Above the surface...
Grace stood near the edge of the deck, golden eyes fixed on the dark sea below with a deeply worried expression.
Just a short while ago, the neck that Garrick had been holding had suddenly vanished into black mist right in his grip.
Without a word of explanation, Garrick had immediately turned and jumped into the sea after Jake.
Now the water remained still and dark, giving no sign of what was happening beneath.
Grace’s hands tightened into fists at her sides, her massive breasts rising and falling with her quickened breathing as she continued to stare downward, unable to do anything but wait.
Then—
SPLASH!
Something exploded out from the water with tremendous force, sending a spray of seawater high into the air.
Grace’s golden eyes widened in shock.
Activating her Far Sight skill, her vision sharpened instantly, allowing her to clearly make out the figures that had burst from the surface.
It was Garrick... and a severed black torso?
Garrick landed lightly and stood atop the surface of the sea, blue aura faintly coating his boots to keep him from sinking.
He looked down at the black torso he had just thrown aside.
To his surprise, the severed upper body of the Drowned Stalker also remained standing upright on the water, supporting itself with both arms as if the surface were solid ground.
Garrick’s expression darkened.
"...What the hell is that thing..."
Even as the words left his mouth, the severed black torso began to change.
Black flesh rapidly stretched downward from the waist.
New legs formed in seconds, solidifying with the same dense, blackish texture.
Jagged spines pushed out from its shoulders and along its back, while additional mouths split open across its chest and arms.
Within moments, a complete body stood upright on the surface of the sea... taller, broader, and far more menacing than before.
It was the same regenerated form Jake had witnessed below.
Garrick froze for a split second as he took in the more menacing silhouette standing on the water.
Then—
WHOOSH!
The creature vanished from sight.
Garrick’s eyes sharpened.
He hurriedly raised his long sword, blue aura flaring along the blade just in time.
CLANG!
A heavy impact rang out as something collided with his weapon at high speed, sending a shower of sparks and a spray of seawater outward.
Garrick immediately countered with a fierce horizontal swing, blue aura surging along the edge of his long sword as he cut through the air with full force.
WHOOSH!
Yet his blade met only empty space.
The attack hit nothing.
Garrick’s eyes narrowed.
He turned his head sharply—
And froze.
The regenerated Drowned Stalker was standing calmly on the flat of his long sword, perfectly balanced as if the weapon weighed nothing at all, looking down at him from above.
Garrick’s heart jumped at the sight as he felt that this thing had changed.
Not only in appearance, but... this thing... had become even stronger.
’Jake...’
A flicker of worry crossed Garrick’s mind as he thought of the young man still fighting below.
Because right now, he wasn’t so confident in defeating this thing fast enough.
_
_
_
Meanwhile, far beneath the surface...
The situation was not exactly good for Jake either.
White-gold light and pure darkness clashed repeatedly in the deep water.
Flashes of radiant energy flared and vanished in rapid succession as Jake’s dual-colored sword of light met the Drowned Stalker’s regenerated limbs again and again.
Each exchange left trails of white-gold afterimages and black energy streaks blurring through the dark sea.
Jake’s glowing golden eyes remained locked on the more menacing form as he continued to trade high-speed strikes with the creature, the water around them churning violently from the force of their clashes.
’Dammit! This thing is even stronger and faster than before!’
Jake inwardly cursed while twisting his body to the side, narrowly dodging a strange, jointless limb that lashed out at him with unnatural speed.
The black appendage sliced through the water where his torso had been a split second earlier, leaving a dark trail in its wake.
’No... this can’t continue!’
Jake’s thoughts turned sharp and urgent.
He could already feel it... the strain building in his muscles, the dull ache spreading through his limbs, and the way his white-gold aura flickered ever so slightly with each successive clash.
His body was rapidly approaching its limit.
If this dragged on any longer, he would be the one to break first.
Jake’s glowing golden eyes turned cold.
It was do or die.
Without hesitation, he poured every last ounce of power into [Light Manifestation].
White-gold radiance erupted violently around his dual-colored blade, completely overwhelming the sword until the entire blade transformed into a pure, brilliant sword of light.
In the next instant—
Jake became light itself.
He exploded forward in a blinding white-gold flash, leaving a razor-sharp trail of radiance in his wake.
ZING!
Everything in his path was cleanly cut apart by the sheer intensity of his charge as he shot straight toward the regenerated Drowned Stalker.
The creature showed a rare flicker of surprise.
Its arm instantly split apart, transforming into a cluster of thick, black tentacles that shot toward Jake from multiple angles like a net of darkness.
Jake’s cold golden eyes narrowed.
He twisted his body mid-charge, weaving through the incoming tentacles with precise movements.
At the same time, his pure sword of light flashed repeatedly.
ZING!
ZING!
ZING!
Each tentacle that came within reach was cleanly severed, the cut ends dissolving into black mist as Jake continued his relentless advance toward the Drowned Stalker’s main body.
And in the next moment, Jake arrived directly in front of the regenerated Drowned Stalker once more.
He gritted his teeth, white-gold radiance still blazing fiercely around his pure sword of light.
’FUCK... THERE BETTER NOT BE A FOURTH PHASE!’
With that thought burning in his mind, Jake swung the brilliant blade straight toward the newly reformed crimson core in the creature’s chest.
Just as the edge of the sword of light was about to connect—
The core suddenly moved.
It shifted downward with unnatural speed, dodging the fatal strike by a hair’s breadth.
Jake’s eyes widened as his body froze for a split second in shock.
But he could no longer change the course of his strike.
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