Everything around Arthur turned extremely dark extremely quickly. He stopped breathing as he found himself under the surface of the water, unable to even control his fall. The water was extremely cold, to the point where Arthur felt his muscles spasm and his skin quiver. The feeling was extremely uncomfortable.
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‘I can’t see…’ Throwing his hands around, he opened his eyes. Everything around him was completely dark, down to even his own body. He could not see beyond a few centimeters away from him.
Quickly, Arthur activated ‘Wretched Crawler’s Eye’ to counter this horrifying situation. However, the skill could barely expand his vision to mere feet away from him. But, even then, the boy still held his breath and kept looking around him, searching for the monster.
He had seen it as clear as day. He had seen that eye of nightmares that stared at him from beneath the surface. That eye, it completely absorbed his attention as if it was some kind of magnet, and not in a good way at all.
That eye had given Arthur a feeling so dreadful, he was completely numb. It was the worst feeling he had ever experienced even though he had been through a lot of bad things before. But, that simple stare was incomprehensibly evil, vicious, and cold. Colder than even the freezing water he was in.
His eyes wandered left and right, searching for the monster. But, there was no trace of it left. The thumping had also stopped, making Arthur even more anxious.
‘It could be very close… It could be anywhere around me, staring at me and I can’t see it. I need to get out of here.’ He thought to himself. If it wasn’t for the cold water dropping his heart rate, his heart would’ve been beating at double the normal rate or more.
Adrenaline rushed through his veins, keeping him extremely alert. After a few seconds of searching, Arthur finally looked up, or at least looked where he assumed was the surface before he started swimming as fast as he could.
‘Did it leave me behind after it got bored? Ugh, who cares?! I can reach the surface!’ Moving his arms as fast as he could, he swam closer and closer to the surface. But, when he was barely a few meters away from his target, he felt a chill run down his spine.
*BADUMP*
The sound returned, way louder than ever. Arthur’s eyes widened in fear as he looked down. His mind was racing to keep him composed and aware. But, all he could see was a sea of darkness.
‘Screw this!!’
Arthur quickly resumed his swim to the surface. Upon getting closer, his eyes started searching for a crack where he could emerge. After all the damage the sheet of ice sustained, it had basically turned into a chaotic mess as large ice chunks smashed against one another, flipping and turning with each passing second.
Arthur looked left, then right, trying to pinpoint a safe spot he could emerge from without threatening to crush his body into pieces.
*BADUMP*
The sound was growing louder and louder as Arthur battled against time. He had to find a way out of this disastrous situation and quickly.
‘Goddamit!’ He cursed in his head before he decided to simply try his luck and just emerge from any open hole he could find.
*BADUMP*
Swinging his arms as fast as he could, Arthur got even closer from the surface. He was eager to finally breathe as his lungs didn’t hold much air at that moment.
*BADUMP*
Arthur stretched his arm forward to touch the surface. But, just when he was about to reach it, Arthur’s eyes widened as he felt something touch his leg. Looking down, he realized that a weird tentacle had latched onto his leg.
The tentacle looked like that of an octopus with big suction cups. However, it was completely black in color, almost merging with its surroundings. It wrapped around his ankle very tightly, pressing against his skin as if it wanted to fuse with it.
Arthur’s face paled as he realized what had just happened. The monster had made its move and it was perhaps the worst thing that could’ve happened.
‘No!!’
A split second later, Arthur was pulled down with immense force as if it was pulled away by a racing car. The surface quickly vanished form his vision and he was dragged deeper and deeper into the abyss, getting swallowed by the dark water. Air leaked out of his mouth in that moment of panic. But, even then, Arthur still manifested his Blood Claws and tried to attack the tentacle.
*BADUMP*
Much to his horror, Arthur’s claws did no damage at all. He slashed the tentacles several times, trying to get rid of it. But, his claws felt like they were trying to cut through diamonds, it simply wasn’t working.
The air in Arthur’s lungs was depleted even faster, leaving him hungrier and hungrier for a breath. Coupled with the extremely cold water, his situation could’ve not been any worse… Or that was what he thought.
‘You have got to be kidding me! Am I really going to die like this?!’ He cursed again and again as he struggled for his dear life. But, was there really anything he could do?
‘I still can do something!!’ He cursed as he formed a ball of Frost Flame. Although the flames were basically a form of ice attack and this monster was basically living in below 0-degree water, Arthur had no other options in mind.
The blue flame weirdly manifested without a problem. Then, Arthur quickly threw it at the tentacle. The flame hit its target, quickly covering it with ice. Shockingly, the attack seemed to have worked as the tentacle unwrapped from his leg.
‘Yes!!’ Arthur’s eyes lit up and then quickly yanked his leg out. Without wasting a single moment, he started swimming up like his life depended on it… and it did.
‘Please, just give me a few seconds to get out! I can’t breathe anymore!!’ Arthur clenched his teeth as he swam like a maniac. He wasn’t a good swimmer before so all he could do was shake his legs and move his arms to the best of his abilities.
But, as if fate was mocking him, before he could even make a distance, his arm was suddenly grabbed by a tentacle. Then, his left leg was grabbed, then his arm, and then his torso successively in less than a second.
‘What?!’ Arthur’s heart sank. ‘More than one?!’
The monster had seemingly used one single tentacle when it captured him, tricking him into believing it only had one. If the first attempt was a hard struggle, then the second one was simply impossible for Arthur. The monster was simply leagues above him in power to the point where he could only succumb to the trap he found himself in.
All he could do was stare up, completely mortified. Deep down, he understood that… He had lost. Then, like a defeated prey, the tentacles dragged Arthur down to the abyss.
A//N: Don’t forget to give the book some golden tickets for good luck! :3