Corrin looked at Lukas, and for a moment, considered leaving him. But he looked at it from a different way. If Corrin himself were stuck up there, he wouldn't leave himself behind. Corrin thought that the perspective was strange, especially considering his and Lukas's interesting relationship, yet it felt morally correct.
Corrin looked at the spiders and quickly thought of what to do. He looked behind him to the portal, hoping someone might jump through to help after seeing the sword fly through.
For now, Corrin was alone. He took a moment to take in all of the spiders around him. They easily numbered a few dozen, but most of them were small compared to some of the bigger ones. The small ones were up to Corrin's knees, while the bigger ones reached to his shoulders.
Corrin ran to where the spiders were smaller, away from some of the bigger ones. He jumped onto the wall. He had some experience climbing walls, especially brick ones, so the climbing part was easy for Corrin.
He went quickly, inching closer to the ceiling rafters, and by extension, Lukas. But as he went, suddenly a web hit his legs together. He tried to pull them apart, but they were far too sticky for him. He lost his footing and dangled from one of the bricks with his hands, trying to pull his legs apart with all his might to free them.
Another web hits Corrin's hand; the same hand he was hit at before when he dropped his sword. Corrin desperately tried to pull apart his hands and legs and began to make a bit of progress, but he couldn't get them loose in time. He fell to the spiders with a large thump.
The spider's feet clicked and clacked as they ran towards him; Corrin's heart began to race. Soon they were all on top of him, spinning webs and twisting him around. In the matter of a few seconds, Corrin was already nearly completely covered in webs.
He looked to the black spherical portal that the shard had made, desperately hoping it would stay open for a few moments longer.
Suddenly, warping sounds filled the room. Corrin looked to the portal, and standing there were soldiers clad in iron armor and halberds standing guard over the portal. Their armor reflected the light of the shard, which was now nearly covered in the webbing. Among the soldiers was Tutsoi, standing there with his broadsword.
The soldiers didn't seem like the most well-trained of groups, but the addition of Tutsoi made Corrin have hope.
"What the hell is this? Corrin?"
Corrin tried to call out, but he could only murmur through the webs, which covered his head in a thin layer. Even if Tutsoi heard him over the spider's legs clacking on the floor, Tutsoi wouldn't have seen him. Too many spiders stood over Corrin's location.
The spiders stood lifeless for a few seconds before instantly flooding towards the soldiers all at once. The halberd squashed through the smaller spiders like butter, but their slow weapons were not ideal for this many enemies.
The soldiers were overrun quickly and began to huddle backwards. Tutsoi was the only one of them fast enough to survive the onslaught; it also helped that he was now standing in mid-air. Corrin watched Tutsoi's Resonance in action; the ability to stand on the air itself.
He jumped around, skewering the large ones quickly, dodging webs shot at him. Corrin punctured through his web. Because of the incredible timing of Tutsoi and the soldiers, the web around Corrin was thin enough to break through, if only slightly. His legs and hands were a different story, requiring more force.
Corrin pulled the shard off of himself and threw it up in the air in Tutsoi's general direction.
"Tutsoi! Catch!"
Tutsoi jumped and caught it, slinging it around his neck. Corrin looked past him and saw the soldiers begin to fall and be webbed by the spiders. This, Corrin thought, was not good.
Corrin pulled the webs holding him down apart; he was lucky the majority of the spiders were focused on the soldiers and far away from him. Tutsoi jumped around, shakily pulling the shard over his neck.
"Use it, Tutsoi! Above!!"
Tutsoi looked up and saw Lukas hanging from the ceiling. For a moment, Tutsoi wanted to leave him there. He knew Lukas was not the reason for his sister's murder, but he couldn't bear the thought of saving him. So he didn't think about it at all.
He focused on a black hole, just like before, to appear in front of him and reappear near where Lukas was. Luckily, he had practice in using Anees Energy from the atmosphere. The portal was small, but Tutsoi could manage. He delved towards the black hole, and the world flipped around, left, right, his own vision seemed to go backwards for a moment before he reappeared near Lukas.
Tutsoi wasn't prepared for the nausea that came with traveling through the realms, and he had to hold himself back from throwing up. Fortunately, he managed to cut Lukas free with one large slash. As he fell, he formed another portal and reappeared near the ground.
Luckily, Corrin was now getting out of the webs and could run. He ran to Tutsoi when suddenly the spiders all stopped moving. Tutsoi and Corrin stopped as well as though they were told to, and the silence became eerie. Corrin was the first to move, running to the soldiers in desperation.
"Quickly, let's get the soldiers out while we still have a chance!"
Corrin and Tutsoi ran to the soldiers. Corrin grabbed one of the halberds and ripped open Lukas's webbing. Lukas gasped for air and rose; Corrin pulled him up as he coughed. Then, they heard steps from above them and a light clapping.
"You all are quite something, huh?"
Corrin and Lukas turn to the source of the noise, a dim window above them. Tutsoi's face goes pale. He turns to the voice as well. In the window stood the figure of a man.
"You took on and killed my babies without even breaking a sweat."
Corrin gritted his teeth.
"Who are you!?"
Tutsoi answered softly and painfully.
"He's the man that killed my sister…"
The man gives a faint chuckle.
"She was weak. Despite being nearly five years older than you and having the same training, she still couldn't keep up with you. Your black hair gave you the ability to gain a Resonance super easily."
Corrin had been meaning to ask why Tutsoi had black hair if he appeared to be an Anees, but now, neither any other time, seemed to be the right time.
"One in what, a million? Those are the chances to be born with black hair as an Anees, right? So you're better than everyone else just because you were luckier."
Tutsoi gritted his teeth in anger.
"I never boasted to anybody about it."
"And yet you couldn't complete a simple task to save your sister, how pitiful."
Corrin took a step forward; he still held the halberd in his hands. Anger struck through his face.
"You call taking a human life a simple task!?"
He gives a sinister smile.
"Oh, yes… but of course I wouldn't expect anything less from you, Corrin Hisstion. I've been trying to kill Lukas for so long, but I never expected to see you here. Ever since I watched your other half fall away into this realm, tasked with murdering him! Hah… and my brothers… tasked with murdering you."
Corrin took a few steps back.
"What brothers are you talking about?"
He jumps down. His body was just in the light of the shards. His dark skin, bald head, and smile are far too familiar for Corrin's comfort.
"Well, Vesterii and Reidicii."
Corrin's face went cold. This man was a brother of Vesterii? Corrin had mixed feelings about Vesterii. Corrin hated thinking about Vesterii. From the good he saw in him, he was a caring individual whom Corrin was genuinely fond of. Yet, he was a heartless murderer who wanted nothing more than to kill him.
But Corrin didn't know who Reidicii was, nor did he care.
"Who are you?"
The man grabbed a large axe from around his back.
"Nevarii Shaliim… so it seems my brothers haven't gotten to you yet, huh?"
Corrin scowls.
"Vesterii is dead. So is your queen. I killed them both."
Nevarii's face changes from a smile to a scowl.
"Vesterii… dead?"
Nevarii stands silent for a few moments before chuckling a bit.
"Vesterii wasn't the strongest of us anyway, nor was Reidicii. And I don't give a damn if the queen of the Shem is dead. I only serve my high king over the sands. And my king wants you dead, Corrin."
He throws himself forward, swinging his giant axe towards them. Corrin dodges backward, and Lukas does the same. Lukas and Tutsoi engage with their broadswords, but Corrin feels useless; one of his least favorite feelings. Nearly every time he felt useless, somebody got hurt.
Lukas quickly grabs his broadsword that had fallen before.
"Black Steel…"
Lukas's sword becomes covered in black steel, from the base of the hilt to the tip of the blade. He flows downwards
"Upward wind!"
Lukas smiles as Nevarii jumps up and to the side, not malevolently, but with a 'you're caught in my trap' look.
"Black Steel… Starry Night!!"
Lukas jabs his broadsword dozens of times upward as Nevarii barely dodges them. Tutsoi jumps again in the air. For the first time, Corrin gets a clear view of Tutsoi's Resonance. He runs on the air itself, the air compressing around his feet like streams. But this was not a time to be amazed.
"Tutsoi! Get us out of here, now!!"
Tutsoi nods his head as he hits Nevarii away with a kick. He flies around and slides, the dust and debris piling up around him.
"You're not getting away that easily!!"
He whispers something softly and creepily. The spiders all begin to move and attack again. Lukas turns and looks at the soldiers tied in webs.
"What about the soldiers!?"
Tutsoi grits his teeth, disgusted with himself for what he was about to say.
"Too much is at stake; we have to leave them!"
Lukas doesn't want to, but he understands. A black hole appears just before them, and they all fly through it. They're minds twist and turn, and they instantly bump into the walls on the other side one by one. Around them are soldiers gearing to go through, but they don't have to.
Tutsoi immediately closes the portal. Omna was standing on the other side of the table. He looked at the three of them.
"Oh, thank the gods you all are alive."
They all take a moment of silence for the soldiers lost to Nevarii.
"What in the name of the gods happened?"
Corrin got up slowly and looked towards Axel. Corrin was luckily unhurt, only covered in the remnants of the webbing.
"Vesterii's brother."
Axel opened his mouth a bit in shock.
"How did he even get here…"
Axel whispered to himself, putting his hand on the table for support.
Omna looked at all of them.
"Corrin, Tutsoi, Lukas. Tell me what happened here."
The three of them stood up and faced Omna. How could they possibly even begin?
Corrin's mind began to race, thinking of Vesterii's brother.