Barbara's scream echoed off the stone walls as the Hydro Abyss Mage's watery bubble lifted her high into the chamber.
"Let me go! This isn't supposed to happen—this is a beginner domain!" she shrieked, slamming her fists against the inside of the sphere.
The Abyss Mage cackled, spinning in the air with glee.
"Barbara, calm down!" Aether snapped, his eyes narrowing at the ruin guard.
Sucrose took a panicked step back. "This isn't right—this is above the threat level for our rank!"
The Mage's eyes locked onto her next.
"No—" Aether's voice cut through like a blade. "Don't."
Too late.
The Mage twirled its staff, and a second bubble snapped shut around Sucrose, lifting her from the ground. She screamed, her feet kicking wildly as she hovered opposite Barbara, suspended in the air like ornaments on a tree.
"Stop screaming!" Aether shouted. "You're going to wake—"
The Ruin Guard's head twitched.
Its core flickered once.
Razor growled. "It's waking up."
The Abyss Mage laughed louder, spinning in glee between the two captives.
Aether's jaw tightened. He flicked his fingers. "Pyro slime. Go."
The Pyro Slime shadow darted from behind him, launching itself at the Abyss Mage. It exploded into a burst of fire, shattering one of the Mage's shields and forcing it to retreat mid-air with a squeal.
Aether didn't watch it flee.
He turned to the Ruin Guard. Its arms twitched.
"Razor. Stay back."
"What're you gonna do?" Razor asked.
"Kill it before it thinks about standing."
Aether lunged with his sword to hit its core, the weakness.
Aether's sword was inches from the core when the Hydro Abyss Mage shrieked with laughter.
In a blink, a watery sphere closed around him—tight, suffocating, and thick.
click—whirr—CHNK.
The Ruin Guard's core lit up.
Aether's eyes widened.
A red laser snapped to his chest.
FWSSSSHHHH—
Missiles flew—one, two, five, . The world exploded around him.
The bubble offered little protection. The concussive force cracked it, and sent him spinning. The explosions pounded into his ribs, flung him through the air like a ragdoll. Smoke and dust swallowed everything. Inside the remains of the bubble, he coughed violently—his lungs scraped raw from the heat and smoke.
The Abyss Mage giggled overhead.
Before Aether could even fall to the ground, the Ruin Guard leapt and its massive hand swung through the smoke.
WHAM.
Aether was struck mid-air, sent flying like a stone skipping across water. His body hit the chamber wall and cracked the stone, then fell, crumpled.
"Aether!" Barbara screamed from above.
Razor's eyes burned. He bared his teeth and forced himself upright, ignoring the pain lancing through his side. "Tch… Enough."
He charged his claymore with electro and hurled it—CRACK!—straight at the bubbles holding Sucrose and Barbara.
POP.
Sucrose fell and caught herself with a wind burst just in time. Barbara's bubble remained intact.
"I'm out! I'm—" Sucrose started, but Barbara was still trapped.
The Ruin Guard's engine roared as it locked into full spin, its arms sweeping outward in a brutal whirlwind.
WHOMP—WHOMP—CRASH!
Aether's shadow slimes were flung like jelly dolls, slammed into walls, crushed under its feet. In seconds, the field was cleared.
Then—
Beep. Beep. Beep.
The red laser of the Ruin Guard locked upward.
Straight on Barbara.
She floated helplessly, still trapped, still screaming.
"NO!" Aether's voice tore through the room as he bolted forward, pain forgotten, sword drawn. "Barbara!"
The Mage cackled again.Snap. Another bubble formed around him mid-sprint.
"Damn it—" he choked, trapped again. The water tightened around his limbs. The Abyss Mage danced mockingly in front of him, twirling its staff.
Aether clenched his fist. "Emerge!."
An Electro shadow exploded into existence next to him—and with a spark of rage, detonated itself.
CRACK!
The bubble burst.
He was already running again.
But the Ruin Guard didn't wait.
It aimed.
And fired.
FWOOM.
The missile hit Barbara point-blank.
The explosion lit the entire chamber in a flash of brutal orange.
BOOM.
The sound shattered the air. The shockwave blew everything and everyone apart—sending Sucrose tumbling, Razor skidding on the stone, and even the Abyss Mage squealing as it was flung back.
Aether was thrown to the ground again—his shoulder cracking against stone.
"Barbara—!"
The smoke cleared slowly and his heart thundered. Lying in a shallow crater. Barbara's catalyst was shattered beside her.
As Aether struggled to get up, blood coughing out of his mouth, the abyss mage hovered about him.
It said, 'For her majesty, you must perish!" .