The Depths Beckon
After the brilliant light faded, the space once filled with seawater had been gouged into a massive crater.
Not a single drop of moisture remained. Across the dry crater floor lay the charred corpses of countless Deep Ones, burned pitch black.
“As you can see, the enemy has been eliminated.”
“This power is beyond common sense.”
“Foolish girl. Since when has that team leader of yours ever operated within the bounds of common sense?”
At Ping Lei’s scolding, Jiyoung puffed her cheeks in indignation.
Wait… isn’t he insulting me right now?
“Such power is comparable to the foulest dark magic.”
“No, that was only possible because I struck the barrier first. Barbatos’s Iron Hammer would have been even stronger.”
The Deep Ones’ sea was protected by a powerful barrier. That was why I had deployed Barbatos’s Iron Hammer—whose cooldown was twelve hours—first. Dark mana was simply more effective against their barrier.
If I had used only Solar Explosion, the results wouldn’t have been nearly as impressive.
“The enemy’s true offensive is only just beginning. Stay alert.”
More Deep Ones poured into the crater. Far more than had been caught in the initial blast now surged up from the sea.
“Kikik.”
“Kikikikik.”
What an unpleasant laugh.
Even though their kin had been reduced to lumps of charcoal, they showed no trace of fear. To them, this was nothing.
Rustle— The trees lining the beach shook violently.
“Kikikik.”
“Kik?”
Deep Ones had appeared behind us.
“Even these abominations possess some cunning.”
“Team Leader, the number of enemies in the rear doesn’t seem too large. I’ll handle them.”
Kim Youngsoo sent his puppets to the backline.
As expected. The Deep Ones were far more comfortable in the sea. To think he could read their appearance and immediately adapt his tactics accordingly.
Truly, those who possess the Army Command talent are on another level.
The moment the Deep Ones crossed the edge of the crater—
Space Compression
Double Dash
Karla’s figure shot forward in the blink of an eye, appearing directly before the Deep Ones.
“I hate the smell of fish.”
The scythe in her hand drew a long silver arc through the air.
Schlick!
Green blood splattered along the silver trail, painting the sky.
“Too shallow.”
Karla stepped back. Several tridents stabbed into the spot where she had just been standing, missing her by a hair’s breadth.
“Kikikikikik.”
The Deep One whose neck had been half-severed grinned mockingly.
“They are worshippers of the Outer Gods. They possess resistance to spatial skills.”
“…Confirmed.”
Karla’s abilities weren’t omnipotent. The energy she could “delete” or redirect through spatial manipulation wasn’t infinite. Against beings from beyond the universe, its effectiveness was halved.
“As expected of the descendant of a puppet nation—relying on such petty tricks.”
Ping Lei curled his lip.
“No disparaging other nations.”
“N-no, that’s not what I—”
“Say one more word and see what happens.”
Ping Lei let out a groan and deployed his clones.
I watched the battle with my arms crossed.
The Deep Ones were strong. Thanks to the blessings of the Outer Gods, they boasted powerful resistance to elemental magic. Like undead, they could regenerate unless their heads or hearts were completely destroyed.
Monsters far too powerful for a Bronze-rank Gate. This wasn’t the kind of place where we could afford to worry about our teammates’ safety while clearing it.
Observing them fight would give me a solid estimate of their capabilities.
Blazing Sword & Mantis Sword
Two blades of different lengths flashed. One burned with roaring flames, the other carried a verdant wind.
The Blazing Sword, infused with extreme yang energy, and the Mantis Sword, specialized in cutting. Both had been enhanced by magic to maximize their power.
The two enchanted blades carved through the Deep Ones.
Hisss!
The Blazing Sword’s heat prevented regeneration, while the wind-enhanced blade sliced cleanly through their necks.
“Haaap!”
“Hap!”
The coordination between Ping Lei’s clones was flawless. Each possessed only one-third of his original power, yet through coordinated techniques they drove back the swarm.
“Ugh, seriously. I really hate frogs.”
Jiyoung frowned as she activated her unique ability.
A multi-layered Vibration Barrier spread out in every direction. It guided the Deep Ones’ movements exactly as she wished. Once the monsters had been split into small groups, she overlapped the barriers on both sides.
The moment they entered each other’s domains, the vibrations amplified.
“Kikikik?”
“Kikik!”
The Deep Ones swung their weapons in panic, but they couldn’t break the resonating barrier.
Crunch—!
Flesh and bone were crushed together. The Deep Ones were pulverized beyond recognition.
As expected, the Wall of Lament truly is in a league of its own.
Karla, having reset her stance, swiftly filled the gaps.
“This time, I’ll make it count.”
Accelerate
Space Compression
Schlick!
The heads of several Deep Ones floated into the air. She infused her scythe with magic power while simultaneously manipulating the space behind the monsters. By compressing and then releasing that space, she created a force that made them willingly thrust their own necks toward her blade.
“To think spatial manipulation could be used like that.”
“I learned it all from the Team Leader.”
Huh? I don’t remember teaching her that.
The monsters charging from the front could make no further progress against the trio’s coordinated assault. The same was true for those coming from the beach.
Puppetry
Squad Command – Defensive Formation
The puppets formed a solid line and held off the Deep Ones’ attacks.
“Heh heh, how commendable.”
At Nyx’s gesture, the Polar Night surged like waves. Thick darkness pierced the Deep Ones’ necks, then spread from within, destroying their bodies.
Since she couldn’t output enough power to kill them in one strike, she had switched to a different method.
The Deep One trembled like an aspen leaf before collapsing with a thud.
She was even managing her internal energy perfectly. If she used Dark Shadow Soul-Chasing Sword, she could bisect a Deep One in a single blow, but she seemed to be conserving it for future battles.
The fight dragged on for over an hour.
“Goddammit. There’s no end to them.”
Ping Lei spat out a curse. Karla’s movements had slowed noticeably—she had expended quite a bit of stamina. Even Jiyoung, whose ability was highly efficient, wiped sweat from her brow with the back of her hand.
The only one who showed no signs of fatigue was Nyx.
“Truly a vile race.”
For Nyx, manipulating Polar Night was as natural as breathing. If I had to control it for this long, I would have accumulated considerable exhaustion.
At this point, the team seemed sufficiently familiar with fighting Deep Ones.
“Time to end this.”
“Master, is that even possible?”
“I can’t clear the Gate itself, but I can at least stop their attacks.”
Demonic Power has been activated.
All of the user’s stats have been converted into Magic Power.
My magic power surged. When I cast Solar Explosion, the speed at which mana was rearranged became dramatically faster.
It would be perfect if I could learn a skill like Double Spell. What a shame.
I hurled the completed orb toward the sea. A tremendous explosion erupted—Kwaaaaaang!
The blast radius was roughly twice as wide as my first attack, and far more powerful. The Deep Ones caught directly in the explosion were reduced to ash, while those swept up in the shockwave were turned into bloody pulp.
Level has increased.
Because so many Deep Ones had been caught in the shockwave, my experience points shot up dramatically.
“Now it’s truly beginning.”
I cast Solar Explosion in rapid succession. The smoke rising from the explosions turned the entire beach area pitch black. By the time the duration ended, it was nearly impossible to find even a shadow of a Deep One.
“Team Leader, the enemies are retreating.”
Karla spoke in a calm tone. Jiyoung let out a long sigh.
“Only an idiot would charge in after seeing that.”
“Why are you sighing like that?”
“It’s because of you, Master. We worked so hard, yet you cleaned everything up by yourself.”
“I couldn’t have done it alone.”
“Are you just saying that?”
“It was only possible because I used a high-risk technique.”
The skill Demonic Power, which converted all stats into a single stat. Its power was immense, but so were its weaknesses. Converting everything into magic power left my defense extremely vulnerable.
“I was only able to do it because I trusted my teammates. If I didn’t, I never would have used such a method.”
“To think Master trusts me that much!”
Jiyoung’s eyes grew watery. It really wasn’t that emotional of a statement.
“For now, let’s establish a base camp.”
Clap, clap!
I clapped my hands and gave the order.
* * *
Clearing a Gate didn’t always finish within a single day. Sometimes the threshold didn’t rise the moment players entered. Gates as vast as the Lair of the Deep Ones simply couldn’t be cleared in a short time.
When a raid became prolonged, building a base camp was essential.
Clang! Clang!
Kim Youngsoo’s puppets skillfully set up the tents.
“All finished.”
“Thank you for your hard work, hyung-nim.”
“It’s nothing. I’m glad I could help even with something like this.”
Kim Youngsoo laughed heartily. If I had asked Ping Lei, he probably would have said something like, “Hmph! Such a trivial task!” The other two lacked the knack for it.
“Having hyung-nim here is truly reassuring.”
After installing the automatic alarm and barrier stones, we began a full-scale exploration of the Gate’s interior.
We started by searching inland.
“It’s blocked off here.”
Jiyoung muttered with clear disappointment. Not long after moving inland from the shore, a towering cliff blocked our path.
Then where had the Deep Ones who attacked us from behind come from?
After searching the shoreline, the answer quickly became clear.
“Team Leader, look at these marks.”
Karla pointed at the sandy beach with her scythe. There were numerous webbed footprints.
“So they came around from the rear.”
Tsk. I clicked my tongue.
The Lair of the Deep Ones—the Gate responsible for the tragedy of the Spice Islands. Even in my memories, there had been almost no information about this particular Gate. Bu-ru Island only became known to the world after the Gate Break.
This time, I would have to learn everything through direct confrontation.
The inland exploration ended in failure.
Our second search location was the sea itself.
“Wouldn’t entering the sea be quite dangerous?”
Jiyoung glanced nervously at the pitch-black ocean, her face full of worry.
“Probably.”
But did we really need to enter the water to observe the sea?
Void Mirror has been activated.
The traces of the Demon’s Eye are reflected in the mirror.
You transform into a recorded soul state.
Duration: 60 minutes.
Crack!
It felt like someone was grabbing my head from both sides and stretching it. My head swelled to several times its normal size. A flash of horror crossed my teammates’ eyes.
“Just wait a moment.”
It wasn’t like I wanted to maintain this form. But in this situation, the abilities of the Demon’s Eye were necessary.
Due to the effect of Void Mirror, the Mystic Eye ability has been enhanced.
Thousand Eyes → Thousand-Mile Eyes
You can now see much farther distances.
My Mystic Eye had been upgraded to one that could pierce even the deepest waters!
I observed the darkness-filled sea. “There’s nothing inside.”
“Then where in the world are those abominations coming from?”
“Not from this sea.”
I lifted my gaze upward. Beyond the darkness-stained sea, thick fog shimmered. Using Thousand-Mile Eyes, I pierced through the gray veil. Inside, I saw an island.
Buildings constructed in a bizarre architectural style. Roughly thousands of Deep Ones were visible living within the city. The scene was clearly captured by my enhanced vision.
“Found it.”
I released Void Mirror. Now that I had located the objective, all that remained was to find a way to reach it.
“We have to cross that sea to attack the Deep Ones’ lair. How easy,” Jiyoung said sarcastically.
“Right?”
“That was clearly sarcasm, Master!”
“Don’t worry. There is a way to cross.”
I looked at Jiyoung with a warm, satisfied gaze.