Chapter 196: Regroup!

The water pressed cold against their bodies as they cut through the churning twilight of the Demonic Sea. Albedo continued to release minute amounts of Crimson Apocalypse Flames that diffused into steady waves to keep the worst of the cold at bay.

It ended up taking the group over 2 hours to close in on the rendezvous point, mostly as they had to stop and hide for sometimes up to 15 minutes, to avoid being seen by remaining Vorago Constructs, or Abyssal Creatures desperate for another meal.

Finally, after that long swim, Albedo adjusted his course, glancing toward the distant silhouette of Vorago framed against the underwater gloom. “We’re close,” he murmured.

Lilian flicked her goggles up for a moment, squinting. “I swear the Demonic Sea got creepier while we were gone. Did the sea always have this many damn shadows?”

“It’s all the Abyssal Beasts swimming around, hunting and killing anything they see that moves. Only the strongest Beasts are being avoided,” Elara said.

After that short talk, the trio’s pace increased, each kick of their legs pushing them farther through the water. After another minute of swimming, a faint glow finally appeared ahead, that was noticeably artificial and controlled.

“Light runes,” Albedo said. “They’re still here.”

Lilian exhaled in visible relief, “Thank the gods. If everyone got wiped out while we were off winning ancient treasure bingo, I’d never hear the end of it.”

Elara nudged Lilian in the shoulder with her hand in a reprimanding way, and Lilian spluttered. “H-hey! I was joking!”

The glowing runes grew brighter as they drew closer, and soon silhouettes began to form around them, people perched on a cluster of broad, jagged rocks rising out of the water, their armor and suits soaked, their expressions tense.

Elara spotted them first, “There,” she whispered.

Lieutenant Kaen was crouched on the highest outcrop, scanning the water with a pair of crystalline monocles pressed to his eyes. It was another technology the group hadn’t seen before, probably specifically used in scenarios like this.

A massive greatsword floated beside him in a thin bubble of mana, ready to be summoned with a thought. His dark hair was plastered back, seawater dripping down his jawline.

Beside him stood Lieutenant Serah, her posture rigid, one hand raised as she maintained a wide, shimmering barrier dome that shielded the group.

A moment later, Kaen stiffened as he sensed something.

“Tch, movement, west side.” He lowered the monocles slightly and said to Serah, “Three signatures approaching fast.”

A spear of lightning formed instantly in Serah’s hand, but before she could get truly on her guard, Kaen waved his hand out and paused her from attacking.

“Wait…It’s not any Abyssal Creatures, their mana signatures resonate with my suit. They’re students,” Kaen said.

He relaxed just enough for the tension to melt from the rocks around them.

“Elara! Albedo! Lilian!”

Several exhausted students whipped their heads around, expressions shifting from fear to relief so quickly it almost hurt to watch. The trio swam the remaining distance and burst into the glow of the barrier. Serah flicked her wrist, opening a small gap for them.

They entered, dripping and breathing hard. Kaen sheathed his sword with a grunt, “You guys are one of the last groups to return, we thought you ran into some deep trouble,”

“We basically did,” Lilian coughed, but no-one asked, knowing it was definitely a tough journey for them.

Soon, more movement stirred the water behind them. Students began swimming in from all sides, some limping, some dragging friends, some wide-eyed and shaking, but alive.

Kaen stood and projected his voice across the rocks. “Everyone, settle on the formation points. If you made it here, stay inside the barrier. If you see someone approaching outside, shout before pulling them in.”

A chorus of weary acknowledgments echoed through the cramped cluster.

“Right now, we have a problem.” Serah said to Inspector Kaen, with the trio sitting right alongside him.

Elara tensed as she heard that, still tired from their previous trials, “Worse than abyssals?”

Serah’s expression tightened, “Guess,”

Serah handed Kaen a mana-engraved compass that flickered with unstable readings, “Abyssal reinforcements are converging,” she said as he read the compass, “Multiple clusters. Huge ones. The distortion we all felt earlier must’ve been a beacon.”

Lilian’s brows knit, “Reinforcements? For abyssals? You mean like a swarm?”

Kaen shook his head grimly. “No. Not a swarm.”

Serah continued for him, “Titan-class Aquatic Abyssals. Several. They’re circling the area.”

Lilian’s expression quickly grew grave, while Albedo and Elara were confused about the terminology they had heard.

“Titan Class?” Albedo asked.

“We have different classifications for Aquatic Abyssal Monsters, Titan Class is the second highest class. Essentially, it means get the fuck away from here,” Kaen explained, and suddenly, Elara and Albedo felt the water around them suddenly getting much, much colder.

“Titan Class Aquatic Abyssals also ignore Aquatic Monsters unless attacked themselves. They entirely focus on Hunting Species such as ourselves. Most of these Titan Class Beasts stay around the Atlantic Kingdom, but it seemed some were drawn here because of the commotion,” Serah continued the explanation.

Elara bit her lip as she heard all of that, “If they find us…”

“We die,” Kaen finished, “Every single one of us.”

Serah’s barrier flickered slightly as if reacting to the sheer pressure of what lurked beyond. She steadied it again with a pulse of mana.

“And because they’re searching,” Kaen said, “we stay silent and still. No major spells. No bursts of mana. No shouting. No panic.”

He swept a hard gaze across every student.

“We wait. Quietly. Until they pass.”

A low murmur rippled through the gathered students.

Albedo stared into the shifting gloom outside the barrier, feeling a weight coil in his chest. “They’re drawn to larger disturbances. Miniature mana usage is fine, but anything that can seriously effect the Sea Floor is too much and will draw them towards us,”

Meaning the moment we use even a sliver of mana too loudly…”

“…they’ll zero in on us,” Kaen finished, “Exactly.”

Lilian frowned, “How long do we need to wait before reinforcements?”

Serah’s eyes narrowed, sensing the mana around them, “Hours at least. They’ll need to transport the Aquatic War-Machines to battle these Titan Classes, so it’ll take a long time no doubt,”

Silence settled over the rocks like a physical weight.

The Demonic Sea churned beyond the barrier, dark, unknowable. Flickers of massive silhouettes drifted through the twilight depths, just barely visible in the periphery.

Huge, slow-moving and searching for them. When one of these Beasts came too close, everyone felt as if they had stopped breathing, that’s how nervy it was.

Kaen lowered his voice until it was barely a murmur. “Don’t draw attention. Don’t move more than necessary. And pray none of them decide to check what’s hiding behind the rocks.”

Around 30 minutes had passed with nothing happening, and then suddenly, the water outside the barrier darkened suddenly, deeper, thicker, as if a shadow the size of a mountain had drifted over them.

Albedo stopped breathing, and so did everyone else. Serah’s barrier dimmed instinctively, reducing its light output to almost nothing, turning the inside of the dome into a murky dimness where faces were only half-visible.

The runes along its surface shrank, tightening their glow until they were barely embers. Something was moving out there.

Something colossal!

A low vibration felt more in their bones than the ears rippled through the water. Pebbles and loose sand on the rocks trembled. Elara grabbed onto Albedo’s arm without thinking, fingers tightening painfully. Lilian’s eyes were wide, her fangs slightly bared in instinctive tension.

Kaen’s hand slid to the hilt of his greatsword, but he didn’t summon it. Doing so would mean instant death. He simply braced himself, muscles coiled tight as steel cables.

In the twilight beyond the barrier, a shape passed, a titanic silhouette of overlapping plated armor, ridged spines, and scales thicker than fort walls. Its body stretched on and on, vanishing into the murk like a drifting island.

Then it stopped.

It turned.

A massive serpentine head angled sideways, slow and inquisitive, drifting closer. Its form pressed the water so heavily that Serah’s barrier quivered like a soap bubble fighting not to burst.

A single eye, larger than the entire group, slid into view.

It glowed a pale abyssal blue, cold and sharp, scanning the foggy depths. The light it emitted washed over the rocks, illuminating tiny cracks and particles floating in the water. Several students trembled uncontrollably, one nearly sobbing before a classmate muffled their mouth.

The eye drifted closer and closer, the monster’s sheer presence suffocating, like an oppressive tide pushing against their lungs.

Even though the barrier was one-way, making them invisible from the outside, the creature’s proximity made it feel as if that eye were staring straight into their souls.

Serah’s mana pulsed in tight, controlled flickers as she maintained the barrier’s opacity.

The creature lingered, its slitted pupil contracted, scanning the rocks. A deep, rumbling exhale vibrated the water. The pressure was so immense that several students clutched their heads, grimacing from the force pressing against their skulls.

Then, slowly and agonizingly the creature turned away, the massive head drifted back into the murk, followed by the endless length of its shadowy body. The rumble faded as the Titan-class Abyssal continued its search elsewhere.

The silence afterward was absolute.

Only when the last trace of its silhouette vanished did Kaen exhale shakily through clenched teeth.

“That,” he whispered, “was a Vesper Sea Drake. If it came even a meter closer… barrier or no barrier, we would’ve been crushed by pressure alone.”

Lilian swallowed hard, voice trembling.

“And that was just one?”

Kaen nodded stiffly.

“Just one.”

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