"No, we all bear responsibility for this. We knew Poseidon was hiding for a reason, but we still weren't vigilant enough!"
Sengoku shook his head and reassured him. "Besides, you weren't slacking off or wasting time. You only came back to pay your respects to your comrades."
"None of that matters now, Mr. Loa."
Tsuru offered her own reassurance, then asked, "What matters now is what we do next."
"Exactly. Our goal is to eliminate Poseidon! We couldn't find her before, but now she's revealed herself. That works in our favor!"
Simon spoke up. "If destroying the nodes won't work, then we can't let her complete the four remaining Ports! Lord Loa, should we split up and check their locations?"
"Exactly!"
Seeing their expressions, Loa gathered his thoughts and nodded. "Those four Ports are the most important and dangerous nodes in the Explosive Rune. If it were me, I could hardly complete a Rune covering such a vast area! But Poseidon is different. If she dared to do this, she must be confident she can control it!"
"And she's shown us this thing almost without trying to hide it. Her intention is obvious!"
At that, everyone's expression hardened.
Of course. If Poseidon dared to reveal it, her intention was plain to see. If they didn't want this world destroyed, they had to go to her and stop her!
Or go to her and die!
It was a blatant trap, and they had no choice but to walk into it. Poseidon was like an angler who had cast the Explosive Rune as bait to hook Loa and the others. It was bait because, despite having completed the Rune, she had not detonated it.
She was waiting for Loa to find her so she could slaughter him and complete the Dragon Body.