Below Spaghetti Monster, a pool of essence from those souls pulled inside its mass has formed.

  “Are you okay there?” David shouts, waving at Wyn’s team, to which they wave back, with Wyn giving an “OK” hand gesture.

  The monster’s instantaneous regrowth worries Steve. As someone who has fought it the longest, he has yet to find a clean opening that would allow his attacks to reach the large meatball at its core. Meanwhile, the pasta monster hasn’t moved since – only sauce continues to drip down profusely.

  “Is it like bleeding?” Mira wonders.

  “That doesn’t look right,” Steve mutters.

  Suddenly, a shout from Wei instills a sense of urgency: “Attack it now! It’s rising the sauce ocean!”

  An onslaught of attacks follows, but the pasta god glides in all directions, skillfully avoiding any critical hits. Wei, however, decides to take a risk and attempts to get pulled inside the mass.

  “Don’t! It could explode again, and we don’t know what that will do to you!” David warns.

  “It should take a while for it to rise the ocean this high. We still have time. Maybe we should summon a moderator?” Wyn suggests.

  Ignoring the warning, Steve propels himself and Wei directly at the creature. But unlike before, the monster doesn’t attempt to pull them or anyone else in. Instead, it continues evading their attacks until, suddenly, it lowers itself into the rising sauce.

  “Forrow it!” Wei commands.

  However, David orders Skill Tree and Neutrals to prioritize collecting the essence of the vanished souls, while the other two factions follow their leaders closely.

  “Is this all we have left? So sparse,” David says as he surveys the gathering souls.

  Meanwhile, the Freedom Faction and Imperial Order souls struggle to catch up with the pasta monster. Meatballs are launched upward and explode, scattering pieces that send souls plummeting into the sauce – or, for some, directly into the spaghetti mass.

  A loud splash echoes as the enemy dives into the sauce ocean. Wei allows a chunk of meatball to hit him, using the impact to descend faster. Just before he reaches the ocean, however, he notices something different this time – spaghetti strands have formed into swimming nessies, with one towering over the rest at the center.

  Wei lands atop the large nessie’s head, obliterating it in one swift move, only to find more spaghetti strands surging from the sauce, attempting to engulf him. Drawing on his immense power, Wei burns the strands away, but they regenerate endlessly, writhing and rising anew. Curious and undeterred, he dives below the surface and, in the delicious depths, catches sight of Spaghetti Monster looming far beneath.

  Steve has reached the sauce ocean, and is quick to take note of how fast it’s rising. Unable to find Wei, he orders his faction to stay afloat and wait for any sudden movement. It is then when the sauce is bubbling, a sign of it getting boiled. A loud explosion follows, sending a splash of sauce, and with it, Wei is getting shot back up into space and chunks of meatballs are floating.

  “Heat the sauce where the splash came from!” Steve commands.

  The red elementists, including those from Wei’s faction, immediately get to work, channeling their powers to boil the sauce. At first, their combined efforts seem successful as the ocean’s rapid rise halts. But before anyone can relax, streams of sauce suddenly surge upward, including from the very spot they were heating. The twisting streams weave through space, destroying the nessies and taking down the majority of the souls in their paths.

  Steve, relying on his cyclone abilities, evades the attacks, with a few puppeteers clinging to him for safety. Just as the streams subside, scattering droplets of sauce back into the ocean, an ominous feeling grips him. Acting on instinct, Steve propels himself upward as fast as he can. Moments later after the calm, the entire ocean surges upward, as if the whole body of sauce had been hurled into the air.

  Steve barely escapes the violent eruption, watching in anguish as the sauce crashes back down. His heart sinks, but he knows he has no choice. With the danger escalating, he resolves to regroup with the others in space, leaving the souls trapped in the sauce to fight for their survival.

  This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

  The moment Wei returns to space near David’s group, he immediately tries to dive back down, but David halts him, suggesting they descend slowly and stay on high alert.

  “My entire faction is down there!” Wei protests, his voice trembling with urgency.

  Before Wei can resume his descent, Steve’s urgent shout stops him in his tracks.

  “Don’t go down! Not yet!” Steve calls out.

  “If the sauce covers the entire space, we’re done for!” Wei warns.

  “It can control the entire ocean. We need to find an opening to dive down safely,” Steve replies.

  “Guys, what about the moderators?” Wyn interjects, frustration seeping into his voice. “Maybe it’s time to summon one here.”

  David glances at Wyn, sharing his frustration as the suggestion is once again brushed aside. Deciding to remain silent, he observes as Steve and Wei discuss their next move.

  “You’re a water user. Can you control the ocean too with that much essence you have?” Steve asks.

  “Guys, moderators!” Mira interjects sharply.

  “They’re our rast resort. If they die, we’re in even bigger troubrle,” Wei replies firmly. “Right now, it’s not the right time to summon one. And Steve, I’rl try to controrl it.”

  “But we’ll be fighting alongside them,” James points out.

  “And what? Be in their way and get friendly-fired?” Steve retorts, his words cutting through the tension like ice. The entire group falls into an uneasy silence.

  “Boss, I agree with Wyn’s team this time,” Charlotte whispers, her voice barely audible.

  David shoots her a quick glance, signaling for her to stay quiet. He doesn’t respond.

  While the two leaders discuss, the sauce ocean rises at an alarming rate, becoming more visible with each passing moment. Steve signals for no one to attack, warning the group to brace themselves for the ocean’s rapid rise. With their fates now tied to the impending surge, Wyn’s entire team clings onto Yu, trusting his ability to maneuver them beneath the surface. Meanwhile, David’s team relies on Jesús and Kai, with David, Charlotte, and Eugene holding on to Jesús, while the rest of the team clings to Kai.

  Wyn’s team closes their eyes as the ocean hits. Yu immediately begins swimming, skillfully maneuvering with the help of his water dashes. As discussed with David’s team, they stay away from Spaghetti Monster, leaving Steve and Wei to deal with it. While everything goes according to plan for Wyn’s team, David’s team isn’t as fortunate.

  The moment they’re under the ocean, David’s back hits a floating meatball, sending him rising above. Jesús’ group quickly follows to retrieve their leader. Meanwhile, Kai, distracted by the commotion from Jesús' group, gets caught in a vortex as the pasta god begins to spin. Steve and Wei, however, work together to escape the vortex, with Steve propelling them both under the ocean using cyclones to boost Wei’s underwater streams, fighting against the vicious pull. Along the way, they grab anyone in their path, including members of Wyn’s team, and pull them toward safety.

  As the horror unfolds before their eyes, Wyn’s team watches helplessly as Kai’s group struggles against the relentless force. Fatima sends rocks into the vortex, hoping they’ll strike the creature and somehow disrupt its spinning, while Isabella boosts Kai’s dashes with her wind abilities to give him more speed.

  Just as Steve and Wei manage to get clear of the vortex, spaghetti strands suddenly begin to extend, swirling madly with the spinning motion. The moment the strands touch a soul, they retract back into the mass, pulling the souls back toward the creature.

  Desperately, Yu swims toward Steve and Wei, pointing at the spinning monster and gesturing with urgency, silently begging them to do something about the vortex.

  With determination, Wei concentrates, creating his own vortex around the creature, spinning in the opposite direction to counter its force. Steve, supporting him, summons his cyclones, amplifying the effect. At the same time, Wyn’s team fights off the pasta creatures from the depths that attempt to drag them under.

  Above, Jesús’ group watches helplessly, unable to do anything but observe. The ocean has stopped rising, but now is the moment they most want to dive in – to check on their friends. The deadly vortex slows down by the second, offering them a fleeting chance to find a safe distance and plunge back down. Once beneath the surface, they search desperately for their teammates, their eyes scanning the swirling mass for any sign of Kai, Violet, Isabella, and Fatima.

  When the pasta god comes to a complete stop, appearing frozen from Steve’s ice abilities, Jesús’ group moves closer to the creature, searching for their friends. They find Violet floating and unconscious, quickly grabbing her. Just as they’re about to continue their search, an explosion follows, violently pushing them far from the creature.

  Steve and Wei, along with Wyn’s team, are also thrown by the force despite the distance. Wei, being the first to regain control, fends off the incoming pasta chunks from the explosion. By the time he can clearly glance at the monster, it has fully regrown. Then he feels someone pulling at his wrist. Turning his head, he finds Wyn desperately tapping on his band. Steve swims his way over to Wei, grabbing his shoulder and giving him a look. Wei knows exactly what Steve wants.

  Before diving into the ocean, the two leaders had argued about who would be best for this fight. If the battle were to take place in space, a moderator with the ability to float, like Lust or Maya, would be ideal. But if the fight shifted to the ocean – especially one filled with delicious sauce – they both knew there was only one candidate they could agree on: Gluttony.