Eliss watched the sphere with a slight frown, she didn'tknow what to expect. The situationseemed impossible. The giant sphere, was nowhere near the size it was. She didn't know Amukelo well, trulyshe didn'tknwo him at all as he neverspoke much. But she'd that he would be a way out for her, someone who she cpuld go on a adventure and her parents wouldn't stop her. But now that idea seemed to fade.
Peles noticed her expression and let out a small sigh. He stepped closer to her. "Are you sure you don't want to leave?" he asked, tilting his head as he studied her. "I mean, there's no reason for you to stay here and watch your friend get crushed. No one wants to see that."
Eliss let out a long sigh, her shoulders sagging slightly as she turned her gaze away from the sphere. "He's not my friend," she replied, her voice cool but with a trace of bitterness. She took a slow breath and looked away. "But you're right. I'm wasting my time here."
Without another word, she turned and began to walk away. Behind her, the sphere continued to shrink, only reinforcing the idea that it was over for Amukelo.
But as she put more distance between herself and the scene, a strange sound reached her ears—a muffled, dull sound like a yell, followed closely by the sharp clang of metal against metal. Eliss paused, her head tilting slightly as she turned her gaze back to the shrinking sphere, her brow furrowing with intrigue. For a moment, she thought she'd imagined it, but then she saw the others reacting as well.
Ri, who stood closest to Morth, turned to him with a raised brow. "Shouldn't he, like… be crushed by now?" she asked, her tone light, almost casual, but her eyes narrowed with curiosity. The sphere's slow, relentless contraction should have silenced all resistance by now.
Morth's face remained impassive, though there was a flicker of irritation in his eyes as he glanced at her. "Not yet," he replied, his voice dismissive but steady. "When the sphere reaches the size of a human, that's when the real compression begins. The earth in there is as dense as diamond—it's inescapable. His efforts are…" he hesitated, searching for the right word, "...admirable, I suppose, but ultimately pointless. That spell is inescapable."
His words, though spoken with certainty, carried a faint edge, almost as if he were reassuring himself as much as he was explaining to Ri. He turned his gaze back to the sphere, his confidence wavering for only a fraction of a second before his face returned to its cool, detached expression.
Eliss's curiosity got the better of her, and she took a few steps closer, her eyes fixed on the sphere as it continued its relentless shrinking. Each time it contracted, the walls grew denser, harder, pressing in with a force that would have crushed nearly any man by now. But faintly, almost drowned out by the hum of the spell, came another clang of metal.
She narrowed her eyes, her mind racing as she considered what could be happening inside. *He shouldn't even be able to move by now,* she thought, her intrigue mixing with an uneasy anticipation. *And yet… he's still fighting.*
The sphere continued to shrink, its size now half of what it had been originally. Each contraction was slower, but more powerful, as the sphere reached a density that surpased anything natural. Yet, from within, the sounds grew more frequent. There were muffled yells, sharp clashing noises, each one louder than the last.,
Ri's gaze flicked from the sphere to Morth, a trace of apprehension in her eyes. "Morth," she began, her tone more serious now, "are you absolutely sure it's supposed to be like this?" Her question was hesitant.
Morth didn't respond immediately. As the sphere contracted further, it seemed that Amukelo was pushing back against the immense pressure.
By now, the sphere had returned to the size of the original box that Amukelo had first been trapped in, it was so dense that it no longer looked like the dirt it originally was.
The sphere's contraction began to slow as it approached the end of the spell's sequence. The yells and clangs from inside continued.
Morth's face darkened. The spell should have crushed Amukelo, yet he remained alive, and his will was more and more fierce.
The sphere around Amukelo had reached a point where it should have crushed him already. But the surface of the sphere began to pulse. Cracks began to form and spider outward.
Eliss's eyes widened with a mix of shock and awe. She whispered to herself, "Will he…?"
Morth, however, did not share her amazement. His face was drained of color, his fingers gripping his staff in a tense, almost fearful hold. "It… it can't be…" he murmured. His eyes were fixed on the sphere, watching as the cracks spread like a web across its surface.
Ovun, noticing Morth's unusual expression, took a step forward, his voice filled with tension. "What is happening, Morth? What's going on?"
"I—I don't know," Morth stammered, his voice laced with desperation. He turned to. "Ri, do you have any mana potions? I need to channel more mana to the spell."
Ri nodded quickly and reached into her pouch. She tossed it to Morth, but before he could even uncork it, they heard a fierce, guttural battle cry from within the sphere.
The cracks widened, glowing with an intense blood-red light from inside. Morth staggered back as he dropped the potion. "Im… impossible…"
With one final, powerful yell, a burst of light erupted from the cracks, filling the air with a blinding glow. The sphere split down the middle, the two halves falling away like the discarded shell of a broken egg, revealing Amukelo from the inside.
He fell on his legs, breathing heavily. His sword was glowing with an unnatural blood-red light that extended from the blade. The energy surrounding the blade was like a mist of blood that swirled around the sword.
Eliss's face was struck with amazement. She whispered, "A… miracle…" Her voice was soft, tinged with a hint of something painful, as though witnessing a memory brought back to life.
Amukelo staggered for a moment, the effort of breaking free clearly taxing his strength. He turned toward the rubble blocking his path. The light from his sword intensified as he raised it above his head.
With a powerful yell, Amukelo swung his sword in a wide arc. The energy trailing behind the blade left a trace of blood-red light. Upon contact, the light exploded in a magnificent burst fire. In a single flash, the barrier shattered completely, reducing all the stones to a dust.
Neclord, standing on the other side of the destroyed barrier, looked at the scene in horror. His legs trembled, refusing to obey him, his mind overwhelmed by the sight of Amukelo emerging from what should have been certain death. Every instinct told him to flee, yet he found himself paralyzed, unable to tear his gaze away from Amukelo.
"Stop him!" Ri's voice broke the stunned silence, her tone frantic as she raised her bow and loosed a volley of arrows. They sliced through the air, aimed directly at Amukelo.
But as the arrows neared him, a shimmering wall of water surged up from the ground, forming a protective barrier between Amukelo and the incoming arrows. The arrows struck the water shield, their momentum dissipating instantly as they sank, harmless, to the ground.
Ovun wasted no time, rushing forward to intercept him from the flank, his massive axe held high as he swung down with all his might.
But Amukelo moved his glowing sword to meet Ovun's axe. The two weapons clashed, but instead of the usual clang of metal, there was a sound like the tearing of fabric, and sparks flew as the light from Amukelo's blade sliced through Ovun's axe as if it were nothing more than paper. The blade's extension of pure energy—now visible as a shimmering, radiant projection—cut through Ovun's weapon without resistance, severing the axe in two.
Ovun barely had time to register what had happened before Amukelo's sword swung again, the extended blade of blood-red light slicing cleanly through Ovun's torso. The blade moved through him with a terrible ease leaving a trace of the red mist on Ovun's body.
For a moment, Ovun's body held still. Then, as if in slow motion, his body began to separate, his upper half slipping from his legs, a thin line of golden energy marking where Amukelo's blade had passed. The two halves fell away, crashing to the ground in a lifeless heap.