Cyron's Lair (3)
Bagan tensed the moment he descended into the depths, bracing for the incoming attack. His senses for detecting mana had sharpened considerably after experiencing Pandemonium's ecosystem.
'Leviathans and a kraken. So that guy made his move too.'
Until recently, these creatures had stayed near De Marinda's coastal waters to maintain their territory. But in truth, they were essentially guardians of Cyron's lair. Creatures like these were extremely sensitive about their domains and supposedly devoured every fish that swam by. Bagan's group had now intruded upon that very territory.
There was no way they wouldn't come.
"Fine. Bring it on, you bastards."
"W-what?! What's coming?! I can't see anything!"
It was perfectly natural for Selena to be terrified. For sailors, the greatest danger was falling into the sea. And this was the deep ocean, where not even a single ray of sunlight pierced through to trigger her phobia. She knew the terror of not knowing when, where, or what might suddenly emerge.
As the character from that famous game once said: 'The sword you cannot see is the most terrifying of all.'
Repeating those words to himself, Bagan prepared to face the approaching enemies. In truth, there wasn't much preparation needed. Since fighting while dodging in the water wasn't really an option, he simply continued his vertical descent as usual while dealing with whatever came at them.
And how? With magic, of course. There were far too many enemies to handle one by one with a sword.
In Pangea, absorbing and converting mana came as naturally as breathing, so he didn't have to struggle like he had in the dungeon. In this place where nothing could be seen due to the total absence of light, vision was a luxury. It was far more important to pour all his senses into mana to pinpoint the enemies' locations with certainty.
'Three from the right, three from the left and below, and a kraken from above.'
After confirming all the threats, he released the magic he had prepared.
Shweeeek!
The sound of water being sliced rang out as a wave of magic swept through. It was Aqua Cutter. He had chosen a water-attribute spell well-suited for underwater combat. It was similar to what he'd used against the blood-colored liquid in the dungeon, only this time it was on a much larger scale.
Thanks to his Release trait, he had amplified both its power and size while pouring in even more mana to increase its sharpness. As a result, the leviathans that had approached with their mouths wide open were sliced clean through like tofu, their hides shredded apart.
But the leviathans weren't the only ones to bleed from Bagan's attack. The kraken had also extended its tentacles to engulf Bagan's group, only for its limbs to be severed in two by his magic. While they might have been decent at protecting their territory, they were a disorganized mess when attacking as a group. Even the supposedly clever kraken was no different. After losing several tentacles, it seemed to lose its mind and spewed out so much ink that the already dark sea became completely opaque.
Arien delivered her assessment of the situation.
"Bagan, since Neo Shark is not a deep-sea creature, I can no longer see anything at all. Additionally, kraken ink contains a mild paralytic toxin. I have determined that the Neo Shark's body has reached its limit."
Her precise and practical analysis perfectly explained their current predicament. Bagan didn't even need to open his eyes. Her explanations of situations he couldn't sense through mana alone were incredibly helpful.
"For now, turn into an inanimate object and come into my arms."
He couldn't let Arien become paralyzed like this. His decision was to store her in his subspace after she transformed into a non-living form. It was a space Arien greatly disliked, but since they'd done it once before, he already knew it was possible. Living beings couldn't enter, but inanimate objects could.
"Understood. When I come out again, you must pat me."
"Of course."
Bagan made the promise as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Arien swam into his protective barrier and transformed into a small pebble. Bagan caught the pebble that was Arien and placed it into his subspace.
Whoosh!
What remained were Bagan, Selena, and Sally, who had transformed into her spirit form to observe the situation.
In that moment, Protavist was panicking as he watched his own minions being helplessly slaughtered. No matter how he thought about it, he couldn't see any way to stop Bagan, who was slicing his servants in half with invisible attacks.
He was watching from far below the depth at which Bagan was descending, but he saw no opportunity to intervene.
'Should I pull the minions back now?'
Doing so would mean he was actively helping an enemy infiltrate his master's lair. As a kidnapper by the standards of the human world, he knew Bagan must have come here to rescue the abducted Razetta.
'Should I beg for forgiveness?'
Watching the kraken's tentacles get severed made every sucker on his chin go numb. At the same time, his sense of duty as a guardian ached.
This was the moment Cyron had longed for and anticipated. He couldn't allow anything to interrupt it.
'I suppose I have no choice but to do my best to stop him.'
He wasn't confident, but he believed he could at least hinder Bagan. It was because of the authority he possessed.
With that decision made, Protavist rapidly approached Bagan.
Shweeeek!
Fortunately, although Bagan's attacks were invisible, they cut through the water at such high speeds that they produced a distinctive sound. Since his primary habitat was underwater, he could distinguish sounds even here, allowing him to narrowly dodge the incoming strike.
'If it's only this much...!'
After dodging the second attack, Protavist's confidence surged. The wound on his right cheek from the previous strike had already healed, and his current condition was perfect. All that remained was figuring out how to stop Bagan.
No matter what, he had to at least try once, didn't he?
He quickly closed in on Bagan, tucked his head in, and spun his turtle shell using both arms and legs to ram into him.
'This attack can pulverize even a Land King Crab's shell into dust!'
With tremendous rotational force, Protavist's strike possessed destructive power capable of turning the notoriously tough shell of a Land King Crab—which normal attacks could barely scratch—into powder...
But.
"What the hell is this?!"
It was blatantly blocked by Bagan's barrier and bounced off.
"T-this doesn't work?!"
"So it was you. I'll give you credit for approaching fast enough to slip past my detection for a moment. Unfortunately for you, it's over. Die here."
Bagan prepared another Aqua Cutter. Seeing this, Protavist instinctively realized his life was about to end here. If the magic had been fired from a distance, he might have been able to dodge by listening for the sound, but how could he possibly evade one fired at point-blank range? There was no way.
It was then that a voice rang out.
"Who do you think you are, daring to kill this body's servant?"
Suddenly the entire sea lit up, and a man appeared. He wasn't using any protective barrier, nor did he seem affected by the water at all. Even his vibrant blue hair remained perfectly neat, presenting a pristine appearance underwater.
"Y-you are?!"
Selena reacted first. She had seen him once before. Though he had appeared in much neater attire last time, there was no mistaking that voice and appearance.
"Oh, it's you, the one I saw before. Have you come because you were worried about my Razetta?"
Calling Razetta "my" already made her want to vomit, but Selena held it in and spoke.
"Lord Cyron. Just what have you done to Lady Razetta?!"
The man was the Blue Dragon, Lord of the Oceans—Cyron.
"Ah, you mean my Razetta? She's right here, as you can see."
Cyron spoke as if to reassure her and revealed Razetta. Like Cyron, she showed no signs of being affected by the water as she stood beside him.
"U-um, hello?"
Razetta greeted them in a rather awkward tone. However, her condition didn't look bad at all.
"Are you alright?"
"Y-yeah."
Rather than looking unwell, her face was flushed red as she faced Selena.
"Did Lord Cyron do something to you without permission...?"
Because of that, Selena's imagination ran wild.
"I-it's not like that, Selena! Don't misunderstand!"
Realizing what she meant, both Razetta and Cyron blushed. But Bagan and Selena, who still couldn't understand the situation, stared with faces full of curiosity, demanding an explanation.
"Ahem. Since things have come to this, I shall invite you all to this body's lair."
"I-is that really okay?!"
Protavist was flustered, but he understood after hearing Cyron's next words.
"She is Razetta's friend. How could it be impossible?"
"Ah, if that's the case, then I understand."
And so, everyone headed toward Cyron's lair.
The interior of the lair was like a cave emitting a mysterious blue glow. It had a completely different atmosphere from Palamus's pristine mansion. Even though it was a cave, there was a large central chamber with several branching paths. There were likely various facilities such as food storage, a dining hall, and more.
Cyron stopped in the middle of that chamber. He flicked his fingers a few times, and desks and chairs flew in from the branching paths, settling neatly into position. He flicked his fingers again, and teacups and a teapot flew over to land on the table. As if it were the most natural thing in the world, Protavist picked up the teapot and began pouring tea into the cups.
There were six chairs and six teacups prepared. However, only four people were seated: Bagan, Cyron, Razetta, and Selena. Protavist stood beside them, attending.
Knowing this, Cyron spoke.
"Tell the contracted spirit and the one in your arms to sit as well."
Somehow, Cyron was aware of both Sally and Arien's presence. Arien had been about to be brought out anyway, and Sally would materialize once Arien appeared, so there was no issue. Still, Bagan was curious how he had noticed.
Whoosh!
Arien emerged from subspace, transforming from a pebble into human form. Sally materialized accordingly and sat beside her.
"Now everything is ready."
Cyron said this while looking at Razetta, who was lowering her head and holding her breath.
"Will you speak, or shall I?"
"Ah, no. Please go ahead."
Razetta couldn't form proper sentences and passed the explanation to Cyron. He scratched his head and took a sip of tea.
"Ahem. To explain how this came about... When Razetta first arrived here, she despised this body immensely. However, the two of us are inseparable beings."
At those words, Selena nodded without thinking. She already knew that Razetta disliked Cyron, after all. But she hadn't known they were inseparable.
"This body is a Blue Dragon, and she is a Dragonian who inherited the blood of a Blue Dragon. If there is a destined pair in this world, it can only be the two of us."
Bagan found Cyron's proud tone slightly annoying, but he endured it.
"Even after I said that, Razetta rejected this body. So we decided to start as friends."
"Wait! Cyron, if you say it like that—!"
Razetta unusually raised her voice at Cyron's words. She spoke as if making an excuse.
"What I actually said was that we should take our time getting to know each other. At first, it was too overwhelming. It wouldn't have been polite to keep pushing him away."
Hearing that, Selena snapped.
"What? You suddenly decided that? Then what about me... What about me...! What have I been going through all this time for?! Huh?!"
It seemed Selena had no intention of holding back her anger any longer.
"I-I'm sorry. I was going to tell you..."
"Tell me what?! That you've actually had feelings for Lord Cyron this whole time? When?! Oh~! When I was about to die, you mean?! When I was barely catching my breath while holding off leviathans and krakens every single day, feeling like I was kissing death itself! Or how it feels to sleep 365 days a year in a cave that reeks of something awful!"
The pent-up resentment that had been building inside Selena finally burst out. She bit her lip hard, glared at them for a moment, then spoke.
"Haa~ Fine. You two live happily ever after. I'm going back to catch up on my overdue work."
The polite speech she had used for both Razetta and Cyron completely vanished. Abandoning all respect, Selena turned around and left her seat.