The eye stood above the altar.
It was large, the pupil curled into a thin slit.
The moment it opened, it was as though the surroundings had frozen in place.
The world refused to move.
Lazarus, Anne, and An’as could only stand completely still, their entire bodies frozen in place as cold sweat trickled down their back.
This was…
This…
What was this?
The eyes of the three trembled, their thoughts starting to fade.
The vertical slit of its pupil stretched endlessly, a void deeper than the abyss itself, and from it radiated a sinister red glow that pulsed like a heartbeat.
It wasn’t just looking at them.
It was peering through them.
Every instinct screamed to flee, but their bodies were paralyzed. Trapped in that crimson gaze, as if even the notion of resistance had been stripped from their bones.
The eye knew them.
Every secret.
Every fear.
Every thought they’d ever tried to bury.
It knew it all.
…And the idea itself felt suffocating.
A deep sense of helplessness washed over them. It was a sense of helplessness that stemmed from their insignificance in front of the creature before them.
They were like specks of dust before it.
And then, as all hope seemed lost…
The eye closed.
It began to fade shortly after, the altar cracking beneath before shattering completely.
BANG!
Time started to move once again as the three of them stood frozen in place, minds and eyes blank.
There were no thoughts in their minds as they stood still in the water.
This persisted for an unknown period of time until their eyes started to regain some clarity.
“Where did Sylas go? Did he run away…? He shouldn’t have gone far!”
Anne’s voice was the first to break the silence around them as she hastily looked around, her emerald eyes piercing through her surroundings.
She had to find him at all costs.
She couldn’t allow someone like him to roam the land.
He was a walking calamity.
Anne tried to feel her surroundings, but regardless of how hard she tried, she couldn’t feel his presence at all.
He was gone.
…He was nowhere near them anymore.
“Shit.”
Anne cursed before turning her attention towards An’as and Lazarus. The two were standing blankly, their expressions a little dazed.
She found their actions to be a little weird.
‘There’s no way Sylas’s disappearance affected them this much, right?’
It’d be odd if it did.
Thankfully, An’as recovered rather quickly as he looked around, his face pale. He was also looking for Sylas, afraid he’d show up out of nowhere and attack them.
And yet, that never happened.
He was gone, and even as they waited, he never showed up.
Eventually, his gaze fell on Anne, and his body stiffened. He looked at her, completely at a loss, his eyes squirming before settling on Lazarus, who was slowly coming out of his daze.
No, not quite…
He wasn’t quite Lazarus.
As Julien’s eyes flickered, he looked around, his eyes starting to regain their usual focus.
‘What just happened?’
***
I felt lost.
Looking around me, I was at a complete loss.
‘Why did I lose concentration? Why am I…?’
The more I looked around, the more confused I became. In one moment, I was dealing with Sylas, and in the next moment, he disappeared.
That was also the moment I snapped out of my persona.
But why did I snap out of it?
…What could’ve caused my focus to fade like that?
I tried to recall anything that could’ve caused such a situation, but I couldn’t.
Nothing.
I couldn’t think of anything, and that was what made me extremely apprehensive.
I was extremely confused and lost.
This situation made no sense to me at all.
‘All right, it doesn’t matter. I’ll just try to go back to it.’
I tried to return to Lazarus, but the moment I did, a sharp pain shot through me, snapping me out of my focus.
“….!”
Holding onto the side of my face, my lips trembled.
My mind…
It was completely drained.
I could hardly focus enough to use any of my major skills. And whenever I did try, the pain would return.
‘What the hell is going on?’
I tried to get in contact with the Hive-mind, but I was even more surprised to see it unresponsive. I hastily touched the back of my neck to see if it was still there, and much to my surprise, it wasn’t.
‘What? How is this possible…?’
Wasn’t it attached to me? When did it leave?
The more the situation unfolded, the creepier and more eerie it became as my heart pressed against my chest.
I lowered my head and looked down.
“…..!”
That was when I spotted a small red coral, different from the rest, with a large beak protruding from its center.
Was this its real form?
I didn’t hesitate to move down and grab it.
‘It’s still alive, but it’s not responding…’
The situation felt incredibly eerie. For whatever reason, my mind was completely drained, and the hive-mind, a destroyer-ranked creature, had detached itself from my body, almost as though it had been harmed by someone or something powerful.
My frown deepened further as I looked at the small coral in my mind.
If I wanted to, I could probably kill it with a squeeze of my hand. I could gain its bone and sell it for a lot of money.
It was extremely vulnerable.
But…
‘Since it didn’t do me any harm, I won’t do it any harm either.’
I also had a lot of money available for myself. I didn’t need to do this.
It was better to turn the hive-mind into my ally than to kill it.
I also wanted to know if it had any idea of what was going on.
‘I’ll wait until it recovers before asking.’
With those thoughts, I tucked the coral away and looked up to find Anne and An’as staring at me. I gave them a brief glance before lowering the gravity around me and moving up the water.
Anne pulled her gaze from me as I moved up, her emerald eyes glowing as she looked around once again.
‘She’s most likely looking for Sylas.’
I was also curious to know where he was. Unfortunately, I couldn’t afford to waste any more time here.
Originally, I should’ve been able to stay here for a little longer.
I had about fifteen minutes left.
However, things were different now. For some reason, I had less than a few minutes left of air inside my lungs. The situation was quite bad, actually.
I had to get back up as soon as possible.
Thankfully, Anne soon gave up her search for Sylas and shook her head. I walked past her, heading back the way we came.
‘I need to hurry up.’
I had to get back up as soon as possible.
I heightened the gravity around me and started to sprint out of the temple. I thought I was fast, but compared to Anne, I was extremely slow. She zoomed past me, shooting up towards the upper floors.
Staring at her back, I flicked my hand and shot a thread in her direction.
The simple action pierced my mind as I flinched.
‘How does this hurt more than Step of Suppression?’
“…..?”
Sensing the thread, Anne slowed down and turned to look at me.
A frown marred her features as she looked at me. She didn’t seem to be very pleased with my actions.
I couldn’t care less as I pointed at my nose and then up.
Her brows rose up.
Then, as if understanding the situation, she moved towards me and extended her hand. I reached for it and looked back to see An’as not far away, also reaching with his hand.
Grabbing the two of us, Anne’s body shot away.
“…..!”
The moment she started moving, my face twisted as the water smacked against it. It wasn’t until I used my mana to shield myself that I was able to stop it. Slowly, I turned my head and saw An’as watching me.
His expression was blank.
Almost unreadable as both his eyes were open into large ‘O’s.
Then….
Pfttt.
He started laughing.
“Kek!”
That didn’t last very long, though, as his simple action made him lose the little air he had in his lungs.
“….Eukh.”
I started laughing too.
But…
‘Oh, shit!’
“Kh!”
I also lost air and started struggling beneath the water as I covered my mouth with my hand. An’as was no better. His face had turned completely pale, slowly turning purple. I figured I must’ve looked the same.
I was trying my very best not to show any reaction at this moment.
Though I wasn’t Lazarus, I needed to keep the persona clear.
‘This bastard, he is sabotaging me!’
Splash!
Thankfully, we soon reached the surface of the water, and I took deep and heavy breaths as I started to float on the surface of the red water.
“Haa.. Haa… Haaa…”
An’as emerged right next to me, similarly struggling for breath.
My head felt light, my body completely drained. As I drifted across the Crimson Sea, I stared blankly at the white sun above and let out a long, weary breath.
‘I fucking hate the water.’
This experience had solidified this thought for me.
I used to not mind the beach, but after this…?
I wasn’t even sure I’d be able to go to one ever again.
“Have you two recovered enough?”
Bringing me out of my thoughts was a certain voice, and when I turned my head, I saw Anne standing above the water, her clothes completely dry and arms crossed.
“… There are quite a few questions that I want to ask the two of you.”
She smiled.
“I hope you won’t mind that.”
I closed my eyes.
I really did hate the sea.