The exploration log left by Moen’s father was correct; they were currently within that underwater undercurrent.
The sunlight from above had long since vanished, and there was no telling how deep they had fallen.
Fortunately, this undercurrent was filled with bioluminescent organisms, emitting a faint blue-green glow similar to the light tide they had seen the previous day. Though their vision was far more limited than before, they weren't completely blind.
“Do you think those mermaids will still come after us?” Po Kong asked.
“Hard to say. Starlight just took out so many of them in one go. If it were me, I’d definitely be looking for revenge!” Xia Duo said, her eyes scanning the bioluminescent current with a hint of worry.
By now, the current had carried the four of them quite a distance. Given human physical limitations, swimming back against such a rushing torrent was impossible; they could only follow it passively to its end.
If the mermaids really caught up now, they wouldn't even have a place to hide.
“Starlight, do you feel better now? Any discomfort in your body?”
Moen stayed close to Starlight, meticulously checking his condition. Gentle Power of Nature flowed from her small hands into his body, greatly alleviating his fatigue.
Starlight shook his head slightly, quietly enjoying the soothing flow of the Power of Nature while watching Moen’s focused face.
The girl’s delicate features flickered in and out of the surrounding bioluminescence, possessing a dreamlike beauty.
Looking at her exquisite face, Starlight couldn't help but marvel to himself. “The fairies described in those novels must look exactly like this.”
Moen seemed to sense his gaze and turned to give him a faint smile, as if she had completely seen through his thoughts.
“Uh... about that...”
Starlight was just about to offer an awkward explanation when an electric-like tremor shot up from the soles of his feet, rapidly spreading through his entire body.
Danger! Absolute danger was coming!
This wasn't just his sixth sense; he could truly feel an inexplicable pressure! A terrifying pressure so powerful it made his skin crawl!
In that split second, he acted on pure instinct and shoved Moen away.
“Hey! Little Star, what are you doing?!”
Fortunately, the seaweed around their waists was still intact. Po Kong acted quickly, grabbing Moen’s arm. The two of them tumbled through the water before steadying themselves.
“Something’s coming!”
“What?! What do you mean something’s coming?”
Starlight had no time to explain his premonition. A terrifying shadow as massive as a mountain range appeared beside the undercurrent, opening an abyssal maw toward them.
The shadow was even thicker than the current they were in. To their eyes, that gaping mouth looked like a black hole appearing out of nowhere.
From a short distance away, Po Kong and the other two watched helplessly as the giant beast swallowed Starlight in a single gulp.
“Little Star!”
“Starlight!”
Po Kong and Moen desperately pulled at the seaweed tied to their waists, but the reinforced plant had been cleanly bitten in two by the monster, drifting uselessly in their hands.
Inside the beast’s mouth, Starlight was plunged into darkness, immediately hit by a wave of steaming stench.
It was a mixture of decay and blood. Even with the Water Breathing Spell blocking most of it, the smell was still suffocating.
“This is bad! Instant Movement!”
After a brief moment of chaos, Starlight realized his predicament and immediately spent what little mana he had recovered.
With the popping of spatial bubbles, his figure reappeared outside the giant beast.
Though he had temporarily escaped the danger, he was now far from the bioluminescent undercurrent. Only then could Starlight see the full scale of the creature.
It was a pitch-black whale-like monster of unimaginable size. Even the two Dragon Kings he had seen before seemed like small children in comparison.
The dark scales on the giant whale seemed to swallow light itself, almost completely blocking the bioluminescence from the distant current and casting a deep shadow over Starlight.
As Starlight struggled to maintain his balance in the turbulent wake of its movement, the beast seemed to sense his presence and slowly turned its head.
Those two eyes, larger than Camelbeasts, revealed a bone-chilling indifference. Starlight felt like a mouse pinned by a cat’s gaze, almost completely losing his ability to move.
“Is this thing’s target... me?!”
Starlight floated there dazed, at a loss for what to do, as the abyssal maw opened once more and lunged toward him.
“Little Star! What the hell are you doing?! Get moving!”
Po Kong’s frantic voice rang in his mind, snapping Starlight out of his stupor at the critical moment.
After Xia Duo spotted Starlight, Po Kong had immediately untied his seaweed rope and erupted with all his strength to bring Starlight back.
A brilliant golden light pierced through the current’s constraints, illuminating the pitch-black seabed as it streaked toward the giant beast like a meteor.
“Air-Rending Slash!”
The War God Battle Qi of the Mars family was truly fearsome. Even the whale’s steel-like scales were sliced open by the greatsword as if they were tofu, leaving a gash over ten meters long.
But that was the extent of what he could achieve. A wound of that size was merely a minor scratch to a beast hundreds of meters long.
The giant whale didn't even bother to turn its head toward the attack. It simply flicked its side fin, swatting the charging Po Kong away.
Under the force of that blow, the distance between the two of them grew even wider.
“Po Kong, can you still hear me?! You and Moen go first! This thing is after me! I’ll find a way to lure it away!”
Po Kong’s attack had bought Starlight a moment to breathe. Seizing the opportunity, he used another short-range teleport to dodge the whale’s charge.
Seeing that they were drifting further and further from the undercurrent, Starlight gritted his teeth and made a decision.
Defeating a monster of unknown power in the deep sea was pure fantasy. Starlight could clearly feel that the pressure this whale exerted far exceeded that of the incompletely resurrected Taros.
Though he didn't know why the whale was fixated on him, this would undoubtedly buy his three companions time to retreat.
“What are you doing! Little Star, get back—”
Before Po Kong could finish, the distance between them exceeded the range of Noah’s mental link. His golden-glowing figure was swept away by the currents churned up by the giant whale.
Rate on N.U.
