To return to the centre of the battle, Beomgyu had to go over the blocks and chunks of concrete, body hunched over to regain balance as he tripped over some unseen metal rods protruding out of the broken pieces of wall. He raised his hands to cover his ears, the splashing and crackling and screaming growing louder with every step he took.

He stood a good distance away from the imaginary line. He kept his eyes fixed on his lookalike, and just upon making eye contact, he put his arm up high and used his other hand to point at his wrist. The silent signal only led to a firm nod in return.

He took that as his chance to take a bold step forward, lowering himself into a crouching position. He then put his hands out, his fingers facing the dark sky and his palms facing the giantess in the distance. He shut his eyes and forced himself to see the nearly empty vessel in the darkened room in his mind. He in a deep breath, trying to focus on the power flowing through his body and muting out the loud noises around him. He then rotated his wrist slightly, snapping his eyes open and watching a strong wave of water rush forward and flood around the giantess.

He quickly jumped up to his feet, the water still under his control. A part of him was surprised that he was able to pull this off. He watched as the others stepped back too.

Further ahead of him, the giantess stumbled about in her place, shaking the platform ever so slightly. She continued to absorb all the flames and shards of ice being thrown at her, but the rushing wave of water was enough to disrupt her balance. Bending over, a dangerously dark and viscous liquid began gushing out of , the liquid staining her translucent dress.

“…”

Beomgyu began to panic, unsure of what he was looking at. He didn’t know if the giantess was dying, or whether it was the start of something worse.

“Go back!”

“Get out of here, quick!”

Beomgyu whipped his head to the source of the voices. He croaked out, “What?” He watched as the others began running away, a white portal forming at their end of the platform, the bright light almost blinding him.

Instinctively, he began walking backward until he was scampering for the rather complicated path back to his friends.

“She’s going to cause as much damage as she can before she dies!”

Trying not to let the voice of his lookalike get to him, he tried to let the sudden rush of adrenaline take him ahead. That horrible feeling rooted deep within, that same feeling he hoped to get rid of as quickly as he could, was starting to rise back up, suffocating him in his throat.

A series of curses left his lips as he noticed from the corner of his eye how the giantess raised both her arms, closing her fingers into curled fists. He began to breathe heavily now, exhausted, terrified, and running out of time. He could hear the voices of his friends further ahead, and he continued to jump over the obstacles, putting his arms out to maintain balance, reaching out to push aside some of the larger chunks.

Suddenly, there was a booming thud and a roaring rumble of the platform beneath his feet, causing him to fall forward and land with his face so awfully close to a metal rod projecting out. Just a small delay or an inch closer would’ve severely bloodied his face. A pained cry escaped his bruised mouth, and he used his hands for support to push himself up and back on his feet.

Another loud crash – another fist – on the platform led to a rather strange series of sounds, as if something was crumbling apart and