Chapter 65: 62: Titan Roach.
Edward didn’t take much time to think, he just followed.
Right as Selene finished her sentence, Edward lowered himself to the floor, catching a glimpse of the others doing the same.
Then the brilliance overtook the world.
The white hot light was still struggling against entropy as Edward blinked the dizziness in his eyes away, the pain in his retinas enough make tears pour down his cheek. There was a enchanting ring echoing in his ears, making him question reality itself for a moment.
He dazedly took a glance to his side, only too see the wide arc of Calen’s iron blade plunge itself deep into the head of one of the roaches.
Rowan was standing right next to him, tenderly pushing his blade back into its sheath as he reigned over the mutilated corpses in front of him.
What really made him wake up though, was the visage of Aria that he saw next.
The blade made of light had grown brighter than ever, and her delicate head was now adorned with a crown that looked so beautiful that Edward couldn’t help but do a double take. She was standing over a large pile of dead roaches, swinging her sword in a perfect slash to get the blood of her pristine blood. Her eyes scanning the premises like that of a hawk.
"Young master!" Calen called out as he shook of the bits of flesh stuck to his sword. "Are you alright?"
Edward gave him a small nod, brain still struggling to shake off the aftermath of Selene’s stun spell.
He swallowed thickly, coughing out the last of the ringing in his ears. "Y-Yeah... I think so."
His voice sounded far away. Muffled. Like he was hearing himself through water.
Selene’s spell had been... a lot.
He pushed himself upright slowly, blinking until the cavern stopped tilting sideways. The air still shimmered faintly with leftover mana, purple motes drifting down like soot from a dying star.
Selene stood in the center of it all, chest rising and falling in slow, exhausted breaths. Rowan remained beside her, one steady hand on her back, grounding her. She didn’t protest—not even when Rowan carefully brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. That alone told Edward how drained she must’ve been.
Aria, on the other hand, looked like she had been carved straight out of myth.
She stepped over a bisected roach, her form haloed in harsh white light. The crown of radiance flickering above her head cast ripples of gold across her features, and her blade—her shimmering blade of pure mana—burned with an intensity strong enough to make Edward’s skin prickle.
She looked terrifying.
She looked beautiful.
She looked like she belonged in a storybook depicting divine wrath.
Edward gulped as she approached.
"You’re sure you’re unhurt?" she asked, tone clipped but undeniably worried. She reached out, brushing a thumb across the corner of his eye where the tear tracks still lingered.
Edward stiffened. "I—I’m fine. Really."
Her gaze searched him for a heartbeat longer before she seemed satisfied. The crown dissolved, leaving behind only the faint glow of her mana.
Behind her, Calen jogged over to examine the carnage, his expression grim.
"That was only a fraction of the swarm," he muttered, nudging a corpse with his boot. "These tunnels must be crawling with nests."
Edward felt his stomach drop.
Of course they were.
Because why would anything in this cursed forest be easy?
Rowan straightened, supporting Selene as she leaned against him. "We need to keep moving. Selene’s blast attracted... everything."
As if on cue, a faint tremor rippled through the stone floor.
Edward froze.
Calen tensed. "Did you feel—?"
Another tremor. Stronger.
Dust trickled down from the ceiling in thin streams.
Aria’s expression sharpened instantly. "Everyone on your feet. Now."
Selene swallowed, forcing her exhausted body upright. "That... that’s not a swarm."
"No," Rowan murmured, eyes narrowing as he stared down the dark tunnel behind them.
Edward’s pulse skyrocketed.
"Then what is it—?"
Calen answered without turning.
"A Titan Roach."
Edward paled. "A—Sorry, a what now?!"
Even Aria’s jaw tightened.
"They’re subterranean apex predators," she said, gripping her blade. "Blind, but drawn to mana. And Selene’s spell was..." She glanced at the scorched ground. "...a beacon."
The tremor became a quake.
A distant screech—deep, guttural, resonating through bone—echoed through the cavern.
The sound alone made Edward’s knees buckle.
Rowan grabbed his arm before he fell. "Move. No arguments."
Aria snapped her fingers. "Formation! Selene, middle. Calen, front. Rowan—rear guard!"
She turned to Edward, eyes burning with urgency.
"You stay beside me. No matter what."
He nodded fast enough to hurt his neck.
Another screech tore through the tunnels.
This time much closer.
Calen drew his sword with a harsh metallic scrape.
"Run."
And they did.
They ran.
The moment they started running, the cavern seemed to shrink around them.
Edward stumbled after Aria, boots slipping against loose gravel as the tremors grew stronger with each shuddering pulse through the stone. The air grew thick—heavy—almost syrupy, vibrating with a low-frequency hum that made his teeth ache.
Behind him, Rowan’s hurried footsteps echoed sharply, grounding him just enough to keep moving forward instead of collapsing into a shaking heap. Selene’s breathing, shallow and uneven, reached him between the pounding of his own heartbeat in his ears.
The tunnel ahead twisted sharply, forcing Calen to skid to the side as he pivoted around the bend. "Keep close!" he barked.
Edward nearly tripped over his own feet trying to obey.
A rush of stale air slammed past them, shooting down the corridor like a blast of wind being sucked toward some unseen void. It smelled like rot. Wet stone. Old, festering mana.
Edward gagged.
"What was that?!" he wheezed.
Aria didn’t look back. "It’s inhaling."
"I’m sorry—it’s WHAT?"
Another screech ripped down the tunnel, so close the sound rattled his bones. The very walls seemed to vibrate beneath the weight of it. Fine cracks spiderwebbed along the ceiling above them, shedding dust that clung to Edward’s hair and lashes.
Rowan swore under his breath. "It’s faster than I expected."
Selene steadied herself with a hand against the wall. "It’s tracking us through our mana signatures—we’re practically glowing right now."
Aria clicked her tongue, frustration bleeding into her expression. "We need a choke point. Somewhere narrow enough that it can’t force its full body through."
"That’s assuming it can’t burrow straight around us," Rowan shot back.
Calen’s voice echoed from ahead, urgent and taut. "Lights—up ahead! A chamber!"
Edward almost sagged in relief.
Almost.
Because the roar that followed shook the earth so violently that Edward’s knees buckled and Aria had to yank him upright with a hissed, "Not now."
The Titan Roach was close.
Too close.
They had seconds at most.
Edward didn’t dare look back—not with that monstrous presence breathing down the collapsing tunnel behind them.
He just kept running.
