Chapter 2: To Refuse

“Wait– no! There’s no way this is happening. He- did he really throw me out!?”

[Alert: Monster is currently attacking the ship!]

[Alert: Monster is currently attacking the ship!]

Teus’ ears rang as he still heard the alarm from the far off battle airship.

Captain Hawk’s sharp impact reverberated through Teus’ armor, almost immediately he was airborne. 

The time seemed as though it had slowed down, he fell throughout the broken glass as pure shock circulated his mind.

The wind bellowed around him, though this was not his biggest problem. 

From behind him a titanic monster in the shape of a centipede, brandishing fire erupting from the sides of its head, had its mouth wide agape. The plentiful fangs shimmering under the dim light.

Inside the beast was an abyss of darkness, slimy and thick. Saliva dripped from holes that had sizzled, bubbled and burnt up broken parts of the ship. Teus was flying straight into the dark cavern.

The smell was putrid and foul. He looked behind him. His eyes widened as his vision was filled with the grotesque sight of the beast's disgusting throat.

“This can’t! This can’t be!”

“...”

“There’s no way…There’s no way I’m going to die…in this thing!?” he thought.

Teus struggled to think. The wind still roared so loudly around him. Teus plummeted through the air, his mind speeding to process what happened to him. 

With a loud thud the monster’s mouth abruptly closed, accompanied with a nasty crunch. 

He was engulfed in the dark, with a damp texture, and suffocating heat that challenged his breathing. 

Soon Teus’ body was brutally slammed into the insides of the beast as the chaotic forces took hold from around him. Constantly sloshing from end to end of the miniature dungeon that was the insides of the fiend.

The armor’s lights flickered, he was adapting with the sudden increase in temperature. The acidic saliva sizzled and burned through the destroyed ship that was swallowed earlier.

Teus gasped before he called out.

“...Alberion!”

He caught his breath before he continued.

“I’m gonna try to plan our way out of this. Scan the monster and see anything I should know about? What do you think I need to do?”

“...I ought to suggest not dying.”

Alberion calmly replied.

“I can find specifics, I’m scanning the beast now. Currently calculating a potential route of escape, assuming: you’re not melted by that time.”

Teus examined the area. The dim light showing pieces of the broken ship getting incinerated by the acid surrounding him.

“Wow, thanks. That’s so comforting, Alberion…”

“My primary function is not comfort.” Ablerion rebutted. “But your survival.”

“Yet, here I am, inside of a giant centipede monster! You can’t give me one survival tip right now?”

“Tip one: Do not panic.”

“Awesome, already got that down.”

“Tip two: Get out.”

“Gee, you’re quite the genius, aren’t ya?”

“The real genius is your master Ryael, who entrusted me to you. Since you would almost certainly be dead without me by now.”

“Don’t use him as an excuse for this behavior!”

As Teus shouted, the heat was only worsening. The acid scorched closer to his boots. His eyes  narrowed as he gripped his sword tight. His mind searched for a possible solution while Alberion continued the calculations.

“Teus, I need you to focus. The wreckage from the ship is sinking faster than I initially estimated. You’re going to need to create an exit—immediately.” said Alberion.

The acid from the beast violently splashes against the walls of the monster’s insides. A wave comes hurtling towards Teus’ direction. He jumps from one sinking piece of airship to another.

“The fight’s probably not going as they hoped out there, huh.” Teus thought.

Alberion shouted. “Teus!”

He leaped in the air, avoiding another incoming stream of acid, darting below him. 

“Right! Sorry about that, I’m still just a little shocked.” 

He said trying to shake off the mix of emotions he was currently feeling. He was going through; frustration, anger and overwhelming astonishment. Shocked was the least of the words.

Teus glared at the shut teeth of the giant monster.

“Looks like I gotta cut my way through this one.”

Teus took a deep breath, grit his teeth while the acrid heat weighed heavy on him.

“Let’s not waste time!”

Still hearing the sound of the saliva hissing and dripping onto what remained of the ship’s pieces. He planted his feet to the ground and gripped his sword’s handle even tighter.

Blue plasma began to radiate from his suit and circle surrounding him. like an aura made of small flashes of lightning.

“Sealed Technique—Spiral Style: Severance Flutter!”

In an instantaneous motion, the flickering energy surged like a storm from his blade. Teus unleashed a flurry of rapid slashes toward the beast’s fangs. The sword twirled, almost erupting with plasma as it connected with the hardened teeth. But instead of piercing the way through, sparks danced wildly, his attacks scattering across the impregnable fortress like drops of water on hot steel.

“What in the hell? The blade barely left a damn mark..!” Teus thought to himself.

The saliva was creeping ever closer, inches from Teus’ boots now, hissing ominously. With a swift spring, he jumped, launching himself backwards onto a chunk of the destroyed ship, not completely devoured by the acid, still floating above. 

With heavy breath, realizing how little time he had left. Teus slammed his sword into the metal below him whilst panting, he wheezed. 

“Alberion, are you done scanning the beast yet?”

Alberion’s voice came through, calm and precise as could be. 

“I’ve completed the analysis, it’s not looking good. Teus, you’re dealing with a Flame Storm Centipede.”

“...Okay, what disaster level?”

“13…”

[Fire Storm Centipede]

[Disaster level:  ★★★★★★★★★★★★★]

The holographic text hovered in front of Teus’ face as his pupils dilated.

His stomach began to sink.

“Thirteen stars!? That’s ridiculous, you’ve got to be joking…”

“No,” Alberion replied flatly. “In fact, I barely joke.”

“Of…of course you don’t.” Teus grunted, his eyes then shifted to the pungent, encroaching acid.

Teus’ mind began to scatter.

“Thirteen stars! How the hell is this thing even here!? That’s almost double what they called us out for?... how am I supposed to get out of this?” 

“...Did they really do this all to get rid of me!?”

“Teus,” Alberions’s robotic voice cut through the chaos, sharp and analytical, 

“This is clearly more than just a mission gone wrong, The odds of this being a deliberate setup from the Brulsian Empire are about 70-73.8% likely.”

A deep silence took place between the two.

“Prioritize escape once you’re free. I’m going to start calculating possible routes—”

“No way.” Teus’ voice was determined and firm, eyes narrowed as he scoured the shifting mass of the beast’s insides.

“Pardon?”

Alberion’s tone was thick with impatience. 

“Teus, you’re facing a 13 star disaster level threat, there is no time for a ‘no’ in this situation. This is beyond reckless. Why is escape not your only goal?”

“I can’t let them die, while knowing I could have done something, Alberion.”

“I know they set me up. They probably wanted me to die, right?” Teus uttered under his breath, almost more to himself than Alberion. But then his grip on this sword handle tightened. 

“But even if they did, this thing will easily take them out too. I’m not just watching them die.”

Alberion’s voice softened, though the sternness continued.

“Your…survival odds are drastically low, Teus. Especially if you attempt to save them… This beast is far, far past your capabilities to defeat, let alone subdue. You need to focus on getting yourself away from here. There’s no tactical advantage in staying.”

“Obviously I can’t kill it.” Teus admitted, eyes still filled with stoic exuberance.

“But there’s no way that the four of them can survive a monster attack like this alone, we have to regroup. I just need to make sure the others are okay. I’ll decide what to do after that.”

Teus clenched his teeth, whilst his mind flashed back to the crew member that was being harassed by captain Hawk. He still remembered his fear, his helplessness. He shook his head and said.

“Besides, it's not like all of them deserve to die anyway.”

Alberion halted, almost calculating Teus’ stubborn plot.

“Don’t make this your last mission, there’s a very real possibility this strong sense of integrity of yourself could get you killed.”

“Haha.” A light chuckle escaped through Teus’ mouth.

“Maybe, but the only way that this monster’s getting to them is over my dead body!”

Then the centipede’s body mass shifted vehemently. The walls of it’s inner mouth quickly undulating as if in preparation for swallowing Teus whole.

“It seems that the battle outside of the ship is fast ensuing…” Alberion stated.

The acidic saliva dangerously pooled closer, hissing and sizzling. Bubbles popped as they burnt more pieces of the surface Teus was standing on. He braced himself for what was to come next.

“Alberion,” Teus called his voice tranquil but full of resolve. 

“You’re finished scanning right? Any ideas on how to get out of this thing? If we’re going to save the others, we can’t do it from here!”

“You are by far the most illogical human I‘ve ever paired up with.” Alberion sighed. 

Though he relented.

“...Fine. I’ll get an exit strategy going. But after this, we’re having a much needed discussion about your decision-making. ”

Teus lightly smirked. “We’ll have plenty of time to lecture me later on. Let's get going!”

Another wave of acid shot towards Teus, this one surging with more saliva than the last. If this blast got to him, it would consume him entirely. 

With no hesitation, Teus pulled his sword from the metal that it was stuck in, and spun it in the air.

“Sealed Technique—Spiral Style: Rotation’s Shield!”

His blade began to twirl faster and faster yet, until the afterimages merged into one blue blur of pure energy.

The force of the spinning motion became so intense that the air around Teus became distorted, creating a small vortex that howled with great power. He moved with such velocity that his entire body began to vibrate, his silhouette vanishing within the sphere of plasma he created. Sparks flew from his sword as the sheer speed nearly threatened to rip the air apart.

The force repelled the deadly liquid, scattering it back into the dark realm of the centipede. Teus did a sharp exhale. His mind still racing as the threat of being digested slowly seemed to be realizing itself as a reality.

“Yeah, it’s probably not looking any better out there. Any update on the escape route?” Teus asked.

“I identified a potential weakness. The monster has a sensitive region of flesh on the inside, specifically the near roof of it’s mouth. With an acute strike, you could create an exit opportunity.”

He glanced up, looking his eyes onto the pulsating, raw surface above him. 

“Sensitive, huh.”

Teus’ eyes squinted more as a devious grin appeared on his face.

He pointed his blade upward as plasma surged and crackled along the sword, casting a bright light throughout the beast’s maw. 

Inside, the air sizzled with electric tension. Teus crouched low and gathered his strength.

“I’m not sure if I’m gonna love this…”

“Sealed Technique—Spiral Style: Piercing Blow!”

With a fierce leap, Teus propelled himself upward, blade charged to the limit. He pierced it straight into the roof of the beast’s mouth.

The plasma-infused sword blasting through the vulnerable flesh like plastic. The centipede monster let out a harrowing shriek, as it’s body convulsed wildly. The impact shock the entire area.

Before he could react, Teus was vomited out through the violent retch.

He was flung through the air, free-falling as he tumbled in the open sky, past the clouds. Wind whipped past him as he spun violently, but between the chaos Teus saw it:

The massive, wiggling body of the monster, plummeting toward the serrated gray mountains of the island below them. Their fangs, still glimmering in the sunlight. As well as what remained of the battle airship. Slowly descending with them, smoke puffing from damaged sections. Other areas were on fire, scorched with determined flames.

“Well, I hope you got a plan.” Alberion flatly said, sarcasm deep in his voice.

“Because I have no idea how you intend to end this.”

Teus’ eyes lit up as he saw the scene unfold in front of him, almost as though a lightbulb went off in his head.

“Actually I do…” he said.

“Step 1: Don’t panic.”

“Okay…” Alberion said hesitantly.

“Step 2: Save the damn day!”

“...You have got to be kidding me.”