Chapter 96 - Dungeon - IV
The world was collapsing around them when Glenn acted. His body hurled into the abyss the exact moment the last stones at the edge gave way. A violet aura of gravitational energy erupted from him, wrapping him in a cloak of distorted force as he fell into the void.
His feet struck the vertical cliff wall with calculated impact. Every muscle fiber in his legs strained to the limit before he pushed off with superhuman strength. The rock behind him shattered into a momentary crater as his body shot forward like a human projectile, controlling the fall with inverted gravity.
Dália spun uncontrollably below, her hair whipping like banners in the whirlwind of air. Glenn's right arm stretched out with absolute precision, his fingers clamping around the healer's wrist in a steel grip. The sudden yank made his shoulder pop painfully, but he pulled her against his chest in a protective embrace, encasing them both in the energetic cocoon of his gravitational magic.
'I need more reach!'
His violet eyes blazed as he spotted Dorian plummeting like a stone, his right shoulder completely blackened by necrosis. Glenn kicked the air with monstrous force, gravitational waves visible as distortions in space, launching himself into an accelerated descent.
His left hand seized the warrior's thigh with enough force to dent armor. Dorian let out a muffled grunt of pain and relief. Now they formed a grotesque trio: Glenn at the center like an anchor, Dália shielded in his arms, and Dorian dangling upside-down by his left leg like a macabre trophy.
A thunderous crash came from above.
Aeloria and Seraphine had leaped into the abyss. Glenn gritted his teeth, veins bulging in his neck. The aura of gravitational magic enveloped him, slowing their fall as he waited for Seraphine and Aeloria to reach them.
"Hold on!" he roared, his voice distorted by strain.
Seraphine, in her daze, clung to Aeloria with the desperate strength of the dying. The ice mage, in turn, latched onto Glenn's back like a shipwrecked survivor to driftwood. Even with gravity drastically reduced, the group's combined mass sent them plummeting at an alarming speed.
Seconds later, the five of them hit the ground.