Chapter 176: Little Guide
They swam in the direction the black arrow pointed, Gray taking the lead with Cindy tucked close to his bell and Lily drifting ahead like a living compass, her five points orbiting steadily around her dark core.
"I hope it’s not too far," Gray said, his luminous gaze fixed on the arrow’s unwavering direction.
Cindy paddled beside him, her small axolotl body working to keep pace.
"At this depth? It’s definitely far," she said. "Nothing in the abyss is ever close."
Gray let out a soft pulse of resignation.
"Yeah, I figured."
They drifted past shattered stone and fields of dead coral, the terrain slowly shifting from the craters of the Violet Stillness to darker, more ancient rock. The water grew colder, heavier, thick with the weight of depths that had never known light.
Gray glanced toward Cindy.
"By the way," he said. "What about us going to the surface later? Is there anything that might block the way?"
Cindy tilted her head, considering the question.
"Don’t worry about it," she said. "Lily probably has a safe route for that. Isn’t that right, Lily?"
Lily, still leading the way at the front, bobbed her body up and down in a confident nod. Her points spun once, sharply, as if to say leave it to me.
Gray stared at her for a long moment.
"...That’s very reassuring," he said.
Lily pulsed brightly, clearly taking it as a compliment.
Cindy laughed softly, her frills swaying.
"See? She’s confident."
Gray could only shake his head, then continued on his way.
They swam for hours, the terrain shifting around them in slow, subtle ways. The devastation of the battlefield faded behind them, replaced by rolling plains of dark sediment, and then by forests of pale, translucent coral that swayed in the current like frozen smoke.
Then they saw the lights.
Small creatures drifted through the water ahead, their bodies round and soft, glowing with gentle pulses of blue and green and pale gold. They moved in loose clusters, drifting lazily, feeding on plankton and ambient mana.
Gray watched them for a moment, then pulsed forward.
"Leave them," he said. "They’re not worth the trouble."
Cindy nodded, drifting past the glowing creatures without a second glance.
But Lily didn’t.
The star creature veered off course, her five points spinning with sudden excitement. She darted toward the nearest cluster of lights, her dark core pulsing with playful curiosity. The glowing creatures scattered, and Lily chased them, spinning through the water like a delighted child.
Gray stopped mid-pulse.
"Lily!"
She didn’t hear him. Or she didn’t care.
He activated Current Dash, dissolved into the water, and reformed directly in front of her. Two tentacles wrapped around her small body, pulling her to a halt.
"Focus on guiding the way," he said, his voice sharp. "We don’t have time to chase every pretty light in the abyss."
Lily drooped in his grip. Her points slowed to a sluggish orbit, her core dimming with obvious sadness. She pulsed once, weakly, then turned back toward the front and resumed her position, the black arrow hovering steadily above her.
They continued onward, the terrain shifting again. The glowing coral gave way to rocky ridges, and the ridges gave way to a wide, sloping valley filled with pale, shifting sand. The sand stretched across the seafloor like a desert, its surface rippling gently in the current.
Gray slowed at the edge of the sand field.
"Wait."
Cindy stopped instantly, her frills stiffening.
"What is it? Is there an enemy?"
Gray’s luminous gaze swept across the sand, his senses reaching out, probing.
"That sand... it has inhabitants. I can feel them. Dozens of electrical signatures, buried just beneath the surface."
Cindy’s frills lowered.
"Can we go around?"
Gray studied the valley for a long moment.
"Maybe. But this is the path the arrow is pointing to. We’d lose time."
He drifted closer to the edge of the sand and aimed one tentacle at the sediment below. The crystalline structures along his bell began to glow as he charged Cavitation Pulse, a focused jet of superheated water and crystal shrapnel building at the tip of his tentacle.
He fired it into the sand.
The blast struck the seafloor and detonated, sending a geyser of boiling water, molten sediment, and shattered stone erupting upward. The sand field rippled violently, and the vibrations spread outward in every direction.
A massive shape burst upward from beneath the sediment, a storm of sand and water and chitin. It was a lobster, but unlike any lobster Gray had ever seen. Its body was enormous, easily ten feet from head to tail, its shell a deep, mottled crimson crusted with barnacles and mineral deposits. Its claws were massive, each one large enough to crush a boulder, and its antennae were thick, whip-like, lined with sensory hairs that twitched and swept through the water.
Its eyes were small and black, set deep in a heavily armored face, and they were fixed directly on Gray.
[DEEP SEA LOBSTER — Level 38]
HP: 1400 / 1400
Threat Level: HIGH
« Analysis »
A territorial crustacean that burrows beneath sand and sediment, ambushing prey that ventures too close. Its claws can generate crushing force capable of shattering stone, and its shell is reinforced with mineral deposits that provide exceptional physical defense.
Behavior: Highly territorial. The Deep Sea Lobster will not pursue prey beyond its burrow, but will attack anything that enters its territory with overwhelming force.
Weakness: The joints between its shell plates are less armored. Its antennae are sensitive and can be severed to reduce its sensory awareness.
Cindy raised her hands, frost gathering at her fingertips.
"More of them?" she asked, her silver eyes fixed on the sand.
"Probably. That one was just the welcoming committee."
He fired Void Reaper’s Lance into the Deep Sea Lobster’s face, the void-edged spear punching through its shell and cracking the armor beneath.
[VOID REAPER’S LANCE — 228 DAMAGE]
[DEEP SEA LOBSTER — HP: 1172 / 1400]
[BLEED — 10 DAMAGE PER SECOND]
The Deep Sea Lobster shrieked, its massive claws snapping toward him. Gray activated Current Dash, dissolving and reforming ten meters to the left, and fired Needle Storm into the joints between its shell plates.
[NEEDLE STORM — 172 DAMAGE]
[ABYSSAL LOBSTER — HP: 1000 / 1400]
[PARALYZE — RESISTED]
Cindy’s voice rang out.
"Gray! More of them!"
The sand erupted again.
Three more Deep Sea Lobsters burst from the sediment, their claws raised, their eyes fixed on Gray and Cindy and Lily. Four in total now, their massive bodies forming a loose semicircle around the intruders.
"Alright. Four of them. That’s fine."
He glanced at Lily, who was already spinning with renewed excitement, the black arrow temporarily forgotten.
"Lily, stay behind us. Cindy, crowd control. I’ll take them one at a time."
Lily nodded eagerly, her core pulsing with joy at being included.
Cindy raised both hands, frost spreading through the water.
"Okay!"