Leonar felt his heart start to pound, intensifying with each second in response to the presence of the creature looming before him, shark-like and menacing. Suddenly, Eleonora's voice broke the tense silence in his mind:

"I'm taking control. This is beyond you."

Without looking away from the monster's cold, hostile gaze, Leonar replied firmly, managing to keep a steady tone despite the chaos in his chest.

'Wait.'

That one word caused Eleonora to hesitate, and he could almost sense her confusion at his unexpected response.

"What are you planning now?" Eleonora asked, attempting to mask her own nerves.

Leonar furrowed his brow, clinging to a risky idea that had just popped into his head. It was a ridiculous plan, but strangely, it was that very thought that grounded him, restoring his focus.

'If it's like a shark… maybe I can control it.'

A brief silence passed before Eleonora, sounding a bit unsettled, replied:

"Are you out of your mind?!"

Leonar didn't respond. He kept his gaze locked on the creature, waiting for the perfect moment, every muscle in his body coiled in anticipation.

'I have to do this… I can do this,' Leonar thought as he focused on the beast.

And then, as if accepting his challenge, the creature charged straight at him. The assault was vicious and quick, and for a split second, he felt his consciousness flicker, nearly overwhelmed by Eleonora's urge to take over. But just at the last instant, Leonar mustered his strength, shifting into the precise position to execute his risky move: with all his might, he grabbed the shark-like creature by its side and twisted, flipping it belly-up.

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'Hell yes! I did it!' Leonar thought, elated as he realized his plan had actually worked.

That survival trick he'd once read about—on his old phone, no less—was for real!

The creature flailed, visibly disoriented, while Leonar held his ground despite the fear and his dwindling air supply. Eleonora, thrown off by his unusual tactic, tried to make sense of what he was doing.

"What… what the hell are you doing!?"

'Just wait and see.'

As he'd hoped, the creature tried to recover, but each time it righted itself, Leonar flipped it again, keeping it in a constant state of bewilderment.

'Yes, this thing really is a shark despite its ugly mug!' Leonar shouted internally, thrilled as his plan continued to work.

Finally, after several failed attempts to strike back, the creature seemed to lose interest. With a swift movement, it turned away and swam back down the same path Leonar had come from.

'I did it!' Leonar thought, still buzzing from his success.

He couldn't believe that such a ridiculous idea had worked against a monster like that, but it had.

'I kicked its sorry butt,' he thought with pride, fighting the urge to laugh.

But his rational side cut his celebration short, reminding him that the direction the shark had retreated was also the only way for him to exit safely.

Eleonora, still reeling from the bizarre scene she had just witnessed, spoke up urgently:

"Look, I'm not exactly sure what you just pulled off… but stop fighting me! If you don't get some air soon, you're going to drown. Let me possess you!"

Leonar, however, was torn. Right in front of him lay the staircase descending to an even lower level—the direction the creature had come from. If he went down, he'd likely encounter more beasts like that one, and the chance of finding any survivors was basically zero, given everything he'd seen.

Still, a small voice inside him urged him forward, whispering that while unlikely, it wasn't entirely impossible: *What if someone down there was still alive?*

Without further hesitation, and despite the logic of turning back to save his energy and let Eleonora take control, Leonar cursed under his breath and headed down.

Eleonora immediately reacted, trying to stop him:

"What are you doing? Wait! Have you seriously lost it?"

Proceeding with caution, Leonar made his way down a narrow hallway, much tighter than the previous ones and devoid of any floating debris. Instead of tables and chairs, the corridor was lined with large, reinforced metal doors, each one as solid as a safe.

The setting looked like a storage facility, probably where the goblins had stashed their treasure. While most doors were locked, a few had been left open.

Suddenly, an idea struck him.