Chapter 19: | The Abyss
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I couldn't help but play with it for a bit.
My body shifted and repositioned, Phantom Shift, then Accel Dash, as I rammed into its body again and again.
Cracks spiderwebbed across its exoskeleton while its claws unleashed a frantic barrage of strikes.
But they couldn't reach me.
Its attacks were futile.
I simply repositioned beneath its abdomen and delivered a hellish bash that sent it flying.
It was beyond furious.
The more I toyed with it, the angrier it became.
Then, greenish fog began seeping from its mandibles, as it infused into the currents.
My instincts screamed, that stuff was dangerous.
I sighed.
The game was over.
I distanced myself a few meters.
Unfurling my fins, I smiled.
The exoskeleton lining each strand would serve as my sword.
The tips were sharp, reinforced, deadly.
I closed my eyes.
Focused.
Steadied my breath.
Seconds passed.
The world stilled.
I could feel it all, the subtle shifts in the currents, the ripples from Liora's battle, the water displaced from cab breath, the faint tension of its limbs tightening.
I smiled.
Then grunted, muscles constricting to their limit, adrenaline surging.
Accel Dash.
My body blurred, vanished, from its view.
Its pincer slammed into the ground, sending tremors through the current.
Confusion gripped it.
Where was its prey?
The arrogant creature that blatantly toyed with its noble existence?
Gone.
Its compound eyes darted, scanning frantically.
Then.
It heard the sound.
The faintest crackling of its own shell.
Fine pink lines began to spiderweb across its body.
Then.
Pain.
SHRIEEEEK!
Agony like nothing it had ever known, its muscles shredded into a thousand pieces, nerves alight in flame.
Then.
With a thunderous boom.
Its legs trembled.
Its shell exploded from within.
Thud!
Its body collapsed.
Lifeless.
Vision dimming into black.
I stood still, marveling at the precision of my strike.
Fae Sword Art — Sixth Form: Scattered Flower.
This technique let me end the battle with minimal effort.
It demanded extreme speed, so fast no enemy could interrupt the flow of the attack.
Its shell shattered and burst apart.
Though not a perfect result.
Since I could only use my fins and exoskeleton.
If I had a sword… its body would've been sliced clean in half.
But sadly, I had no way to wield one.
Haaa...
I sighed and turned toward Liora.
Watching her fight was breathtaking.
Her movements flowed with deadly rhythm, no wasted motion, no inefficiency.
Every strike chained into the next like clockwork.
I saw her raise a leg to block a claw, then sweep under to slam that same claw into the seabed.
Perfect timing.
Her musculature shifted.
Her left leg bulged unnaturally, transforming, armored and hard, before she smashed it into one crab's skull.
A single sweep.
Multiple claws shattered in an instant.
I blinked.
How?
What kind of control let her reshape muscle into armor?
Then her leg shifted again, grotesque, smooth, into something like an axe.
With one motion, she executed all the remaining crabs in a single breath.
Liora's eyes gleamed as she looked at me.
"Hehehe. Did you enjoy me flashing myself?"
I couldn't help but chuckle.
This girl... she could joke even in the most brutal battles.
Then I watched her left leg shift back into its original form.
Was liora a slime?
No… of course not.
But now I understand one thing.
If one had absolute control over every fiber of muscle, it was possible to shift their limbs, just like her.
I sighed.
But for me, that was still a fantasy.
Without a skill as a medium, it was impossible.
I am not Liora.
And I can't compare myself to her.
---
Minutes passed as I slowly devoured the remnants of Cab.
CRUNCH!
CRACK!
TEAR!
How quaint...
The existence of Cab truly served its purpose, to show me defeat, to reveal my limits, and to remind me not to overestimate myself.
Then Liora sat atop one of the carcasses, legs elegantly crossed like a madame dining at a high-end restaurant.
She savored the crab delicately, lips barely parting as she sampled the meat.
THE FUCK...
WAS THIS?
Her gaze flicked toward me, sharp, appraising.
"How disgraceful,"
she said, voice dripping with disdain.
"How could the future Emperor of my race eat in such a barbaric manner?"
I blinked, stunned.
Now she was acting like royalty, while still completely naked.
Liora sniffed with dramatic disapproval.
"Stop gawking, peasant."
...What was this?
Why was she acting so strangely?
My jaw hung slack at her performance.
The presence she exuded, the aura, it did feel regal.
She smiled.
Then burst into laughter.
"Puhahahahaha!"
She wiped a tear from the corner of her eye, still giggling, and pointed at me.
"How was my acting? Impressive, right?"
I nodded.
Yeah, it was impressive.
Even without a single stitch of clothing, she radiated nobility.
I couldn't help but recall something Anderson the Great once said in My Love for Margaret.
"Nobles, even without clothing, exude a powerful aura that commoners simply do not possess."
Back then, I thought he was full of shit.
But looking at her now… maybe he wasn't wrong.
Liora let out a soft burp, her stomach bulging briefly before settling back into place.
She muttered almost cutely.
"Hey, are you done with your meal?"
I nodded, slowly lifting off the ground.
She smiled and leapt onto my back, then pointed lazily down the trench.
"Let's go down, down, down~"
She hummed a tune, inspecting her nails absentmindedly.
Time passed.
Liora had fallen asleep.
Her golden locks spread across my back like strands of sunlight.
Her long lashes framed eyes now closed in peaceful slumber.
Her curves, dangerous, intoxicating, pressed softly against my carapace.
Whether seen from the front or the back, her body could drive any man mad.
Her lips were a pale pink, tempting, like something sacred that must never be touched.
Liora was beautiful.
So beautiful that even the greatest artists would fail to capture her on canvas.
Haa...
I let out a long breath, eyes drifting toward the abyss.
Bioluminescent creatures floated through the dark, gliding, flickering like silent stars.
The water deepened.
It was an abyss.
And the pressure...
It grew heavier with every meter I descended.
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Hours passed as I dove deeper and deeper.
Judging by the sheer weight of the mountainous pressure around me, I was likely thousands of meters below the surface.
The pressure was vexing, oppressive.
I couldn't help but get some ideas.
Diving thousands of meters into the depths just to train my body… was, without a doubt, the brightest idea I'd ever come up with.
Why did I think of that, you ask?
Simple.
The deeper I went, the more crushing the pressure became.
The more I moved, the faster I grew tired.
Every single motion demanded energy.
Every breath, heavier than the last.
And that was the point.
That very pressure trained every fiber of my body just by moving.
Which made training here, in the darkest, coldest parts of the ocean, far more effective than anything I could do on land.
It was cold. Bitterly so.
Earlier, I noticed Liora's body trembling, but the shiver vanished within seconds.
Why?
Probably because she was capable of controlling her every being, generating heat on command was nothing but childplay to her.
That alone was insane.
But enough of that.
Let's see what this abyss truly holds for me.
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My body moved mechanically for days.
My muscles burned.
Thoughts dulled.
I descended thousands more meters, slicing through the frozen black.
Down here, it was so cold, that barely any Stage 1 creatures drifted around.
The ocean was still.
Silent.
Until.
Light.
After what felt like an eternity in shadow… I saw it.
There, at the base of the trench, stood a tree.
Rooted firmly in the seabed, it glowed faintly.
Beneath it, countless jade-like grasses swayed softly in the current.
An aura radiated from the tree.
It felt like that of a Stage 1 being, but not quite.
It was older.
Deeper.
I drifted down toward it, sensing no hostility.
Perhaps... a place to rest.
Then, the familiar flicker of a system hologram shimmered into view.
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[You have slain.]
• Stage 1 Tier 5 Level 14 [★★★★ Titan Gem Crab]
[You have gained 730,000 EXP.]
[You have gained a level.] ×4
[You have gained the title.]
• Title Is Just a Word
• Lord Slayer
[You've successfully devoured:]
• Stage 1 Tier 5 Level 14 [★★★★ Titan Gem Crab]
[You have gained new skills:]
• Abyssal Gem Core
• Gem-Forged Carapace
• Monarch's Regeneration
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The skills I gained from Cab were… satisfactory.
My exoskeleton had mutated again.
Lustrous, gem-like growths now shimmered across my armor.
Abyssal Gem Core, a new core that allowed me to store and wield water-type mana.
Gem-Forged Carapace, my armor, was now crystalline, and tougher than ever.
And Monarch's Regeneration.
As the name implied, my regenerative speed had increased dramatically.
I could now regrow limbs, a trait befitting a true monster.
All of it… impressive.
But my gaze shifted.
There, along the trench wall, lay the cavernous plains, dimly lit by bioluminescent plants.
The jade grass swayed in rhythm with the current.
Jellyfish drifted across the scene like silent spirits.
It was soothing.
Beautiful.
I closed my eyes, letting the tranquil scene calm my senses.
Liora had already dozed off on my back.
And as darkness slowly crept into my vision.
...I slept.
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