Chapter 120: Black trench
The collision shattered the stillness of the Glass Sea.
Where standard sea water gave way under entry, the dense, vitrified surface of the glass sea resisted like thin sheets of iron. Vince’s massive Man-Beast frame tore through the black mirror first, sending a violent shockwave radiating outward in white, concentric rings. Vetra followed a heartbeat later, her hydrodynamic scales slicing cleanly into the foam, while Lyrielle plunged in as a glowing emerald bullet, her pressurized aero-shield pushing the dense water aside without a single drop touching her frame.
Then came the darkness.
Within fifty meters, the sunlight from the surface vanished completely, swallowed by the unnatural opacity of the Glass Sea. The temperature plummeted from the warm coastal breeze to a bone-chilling sub-zero frost, but the cold found no quarter against Vince’s burning apex furnace or Vetra’s thick reptilian hide.
Instead, the true enemy revealed itself: Atmospheric Pressure.
At five hundred meters, the ocean began to squeeze. The water here was not light; it was heavy, laced with ancient, dissolved mana-minerals that increased its weight tenfold. Standard steel armor would have begun to warp.
Vince didn’t slow down. He angled his massive body straight down toward the abyssal trench, his heavy, spiked tail snapping behind him in powerful, rhythmic sweeps. Each stroke of his tail propelled his dense, multi-ton frame through the black water like an armored torpedo. His expanded, reinforced lungs locked in oxygen, while his obsidian scales flexed against the mounting hydraulic force. Where mages required complex kinetic barriers to avoid having their ribs caved in, Vince relied on pure, obscene muscle density.
To his left, Vetra was in her true element. Her limbs tucked neatly against her flanks, her long tail driving her forward with terrifying grace. She cut through the dark currents effortlessly, her golden, slit eyes tracking the deep-sea currents with predatory relish.
Floating smoothly to his right, Lyrielle glided within her wind-bubble. The emerald aura hummed softly against the suffocating dark, effortlessly repelling thousands of pounds of ocean pressure.
[Five thousand meters.]
[Seven thousand meters.]
The System interface in Vince’s peripheral vision flickered with steady crimson updates.
[DEPTH: 8,200 METERS]
[ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE: 820 BAR]
[WARNING: ENTERING HIGH-RISK MILITARY PERIMETER — NETHROS TRENCH VANGUARD]
Suddenly, the silent, black water shifted.
A heavy, low-frequency vibration echoed through the ocean floor—a deep, booming pulse that vibrated straight through Vince’s heavy sternum.
Out of the pitch-black abyss below, dozens of bioluminescent crimson lights flared to life.
They weren’t natural sea creatures. Arrayed in a rigid, tactical semicircle across the narrow trench walls were the Abyssal Trench Vanguard—the outer patrol of Nethros. Standing eight feet tall, these aquatic shock-troopers possessed sleek, obsidian-scaled torsos, four muscular arms ending in webbed obsidian talons, and elongated, eel-like lower bodies. They were clad in heavy armor forged from abyssal trench-iron, holding massive, runic harpoons connected to heavy iron chains.
At the center of the formation rode three Abyssal Leviathans—colossal, armored sea-beasts resembling armored mosasaurs, their jaws lined with three rows of glowing, serrated fangs.
The leader of the Vanguard, a four-armed Commander with a crest of glowing red dorsal fins, raised his runic trident. The water around the weapon boiled instantly as high-tier water mana surged through the metal.
"SURFACE RATS," a deep, telepathic roar echoed directly into their minds, thick with malice and ancient contempt. "YOU DARE DISTURB THE GLASS SEA? DROWN IN THE DARKNESS OF NETHROS!"
The Commander thrust his trident downward.
Instantly, twenty Vanguard warriors launched their runic harpoons. The heavy iron projectiles cut through the water at sound-barrier speeds, trailing volatile streaks of blue hydro-mana designed to impale, freeze, and drag surface intruders into the crush depth.
Vince’s purple eyes flared with cold, primal violence.
He didn’t dodge. He didn’t build a barrier.
With an explosive snap of his armored tail, Vince accelerated straight into the volley.
BOOM!
The underwater shockwave of his acceleration created a localized cavitation pocket, forcing the water back. Two runic harpoons slammed directly into Vince’s broad, obsidian-scaled chest. The heavy iron tips, capable of punching through naval warships, sparked violently against his scales before shattering into useless scrap metal.
The Vanguard Commander’s eyes widened in sheer shock. "WHAT—"
Before the Commander could finish his thought, Vince was upon him.
Using the incredible water resistance to his advantage, Vince planted his clawed feet into the water column, leveraging his entire upper-body strength into a single, devastating right hook. His massive fist, dense as solid lead, ripped through the ocean pressure and struck the Commander full in the face.
KWAA-BOOM!
The underwater displacement was catastrophic. The shockwave of pure physical force pulverized the Commander’s iron helm, caving in his skull and sending a cone of violent, compressed water blasting through the three Vanguard soldiers standing behind him. Their bodies exploded into crimson clouds, instantly shredded by the kinetic displacement.
To the right, Vetra bared her razor teeth in a savage laugh. She lunged at one of the colossal Abyssal Leviathans, her clawed hands latching onto the monster’s lower jaw. As the massive beast thrashed, trying to drag her into its maw, Vetra flexed her heavy reptilian legs, dug her talons into its armored snout, and violently twisted its entire head 180 degrees.
A sickening CRACK echoed through the water as the Leviathan’s neck snapped, its massive body going limp and drifting down into the trench.
Meanwhile, three Vanguard soldiers rushed Lyrielle, their runic spears thrusting toward her green wind-sphere.
Lyrielle didn’t even raise a weapon. She simply flicked her wrist.
The compressed wind-mana around her frame flared outward, creating an underwater vacuum blast. The localized air-pressure explosion violently expanded against the ocean weight, catching the three soldiers in a kinetic vortex that crushed their armor like tin cans and sent them tumbling helplessly into the dark abyss.
Within less than two minutes, the entire Vanguard patrol had been utterly dismantled. Blood mixed with bioluminescent fluid, clouding the black water around them.
Vince didn’t pause to admire the carnage. He reached out, grabbing a floating runic harpoon shaft, snapping the iron head off with a flick of his clawed wrist, and tossing the scrap aside. His chest rose and fell in a steady, heavy rhythm, his expanded lungs handling the abyssal pressure without a single sign of strain.
He looked down into the trench.
Far below, illuminated by massive, glowing blue coral formations and grand archways carved into the dark basalt sea floor, lay the outer boundaries of the empire.
Sprawling, ancient, and anciently fortified—the sunken gates of Nethros awaited them.
Vince grunted, his dark tail whipping behind him as he pointed down toward the glowing aquatic metropolis.