14 The Old Man And The Sea (1/2)
The trapped figure hadn't said a word besides his initial warning.
”Catherine, is that guy a summoner?” Joshua asked.
”I believe so. Judging by the situation, his spirit has gone out of control. This is probably the kind of predicament the Crow had in store for me when he had my summoning circle sabotaged.”
”I see, so the hydra is keeping the summoner alive to remain in this world while feeding off his energy?”
”Most likely.”
”Soooo, should we kill the old man? I know this sounds extreme but considering the state he's in, he probably can't live for long after being removed from that ice block…”
As soon as he had said that, they heard the old man's voice once again.
”If… you can… please... do so…”
Hearing this cleared any doubt from their minds. Based on the old man's appearance, Joshua had the impression he had probably been trapped in there for an eternity, with the hydra somehow keeping it alive. Catherine gave the order and the group moved toward the ice coffin. Seeing this, the hydra sped up and tried to intercept them, but its large body slowed it down too much. It suddenly detached two heads and threw them toward the party, but Boris who was acting as the rear guard managed to knock them away with a powerful blow.
When they reached the coffin, Eric bombarded it with fire. The effects were immediate, the coffin started to melt. However, before the group could rejoice, the ice started to reform. Eric frowned and tried several other attacks, supported by Boris who tried to break the ice, to no avail. Joshua tried to traverse the ice, but since it was a summoned item, he couldn't pass through it either. The hydra was close, they didn't have much time.
”Now what? Anyone got a brilliant idea?” Joshua asked.
Catherine then took a step forward and said: ”Sir, let me enter your soul world.”
”Are...you... sure?” the voice answered.
”Yes!”
”...Fine...Be...careful.”
”Joshua, go to my soul world! The rest of you, please keep the hydra busy” she ordered.
Her teammates nodded while Joshua entered Catherine's world, not sure what she was planning.
”I had no idea you could do something like that,” he said, clapping his hands.
”Really? There is a passage linking both our souls. This one is more rudimentary but it's based around the same principle.” Catherine answered. ”Crossing this should lead to the old man's soul world. Entering someone's else's place is nearly impossible normally, but he's letting us in willingly.”
”OK, and what's the plan exactly? We enter this old man's soul world and do what?”
”We look for what's linking the hydra and the old man and we find a way to break it.”
”I thought the only way to break the link between a summoner and his Guardian was the summoner dying.”
”Under normal circumstances that's the case. But I could, in theory, destroy the passage that's linking both of our souls. It would tremendously damage my soul world though and I would never be able to summon another spirit if I did that.”
She took a deep breath and said :
”We should hurry. This passage won't last long and I believe it's our best way to defeat the hydra.”
”Fine, you're the expert in spirits. I'll trust your judgment,” Joshua replied as he followed her through the passage.
The tunnel wasn't long and after a few seconds, they emerged into a large open space. They appeared to be on a small island in the middle of a small sea.