The Sea Envoy's Temptation
The goddess's envoy. All those sights were silently watched by Jinwoo from atop the dilapidated ticket booth roof at the amusement park entrance. Then, an uninvited guest arrived.
It appeared behind him without a sound, seeping in like sea mist. When Jinwoo turned his head, a single woman stood there.
At first glance, she was a South American beauty with exotic allure. Tanned, healthy skin, obsidian-black eyes, and a thin, wet silk dress that clung to her curves. But an inhuman chill emanated from her—a deep, alien otherness no human could possess.
Her long black hair was perpetually soaked, dripping seawater that stained the weathered roof. Instead of fine perfume, her skin carried the heavy scent of salt and seaweed. Faint traces of webbing lingered between her fingers and toes, her ears pointed like seashells with delicate patterns. And above all, her black eyes held not human emotion, but a cold, impassive intelligence like the pressure of the ocean depths.
"Crow Mage."
Her voice resonated low and mysterious, like a whale's song echoing from the ocean depths.
"I'm not here to fight you today."
[That thing is...!]
The Magic Grimoire hovering beside Jinwoo radiated wary energy. [It's a minion of the Abyss! How dare it reveal itself!]
"I am merely the envoy come to deliver 'Her' will." Ignoring the grimoire's warning, the woman continued addressing Jinwoo. "The Great Mother of the Sea, the Abyss Goddess, has watched your modest exploits with great interest."
She nodded toward the distant chaos unfolding amid the ruins. "Unlike those lowly 'gods' lost in their petty games of destruction, She has come here not to destroy, but to create. To drown this parched land in Her ocean, birth new life, and claim it as Her new domain."
Her abyssal eyes fixed on the Magic Grimoire in Jinwoo's hand. "You who wield the grimoire of conquest and domination must understand. The feat of founding a kingdom. But the power of your paltry grimoire is but a single grain of sand on the beach before Her almighty authority."
[You insolent wench...! How dare you insult me!]
The Magic Grimoire trembled with fury, pulsing crimson-black light, but the woman didn't so much as blink.
"She recognizes your potential. Offer everything—your arrogant soul, that impudent grimoire, all of it—to Her and swear loyalty. You shall become Her first proxy on land. Endless rewards: inexhaustible abyssal fisheries, gold from sunken ships. Not this scrap of earth, but eternal wealth and power in the kingdom of the sea."
It was a temptation too sweet to refuse. Yet beneath his plague doctor's mask, Jinwoo's face twisted in cold scorn.
"I..." He opened his mouth. "...am the conqueror and dominator. I bow to no one's rule."
He held up his Magic Grimoire. "I am a mage who walks his own path. Be it sea goddess or sky god, none can be my king. The king... is me alone."
[Yes, that's my master!]
The grimoire settled, satisfied with his response.
The envoy sighed deeply, as if she'd anticipated it. "Foolish. The arrogance of mortals."
Cold killing intent bloomed in her eyes for the first time. "Very well. Refuse Her merciful offer, and you lose everything." She gestured toward Chiharu and Corax leading the survivors in the distance.
"Your proud huntress and clever pet bird will soon be crushed formless by abyssal pressure, food for nameless fish. You'll lose all you've built by your own hands and die alone in despair."
Jinwoo burst into laughter at the threat. "My huntress and my lion... are not as frail as you think."
He gazed at his creations with eyes full of absolute trust. "They'll overcome your waves with their own strength. And if they fall... then I'll descend into that abyssal hole where your goddess lurks, shatter Her throne, and burn your kingdom to ash."
"That arrogance... will be your grave." The sea envoy raised her hand slowly. A droplet heavy with deep-blue abyssal light formed in her palm, then fell with a plip onto the weathered roof. It was the signal.
Rooooaaar—! A thunderous roar like lightning from a clear sky erupted, and seawater poured madly over the entire amusement park. It wasn't rain. Like a massive hole torn in the heavens, a colossal waterfall—no, a tsunami—crashed vertically from sky to earth. The clear morning sky blackened with storm clouds in an instant; thunder and lightning howled wildly. The ground turned to sea in moments. The rotten swamp's muddy water was swept away by salty brine, the level surging past knees to waists. Ferocious currents dragged ruins' debris; survivors screamed, clinging to each other.
And with the sea came the abyssal horde.
"Grulk! Kyaaak!"
Dozens, hundreds of grotesque forms surged from the churning waves. Fishmen—horrific hybrids of human and deep-sea fish. Slime-slick scales, fish-slit mouths, eyeless stares, hands gripping sharp tridents adorned with coral and shells. Clumsy on land, they were now sleek predators in their watery home.
Their target: Chiharu, Corax, and the terrified survivors isolated near the haunted house ruins.
"Damn...!"
Jinwoo instantly realized it was a cunning trap to separate him from his huntress. He moved toward Chiharu, but the envoy blocked him with a smile, as if reading his mind.
"Your opponent... is me."
"Everyone... fall back behind me!"
Chiharu desperately herded the survivors into the haunted house's higher interior, water at her waist. Fishmen closed in with eerie encirclement.
'Caaaawww!!!'
A furious, urgent screech erupted from Corax on her shoulder.
No more waiting. Defying her master's order of her own will, she began to gigantify. In seconds, fighter-jet sized, she pierced the storm skyward.
"You fool!" Chiharu cried, but it was too late. The sky was enemy territory now.
Corax didn't care. She surveyed the massive storm engulfing her from above. Then activated her second talent, [Feathers of Ruin].
Feathers of Ruin
From higher than the storm clouds, she violently shook her massive wings once. Thousands, tens of thousands of jet-black feathers became steel shrapnel, raining death on the fishmen below.
Shhhhrrrrr—!
"Kyak?!""Grulk?!"
The fishmen gawked at the black rain from the sky, then realized too late. Each feather a razor dagger, shredding scale armor like paper, carving flesh.
"Kiiiiaaak!"
The swamp became hellish chaos. Struck fishmen tore apart, collapsing in screams, dyeing the sea red with their blood. Corax's first strike nearly annihilated the vanguard in overwhelming power.
But the enemy wasn't so easy.
"Foolish bird... taste the sea's wrath!"
From the rear emerged a fishman mage unlike the others: intricately carved coral armor, staff of massive conch shell. He raised it skyward, chanting in incomprehensible abyssal tongue.
The storm intensified. Winds turned to blades, lightning grazed Corax. Massive waterspouts rose like living tentacles, seizing her wings, dragging her earthward.
Corax resisted desperately, but inexperienced in flight, she couldn't defy the storm's fury. Her giant form lost balance, screeching as she plummeted.
Then, from the horde stepped a hulking elite warrior, scars everywhere, shark-tooth trident in hand. He hurled it at the falling Corax with all his might.
Whiiish—!
The trident pierced her left wing joint through the storm.
[CORAX WING PIERCED]
[Kiiiiiaaawww!!!]
Corax's agonized scream shook the park. She crashed onto the haunted house roof with a boom.
"Corax!!!" Chiharu screamed.
But the mage and warrior, drunk on victory, advanced for the kill.
Pew—!
A red beam from nowhere pierced the mage's forehead. He toppled without a cry.
Pew—!
The second struck the warrior's heart. He stared disbelieving at the black arrow in his chest, collapsing.
Chiharu. While Corax bought time, she'd infused her bow with all her mana, taking aim.
Seeing the fallen leaders, she hesitated briefly. Then resolved, shouting to groaning Corax on the roof:
"I'll go to Master! You... protect these pathetic humans!"
Corax flapped her wounded wing, crying in protest, but Chiharu yelled again:
"This is an order! From the huntress... to the hunt falcon!"
With that, she hurled herself at the oncoming fishmen horde like a Valkyrie charging into the storm.
Corax watched her back a moment, then dragged her injured body to block the haunted house entrance, shielding the terrified survivors. With a roar of fury at the approaching fishmen.
The two female predators faced their first trials on their respective battlefields.