Turning Chapter 964

Chapter 964

"...It's going to emerge soon."

"Are you speaking of the monster?"

Inquired Yuder and Kishiar, their gazes locking in mutual concern. At the moment they were about to issue instructions to their members for the tentacle response, Mick opened his mouth wide, waving his hands with a pale face.

"No. Below! It will come out from below. Not from above!"

"...Below?"

He thought he had misread the lip shape, but that wasn't the case. Mick had definitely whispered "below."

Does that mean, as Yuder had previously guessed, instead of the monster aiming to emerge upward toward the sea, causing shock by hitting the submerged part, it intends to dig through the seabed below where the current crack is buried? Up until now, it had always tried to come out upward toward the sea, so it was naturally thought that it would do so again this time. If the creature was trying to burrow out from underneath the seabed from the start, then the tremendous shock just now was instantly understandable.

"It won't come out from above. Below. Down below...! From that hole...! You must avoid it now...!"

Mick's mumbling became more and more disorganized, and his pace quickened. He might think he was conveying his intentions as slowly as possible, but even Yuder, blessed with insight, found it difficult to grasp all of his words. To calm Mick down, who was moving his mouth as if enchanted, looking pale as if he might faint at any moment, Yuder gently exerted power around him.

With a whoosh!

"Ah!"

Mick was startled, his panic momentarily arrested as water enveloped him, the best means of regaining composure underwater. The unexpected rush of water stopped him mid-sentence.

"Please, calm yourself," Yuder urged, sensing that his excessive use of power was exacerbating Mick's agitation. He covered Mick's eyes with his hand, the sudden darkness causing Mick to flinch, then slowly, he began to settle.

Kanna, another with the ability to read information, had once fainted while attempting to exert her power on the Red Stone. Delving into or reading dangerous things was perilously difficult, threatening even the life of the Awakeners wielding their abilities.

Fortunately, Mick did not lose consciousness like Kanna. Covering his eyes allowed him time to compose himself, his body trembling less with each passing moment.

As Mick calmed down, Kishiar approached, gently pushing Yuder's hand away to take his place.

"Mick."

“...”

No response.

"Focus on me."

Kishiar skillfully positioned himself to prevent Mick from looking downward. When Mick finally opened his eyes, they were frighteningly bloodshot, to the point where Yuder worried that any further exertion of power might cause them to burst. Mick gazed at Kishiar, managing a strained, almost smile-like expression after a moment.

"I have shown an unsightly side of myself. My apologies," he said, his voice tinged with regret.

"Did you clearly see which direction the monster inside the crack is trying to emerge from?" asked Yuder.

"Yes, that much is certain."

"And what else? What did you see?"

"It's difficult to explain," Mick said, shaking his head, his bloodshot eyes a testament to his ordeal. "Initially, I tried to take a closer look at the abnormal crack. But it seems beyond my ability to see clearly..."

Mick, it seemed, had instinctively decided that using his power to closely examine the phenomenon was far too perilous. Instead, he concentrated his abilities on observing the movements of the monster as it struggled to escape from within. This distinction, fortunately, was within his capabilities, yet even that brief glimpse had harmed his eyes.

As he spoke, blinking several times, blood began to seep from the corner of one eye, like a mist of red. Covering his bleeding eye with his hand, Mick's pale lips moved as he murmured,

"To me, below... it all appeared as a massive, gaping hole. But it was constantly moving... as if it were alive..."

A hole. Mick had mentioned a hole before. It seemed it was not a mere metaphor for the strange crack. Yuder, wedging himself next to Kishiar, inquired,

"You had mentioned me having holes as well. Do you remember? Is that what you are referring to?"

Mick hesitated, as if to shake his head, but then slowly nodded.

"I am not sure, but... it seems somewhat like that... in the sense that it's like a wound... perhaps similar."

A wound. Yuder made a mental note of this newly emerged term.

"It seems we should not allow him to look below any further."

Kishiar, after assessing Mick's condition, said this to Yuder, who agreed with his assessment.

Ideally, they should have sent Mick back to the surface immediately, but there was no time for that with the monster about to emerge. Being separated from Yuder, the one capable of protective power, would be more dangerous for Mick in his current state.

"Mick. Do not use your power anymore."

With a brief and decisive command, Kishiar signaled to a member of their team to take over Mick's care. This team member was exceptionally talented in creating protective barriers of water and had sustained the least injuries during the ongoing underwater battle. It seemed prudent to entrust Mick to him. Exhausted as if all his energy had been drained merely from making his report, Mick listlessly followed the team member.

Simultaneously, a second shockwave reverberated.

-Kooouuuum------!

The sensation was like being in a giant's cup, violently shaken. The tremendous jolt felt like it could churn their insides, yet their response to this second impact was much swifter than before. Kishiar exerted his pushing force while Yuder quickly matched his timing, exerting his power. The current Yuder summoned smoothly intertwined with Kishiar's force, forming a large, wall-like barrier that solidly protected the nearby members.

-Whoaaaak!

Within the safety of their combined power, hardly any shock could penetrate.

However, they couldn't focus solely on defense. They needed to deal with the monster trying to breach the seabed below.

The fact that the monster was not emerging through the crack upward, but instead heading in the opposite direction, was disconcerting. Nevertheless, there was only one course of action.

‘We need to go as deep as possible, dig through the seabed, and create conditions for Kishiar's power to be effective.’

As Yuder looked at Kishiar, the man's gaze met his squarely, even in the darkness. His eyes conveyed readiness, unstartled and prepared for whatever Yuder would initiate.

Yuder nodded slightly and then signaled to the members.

"The Commander and I are going down. When the monster ascends, the remaining members will unite their strength to create a current and send it to the surface."

In the depths beyond, there existed only entities perilously close to death.

A moment of inattention there was enough to crush a body with its immense pressure.

Water, utterly dangerous for humans accustomed to breathing on land.

And there, gaping open, lay the crack with its lurking monster.

Yet, knowing all this, the members did not express concern over Yuder's command. Nor did they voice any lack of confidence in their ability to create currents and send the monster to the surface without Yuder. They simply exchanged the same signal with Yuder and Kishiar.

"Understood."

"Got it."

Yuder responded with the same gesture. Then, following him, Kishiar moved his hand in a final signal.

A salute that stretched from the chest—where the emblem of the Cavalry was located—outward.

It was a form of salute peculiar to the Cavalry Unit, used when the Commander had no specific tasks to assign.

A wave of emotion lit up the faces of the team members, so dull in the dim light. Had they been above water, they might have burst into laughter or shouted joyously.

Leaving them behind, Yuder and Kishiar swiftly descended further down.

The thick darkness quickly engulfed the presence of the team members, leaving a chilling cold to pervade the surroundings. As Yuder turned to check Kishiar's location, a hand reached out and gently clasped his, as if to say, 'I am here, no need to look back.'

Yuder gripped the hand firmly in response.

In the deepest realms of the sea, where no human had ever set foot, a place filled with the unknown revealed itself.

There, the crack stood out strikingly, even in the pitch-black darkness.

Confronting the eeriness that instinctively repelled him, Yuder summoned all his remaining strength in a swift motion.

There was no need for preparation.

From his golden eyes, a light so bright it almost flickered burst forth. This time, not the water, but the earth itself responded to his command.

-Kururururururu...!

Quietly, yet overwhelmingly fast, as not to trigger an earthquake.

An intangible force exploded from Yuder's body, enveloping the area around the crack.

The seabed, untouched by humans since the world's creation, silently screamed as it began to crumble softly.