I grabbed my paddle and began moving again, my breath still uneven from the last encounter.
"Ah! That was a great hit. It's been a long time since I played baseball. That was refreshing."
The treasure box slid over the toxic current, its wooden frame creaking under my weight.
For a brief, fleeting second, I thought—maybe, just maybe—I could get a moment of silence.
Of course, I was wrong.
SPLORCH.
The juice rippled—then tore open with a dozen explosions of foam and light.
A massive swarm of jellyfish monsters emerged—bigger, fatter, more lethal than the one I sent fleeing. Their translucent bodies glowed with malevolent color, and each wriggled in rhythm as if bound by some hive mind.
Snap. Snap. SWISH!
Tentacles burst forward, crackling with energy, swinging toward me like electric whips.
"Seriously? Can't I have one moment of peace and silence?!" I yelped, throwing my paddle to the other side and ducking behind the lid.
And then—
Everything froze.
The jellyfish stopped mid-air, their gelatinous forms pulsing slightly… but unmoving.
The river hushed.
I blinked.
"What's the odd that jellyfish monsters listen to me? Hahaha." I exhaled and wiped my forehead.
But the silence didn't comfort me.
Crackle. Crackle.
"Oui... What's that sound?"
A low buzz spread through the air. I looked down—
The juice was no longer liquid.
It sparked.
Tiny veins of lightning shimmered across the surface like neon threads stitched into flesh.
I backed away. Hard.
Then I looked up.
And I saw it.
Their tentacles, once just flailing, now crackled with raw voltage.
Each one radiated arcs of blinding white and violet energy, illuminating the walls of the intestine like a twisted cathedral of light and death.
They weren't pausing. They were charging.
And then—
ZRAAAAAM!!!
A thunderbolt—pure and ancient—shot down like a divine hammer smashing through reality.
BOOM!!!
It struck the treasure box dead center. The explosion sent juice and lightning spraying outward in all directions. The shockwave cracked the very air apart, and though I had already slammed the lid shut—
I still felt it.
A sharp tingle surged through my skin, crawling into my veins. My body jolted.
"Ugh—!"
The light faded. Smoke rose.
I slowly opened the lid.
My hair—
Bounce. Bounce.
I touched it.
"Oui! You gotta be kidding me! I tried afro hair when I was young, and it didn't look good on me." I groaned and tried to flatten it with my fingers. A puff of static zapped my fingertip. "Ow—ugh."
That was all I had time for.
Because—
WOOOSH!
The jellyfish—fully charged and furious—were rushing toward me like a thunderstorm on legs.
"GYAAAHH!!"
I didn't think. I didn't breathe.
I just grabbed the paddle and started rowing like death itself was nipping at my back.
Piak! Piak! Piak!
Tentacles lashed out with merciless fury, slicing through the air around me like electric whips made of jelly and death.
Adrenaline surged through my bloodstream like wildfire. I ducked, dodged, twisted—barely staying ahead of the barrage. Each near miss felt like death whispering in my ear, and once, I felt it—a faint sting brushing across my ribs.
A sharp pain flashed—a reminder.
My arm, still raw from the earlier sting, pulsed in warning. One hit. That's all it would take.
But giving up wasn't in my vocabulary.
I gritted my teeth and paddled harder. My arms were screaming, muscles aching, but I forced more speed into each stroke.
Still—they were gaining.
The jellyfish monsters surged forward, electricity crackling between their twitching tentacles. I could see their pulsing bodies reflect in the juice's surface—getting closer. Too close.
And then—something touched my foot.
Clink.
I glanced down, heart pounding.
Grenades.
"Eureka!" I gasped. "I completely forgot I picked up some grenades in the rabbit's stomach!"
There wasn't time to hesitate.
I grabbed the closest one. Its cold metal shell dug into my palm.
Click.
The pin came off with a sharp twist. The lever popped.
"Hope you jelly creeps like fireworks."
I hurled the grenade.
It arced through the air—then vanished into the writhing swarm of glowing tentacles.
BOOOOOM!!
A blinding flash tore open the darkness.
The explosion was thunder incarnate—ripping through the juice with a wave of heat and force. I was blown forward, the treasure box skidding across the current like a leaf caught in a hurricane.
I clung to the paddle like my life depended on it—because it did.
A shockwave rippled across the water. A burst of mist blew through the air.
The results?
Devastation.
Several jellyfish were instantly vaporized, their bodies bursting into sizzling goo. The blast radius scorched the nearest walls, painting them in the charred residue of war.
The survivors weren't unscathed either.
Some floated erratically, their bodies half-melted from the explosion. Their tentacles spasmed, discharging sparks uncontrollably.
Their movements were sluggish. Disoriented. Hurting.
"Now!" I hissed, seizing the moment.
I slammed the paddle into the juice and surged forward—using their broken formation to widen the gap.
But deep down, I knew—it wasn't over.
These monsters didn't know fear. They didn't know retreat.
Sure enough—
SQUELCH. SQUISH.
The survivors twitched. Then began moving again.
Lightning surged back to life along their tentacles.
"Damn persistent..."
I reached for the second grenade.
My heartbeat slowed.
Everything else became still.
Even with adrenaline pouring through my veins, my head was cold. Focused.
Click.
I pulled the pin and held it for just a moment—timing it perfectly.
The monsters surged forward.
I threw.
BOOM!
The grenade exploded with an earth-shaking roar. A brutal shockwave tore through the corridor like a divine judgment, lighting the walls of the large intestine in a hellish glow. The juice convulsed from the impact, splashing violently as chunks of gelatinous flesh burst apart midair—the jellyfish monsters screaming as they were torn asunder.
I exhaled, chest heaving.
"Finally..." I muttered, letting my body sag in the treasure box, heart thundering.
But the victory was short-lived.
As the smoke cleared, shadows moved within it.
And then—
SQUELCH.
They emerged. The surviving jellyfish monsters—dozens of them. Their bodies twitched violently, their many eyes glowing with incandescent rage. Each undulating tendril sparked with crackling electricity, forming a web of lethal intent.
Their cries echoed like the wails of the damned, rising into a monstrous chorus of vengeance.
"Oh come on—!"
I screamed and grabbed the paddle, water churning behind me as I fled, clenching the remaining grenades like lifelines. My arm ached, my fingers burned from gripping the paddle too tight, but hesitation now would mean death.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
I launched the grenades one after another—fiery comets streaking through the darkness.
The explosions tore through the battlefield, severing tentacles, incinerating soft bodies, painting the walls in splattered blue goo.
The monsters fell.
And yet—they surged forward.
Like soldiers on a divine mission.
Their numbers thinned, but their resolve only grew fiercer, angrier, more unrelenting.
And something inside me... snapped.
I licked my lips, the taste of salt and adrenaline thick on my tongue.
The jellyfish monsters loomed closer—electricity crackling between their twitching tentacles, their gelatinous bodies pulsing like glowing nightmares from a sea of poison.
I smirked.
"Oui. So that's how it's going to be, huh?"
My voice rang clear, cutting through the bubbling juice like a blade.
Enough running.
I rose to my feet in the treasure box, standing tall and unshaken despite the shifting waves beneath me. The air shimmered around me with the residual tension of battle, and still—I stood.
A fire ignited in my chest.
That fire.
The one that refused to go out no matter how dark it got.
"Let's stop this cat and mouse chase… and fight fire with fire."