Chapter 218: The Ancient Terror of the Past (2)

In that instant, he felt as though something had seen straight through him.

Before Jake could even react, the formation beneath their feet suddenly erupted with blinding light.

The intense glow quickly spread outward, covering Jake, Aria, and Samu’dra in a brilliant radiance.

Jake’s vision was swallowed by white.

He instinctively tightened his grip on Aria as the light completely enveloped them, while Samu’dra was similarly consumed by the glow.

For a brief moment, Jake could still feel that terrifying gaze fixed upon him through the light.

Then everything disappeared.

The ancient eye, the darkness, the collapsing ruins...

All of it vanished as their figures were completely swallowed by the formation’s light.

_

_

_

When Jake’s vision finally returned, he found himself surrounded by dark water.

For a brief moment, his mind went completely blank.

’What the hell?!’

He instinctively tried to breathe, only to realize that water had already filled his surroundings.

Panic immediately surged through him as he struggled to orient himself in the darkness.

’I’m underwater!’

Jake hurriedly activated his Aura Breathing, forcing his breathing to stabilize as he looked around.

The water was strangely dark, almost black, and he could barely see more than a few meters ahead.

The pressure surrounding him was also far greater than he had expected, making every movement feel heavier.

Jake’s expression changed as he remembered about Aria.

He had almost forgotten that she couldn’t use Aura Breathing like him.

Aria was desperately trying to hold her breath, but she was clearly running out of air.

Her arms tightened around his neck as panic took over, and Jake could feel her struggling more and more.

’Damn it!’

Seeing her face beginning to turn pale, Jake knew he couldn’t waste any more time.

He quickly turned around and pulled her closer.

Aria’s eyes widened in confusion when Jake suddenly pressed his lips against hers.

"Mmm...!"

He immediately breathed his own air into her, giving her the breath she desperately needed.

Aria’s tense body relaxed slightly as she received the air, her eyes still wide with surprise.

Soon, Jake pulled back only after making sure she had enough air.

His expression seemed to say everything he needed to without words.

Don’t panic. I’ve got you.

Aria seemed to understand.

Her body gradually relaxed as she continued holding her breath.

Without the sudden panic clouding her mind, she found herself able to endure the lack of air for much longer.

Still, Jake knew they didn’t have much time.

He quickly looked around, searching for a way out of the dark water.

Then, to his relief, he caught sight of a faint glow above them.

It was sunlight.

His eyes lit up.

They weren’t trapped underwater after all.

All they had to do was swim up.

Jake was about to swim upward when he suddenly noticed Samu’dra nearby.

Unlike him and Aria, she seemed completely unaffected by the water.

She was floating effortlessly, her long tail moving slowly as she watched Jake.

Their eyes met.

And Jake’s eyes lit up.

’Right! She’s a Naga!’

He quickly swam over to her and grabbed her shoulder before pointing toward the faint sunlight above them.

He then gestured toward Aria, making it clear that they needed to get out of the water.

Samu’dra stared at him for a moment before seemingly understanding what he meant.

She nodded.

Then, without wasting another second, Samu’dra’s suddenly moved.

WHOOSH!

She shot upward through the water like a fish, taking Jake and Aria with her.

Jake’s eyes widened as the surrounding water rushed past them at an incredible speed.

He quickly tightened his hold on Aria while Samu’dra continued swimming upward, carrying them both with ease.

’She’s fast!’

The faint sunlight above rapidly grew brighter as they raced toward the surface.

Just as they were nearing the surface, a tremendous explosion suddenly shook the water.

BOOOOOOMMM!!!

Jake’s expression changed instantly.

A powerful tremor surged through the depths, causing the surrounding water to churn violently.

Samu’dra didn’t even slow for a moment as she kept swimming upward, sensing the disturbance.

Jake’s instincts screamed at him.

He turned his head and looked into the darkness below.

At first, he saw nothing but endless black water.

Then, deep within the ocean depths, two faint points of light slowly appeared.

[....]

"...!!" Jake’s eyes widened.

They were a pair of huge glowing eyes.

Something enormous was staring directly at them from the darkness depths.

Even from this distance, Jake could feel an ancient and terrifying presence radiating from those eyes.

His body instinctively tensed.

’...Don’t tell me that’s the thing from the ruins.’

Then, to Jake’s horror, the two glowing eyes suddenly disappeared.

There was no movement, no warning, and no sign of where they had gone.

For some reason, that frightened Jake even more.

An intense sense of dread immediately wrapped around the hearts of all three of them.

Even Samu’dra, who had remained calm throughout their escape, suddenly stiffened as her instincts screamed at her that something was terribly wrong.

Jake’s heart pounded as he instinctively looked around the darkness.

’Where did it go?!’

The water around them seemed to become unnaturally still.

But then... Jake felt it.

But it was already too late.

Without any of them realizing it, the darkness surrounding them had changed.

What Jake had mistaken for the deep ocean was actually the inside of something far more terrifying.

...

They were already inside a gigantic mouth.

Jake’s eyes widened as he slowly looked around.

’How...’

It had happened so silently and so quickly that none of them had even realized they had entered the beast’s mouth.

The walls surrounding them were lined with enormous, jagged teeth, each one larger than Samu’dra’s entire body.

Jake suddenly looked upward.

The faint sunlight they had been swimming toward was still visible above them.

But it was getting smaller.

Jake’s pupils shrank as he realized why.

Rows of gigantic teeth were slowly moving toward one another, blocking out the sunlight as the enormous jaws prepared to close.

For a moment, Jake simply stared upward, his mind struggling to process what he was seeing.

He had escaped the ruins.

He had managed to get Aria out.

They had even found a way into the water and were almost at the surface.

’After all that... are we really going to die here?’

His grip on Aria tightened as countless thoughts flashed through his mind.

There had to be a way out!

There had to be...!

But as the enormous teeth continued closing around them, blocking out more and more of the sunlight, Jake felt a cold realization settle in his chest.

’Is this... the end?’

Then, as though answering his question—

CRUNCH!

The enormous jaws slammed shut.