The surface of the cursed sea seethed and boiled, then exploded into the skies. Following the disappearance of the gargantuan tentacle, six others appeared from beneath the black waves. They rose and loomed above the marching colossus like twisted mountains, blocking the clamor of the storm for a fleeting moment.
Sunny gritted his teeth and stared at the terrible image, trying to comprehend the scale of the approaching battle.
How were tiny humans supposed to survive the fight between titans?
A second later, the tentacles collapsed from the skies to assail the stone giant. Because of their size, it seemed as if they were moving in slow motion. However, Sunny knew that it was just an illusion.
Four of the arms of the unseen leviathan submerged back under the water to coil around the legs and the torso of the colossus, while two remaining ones slithered toward his hand.
The ancient statue continued to walk south, seemingly unperturbed by the furious assault of the terrifying dweller of the depths. It batted one of the tentacles away, and allowed the other to wrap around its wrist.
"Hold fast!"
Sunny didn't register whose shout that was, but followed the advice and grabbed onto the Stone Saint even tighter.
'Curse it all!'
In the furious roar of thunder and blinding lightning, the stone giant suddenly staggered and slightly careened to the side. The tentacle that was coiled around his wrist had tensed, trying to pull the hand down.
The power hiding in its black, oily, bulbous flesh was so harrowing that several cracks appeared on the surface of the ancient stone. It almost looked as though the wrist of the colossus was going to snap and explode into a torrent of shards.
Instead, the giant turned his palm and grasped the tentacle, then squeezed it in an obliterating grip.
The tentacle was trying to crush the ancient stone while being crushed in the fist of the stone giant in return. For a few moments, it wasn't clear which creature was more devastatingly powerful. But then the fingers of the colossus slowly submerged into the black flesh, sending rivers of dark, fetid blood spilling down into the sea.
Soon, the tentacle was torn to shreds and had to retreat.
However, the other five were already attacking the colossus from below. Sunny couldn't see through the black waters of the cursed sea, but he could vividly imagine two of them coiling around the legs of the ancient statue, two wrapping around its torso, and another one holding down the hand and the mason's hammer.
Whatever the gigantic tentacles were doing seemed to have worked. The pace of the walking statue slowed, as if it had to struggle against an unimaginable weight that was dragging it back. The colossus staggered once more, then suddenly lurched forward, and finally stopped.
'Not good…'
Through the soles of his feet, Sunny could feel the vibrations running through the ancient stone. The giant was trembling, as if straining to move his colossal body with all his strength. The circular platform they were hiding on slowly began to slope to the side, allowing even more waves to wash over it.
The furious storm grew even stronger, as though celebrating the battle between two enormous creatures. The hurricane wind crushed into the cohort, pelting them with rain and seawater. The thunderclaps merged into one continuous, deafening roar, and the flashes of lightning were surrounding them like a net woven from celestial flame.
Suddenly, the ancient statue shuddered and changed its angle. It was almost as if… as if the colossus was bending his waist and leaning forward.
Sunny's eyes widened. He instinctively understood what was about to happen.
…He wasn't the only one.
As the Stone Saint followed his command and fell to her knees to thrust a hand into a crack in the stone, Nephis screamed:
"We're going under! Hold your breaths!"
'Here we go again!'
In the next second, the colossus leaned forward and dove under the turbulent surface of the waves.
Sunny barely had time to inhale deeply. Then, the cohort was once again in the cold embrace of the cursed sea. Only, unlike the previous day when they had to cross the canyon, this time they were being pulled deep into the void of darkness instead of across it.
Feeling a powerful current rush past him, Sunny held on for his dear life and waited. If he was right about what the colossus was doing, they still had a chance to survive.
As the pressure of the black water grew heavier and the cold of the lightless void seeped into his bones, the circular platform suddenly stopped and swayed lightly. Despite being submerged deep underwater, Sunny could hear a loud, indescribable sound spreading through the vast expanse of the cursed sea.
'Gods, gods!'
Even though he knew that the gods were dead, he couldn't help but call out to them.
But all that answered him was silence.
…Then, finally, the body of the colossus swayed once more, and suddenly began to move up.
With the same speed that they were pulled into the depths, the cohort was now being lifted from the darkness of the cursed sea back into the furious embrace of the storm.
Sunny was barely conscious by the time the shoulders of the colossus broke the surface of the water and the circular platform appeared above the waves. Glancing around, he counted the members of the cohort and made sure that no one was washed away during this harrowing dive.
Then, he steeled himself and turned his head to peer forward.
The ancient giant had not been pulled into the black water by the unseen horror of the depths. Instead, once the gigantic tentacles had proven to be a nuisance, he had simply leaned forward… and scooped the abyssal creature from the bottom of the sea.
And now the colossus was holding it in his hand, rising the leviathan into the raging skies.
Even knowing that gazing upon the true appearance of the horror of the depths was not the safest of ideas, Sunny couldn't help but look.
What he saw made him shiver.