CHAPTER 141: [IT’S THE—]

"Stop."

Kairo froze mid-step.

The voice was low, frayed, but familiar enough to cut through him instantly.

Eli’s voice.

His head snapped down, eyes narrowing at the boy draped over his shoulder.

Bound wrists, trembling lashes, those wide yellow eyes—still dilated, still unstable.

But this time, his lips had moved.

"What?" Kairo asked flatly, gaze sharp.

Eli’s mouth opened again, the words crawling out faint, broken. "Stop... don’t... go there."

Not a curse. Not a threat. Not the vicious bile he’d been spitting at him minutes ago.

He was speaking. Coherent. Almost normal.

Kairo’s chest tightened, suspicion flickering through his thoughts. ’No. Wait. I can’t trust this yet. He could just be mumbling—another trick from that thing in his head.’

"What are you saying, Eli?" Kairo’s voice cut low, deliberate. His black eyes narrowed, testing. "Speak up."

Eli turned his head slightly, lips trembling. For the briefest heartbeat, his expression looked different—softened, clearer. Eli. The real one.

"I..."

Kairo held still, waiting, watching, a rare flicker of hope clawing against his chest.

But just as quickly, the light in his gaze shattered.

The clarity twisted back into that wild, frenzied stare—pupils blown wide, lips peeling back in a manic snarl.

"I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Eli screamed, the sound jagged and raw in Kairo’s ear.

’I knew it.’

The captain’s eyebrow twitched. Mild annoyance. No more. "You’ve learned to be smart even while being controlled," he muttered coldly, refusing to give the madness any ground.

But then—

"Kairo..." Eli’s voice dropped again, fragile, almost lucid. His eyes flickered, clear for a fraction of a second. "Go back. It’s not... them. It’s—"

The clarity cracked.

"DIE! DIE! DIE!" Eli shrieked, spit catching his words, thrashing against his hold again.

Kairo’s teeth ground. His jaw ticked hard. He didn’t know if this was a warning, a plea, or just the monster puppeting him with more precision than before.

’No. He’s fucking with me. Or it’s fucking with me.’

He ignored it. He had to.

Because then—

"Captain! Eli! Make a sound! Let us hear you!"

Zaira’s voice—raw, desperate.

"Please, Captain! Show us you’re alive!"

Mio’s shout this time, strained with panic.

"Captain!"

"CAPTAIN!!"

The sound of his team’s voices slammed against him harder than Eli’s warnings ever could. Their panic bled into the cavern, pulling him forward, every syllable twisting into a demand.

Kairo’s muscles coiled. He picked up the pace immediately, water splashing hard under his boots as he followed the echoes deeper. His grip tightened on Eli, securing him higher against his shoulder.

"Captain!"

"Captain, please!"

"Kairo, don’t...stop—"

The last voice came from right beside his ear. Eli’s.

Whisper-thin. Too close. Too clear.

But Kairo shut it out. He had to.

Because right now, Eli wasn’t Eli. And if he let the boy’s voice get into his head, he’d lose more than just time.

So he kept walking—ignoring the boy on his shoulder, ignoring the fractured warnings bleeding from his lips.

Focused only on the cries of his team.

Water crashed with every stride.

Kairo’s boots slammed against the flooded cavern floor, splashes lashing high against his thighs.

Each step was war—the drag of the current clawing at his legs, the dead weight of Eli slung across his shoulder, the jagged rocks jutting like blades from the collapsed ceiling above.

But he didn’t slow.

Couldn’t.

Not when his team’s voices bled through the darkness.

"Captain!"

"Please, answer us!"

Mio.

Zaira.

Close. They were close.

The sound cut sharper with every stride, the desperation in their tone guiding him through the chaos like a compass.

Kairo darted left as a jagged shard of stone plunged from above, the spray slicing a thin line across his cheek.

He didn’t flinch, his body flowing with precise efficiency, boots finding footing on uneven stone as if the water wasn’t there. His pace never broke.

Behind him, Eli writhed weakly against the bindings at his chest, his voice tearing between manic shrieks and fractured pleas:

"Stop! Don’t go there!"

"I’ll kill you!"

"LISTEN TO ME!"

Kairo’s jaw clenched, black eyes fixed forward. He didn’t falter, didn’t answer. Not when every syllable dripped with the octopus’s influence, twisted and poisoned.

But the voices ahead—Mio’s, Zaira’s—they were real. Tangible. He could hear their fear, their desperation. That was what mattered.

The closer he pushed, the louder they grew. Echoes ricocheted against stone, warping in the cavern’s throat, but Kairo knew them too well to mistake them. He was nearly there.

Almost—

"Captain!"

Another voice ripped through the dark. Deeper. Rougher.

Kairo’s body jolted to a halt, boots slapping hard into the water. His breath caught.

That voice.

"...Mel?"

His head snapped toward the sound, black eyes wide. The disbelief struck like a blade through his composure.

"Kai!"

Loud. Sharp. Clear.

Mel’s voice.

The same Mel he’d seen limp and unconscious, dragged under by the octopus’s tentacles. The same Mel who should’ve been clinging to life in Zaira’s arms.

But now—calling to him. Awake. Strong.

Kairo’s grip on Eli unconsciously tightened, knuckles whitening against the boy’s struggling frame.

’...He’s awake? That doesn’t make sense.’

For the first time in hours, uncertainty cracked through his chest. A spark of relief tried to flicker—but suspicion smothered it fast.

He moved forward again, faster, water exploding under his boots as he angled toward the sound.

If Mel was really awake, things could shift. With his abilities, they’d finally—

Then the cavern thundered with a new shout.

"IT’S THE PHANTOMS!"

As soon as Eli’s scream split the cavern, Kairo felt it.

Hands.

Dozens of them—cold, clammy, slick—shooting up from the water, wrapping around his legs, his arms, even his waist. Their grip wasn’t ghostly this time. It was heavy, crushing, dragging.

He snapped his gaze downward.

Eyes.

Not the pale, soulless blue he’d seen before. These burned—bright crimson, glowing with feral hunger beneath the dark water.

Each phantom’s face broke the surface in grotesque flickers, twisted outlines shimmering between half-formed and human, their teeth bared in jagged grins.

And worse—these things were no longer transparent shadows. Their forms rippled with flesh, sinew, something solid.

Real.

"Fuck." Kairo hissed, his voice low, sharp, as the weight of them pulled harder. Water surged up his thighs, dragging him down by sheer force.