell what.
It was entirely different from the feeling of a memory resurfacing through his spirit, but he could not help but compare it to that.
He could only hope that getting closer to the source of the light would help somehow.
When they were only a few feet away from the center of the crater, the winds that were being kept at bay suddenly broke through into the crater and swept past them like a hurricane.
The element within the crater began to react, and the light pulsated like the beating of an excited heart. As the light blinked, a massive being stirred in the shadows, seemingly appearing out of thin air.
They were all instantly reminded of the mirelings, and prepared themselves for a fight.
An incredibly massive and lengthy body squirmed about, at times visible in the light, then at times wriggling about in the dark as the light dimmed. Most of them were unable to keep their eyes on the figure, despite how massive it was.
As the light continued flashing, they felt themselves become disoriented.
Gilgamesh was the only one who remained unfazed, while Verdant seemed to have not noticed its arrival at all. All he cared about was the source of the light.
"That's close enough."
Hearing this voice, it was not clearer than ever that the figure they were seeing belonged to the Beast. It's lengthy body coiled around the perimeter of the crater until only its upper portion was left, which it lowered until it was looking Gilgamesh right in the eyes.
The flashing of the light slowed in this moment before stopping completely and allowing them to see exactly what they were up against.
The Beast bore a striking resemblance to a giant worm, but emerging from its head was the giant face of a human, made up of squelching, mucous-covered pink flesh.
Samael appeared in Gilgamesh's hand, and he acted immediately. He leapt into the air, instantly arriving above the Beast's head.
His spiritual power connected with the sword's and the aura of the Old Power surged through both it and him. Boundless spiritual might gathered at the tip of the sword, and he brought it stabbing down, prepared to reap the Beast's life in one move.
In response, the beast's face twitched. Its human mouth did not move as it spoke, nor did its blank eyes blink.
"Your sword will not work."
When the Beast said these words, the green light that filled the room seemed to become a physical object. Splinters of green light broke away from the source and gathered around Gilgamesh's sword in an instant.
Then, as swiftly as they appeared, they shattered and vanished. At the same time, Samael was brought down onto the Beast's head, yet nothing happened. It was as though Samael had attempted to stab into an indestructible object.
The sword, truly, did not work.
Gilgamesh hurriedly retreated, incredulously glancing at Samael as he did so. Only when he was standing side by side with the others again did they realize that he had moved. Even Ishtar hadn't been aware.
'What happened,' he asked Samael's spirit.
No response came.
"Now then," the beast straightened up its upper portion and rose into the air. "You will all die."
They all prepared to engage in a fight for their lives, but Crimson was still unable to summon his flames, nor could Sylvia call upon her magic. Marshall stood, unarmed, in front of his sister and endless killing intent filled his eyes as he stared at the giant worm.
Gilgamesh felt the atmosphere in the room shift. Once again, splinters of light rushed toward Gilgamesh's body, and an inescapable sense of impending doom hijacked all of his senses.