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…