The girl's vision was completely dark and she was paralyzed, feeling only the water wetting her legs as the monster snarled trying to chew something.
She knew something had been caught, but there was no pain and the darkness remained until she listened.
"Get the hell out of here, dammit."
It was a male voice that sounded weak and pained, her vision gradually cleared as she slowly opened her eyes, seeing the dim light that illuminated the front of her where she saw two bodies standing still.
The chewing noise was from the mouth of the creature that was stopped in place while its tentacles still aggressively, it was paralyzed with Arthur's arm in its mouth, but was prevented from chewing by the iron sword that was placed upside down preventing the monster closed its mouth without getting hurt.
His arm oozed blood and he held a small knife that he also stuck in the bottom part of the monster's mouth as if trying to stop the monster from closing its mouth with both weapons, his eyes were closed and he was panting as he spoke.
"What is it, don't you like it?"
A trickle of blood ran down Arthur's face that had been grazed by the bite, he soon opened his eyes that glowed orange with the effect of the [Activation] that had allowed him to arrive before the monster.
The girl remained paralyzed by fear and soon she saw Arthur's eyes begin to fade, returning to a normal brown tone.
At the moment that happened, the creature's jaw tried to close noticing that Arthur's over strength was gone, even if he tried to keep the creature's mouth open, he was still weaker than her and the bottom teeth reached his hand, making some cuts that bled.
Seeing that the swordsman had been injured, the girl woke up from her fear and looked scared taking a step back.
"I-I-I'm sorry... I-I just..."
"Get the fuck out of here!"
Arthur screamed and the monster's sound increased and again he tried to move forward to bite, Arthur tried to overcome his strength, but still the monster was stronger and began to pressure him.
Arthur's back almost touched the girl, but he insisted and tried to push back.
Due to the exchange of forces, the swordsman's body began to tremble, the blood on his arm continued to flow and the girl got scared as she saw the environment gradually clear, Arthur took a deep breath and screamed once more.
"LEAVE!"
Right after the scream, the creature had one more moment to attack that, letting out a sharp scream, advanced again, but this time the impulse was stronger and forced Arthur backwards, making him lose his posture.
The moment was enough for the monster to advance again and realizing that Arthur removed his weapons while being pushed, in a quick movement he retreated and in the blink of an eye he looked at the bottom of the creature's mouth seeing something dark and rounded at the end of his mouth.
He stared doubtfully, but in the blink of an eye the sphere disappeared and he retreated, but soon his back hit the girl, knocking her down and preventing her from running away.
Arthur's eyes widened when he saw that he had been stopped and he didn't need to look back, but he knew that if he did, the target would be the girl.
Seeing more clearly because of the diminishing darkness, the two saw the creature's empty, tentacled face seeming to manifest an expression of anger as its mouth full of teeth and now with a little blood opened, but unlike before, it seemed to go one step further. little further forward as if he wanted only to devour along with the open arms that he tried to grab.
Arthur clenched his teeth irritably and positioned his sword, with no time to attack, only defense remained.
However, finally the environment was clearer, the focus and the proximity of the roaring monster had prevented him from hearing the quick footsteps that were coming.
Again the fireball approached, but with it, the yellow eyes resulting from the [Activation], but unlike before the fireball came with even more speed
Arthur looked to the side for a brief moment and saw that there was Christopher who was holding a torch with both hands pointed upwards, with strength and speed, a flaming blow was delivered in the face of the creature, which by force and violence was thrown to the side and forced to go a little farther.
But unlike before, Christopher didn't stop even after his yellow eyes went out, in an instant he stepped on the floor and advanced again on the creature that was still recomposing itself.
With a chance in sight, the blonde clenched his teeth and seizing the chance to get closer, then he put the torch horizontally and grunted as he pushed, the creature slightly raised its head and Arthur widened his eyes, again the blow arrived and hit the monster's face tightly.
The blow was powerful and when hitting the monster it made the torch break and crumble into splinters, Christopher's eyes widened when he saw the result of the blow and saw the monster being thrown a little further away for being inattentive.
The sound of splinters falling on the wood made the water rise, Chris stared, still panting and surprised, but soon retreated to Arthur who was watching with his hand touching his left arm with a pained expression.
"That way we'll never kill him..."
Christopher backed away along with Arthur as he stared at the creature getting up in the darkness even with difficulty, again the tentacles on its back elongated and extended going crazy again.
The creature now crouched down and placed its hands on its head, appearing to be disturbed or as if it were a child trying to hide.
The two looked at it with doubt and the girl got up, also watching the creature.
"What is that?..."
His tone came out with concern, but soon Arthur frowned and spoke.
"Damn it... I already told you to go away..."
He spoke with a certain irritation and Chris looked at the swordsman speaking.
"Hey, calm down..."
The two saw in the darkness people who were standing start to move around the corners, the dim lighting allowed to see terrified faces that tried to hide and slowly flee without being noticed by the monster.
"They can help us... If we tell them to bring torches..."
The girl looked doubtfully, but soon Arthur spoke.
"And if they get hurt, they'll just scream and get in our way, like this one did! Let them go and go get more torches, I wasn't using that arm anymore anyway..."
Arthur took the knife being wielded by his left arm and then hid it in his mouth, holding the sword only with his right hand ready to advance, but soon he saw a hand take his front, seeing the blonde who faced the creature and spoke.
"No, you're already injured and I can still fight even with these torches, you've noticed, haven't you?"
The blonde looked back worriedly and Arthur clenched his teeth, the two watched the creature's face where it had been cut and there were only tentacles filling the space as if it were some kind of regeneration or resistance to cuts.
From the beginning, the strength of the sword seemed to have been more effective than its edge and this was proved by the blows of the iron-supported torch being so much more efficient, in addition to partially stunning the creature, but soon Arthur sighed and spoke.
"But that won't kill her, besides there's something else."
Christopher looked doubtfully and Arthur walked over to a torch, it was the other that Christopher had brought on his trip, the blonde stared doubtfully and the swordsman raised the torch, illuminating the place a little more.
Residents seeing that they were revealed, changed their expression to panic and tried to hurry the steps, but the creature did not react and continued with its hands on its head making strange gestures of fear.
A blow in the air was delivered and the creature did not react, making Christopher face it with doubt and soon saw the torch being delivered in his hand, Arthur looked at the monster and said.
"We knew he didn't have eyes, but we thought he could see by the way he found us easily and attacked, but he is blind and is guided by the sounds we make, in the water, when striking, when fleeing. Grunts and screams, he's driven by that and ignored me to go chase this girl even though I was closer."
"That son of a bitch... that's why he's so efficient in the dark..."
"We need more torches, even if we can't kill him, we need to trap him for them to run away... I still don't know how to beat him and my energy is running out... I used techniques and [activation] to avoid damage until now, but now..."
Christopher looked to the side and saw that Arthur's arm was no longer moving and was full of blood, maybe something had broken or it was too painful to move.
The blonde clenched his teeth, but soon turned to the creature and Arthur spoke.
"Go on, we need the torch so we can fight seeing at least a little..."
"No."
The girl was still there and looked at the two, Arthur sighed and said.
"Damn Chris, why are you so stubborn?"
"Because if anyone can defeat this monster, it's you."
"Why do you say that?"
It was meaningless in Arthur's mind, but soon Christopher would raise his fingers and point to the monster's head, slowly lowering his finger until he reached the monster's mouth.
"You've already cut his head in half and he's still fine, if he has a weakness, it's not there... but for a brief moment I saw something... he hides something in his mouth..."
Arthur's eyes widened for a brief moment and he remembered the small sphere he had seen at the bottom of the creature's mouth, for a brief moment he squinted and noticing that, Christopher smiled and spoke.
"You saw, great, so it wasn't crazy of me... it could be a weakness... but we're going to need your sword, my torch won't be able to destroy that, nor my wooden sword."
"Then we need to open his mouth... we have little time, but it's worth a try, even if our energy is low... it will be worth-..."
Before the sentence was completed, the two saw the creature let out a grunt similar to a moan that made them face the monsters.
Its tentacles looked even crazier than before and since they were talking it hadn't stopped stretching, the creature continued to emit its distorted and thick grunts that scared the residents who quickened their pace even more.
Something seemed to be happening as the creature squeezed its head with its fingers imposing even more strength, the sound of something cracking was heard in that dark and by the little light that the torch emitted, the two could see the creature's mouth opening and closing while its grunts distorted sounds come out more often, like he's trying to say something.
The two stared and Arthur raised his sword, but soon the monster rose pushing its head back and tilting its body, in an instant the mouth expanded and from it came a shrill and torn scream that hurt in everyone's ears.
The size of the scream echoed through the place and made it sound distorted, as if it were a gigantic monster that had awakened.
Arthur clenched his teeth and Christopher widened his eyes, without needing to say anything to each other, the two took a heavy step that raised water, in an instant they advanced, because they knew that something big would come and that they had to arrive before it happened.
The young people tried to reach the creature before it acted, but again its tentacles lengthened and moved chaotically, but different from before, the creature leaned its face forward leaving its back visible.
So the exposed tentacles started to move insanely and before the two arrived to hit him, several tentacles went in their direction in the form of black whips.
Arthur saw the whips and widened his eyes, putting his sword forward to block and backing away as Christopher parried with his arms and leapt back.
Backing away, the two saw the creature in a quadruped form and as it walked its tentacles attacked like whips, several black lines hit the water and cut the air, the violence made the sound be heard in the cave.
Christopher clenched his teeth, frowning as he saw marks of blows appear on his arms for the speed, even if they were not compared to the direct blows of the creature, the strength was compensated by the pain and the frequency of attacks.
Seeing the creature transform, the residents became desperate and some screamed, leaving their calm escape for a desperate run, making young people look worried and when they heard the creature, they raised their heads.
Even in her quadruped form she prepared to advance and made short quick jumps still moving cautiously, but going at high speed towards the voices.
Arthur widened his eyes and ran to the residents to stop the creature, Christopher was also preparing to run, but before he went he turned back, seeing the girl who had wide eyes in a shocked expression, seeing that the creature was going in Towards her family, she extended her hand, but was soon held by the blonde.
Having been held back, she would wake up from the moment of panic and see Chris who was staring with a worried expression and speaking.
"If it is, just go to get beaten up... but if you want to help, there's something you can do...-"
the girl looked back with tears in her eyes as she wondered if she could help, but then nodded as she listened to what the blonde had to say.