Chapter 157: The Primordial II

The system analyzed the tentacle, its golden text flickering as it tried to scan the creature that was still mostly hidden beneath the abyss.

[ANALYZING...]

[IDENTIFICATION FAILED]

« Analysis »

Only a fraction of this creature is visible. Full analysis is impossible without a complete scan of its main body. However, from the structure of the tentacles alone, the system can estimate that this creature is one of the oldest predators in the Abyssal Veil, likely dating back to an era before human civilization.

Threat Level: UNKNOWN — FAR BEYOND MEASUREMENT THRESHOLD.

Then the Primordial began to use its light to slash through the tentacles, its body blazing as its energy spear danced through the water, severing one massive tentacle after another. Its voice echoed across the entire ocean, in a language that was unknown yet understood by everything that heard it.

"Creature of the ocean’s darkness, do not stand in the way of my sacred mission."

The tentacles kept attacking, unaffected by the warning. The Primordial spun its spear, forming an arc of light that burned through the approaching limbs, then spoke again, its voice vibrating through the water like an earthquake.

"You dare challenge the law of the world? I will sever your tentacles until you can never touch the light again!"

But the creature of darkness didn’t care, didn’t fear, didn’t retreat. It kept attacking, grasping, pulling. The Primordial’s light cut, but new tentacles grew to replace the ones that were lost.

Then the Sun Eater began to break free.

Its body glowed with a searing brightness heat that radiated from every inch of its body. The water around it boiled instantly, churning into clouds of steam that burned anything that came close. The temperature rose rapidly, shifting from the cold of the abyss to a heat that scorched.

The tentacles gripping the Sun Eater began to cook.

The mottled grey flesh whitened, hardened, then crumbled into unmoving lumps. The tentacles released their grip, falling away from the Sun Eater’s body like burned ropes, unable to attack, unable to move, unable to do anything but drift.

The Sun Eater roared in triumph.

And the Primordial seized the moment.

Its spear blazed with a light so bright that the entire ocean seemed like day. It drove the spear toward the remaining tentacles, cutting them with terrifying precision, clearing its path toward the Sun Eater.

"You are a creature that interferes with my mission," the Primordial declared, its voice thundering through the water. "I will give you your punishment — death."

Then the Primordial attacked.

Its spear blazed with white-hot light as it lunged toward the tentacles, severing them one after another with surgical precision. The creature of darkness recoiled, its remaining tentacles coiling defensively, but the Primordial didn’t stop. It carved through the abyssal limbs like a blade through smoke, its light burning everything it touched.

But the Sun Eater didn’t stay idle.

Its body radiated that terrible heat, the water around it boiling into thick clouds of scalding steam. The steam rolled outward in every direction, and the tentacles closest to it began to cook, their grey flesh whitening and hardening before crumbling away.

The creature of darkness was being attacked from both sides.

The Primordial’s light carved through its tentacles from above, and the Sun Eater’s heat boiled them from below. The abyssal horror that had dragged Gray into this nightmare was being torn apart by two forces that made it look almost small.

And in the middle of it all, Gray watched. His mind raced, piecing together the fragments he’d heard.

He turned toward Cindy and said.

’Cindy... I think the Seed of Calamity is the orb.’

Cindy’s frills stiffened.

"What? Why?"

’The Primordial is hunting the orb. It’s tearing apart the entire abyss looking for it. Our home was just one of the places it destroyed along the way. And the Sun Eater... maybe it’s just angry because its home was destroyed too. We’re caught in the middle of something that has nothing to do with us.’

"We need to get out of here, Gray!" Cindy shouted, her voice sharp with urgency. "Before this gets any worse!"

But before Gray could respond, a deafening boom tore through the water.

The Sun Eater roared.

GROOOAAAAAKKKK!!

Its massive body began to fall from above, its head and the left side of its wing-like fin torn and bleeding. Spears of pure white light jutted from its hide, embedded deep in its flesh. The Primordial’s weapons had found their mark.

Gray looked up and saw the colossal body descending directly toward them.

’Shit! If that thing lands on us, we’re dead!’

He grabbed Cindy with two blade-tentacles and activated Current Dash, dissolving into the water and reforming fifty meters away. The Sun Eater crashed into the seafloor behind them, its massive body hitting with the force of a falling mountain.

The impact was catastrophic.

The seafloor shattered. Sand and debris exploded outward in a massive shockwave, a storm of sediment and shattered rock that slammed into Gray and Cindy before they could react. They were hurled through the water, tumbling helplessly, battered by the debris.

[-108 HP]

[GRAY ASHFORD — HP: 1048 / 1380]

Gray righted himself, his carapace cracked in three places, his blade-tentacles ringing from the impact. Cindy clung to his bell, her glow flickering.

"Are you okay?!" she shouted.

’I’m fine! What about you?!’

"I’m okay!"

But the battle wasn’t over.

The Primordial was still fighting. Its body was wounded, deep gashes torn into its white armor, light bleeding from the cracks. But it didn’t stop. It kept swinging its spear, severing tentacle after tentacle, even as more grew to replace them.

The creature of darkness was relentless.

And the Sun Eater, broken and bleeding, was still trying to rise.

Cindy’s voice was tight with fear.

"Gray... if the Primordial loses, the tentacle creature will be free. And if the Sun Eater dies, the Primordial might turn on us next."

’I know,’ Gray said. ’But we can’t fight any of them. Not at this level.’