Dimensional Descent

Vein's pulsed through Aulina's delicate brow, her face reddening beneath the strain as she released a low shout.

Joel and Arnold were ripped out of the waters, their consciousnesses still not having been regained. Panic took hold of Franco's heart as he wondered just how much water they had swallowed, but he didn't have the luxury of finding out now, he needed to bring everyone back.

Franco dug deep, pulling out everything he had. He stacked two people to each one of his shoulders, taking heavy steps back toward the coast. Every time his leg rose and fell, violent rippled of water would surge through, forming tall waves that drenched him through from head to toe.

Blood leaked between his teeth as he stomped back. He knew that the gravity whale was behind him, but he also knew that it had a choice to make.

If it moved, the curtain of gravity would vanish as Franco had enough distance to shoot away. However, if it didn't move, then Franco would just continue adding to the distance between them. Even if he had to turn his bones into dust, he would bring them out of here.

Unfortunately… What actually happened was far out of their expectations.

The curtain of gravity suddenly shifted as the whale's tail twitched. As though it was playing a cruel game with them all, the range of the curtain shrunk and began to concentrate on Franco.

BANG!

Unable to control what was happening, Franco fell to a single knee, feeling as though his bones had splintered. The pain was so excruciating that the blood vessels in his eyes popped, filling his whites with a crimson hue.

Franco roared, pushing himself back up inch by inch. But…

BANG!

The gravity curtain multiplied again, slamming Franco's knee back onto the waters.

It was a cruel fate. Franco had no choice but to coat his knee with Force to stop himself from sinking. But, it was also exactly this rigidity that was harming him, yet he had no choice but to accept it.

At that moment, Karolus, who had been trying to force his way over as well but had been stalled by the gravity curtain, watched on with bloodshot eyes. Gravity was a perfect counter to his spatial affinity as they were inextricably linked to one another. This gravity curtain made it almost impossible for him to crack space like he usually did, especially since this whale was in the Fifth Dimension while he was not.

BANG!

Franco couldn't stop his second knee from hitting the water. He tried to keep his back as straight as possible, but even that was beginning to bend.

Aulina gasped for breath, his stamina having been drained to its limits. Every time she tried to control the waters, it would gurgle and ignore her. This was the first time she had ever experienced such a thing in her life, but it was also because she knew she had pushed herself too far to pull Joel and Arnold out.

"FUCK!" Franco's teeth cracked beneath the power of his clenched jaw. He pushed himself as far as he could. But, no matter what he tried, he couldn't seem to rise back up.

He could feel his vision swimming, but his will was raging like an endless torrent.

His mind was repeating just a single thought: He wouldn't stop until he died. Until his nerves gave out, until his brain shut down, until his heart burst from pumping too hard.. He wouldn't stop pushing.

Franco roared to the point his throat was torn to shreds. However, this pain seemed to be like an escape from everything else he was feeling.

Under astonished gazes, he rose back up to a knee, his toes bending and his ankles arching as he pushed his body forward. Even if he couldn't stand to his feet anymore, so what? He could still push himself forward like this.

Franco could feel an endless torrent of Force coming to him from Gil. He knew that Gil was also at the end of his rope, scrounging up whatever small bit of will he had left to try an support his supposed enemy. It was only Franco that was well aware that he would have run out of Force long ago if not for Gil sacrificing as well.

The whale's gaze flashed, a furious light entering its eyes as though it couldn't believe the audacity of these ants to still continue struggling. But… if they could barely survive against this, what would they do against its true strength?

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Franco could no longer lift his knee, nor could he keep his back straight. His face crashed into the waters, feeling like a resounding slap to the face.

'I can't…'

Franco held the four up on his back, coating his forehead with Force and using it to push himself forward. It was the kind of scene that made one's blood boil with rage and indignance.

The rage of the whale was no less, though. It felt as though its ploy to play these humans to death continuously slapped his face, making it absolutely furious. It wanted nothing more than to crush these humans beneath its enormous weight.

It opened its mouth and roared again. But, beneath the suppression of its gravity curtain, the waves couldn't even rise up. A sonic boom of sound shattered their ear drums one after another, threatening to rip Franco to pieces.

Without being able to be sent flying, the strength of the sound wave couldn't be dissipated and Franco was forced to take on the brunt of it, his mouth coughing up several mouthfuls of blood.

He felt his vision swimming as something within him snapped. The last dregs of energy Gil had was already sapped clean. What Franco hadn't noticed was that it was also Gil's lightning that kept his mind awake. But the moment it ran out…

Franco collapsed, the weight on his back pushing him into the waters below.

However, just when it seemed that their heroic tale would truly end here, a hand reached down and touched his shoulder, shrouding him in an energy shield that seemed to render the gravity curtain completely useless.

Karolus' pupils constricted. 'Who is that…?'

The young man lifted Franco and the others up and out of the water, his gaze filled with a furious light as he gazed toward the gravity whale.

From top to bottom, the young man was coated in a beautiful blue light. It surrounded him like a halo, making him seem like a Deity descended from some world above.

"Fuck you." The young man said coldly.

He reached out a hand, causing the whale to suddenly become enveloped by an energy shield of blue that was eerily similar to the halo that surrounded him.

Caught off guard, the whale couldn't react in time. It found that its gravity curtain was suddenly concentrated in its immediate surroundings, its own power being turned against it.

Its flesh collapsed and a pained howl left it. Unfortunately, even the sound wave rebounded against the barrier, causing its own voice to tear at its skin.

The young man's hand rose up high, lifting the whale that must have been almost a kilometer long as though it was nothing more than feather. Then… He squeezed.

The energy shield of blue morphed, forming spikes that pierced the whale's body through. Its harsh cried turned to gurgles that eventually died out completely. All that was left was an energy shield hovering in the air like a sack of flesh and blood.

At that moment, a blazing light appeared from the distance like a streak of gold cutting across the skies. When that light came to a grinding halt, another young man appeared, this one far more recognizable to the masses.

Leonel looked around the battlefield, his pupils constricting. But, when he saw the young man with his hand raised in the air, his expression evened out to the point it neared placid.

'James.'