Chapter 127: The Drowned Stalker (4)
’...Fuck... I can’t see a damn thing.’
A chill that had nothing to do with the cold water crawled up his spine at this realization.
Jake tightened his grip on his sword, red aura flickering weakly along the blade as he forced himself to remain calm and continue descending deeper into the darkness.
Then he suddenly realized something..
In this complete blackness, relying on his eyes was useless.
But what if... he closed them?
’Here goes nothing...’
Instead of trying to see, he focused entirely on his aura, spreading his perception outward through the surrounding water.
At first... there was nothing.
And as expected, he still could not clearly sense the Drowned Stalkers themselves.
Their presence was strangely muted, almost deliberately hidden within the darkness of the deep.
But then—
Something else became clear.
It was life force... everywhere.
Countless tiny organisms drifted through the black water around him, each one carrying a faint, living energy.
The entire sea was filled with these weak, scattered traces of life.
And against that background...
The presence of the Drowned Stalkers stood out all the more.
Their existence felt wrong.
Where the surrounding life force was natural and flowing, the Drowned Stalkers’ presence was like a void... something that quietly devoured the life around it.
It did not blend into the sea.
It rejected it.
Like oil surrounded by water.
Jake’s eyes remained closed as his expression hardened.
’...Found you.’
Somewhere in the pitch-black depths ahead, that unnatural, life-devouring presence was waiting.
He adjusted his grip on the sword and slowly began moving toward it.
Then Jake paused mid-descent.
Instead of continuing to swim normally through the dark water, he focused his aura beneath his feet.
A small, solid platform of condensed red aura formed under him almost instantly.
It was something he had only observed once before... the way Garrick had casually walked across the surface of the water using aura.
At the time, it had looked refined and difficult.
But now, with his sharpened Aura Perception and improved Aura Manipulation, the principle clicked into place the moment he tried.
He didn’t need long practice.
He already had the gist of it.
Jake’s eyes remained closed as the platform stabilized beneath him.
Red aura flared tightly around his legs.
Then—
BOOM!!!
A violent explosion of force erupted beneath him like a sonic bomb detonating in the silent sea.
The water around him was blasted outward in a powerful shockwave as Jake’s body shot forward at terrifying speed, cutting through the pitch-black depths like a red streak of light.
The silent underwater world was suddenly filled with turbulence as he rocketed toward the unnatural, life-devouring presence ahead.
Soon, through his aura perception, the shape finally became clear.
Jake’s eyes snapped open in the darkness. Now that he was this close... he could faintly make out the thing’s outline.
"...What the hell is that?"
Even with Grace’s earlier warning, the real form of the Drowned Stalker’s main body was far stranger than he had imagined.
It floated in the black water like a grotesque... thing.
The body was bloated and soft, completely dark, looking almost like an oversized, melted jellyfish that had tried to take human form.
Its torso was round and sagging, with folds of jelly-like flesh hanging loosely.
Two stubby, underdeveloped arms dangled uselessly at its sides, while countless long, thin tendrils drifted behind it like limp seaweed, stretching upward toward the surface.
Jake realized those must be where the strange necks came from.
But the most disturbing part was its face.
It had no eyes... only smooth, featureless skin above what appeared to be a mouth that opened and closed as if it were breathing... or drowning.
And right in the center of its soft, sagging chest...
A faint red core pulsed slowly, like a heart that was devouring the surrounding life force.
Jake floated in place for a brief moment, staring at the absurd yet deeply wrong creature through his aura perception.
’Grace wasn’t kidding... this thing really does look funny.’
But the wrongness radiating from that monstrous form made it clear...
This was no joke.
BOOM!
Red aura exploded beneath his feet once more as he launched himself forward in another violent rush.
The water parted around him in a powerful surge as he shot straight toward the bloated main body.
The moment he closed the distance, the Drowned Stalker finally noticed him.
A ripple of agitation spread through its soft, jelly-like body as the red core in the center of its chest pulsed sharply.
It tried to pull its necks back.
The long, limp appendages that stretched all the way up to the surface twitched, attempting to retract into the main body for defense.
But then—
It paused.
The necks refused to come down.
No matter how much it pulled, the long, dark stretch of flesh remained stretched upward, still connected to the chaos happening on the surface of the sea.
_
_
_
Meanwhile, on the surface—
The storm continued to rage without mercy.
Heavy rain poured down in sheets, and waves slammed against the damaged ship as thunder cracked across the dark sky.
In the middle of the chaos, Garrick stood like a fortress amid a tangle of dark, thrashing necks.
His arms were locked tightly around several of the thick, rubbery appendages at once, blue aura flaring violently around his body as he held them in place with sheer brute force.
"Hahaha!! You’re not going anywhere!!"
His laughter boomed through the rain as more necks writhed and twisted around him, trying to break free.
The cracked smiling masks finally began to show signs of panic.
Their frozen grins twitched unnaturally as they lashed out, attempting to pierce and crush the man who had pinned them down.
But before they could fully attack—
"Flash Shot!"
BAM!
BAM!
BAM!
A series of brilliant, precise beams of light cut through the storm.
Each shot struck one of the thrashing necks with pinpoint accuracy, exploding into dazzling bursts of golden light upon impact.
The dark flesh squirmed violently under the sudden illumination, the light forcing the necks to seize up and lose coordination for a critical moment.
On the damaged deck of the ship, Grace was already in full sniper mode.
She knelt on one knee under the pouring rain, a long sniper rifle braced steadily against her shoulder.
Her golden eyes glowed faintly as she tracked every movement of the monstrous necks ahead.
Rain dripped from her soaked hair, but her hands remained perfectly steady.
She carefully controlled the power of each shot.
Too much damage, and the necks might fully sever and regenerate elsewhere.
Too little, and they would break free from Garrick’s hold.
Her intention was clear....
Keep them pinned.
Keep them suffering.
And keep them stuck on the surface.
BAM!
Another precise Flash Shot left the barrel, golden light cutting through the rain as she continued supporting from above.
_
_
_
Deep below the surface, Jake closed the final distance.
Through his aura perception, he could clearly feel the agitation spreading through the bloated main body.
He could somehow tell that across its featureless face, the creature was panicking as its soft, jelly-like form trembled.
The red core in the center of its chest pulsed irregularly, and the useless stubby arms twitched as if trying to defend itself.
Jake’s eyes narrowed.
’...It’s scared.’
A faint, almost disbelieving breath escaped him underwater as he adjusted his grip on the sword.
He had expected something far more terrifying once he finally reached the true body.
The pitch-black water, the unknown shape, the life-devouring presence... all of it had built up a heavy pressure in his chest before the dive.
But now that he was here...
Once he overcame the unknown...
It actually wasn’t that scary after all.
The main body was strange, disgusting, and wrong... but it was also trapped.
Its necks were locked on the surface, and its soft, bloated form lacked any real close-combat threat.
Jake’s red aura flared sharper along his blade as a cold confidence settled into his expression.
"This might be easier than I thought."
Without further hesitation, he shot forward once more, aiming straight for the red core in the center of its chest.
The bloated main body reacted in panic.
One of its stubby, underdeveloped arms suddenly swung up in a desperate attempt to shield the red core.
Jake’s eyes remained cold.
In a single fluid motion, his red-aura-coated blade flashed.
Shing—
The soft, jelly-like arm was cleanly severed and drifted away into the dark water, still twitching faintly.
Before the creature could even react, Jake closed the remaining distance and drove his sword straight forward.
The blade coated with Light Manifestation pierced directly into the center of its chest—
Right into the red, glowing core.
CRACK!
A sharp, brittle sound echoed through the water as Jake’s sword sank deep into the core.
Dark energy scattered outward in weak, broken fragments.
At this, Jake’s eyes lit up with relief.
He smiled under the water, tension finally leaving his shoulders.
’...This should be over now.’
The main body of the Drowned Stalker had gone still, and the red core no longer pulsed as strongly as before.
For a brief moment, everything felt finished.
But...
Without him realizing it, something changed.
The stretched mouth on the bloated, featureless face... which had been looking like it was drowning... slowly shifted.
If Jake had paid closer attention at that moment, he would have noticed it...
...that the Drowned Stalker was smiling.