No words were needed.
Just a fleeting glance amid the hurried movements, just a barely perceptible nod amidst the chaos of battle... that was enough. Ren understood.
Yuna and Nautilus hadn't come here to be rescued. They came to fight. And now, they wanted him to step back.
Ren didn't resist, didn't try to prove himself. He simply stepped back, just one step, yet the hardest step in the entire battle: stepping away from the center, handing the spearhead back to his teammates.
His breathing was still ragged, his chest felt like it was being crushed, but Ren kept a tight grip on his sword, pulling himself out of the Golem's strike zone.
Every step was a painful alarm ringing out from his muscles, joints, from wounds that now revealed themselves like bleeding red pixel trails on his body. But he did not fall.
In the dim light from the glowing stones on the walls, Ren stood at the edge of the skirmish, both hands gripping his sword's hilt, forehead drenched in sweat and blood, his eyes still following every movement of his two friends.
Yuna glided through the pale light like a silver arrow, her gaze no longer trembling. Nautilus stepped forward, steadier than ever, like a rock shielding the wind, a place she could lean on.
They didn't need cheers. Didn't need pitying looks. They only needed Ren to trust them.
And he did.
For the first time in a long while… Ren entrusted his faith to someone else, allowing himself to rest, if only for a few seconds.
Diavel glanced at Ren, but unlike before. His eyes no longer filled with doubt or cold analysis, but with quiet acknowledgment, tinged with surprise.
He looked at the mysterious teammate who always hid his face under a hooded cloak, a familiar image, yet somehow, something had changed.
Diavel once thought he'd seen all there was to see of this guy's abilities, once felt confident in his assessments of Ren's calculations and strength.
But now, things weren't so simple. What Ren had just displayed, his refined strikes, his unyielding tenacity, and his decisive, pragmatic reactions in a life-or-death moment, all forced Diavel to reassess.
Ren wasn't just a talented swordsman. He held within him a strength that Diavel couldn't easily read or predict. The guy was far more formidable than Diavel had imagined.
Diavel narrowed his eyes, a strange mix of wariness and reassurance rising within him. The real threat, perhaps, wasn't the Sentinel Golem or any other monster.
But his very own comrades. People like Ren, with untapped potential and dark shadows in their pasts that no one could fully understand.
Still, in this battle, Diavel knew, Ren was an ally. And that made him all the more cautious.
Competition pushes people to grow or tears them apart...
Diavel's gaze lingered on Ren just a moment longer than usual, then turned back toward the Sentinel Golem, signaling the team to coordinate. But in his heart, his thoughts of Ren hadn't ended.
Seeing that his HP bar had recovered enough, Diavel didn't hesitate. He turned to Lind and Shivata, the two remaining teammates, and gave a signal.
They understood immediately, their eyes sharpening with determination. All three surged forward together like a wave crashing upon the shore.
Yuna and Nautilus were still battling the Sentinel Golem. Their strength was impressive, but this mute stone knight was far from easily defeated.
Its attacks were not only powerful but fast, each strike carrying the weight of tons of shattered stone.
Diavel could no longer just watch. He quickly joined the fray, raising his sword in a decisive slash.
A horizontal cut cracked open an old fracture in the stone armor, already weakened from previous attacks, causing it to shatter completely and creating an opportunity for Yuna and Nautilus to strike head-on.
Lind and Shivata were no less dangerous. Lind, with his sharp longsword, drove it forcefully into the Golem's side, while Shivata struck from the opposite direction, his sword swift and precise, targeting the wounds already present.
The three of them coordinated perfectly, and the Sentinel Golem began to stagger.
Ren, observing from behind, couldn't help but feel a bit of pride at watching the team work so seamlessly.
These people weren't lone warriors, but comrades, each complementing the others.
And though Ren had once thought of himself as nothing more than an unnecessary outsider in the group, now, he understood that victory didn't rely on just one person's strength.
...even if right now... he still looked like nothing more than a useless bystander standing in the back.
At the same time, Ren stepped back further, choosing not to interfere in the battle any longer, letting his teammates carry out their roles.
He watched closely, eyes sharp, prepared for any unexpected development that might arise.
Ren tightened his grip on his sword, his gaze fixed on his struggling teammates, resolving to stay alert despite the pain still storming through his body.
He looked into his inventory, no healing potions left. It felt like a punch to the gut. Despair surged within him, but Ren refused to let himself fall.
'Can't stay here forever...' he thought to himself, hurriedly pulling out the roll of bandages he had prepared earlier.
The tension made his fingers tremble slightly as he began wrapping the bandage around the wound on his arm.
Even though he knew the bandages would only provide minimal recovery, at least they would help him maintain his strength, even if just for a short while.
The dim light from the glowing stones on the wall cast shadows that made Ren feel like he was lost in an undefined space, where everything was tangled and difficult.
He felt like he had nothing left to rely on but himself. Everything had changed.
But even though a sense of disappointment flooded his heart, Ren still couldn't walk away. He had to stay, had to fight until the end.
He looked toward Yuna and Nautilus, then toward Diavel, Lind, and Shivata, who were all fighting relentlessly for a common goal. At that moment, the feeling of loneliness faded, replaced by a powerful determination. Those companions were helping him, fighting alongside him.
Even if he was exhausted, even if all he had left was perseverance, Ren knew that once he made a decision, he wouldn't turn back.
The Golem Sentinel, a knight made of stone, stood firm like an eternal rock amidst the battle.
Its figure was cold and grim, each of its movements seemed to be driven by an invisible force.
Wind rushed through its dark hollow eye sockets like a low growl, and each time it swung an attack, the sound seemed to shatter even the stones beneath their feet.
Each of its strikes sliced through the air, and its stone armor gave off a deep, echoing thud every time Nautilus's sword struck it.
Looking at his friends, Ren saw Yuna and Nautilus fighting fiercely, the strikes from Nautilus's sword powerful and decisive, each attack had purpose. And though the Golem Sentinel wasn't easily pushed back, Nautilus remained resolute.
Yuna, though small and slender, was far from weak. She kept moving, dodging the attacks, constantly finding ways to throw the Golem off rhythm, creating chances for Nautilus to land critical blows.
Diavel, Lind, and Shivata each fought from different angles, coordinating seamlessly, every step calculated, like a well-trained unit.
However, Ren could still feel the weight of the battle, as the Golem Sentinel was no easy opponent.
Its hard stone shell and sheer power were not something that could be overcome by sheer force alone.
Though Diavel's sword strikes and Lind's sharp blows were injuring the Golem, looking at the monster's HP bar, Ren knew this fight wouldn't end quickly.
He felt his body beginning to tire. His wounds hadn't healed, and the pain still lingered.
Each breath he took felt like knives stabbing into his lungs.
His body was nearly drained of strength, but his resolve never waned. He couldn't let the others fight alone.
"Gotta do it..." Ren thought to himself as he saw an opening left by the Golem in the heat of battle. This was the one chance to end it all.
He stepped back, took a deep breath, and gathered every bit of strength he had left into a final strike.
Even though his body begged for rest, Ren couldn't stop fighting. He gripped the hilt of his sword tightly, eyes fixed on the Golem Sentinel, waiting for the right moment.
When the Golem threw a powerful punch at Lind, knocking him backward, Ren instantly recognized the opportunity.
He dashed in, pouring all his strength into a mighty sword swing. His steel blade cut through the air, its tip slashing into the Golem's side.
A screech rang out as metal scraped against hardened stone, and although the blow couldn't pierce the armor completely, it was enough to throw the Golem off balance.
The Golem turned in fury, its dark eyes flashing with rage. Its stone body twisted, as if preparing to unleash a finishing blow to crush Ren.
However, thanks to the time Ren had created, Nautilus didn't miss his chance. He charged in, slashing his sword straight into the weak spot Ren had opened, driving the blade deep into the Golem's body.
Yuna, lightning-fast, also seized the precious moment. She leapt behind the Golem and stabbed from the rear, further exposing its weakness.
The Golem could no longer fight back like before; the group's attacks had gradually worn it down.
But even as Ren felt drained, like his body couldn't take much more, he could still see the light at the end of the tunnel.
All it would take was one small opening, and he would unleash a special sword skill.
Though the skill required a long time to prepare, and he still wasn't used to executing it.