The entire cavern was shaken by the horde of semi-evolved Torpedo Snappers.

The monsters surged forward, a collective nightmare for the students.

It was clear that they had no chance of surviving this.

The monsters’ stampede immediately threatened to overwhelm them.

However, something happened.

The platform atop which both students and the monster stood was cleaved in two.

A tremendously powerful line of Space Water had departed from the the black mist above and had surgically destroyed the platform, creating a rift between students and monsters.

Another surge of it came down, aimed at the semi-evolved Torpedo Snappers, but it was torn apart by blades that shot from the black mist.

“You think you can ignore me, Kane?!” Everyone could hear the Sword Demon’s shout. “You think you can help them?! You’ll watch them die like those rats in Placid City died twenty years ago, all for the sake of healing this world from its sickness!”

Talia instinctively felt a pang of relief about the fact that Takai wasn’t here to witness the deranged behavior of his father.

She had had an idea of what Awa might have been like, but the person she had met was much worse than all her predictions.

Never in her wildest dreams could she have guessed Takai’s father was this deranged.

He was ready to kill all the students who refused to join the Cultists, and he also apparently wanted to kill all the citizens in Placid City?

But hadn’t he allied with the Mayor?

Talia knew for a fact that Mayor Boro and Lana, the shopkeepers, had been on the Cultists’ side since Keanu saw the Mayor talk to Apikalia.

Apikalia, Talia realized, I hope that Fiora is alright.

Talia, who was on the same platform as the monsters, tried running through the horde and where the other students were, but then, the pillar that supported the platform cracked, and suddenly, Talia and the Mutated Torpedo Snappers were thrown in the air, about to plummet into the dark waters below.

However, as she fell, a rope of light shot from the side and grabbed her by her wrist.

Her fall was immediately stopped.

She was slowly hoisted up by the side of the wall on a small boulder that protruded from the hard rock.

Suddenly, she felt her arm being grabbed, and she was left dangling from the small cliff.

Talia’s eyes went up, and she saw Keanu above her.

“Talia,” the boy said.

Talia was about to say something, but then she noticed that Keanu looked different—his eyes, specifically.

They were—like hers.

Keanu’s eyes shone with the same intensity, the same azure that she had only seen in her own father.

She didn’t understand why.

But it was clear that Keanu had hidden his eyes up to this point.

For a moment, Talia was convinced that Keanu was about to let her go, to let her fall to her death.

Then, however, after a beat, Keanu hoisted her up and nodded at her.

“I’ll explain these later,” he smiled. “It was about time, you knew.”

Talia nodded, deciding to postpone the talk about his eyes.

“How did you get here?” She asked.

“Professor Iakopo brought me here.”

“And Takai?”

“He’s…” Keanu was about to reply, but a shockwave from the fight above hit the wall close to them, and the crack extended to the boulder where they stood.

Keanu grabbed Talia’s waist, and his Luminescent Water shot from him toward the ceiling.

The young man jumped from the falling boulder and swung them both toward the platform where all the students had been.

They both landed there, and Talia peered toward the waters.

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“What are we—” Keanu asked but was swiftly interrupted by Talia.

“Damn it!” She screamed. “They’re climbing up! We need to go!”

A few students peered from the rocky platform and saw the Mutated Torpedo Snappers use their newly formed limbs to climb the platform.

A voice came from above, amplified by Mana.

“RUN! CONJURE MANA BOARDS AND RUN TOWARD THE ENTRANCE!”

It was Professor Iakopo shouting at them while he faced Awa above in the black mist.

The cavern trembled as the horde of Torpedo Snappers surged forward, their elongated bodies twisting and writhing over the stone.

“Let’s go!” Nami immediately took charge and started herding the students toward the base of the rocky platform, which, separated from the waters below, opened onto a different basin that led back to the entrance.

Nami stood at the back of the group of students, determined to bring everyone back alive.

She had led them here, but now, faced with the overwhelming force before them, doubt crept into her mind.

Nami raised her voice, trying to be heard over the cacophony of hisses and screeches emanating from the approaching monsters.

The mutated Torpedo Snappers were nothing like the ones they had encountered before.

Their bodies were larger, more grotesque versions of their normal counterparts.

Vestigial limbs sprouted from their sides, twitching uselessly as they moved.

Their mouths gaped wide, filled with rows upon rows of jagged teeth that seemed to shift and multiply before their eyes.

“Everyone, faster! Run!”

The students scrambled to obey, their faces pale with fear.

They had trained for combat, but nothing could have prepared them for this.

The sheer number of Torpedo Snappers was overwhelming, and if they caught up with them, they would be as good as dead.

As soon as Talia that at the bottom of the platform there was only a small corridor of water, she felt her heart stop.

I can’t use Mana Board.

However, as if someone had just read her mind, she heard a familiar voice speak right into her heart.

“The reason you can’t use Mana Board is because of your wrist marks.”

Once again, it was Professor Iakopo.

Talia looked around wildly but didn’t see the man anywhere.

“If you’re wondering how I’m talking to you, this is one of the many uses of Space Water. I can carry sound anywhere,” he explained. “Now, though, the Sword Demon killed all the senior students, and I need you to conjure a Mana Board and go kill these Abyssal Creatures.”

“I can’t do that! They’re too strong!” Talia shouted over the commotion.

Keanu looked weirdly at her but didn’t question her. She just followed in her trail as she was at the end of the queue of students summoning Mana Boards and trying to get away.

“The monsters will be bottlenecked at the bottom of the platform as soon as they climb up. You will need to stand there and stop them. Once the students are far enough, I can use Space Water to kill both the Sword Demon and the rest of the Abyssal Creatures. Your powers should make you immune to it.”

“What? What powers?! And how do I stop the monsters?!” She cried out.

She heard an audible sigh from the man and wondered how it was possible for him to sound this relaxed while having a death match with one of the most dangerous people in the Great Archipelago.

“First, you’ll need to step onto the water. The corridor on the platform is too large. Stay in the water and face the monsters there. It shouldn’t make a difference to your powers. However, tell anyone, even that friend of yours, to get away.”

“What?! I can’t conjure—”

“I created the spell around which your wrist marks were created, Talia,” Professor Iakopo said. “Just tell him, and I’ll explain the rest.”

Talia gritted her teeth but decided to trust the man.

“Keanu! Get away! I have a plan!”

“What?!” Keanu said beside himself. “Are you crazy?! I’ll carry you! I know you can’t cast Mana Board—just come!”

“Keanu, go now!” Talia said. “Please! Or everyone else will die!”

Keanu looked conflicted, but in his eyes, there was a spark of duty that she hadn’t seen before.

He nodded and turned away, being the last student to get onto a Mana Board and surf away.

* * *

Meanwhile, Iakopo was engaged in his own battle.

He couldn’t physically see Awa because of the Sword Demon’s Skill blocking his sight, but not even the strongest Skill of the Sword Demon was able to block his Space Water magic.

And so, on the other side of the cavern, he looked at the Sword Demon.

The two men circled each other in the air.

Awa’s black sword seemed to drink in the light around it.

“You’ve grown soft, Iakopo,” he taunted, his voice carrying easily across the space between them. “All these years playing professor... you’ve forgotten what real power feels like.”

Iakopo’s jaw clenched, his hands curled into fists at his sides.

He could feel the Space Water churning within him, begging to be released.

But he held back, knowing that a single misstep could spell doom for the students fighting for their lives nearby.

“Cowardish, like your leader,” Iakopo said, feeling through his magic the anger that was now shaking Awa’s body. “Ask him how his face feels next time you see him if it still hurts.”

“I will bring your head to him,” the man snarled.

“Cut the crap. This ends now, Awa. I can tear you apart the second I decide to use Space Water,” Iakopo growled. “I won’t let you harm these children.”

Awa’s laughter echoed off the cavern walls.

“Harm them? Oh, Iakopo. I’m going to save them. Show them what true strength looks like.”

With that, Awa lunged forward, his black sword singing through the air.

Iakopo, powered by the Affinity he had mastered over the course of the last twenty years, dodged in a flash of Azure Lightning.

He could keep Awa at bay, but the problem was that he couldn’t help the students without opening himself to an attack.

Unless he could use his most powerful Affinity, Space Water, there would be a standstill.

“Listen,” Iakopo said, speaking without opening his mouth, a perk of his magic. “Talia. Listen. I’m going to tell you how to both get access to your Primary Mana Channel and how to use Dark Water.”