The Abyss Stirs
“This… is this the Pearl of Storms?”
“Looks like it.”
Park Seona couldn’t tear her eyes away from the two-meter-wide pearl they’d found inside the shell fortress. Its surface gleamed with a soft apricot glow—an enormous treasure the Shell King had kept hidden away.
“We can admire it later. First, we need to dismantle the fortress.”
“Dismantle the fortress?”
“Exactly. That’s the only way we’ll get to the Shell King’s flesh. Zombies grow stronger by devouring higher-ranked entities.”
“Ah, so that’s why the zombies were constantly eating something. I thought they were just hungry.”
Every summon had its own method of growth. Leopard beastmen, for instance, absorbed essences dropped by slain enemies—a trait shared by most animal-type summoners. Those essences carried various energies that triggered different evolutions. In that sense, zombies and leopard beastmen actually complemented each other well. Park Seona could claim the essences while I took the corpses, letting both of us grow stronger.
Some might assume a zombie summoner held an absolute advantage by turning every corpse into a resource, but that wasn’t necessarily true. The more difficult a summon’s creation and growth process, the greater its eventual reward. Zombie growth, in particular, was notoriously slow.
“Oh, the Shell King’s essence dropped. Go collect it.”
“Wow! A deep-sea-grade essence!”
We methodically gathered the spoils of victory. We harvested every piece of the Shell King’s flesh scattered throughout the fortress and hunted down the fleeing remnants. The taste was one thing, but more importantly, this battle would push my legion another step forward.
While we were occupied, a guest arrived.
[Inooooom!]
‘There you are. My next prey.’
The Stormy Strait was riddled with reefs. Park Seona’s “island” had been assembled from lashed-together ships, so we’d been able to disassemble it piece by piece and slip inside. But something the size of El Dorado couldn’t navigate the strait at all. The Golden Master was forced to remain at the entrance, roaring in frustration.
“Just as expected.”
Enraged, the Golden Master began flooding the strait with fishmen. An enormous army poured in. Countless fishmen clambered onto land, and Park Seona gasped in horror.
“Hic… Nanggun-nim…”
“What’s wrong? There are a lot of them, sure, but they’re nothing on dry land. We fought them before, remember?”
“It’s not that… My ships…”
“Ah…?”
Only then did I realize the problem. To enter the strait, we’d untied the ships and anchored them throughout the area. Now the fishmen were overturning every last one, sending them to the bottom.
‘Ah, right. Even if they can’t be destroyed, they can still sink.’
I’d been so focused on luring the Golden Master into the strait that I’d overlooked the details. Park Seona watched with sorrowful eyes as her ships disappeared beneath the waves.
“My pirate island…”
A twinge of guilt struck me. Over the past few days, she’d told me stories of her adventures. Each of those ships carried memories. I patted her back gently.
“Hardship finds everyone eventually.”
“Nanggun-nim…”
“And when it does, do you know how to deal with it?”
Park Seona looked up at me with teary eyes, then leaned in and asked softly, “What is it?”
“Financial therapy.”
“Huh…?”
I pointed toward El Dorado and its vast reserves of gold.
“I’ll pay you at least ten times what your ships—or rather, your island—was worth. Don’t worry about it.”
“Eek…”
That should be enough to satisfy her. After all, what better comfort existed than financial therapy? If sorrow still lingered, it simply meant the gold hadn’t been sufficient.
“You defend the pirate ships. I’ll use the shell fortress as my base. Since they’re chasing me, most of them will come my way.”
“Understood…”
There wasn’t much time for further consolation. We’d already cleared the native creatures from the entrance of the strait to the fortress, so nothing stood in the fishmen’s path. They’d reach us within ten minutes.
‘Swarming like insects. Disgusting.’
At a glance, there had to be at least ten thousand of them. More kept crawling out of the sea, so the visible force was only a fraction of the total. Enormous specimens appeared among them as well—likely deep-sea-grade monsters.
I ran a quick mental calculation and chuckled. The Golden Master had made two critical mistakes. First, despite commanding fishmen, it had chosen to fight us on land. Second—and far more damning—
‘Trying a war of attrition against a zombie summoner?’
The fishmen would dwindle while my zombies multiplied. I issued detailed orders, already certain of victory.
“Flying zombies, intercept the deep-sea-grade targets. Once our numbers exceed theirs, switch to offense and head for El Dorado.”
“Understood.”
Preparations were complete. The real battle would begin the moment the enemy stepped onto the reefs surrounding the shell fortress.
The instant the first thirty-meter fishman planted its hand on the rocks, a missile streaked down from the sky.
BOOM—
The massive creature collapsed without even managing a final struggle. Then a mechanical voice laced with static rang out.
[Hello, darling? It’s Mingming.]
I turned toward the voice and saw a massive, saucer-shaped craft hovering in the air. It descended slowly and landed beside the fortress.
‘What is that? An ally… right?’
I decided to treat her as an ally. Park Seona’s presence had already proven that not every stranger was hostile, and the fact that she’d attacked the fishmen supported that assumption.
I called out to the craft, “I’m not entirely sure what’s going on, but I can count on your support for this battle, right?”
Mingming’s reply wasn’t quite what I’d hoped for.
[Hmm… I don’t know how strong you are yet, but my recommendation is to run.]
I tilted my head. There were plenty of enemies, but none of them seemed particularly powerful. With her enormous flying machine helping us, victory should have been straightforward.
“Why would you say that?”
[Just a moment. I’m retrieving the radar probes I scattered earlier. The existing data is already concerning, but if I’m going to convince a confident user like you, I’d rather have solid proof.]
While we spoke, the enemy arrived. The fighting turned chaotic, yet we weren’t being pushed back. On the contrary, as zombification progressed, my forces continued to grow. Everything was unfolding exactly as I’d predicted.
‘Then why did she say that…?’
I could have ignored her warning. But the combat power Mingming had already demonstrated was far from ordinary. A user of her caliber had no reason to lie.
Soon, her previously silent voice returned.
[Got it! Darling, I’m not sure exactly what you provoked or where, but the force currently in the strait is less than one-tenth of their total army. And we’ve already confirmed over five hundred deep-sea-grade entities.]
It was certainly a terrifying number. Still, I believed we could manage. As the battle continued, my forces would keep growing, so long as we handled the deep-sea-grade threats carefully. It would be a long fight, but there was no reason we should lose.
She seemed to read my thoughts and added,
[I know what you’re thinking, but it’s impossible. Their real forces are rising from the deep sea right now—not these weaklings, but the genuine threats.]
‘There are even stronger ones?’
The decisive reason I’d believed we held the advantage was because the enemy consisted of “weak masses.” As the battle progressed, those weak masses would become mine. But if powerful individuals began appearing, the situation could turn problematic.
“I understand what you’re saying. But won’t we face the same problem no matter where we go? This place, with solid ground and a fortress, seems safer. Or are you suggesting we spend the rest of Stage 5 aboard your aircraft?”
[Impossible. This craft needs to land periodically to recharge its energy, and even that supply isn’t unlimited. Still, I do have a plan.]
“Hmm…”
[Think it over carefully. I’ll need to stay here another ten minutes to recharge anyway.]
For now, I focused on eliminating enemies. Abandoning a favorable position didn’t suit my personality, and I still didn’t fully trust this Mingming. While I was busy slaughtering fishmen, completely different entities appeared in the distance.
‘She wasn’t lying…’
Each one was the size of a mountain. They were too far away to gauge precisely, but I could tell missiles wouldn’t be enough to bring them down. Fishmen the size of the Shell King—whose shell had formed an entire fortress—approached, shaking the ground with every step.
THUD— THUD—
Even the smaller specimens had changed. Darker, deeper-blue variants crawled up from the rear. Their bodies bristled with countless long arms, resembling fish overgrown with sea urchins.
‘Forget structural issues… their appearance alone is horrifying.’
The deep sea generally referred to any region below one thousand meters. One thousand, two thousand, five thousand meters—everything counted. Earth’s tallest mountain, Everest, stood roughly 8,850 meters tall. If you flipped it upside down and sank it into the ocean, it would vanish completely. The ocean’s depths exceeded the height of any landmass.
From those unseen depths, entities I couldn’t comprehend emerged and gradually covered the strait.
‘Heh… So the users have only ever skimmed the surface of Stage 5.’
I called out to Mingming.
“I have one more passenger. Is that all right?”
[Ah, a rival? Well, that’s fine. I enjoy healthy competition. I’ll make a special exception.]
Having made my decision, I used Swallow’s Wing to fly toward the pirate ships. Park Seona had been holding her own until she saw the colossal fishmen; now her face was blank with shock.
“The world… is vast.”
“In this case, ‘the sea is deep’ might be more accurate. Anyway, store the leopards. We’re running.”
“The ships… Yes, we have to go.”
I embraced Park Seona after she stored her leopards, tossed a few fishman zombies I’d prepared as bait, and leapt into the air. From above, she waved at the pirate ships.
“Goodbye… Blue Kitty.”
“I’ll get you new pirate ships later.”
“Yes… I’ll trust only you, Nanggun-nim…”
I landed near the shell fortress, sent Park Seona aboard Mingming’s craft first, then began storing my zombies while narrowing the front line.
[Where do you think you’re running, you thief?!]
After tossing more fishman zombies as bait and boarding the aircraft, I glanced back at the golden city. As the hatch sealed shut, I murmured quietly,
“Just wait. I’ll return and take everything from you.”
The Golden Master needed to understand something: no one who had ever branded me a thief had lived to tell the tale. And neither would he.