Ding!
A cold, emotionless voice echoes
through the deep sea.
"The Host has killed a Level One
Evolved Baron."
"The Host's body has evolved into:
Ninth-Level Earl Apex White Shark."
Silence follows.
Then
ROAR!!!
The ocean trembles.
"THOSE BASTARDS!!"
El-Mond's massive white body twists
violently in the dark waters, his energy erupts around him like crimson smoke.
"I WISH I COULD TORTURE THEM
TO DEATH!!"
His fangs grind together, rage boiling hotter
than magma beneath the sea.
"I END UP LIKE THIS…"
"AND THEY GET TO ENJOY EVERYTHING
I BUILT?!"
"LAUGHING OVER MY DEATH?!"
His voice cracks.
"THIS IS NOT FAIR!!!"
The roar fades, swallowed by the abyss.
As anger turns into bitter agony.
Unbeknownst, the endless darkness
beneath El-Mond
begins to change.
Crack.
A faint sound echoes.
Beneath the ocean floor, a thin fracture forms,
and from it
Light.
A sharp, piercing beam shoots upward,
striking directly into El-Mond's eyes.
"…Huh?"
El-Mond freezes.
"What's… this?"
Curiosity overtakes pain.
He lowers his massive body, eyes fixed on the glowing crack. The deeper he swims,
the further the light seems to retreat,
always close, yet endlessly distant.
Minutes pass.
Then an hour.
"Tch…"
"This is pointless."
He turns around.
WHAM!
Something inside him pulls downward.
"What?!"
His body shudders violently.
It feels as though he has burst through
an invisible barrier, yet there is no pain…
no danger… only a strange sense of acknowledgment.
Confused but alive El-Mond grits his teeth.
"…Whatever."
"I'll see this through."
He descends further.
Twenty-five minutes later
The source reveals itself.
Before him stands a towering statue,
ancient and unmoving.
A humanoid figure carved from unknown stone.
But where arms should be
Shark pectoral fins.
"…What kind of creature is this…?"
El-Mond circles cautiously, every instinct screaming both warning and reverence.
Beneath the pillar supporting the statue
Another crack.
And inside it
A diamond.
Small.
Perfect.
Radiating terrifying brilliance.
"…This thing?"
"This tiny thing sent out that beam?"
Without realizing it, El-Mond drifts
closer.
Closer.
His mind grows hazy.
His heartbeat accelerates.
Touch it.
Take it.
It belongs to you.
SNAP!
El-Mond jolts back violently.
"What just happened?!"
"I felt like a firefly…"
"…drawn by something I couldn't resist."
His gaze darkens.
"This place is wrong."
"Eerie…"
"I should leave."
He turns away.
SHADOW MOVES.
From the diamond, a formless black figure seeps out like living smoke.
Before El-Mond can react
It rushes into his body.
"GRAAAH....!!"
His body convulses.
Muscles tighten.
Veins bulge.
His massive form twitches uncontrollably
for several seconds
Then goes still.
El-Mond collapses beneath the ancient statue.
The diamond dims.
The abyss falls silent once more.
But somewhere, deep within his body
Something had awakened.
To Be Continued…