The Eternal in Abyss

Chapter 65: Split Up

ALEXANDER CADDEL'S Point of View

Nang bumagsak ang pinakahuling Katharsis member na sumugod sa amin, lumawak ang ngiti sa mukha ni River.

"That's all of them."

I hear Dwayne scoff as he put his bow in his back. "You mean, that's all of them?"

Napailing nalang ako sa kayabangan ng isang 'to. Pero tama naman siya, hindi kami nahirapang kalabanin ang mga Katharsis members na sumugod mula sa loob. We're already inside the headquarters, dahil kay Theon ay nakahanap kami ng lagusan papasok.

Kamusta na kaya 'yon? I know it won't take long for him to catch up with us. Kayang kaya niya ang isang battalion ng kalaban at yung Chimera. He's not our Captain for nothing.

"What do we do now?" Tanong ni Hurricane habang pinapalibot ang tingin sa loob. We're currently in a hallway, and there's a lot of passages that we can go to. Ang problema lang ay hindi namin alam kung saan pupunta.

Alam namin ang location ng mga headquarters nila, but it's a challenge to find out about its interior layout. Kahit ang reconnaissance namin ay hindi sapat para malaman ang blueprint ng mga ito.

Nephele frowns. "We have to find Morpheus, pero paano natin siya mahahanap sa dami ng p'wedeng lagusan. It's like a maze in here."

"If only we know how to navigate this place." Paris shakes his head, clicking his tongue at our predicament.

Mahina akong natawa. "Dapat pala may spy rin tayo eh, para alam rin natin yung pasikot-sikot sa mga headquarters nila." I joke.

Nephele and Paris look at me with subtle warning. Ang iba naman ay sumang-ayon lang sa sinabi ko. Some shrugged it off. Totoo naman kasi, if Kasdeya could infiltrate us, who's to say that we can't do the same, hindi ba?

"Other than stopping Morpheus, we have another goal, right?" Humakbang palapit si Aether na nakabulsa lang at nakatingin sa hallway, kung saan ito naghiwa-hiwalay para gumawa ng mga bagong daan. "We have to destroy this place."

Nagkatinginan kaming lahat. Wala mang nagsalita sa amin, alam na agad namin ang dapat gawin.

We summon our weapons and activate our abilities, before causing massive destruction in the place.

Sinira namin ang mga pader, kwarto, at hallway ng headquarters. We have to physically dismantle this location too to make sure that Kathrasis won't have any shelter to go back to. If we're going to defeat an immortal, we'll have to break his spirit and show him that he has nothing.

Maliban doon, kailangan rin naming hanapin ang tamang passageway. What's a better way to find the correct path in a maze than destroying the barricades itself?

Biglang natigilan si River. "Wait, hindi ba't may mga hidden passage ang mga headquarters ng Katharsis?" Tanong niya sa amin kaya napatingin sakaniya si Paris.

"As far as I know, there should be some here. Ganoon din sa pinaka-unang headquarters na sinugod natin. That was two years ago, I think."

Oh, I remember that. Wala pa sina Aether, Reinn, at Kasdeya noon. But I remember Paris telling us something about seeing Kasdeya then. Doon nalaman ng Acropolis ang tungkol sakaniya.

A demigod who escaped captivity and decided to hide among the mortals. Pero makalipas ang isang taon, nahanap siya ng Acropolis at pinahanap kina Paris at River. That's how she was brought to us in the first place.

The rest is history.

Napansin ko ang maliit na ngiti sa mukha ni Paris. "I only found out that Katharsis had hidden passages around their headquarters when I first saw Kasdeya," Tama nga ang naaalala ko. "Gumamit siya ng isa noon para makatakas... Now that I think about it more clearly, I should've been suspicious. It doesn't add up, eh."