As they ventured further into the abyssal darkness of the Cave of Misery, the floating white lights began to tremble, emitting a piercing, discordant shriek that reverberated through the cavern.
All that Tristan and Valeria could discern now were these ethereal, undulating lights, casting an eerie glow on the surrounding air. Despite their luminance, the floor and ceiling of this enigmatic space remained elusive to their sight. Yet, Tristan pressed on forward, Valeria's hand clenched firmly in his grip.
Suddenly, amid the cacophonous screams, Valeria withdrew her hand.
"Tristan, I need to face this alone. Don't worry. I'll do my best to stay close," Valeria assured Tristan.
"Alright," Tristan replied tersely, feeling strangely bereft without Valeria's hand. He forged ahead, relying on sheer determination. As he delved deeper, he quickened his pace, trusting that the path beneath had no treacherous gaps. He cast frequent glances over his shoulder to keep Valeria in his sight.
The shrill cries intensified as they sped through the darkness, darting in various directions to evade the lights. These screams now resembled the agonized wails of men, women, and children, ringing in Tristan's ears. Yet, this torment didn't waver his resolve. He continued to watch over Valeria, urging her to focus solely on him.
"Grab my hand if you can't keep up, Vale! Otherwise, pick up the pace! Keep your eyes on me, focus on your speed, and follow my lead. Got it? Say it out loud if you understand," Tristan bellowed as loudly as he could.
"Understood!" Valeria shouted back, her voice resolute.
With each step, the white lights and their haunting screams multiplied. Yet, Tristan and Valeria persisted in their mad dash, steadfastly avoiding contact with the elusive spirits. Then, abruptly, the lights ceased their motion, but their screams persisted.
Tristan was the first to notice, but he didn't halt.
"They've stopped moving!" Valeria exclaimed.
"I know, and I don't care. Keep running, Vale! Fix your eyes on me, and keep running!" Tristan roared, sparing a brief glance at her.
As they surged past the motionless lights, these radiant orbs took on humanoid forms with translucent greenish bodies and crimson eyes. Though transparent, their visages exuded fury.
The spirits, now human-like, gave chase, their screams unabated. Their countenances were horrifying, akin to decaying corpses. One of the malevolent entities closed in on Valeria, its menacing presence nearly overtaking her. However, Valeria summoned her strength, accelerating to a safer distance from the macabre apparitions.
Recognizing the imminent danger, Tristan reversed course and sprinted back toward Valeria, determination etched across his face.
"Keep moving forward, Vale, and faster! I'll slow them down!" Tristan shouted, running alongside her. Without awaiting Valeria's response, he began to decelerate.
Tristan decided to defy Prince Alex's directive of non-engagement and steeled himself for confrontation with the wrathful spirits.
He unsheathed his sword, his shield at the ready, channeling his energy into both. As his sword and shield gleamed with power, he turned to face the oncoming specters, charging at them headlong.
With a fierce slash of his sword, Tristan unleashed a potent wave that obliterated the foremost rank of these enraged spirits. Their radiant forms shattered, scattering fragments of their luminescent, ethereal bodies.
Tristan pressed on, slashing and blasting through the relentless horde of spirits now resembling an army. Their anger surged, and their screams transformed into desperate shrieks and eerie death rattles.
Undaunted, Tristan continued his assault. However, for every hundred he vanquished, a thousand more emerged to replace them.
Several of the spirits managed to close the gap between them and Tristan. As he engaged them in combat, he noticed some bore an uncanny resemblance to infamous figures from his own world, including a specter that bore a chilling likeness to Hitler and another to Stalin. Tristan dispatched them swiftly into several pieces as they entered the reach of his blade.
Realizing the wave of mad spirits would continue coming exponentially and hoping Valeria would have reached a safe distance, Tristan started to run away from the wave of incoming mad spirits.
His direction is what his guts tell him to. And he could feel Valeria's power like a dog could smell steak. The humanoid spirit's wave also seems to suck every still-in-orbs spirit surrounding Tristan, incidentally creating a path for Tristan to follow.
Not too far behind him, the army of angry, restless spirits with red eyes and corpse-like bodies chased him. But Tristan is too fast now. The greenish waves were no closer to him than before.
Tristan stopped several times to throw a long-distance slash and blast attack on the poor frontline of the wave and destroy them when the blast reached them. But that did not slow the entire wave much. They still chase him, ignoring the shattered spirits.
Tristan is running so fast that he feels like he is flying. The thought that he would soon catch up with Valeria's position preoccupied his mind. Unbeknownst to him, every white orb in the cave was withdrawn by the greenish waves. It now becomes gigantic. So gigantic, it births tentacles. And these slime-like tentacles nearly reach Tristan's feet.
Now getting so big, the greenish wave's tentacles are long enough to swing and hit Tristan from the side, throwing him off his run. Lucky for Tristan, his power is on, shielding him from possibly murderous tentacles whipped and powerful swing.
Tristan did not scream when he hit. Only shock, which he pushed aside and stood on his feet again within a second. And the shock is now replaced by anger.
Without waiting long, he turned back and slashed his sword countless times. And his slashes are so fast normal human eyes would be able to see it. Every slash discharges a powerful light that crushes the giant greenish blob with tentacles coming his way.
Tristan is still throwing countless super slash toward the thing. He slashes so fast it looks like he shot a continuous large laser beam. The barrages of his attack shattered the giant blob and its tentacles into pieces. And he hasn't stopped there. Tristan continues his barrages of powerful attacks for another five minutes.
The cave was luminous by the bright light coming from Tristan's attacks. The horrible voice from the mad spirits is silent as Tristan's powerful beam crushes them back into tiny little orbs.