Apocalyse: Marked by Chaos-Chapter 22 - The SS Monster (2)

The cave was pure chaos. Dust clouded the air as the ground trembled under the weight of the monstrous tentacles slamming down again.

The shockwave from its attack nearly threw Olivia off balance, she gritted her teeth as she stood her ground.

Luke was the first to move. He swung his sword effortlessly as if it was a paper.

"Go for its eyes!" he roared, raising his greatsword and dashing forward. His heavy blade cleaved downward, aiming for one of the monster's black eyes, but a tentacle lashed out at the last second, knocking him back like a ragdoll.

"Luke!" Ellie cried.

Tyler took his chance. He vanished in a blur of black energy, reappearing behind the beast's tentacle. His twin arc blades carved a deep slash through its flesh, but the wound immediately began to regenerate.

"Regeneration?!" Henrik spat. "This just keeps getting worse."

Diana unleashed a flurry of wind cutting strikes from a distance, sending slicing gusts toward the monster, but they barely grazed its thick skin.

Olivia's heart pounded. As realisation dawned on her, their attacks were useless.

The octopus creature shrieked, its soulless black eyes glowing as energy pulsed from within. The air shifted, gravity itself seemed to distort.

And then, it moved.

A tentacle shot forward, too fast for the eye to track. Olivia barely had time to react as it wrapped around her waist and yanked her off her feet.

Her vision blurred, wind whipping past her ears as she was slammed against the cave wall with bone crushing force. Pain exploded through her ribs.

"Gah...!" Blood splattered from her mouth.

"Olivia!" Diana's voice was distant, muffled.

The tentacle tightened around her, squeezing her ribs, she couldn't breathe.

'Is this how I die?'

A memory flashed in her mind. Freya's smirk. Her parents' cold eyes as they sent her away.

'No.' Her fingers clenched around her blade.

'Not like this.'

With a scream, she drove her sword deep into the tentacle, twisting it with all her strength.

Black blood gushed from the wound, the monster shrieked in pain, flunging her away. Olivia crashed onto the rocky ground, she felt her skin bleeding from the impact. Her stomach churned from the force.

She coughed violently as her body screamed in pain. Her breath came out in gasp as her chest rose up and down heavily.

Tyler and Luke dashed forward to cover her, their weapons glowing with raw energy.

"This isn't working," Ellie panted, her grip tightening on her staff. "We're barely scratching it."

"The barrier outside is breaking," Henrik pointed out. "If we don't finish this thing soon, we'll have Bowolfs crashing in here too."

The thought sent a shiver down Olivia's spine. She felt guilty for waking the monster, but.. she didn't regret checking up on Little White. If this is the price she had to pay, she would gladly accept it.

Diana's eyes darted around, mind racing. "We need a plan. If it's regenerating, then..."

"We need to kill it all at once," Tyler finished.

Luke wiped blood from his mouth. "How?"

Liam, who had been hovering in the air, suddenly smirked. "I've got something that might work."

They turned to him.

His hands began to glow, but instead of attacking, he turned toward the collapsing cave ceiling.

"What are you doing?" Bella snapped.

"Burying it."

Before anyone could protest, Liam's power surged. The entire ceiling quivered.

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"Everyone, get back!" Liam yelled.

The monster shrieked, sensing what was about to happen. It lunged forward, its tentacles reaching for all of them at once.

Olivia didn't hesitate. She dashed forward, ignoring the pain, her remaining sword flashing like silver lightning. She twisted mid-air, barely dodging a strike, and aimed straight for its eye.

The blade sank deep.

The monster let out an earth shattering scream, Its tentacles whipping in different directions. They all dodged frantically, their weapons hacking through it, severing them one after another, but the tentacles regenerated almost immediately.

Taking the chance, Diana sent a howling cyclone that slammed into its body, forcing it backward just enough.

"Now!"

Liam unleashed his power.

Blinding light filled the cave. Olivia and the rest had to cover their eyes. If it was in another situation, Olivia might have marvelled at his angelic form.

The ceiling cracked as tons of rock came crashing down.

The monster let out a final screech, tentacles thrashing wildly, but there was nowhere to go. The cave collapsed on top of it.

Everything turned to darkness.

Olivia coughed, struggling to push herself up. Her body ached everywhere. The dust was so thick it choked the air. Her clothes were torn, her injuries came to view, as blood bled out from it. Her eyes blurred, she held her head with her hand, her skull felt like it was being ripped apart from the pain surging through it.

'They were alive.' She thought inwardly. But she didn't know if it was something to be happy about yet. She glanced at the heaped debris, few rocks falling down from it, but there was no sign of life under it.

"Is it dead?" Ellie's voice was hoarse.

A deep rumbling sound sent a chill down Olivia's spine. It was still alive, but weak.

Crack.

A sound that sent dread running down their spine filled the air.

"The barrier!" Tyler snapped. "It's breaking..."

A high pitched, piercing howl echoed through the air. Then...

Boom.

The barrier collapsed. The Bowolfs poured in, their glowing red eyes locked on them, their gaze hungry and rabid. A Bowolf at the front runs its black tongue across its jagged teeth.

They barely had time to recover before another battle began.

They fought their way out, knowing they wouldn't be able to fight inside the cave, as it was already cramped.

The battlefield shifted outside the cave, where they now faced the two nightmares at once.

"There's no way we're getting out of this," Henrik muttered, his blade trembling in his hands.

Tyler gritted his teeth, his twin arc swords coated in dark flames. "We fight until the last breath."

Diana, despite the exhaustion in her stance, nodded. "No one dies alone."

Bella growled, gripping her whip as she lashed out, slicing a Bowolf in half. "Then let's make these bastards bleed."

Olivia panted, her vision swimming. Her body was failing her. Her wounds weren't healing fast enough, even her armour skin didn't help much. The exhaustion, the endless fighting, the hopelessness of it all...

'We're going to die here.' Her throat tightened.

They all fought on, pushing themselves beyond their limits, defending themselves and one another. Blades clashed, spells crackled through the air, but the monsters were endless. Explosions filled the air. But their energy was already drained from their battle with the Octopus monster.

Tyler's breath came in ragged gasps. Ellie's magic flickered, nearly depleted. Olivia's vision blurred... was this really the end?

One by one, they began to fall.