Chapter 74: Combination
The sea plants glowed faintly as Gray swam past them, their phosphorescent fronds swaying in the current like ghostly fingers. Cindy’s voice slipped into his mind, soft but uneasy.
"That... makes my skin crawl," she said.
’You’ll get used to it eventually,’ Gray replied.
Cindy made a small, doubtful sound. "I’m not sure I want to get used to it."
Gray’s electroreception caught something ahead.
Two Obsidian Crabs.
They were feeding near a cluster of glowing sea plants, their crimson eyes sweeping the darkness. One was slightly larger than the other, its crusher claw crusted with mineral deposits. Neither had noticed him yet.
Gray launched himself forward.
[ABYSSAL LANCE — ACTIVATED]
His body compressed into a spear of crystalline barbs and shot through the water. The first crab barely had time to react before the barbs punched through the joint of its rear leg.
[ABYSSAL LANCE — 96 DAMAGE]
[OBSIDIAN CRAB (1) — HP: 824 / 920]
[50% DEF PENETRATION — APPLIED]
The first crab screeched, its massive crusher claw swinging blindly through the water in a wild arc, churning the sea plants around it into drifting shreds. The second crab turned almost in the same instant, its crimson eyes locking onto Gray with murderous intent, and without hesitation, both creatures charged.
Their legs tore through the glowing vegetation, armored bodies crashing through the phosphorescent fronds like living battering rams. The sand churned beneath them, kicked up in thick clouds, and the water itself seemed to tremble under their combined weight. The larger crab’s crusher claw dragged through the seafloor, carving a deep furrow in the volcanic sand, while the smaller one raised both claws high, ready to snap shut on anything that moved.
Gray could feel the pressure of their approach through his tentacles, a thrumming vibration that grew sharper and heavier with every heartbeat.
’They’re not giving me any room,’ he thought.
Cindy’s voice rang out, sharp with alarm.
"Gray! What are you doing?! You attacked without thinking!"
Gray pulsed backward, dodging the first crab’s crusher claw by inches.
’I know what I’m doing,’ he said. ’I want to try something.’
The two crabs converged, their claws raised, their massive bodies moving with surprising speed. They were boxing him in, cutting off his escape routes.
"Try something?! Now?!"
’Yes. Now.’
Gray held his ground as the crabs closed in. He could feel the water churning around them, the heat of their bodies, the electrical tension building in his own core.
’Wait for it... wait for it...’
The crabs lunged simultaneously. Their claws came at him from both sides, a pincer movement designed to crush him between them.
’Now!’
[OVERCHARGE — ACTIVATED]
Blue-white lightning erupted from his bell in a violent dome. The electricity arced through the water, slamming into both crabs at point-blank range. Their bodies seized, every leg locking rigid as the current overloaded their nervous systems.
[OVERCHARGE — 84 DAMAGE]
[OVERCHARGE — 82 DAMAGE]
[OBSIDIAN CRAB (1) — HP: 740 / 920]
[OBSIDIAN CRAB (2) — HP: 838 / 920]
[STUN — 5 SECONDS]
[STUN — 5 SECONDS]
Both crabs went rigid, their crimson eyes flickering, their claws frozen mid-swing. Gray fired Cavitation Pulse directly at the largest crab’s head.
The superheated jet of water and crystal shrapnel shot forward and then something unexpected happened.
The residual electricity from Overcharge still crackled through the water. When the Cavitation Pulse passed through it, the two energies reacted. The superheated water ignited, the electrical arcs feeding the thermal energy, and the entire area between Gray and the crabs detonated in a brilliant explosion of steam, lightning, and molten crystal.
[CRITICAL HIT!]
[CRITICAL HIT!]
[OBSIDIAN CRAB (1) — HP: 612 / 920]
[OBSIDIAN CRAB (2) — HP: 710 / 920]
The shockwave slammed through the water. Gray was hurled backward, his crystalline armor screaming as the blast wave washed over him. The crabs took the full force of the explosion, their armored bodies tumbling through the sea plants like stones.
Cindy’s voice came, stunned. "What... was that?!"
Gray caught himself against a glowing stalk, his bell ringing from the impact.
’Combination reaction,’ he said, his mental voice tight with excitement and pain. ’Electricity plus superheated water. The Cavitation Pulse ignited the residual charge from Overcharge. I accidentally created this reaction when I was fighting that damn octopus.’
The crabs were recovering. Their armor was scorched, their legs twitching, but they were still alive. Obsidian Carapace was too thick to be cracked by a single blast, even one as powerful as the combination.
And then Predator’s Instinct screamed through his nerves.
Gray pulsed sideways without thinking. A shape shot past him, close enough that he felt the rush of displaced water. It banked sharply and came around for another pass.
Three eyes locked onto him from a sleek, silver-blue body, each one glowing with cold, pale light. A transparent dome crowned its head, revealing the pulsing brain within, its rhythmic flashes casting faint shadows across the surrounding water. Its fins swept back like wings, cutting through the current with predatory grace as it circled above the battlefield.
[TRICULARIS PHANTOM — Level 25]
HP: 310 / 310
Cindy’s voice trembled. "What is that thing?!"
Gray’s tentacles curled into a defensive formation.
’An old prey,’ he said. ’It must have been drawn by the explosion.’
The Phantom circled above them, its three silver eyes tracking every movement. Its brain pulsed with rapid silver light as it analyzed the battlefield. The Obsidian Crabs were scorched and sluggish, their armor cracked in places. Gray himself was battered, his bell still ringing from the blast. It had chosen its moment perfectly.
And then the crabs attacked again.
Gray dodged the first claw, pulsed over the second, and felt the water churn as the Phantom dove from above. The creature’s teeth grazed his bell margin, and he felt the sharp sting of its bite.
[-22 HP]
[GRAY ASHFORD — HP: 688 / 710]
’Now it’s three against one,’ he thought grimly.
Cindy’s voice was sharp with fear. "Those crabs are still moving. How are they not dead?!"
’Obsidian Crabs are different from the octopus,’ Gray replied, weaving between the combatants. ’They don’t regenerate. They just have thicker armor. And the blast radius isn’t as contained as it was when we fought the octopus.’
The Phantom circled again, its brain pulsing faster now.
One of the crabs charged. Gray deployed Neurotoxic Drift, flooding the area with venom. The crab plowed through it, taking damage but not slowing. The Phantom, meanwhile, used the distraction to dive from Gray’s blind spot.
Predator’s Instinct flared. Gray twisted aside, but the Phantom’s fin caught his bell.
[-16 HP]
[GRAY ASHFORD — HP: 672 / 710]
’This is getting messy.’
Cindy’s voice came, calmer now. "You need to separate them. Deal with the fastest one first."
’That’s what I’m thinking.’
He deployed EMP Shroud. The electromagnetic pulse radiated outward, and Gray vanished from the Phantom’s senses. The crabs hesitated too, their eyestalks swiveling blindly. But the Phantom didn’t panic. It rose higher, its three eyes scanning the water with cold precision, waiting for him to reappear.
’Ten seconds,’ Gray thought. ’Make them count.’
He positioned himself directly beneath the Phantom, his tentacles spread wide. The creature was still searching, its brain pulsing with rapid calculations.
’Let’s see if that brain of yours can keep up.’
He activated Abyssal Lance.
The crystalline barbs shot upward, aimed at the Phantom’s exposed brain. But the creature was fast. It twisted mid-water, and the barbs caught its flank instead of its head.
[ABYSSAL LANCE — 88 DAMAGE]
[TRICULARIS PHANTOM — HP: 222 / 310]
The Phantom shrieked, its brain pulsing crimson. It teleported away, reappearing ten meters out. But Gray was already expecting the move.
’Cindy, barrier!’
"On it!"
Light flared from the locket. A silver-blue barrier shimmered into existence directly behind the Phantom, cutting off its retreat. The creature’s crimson pulse flickered as it realized it was boxed in.
The crabs were still advancing from behind, their claws raised. Gray could feel the water churning with their approach.
’Now I finish this.’
He dove toward the Phantom, Overcharge crackling along his tentacles. The creature’s three eyes widened. It teleported again but Cindy’s barrier held, reflecting it back into Gray’s path.
[OVERCHARGE — 86 DAMAGE]
[TRICULARIS PHANTOM — HP: 136 / 310]
[STUN — 5 SECONDS]
The Phantom seized, its brain pulsing erratically. Gray wrapped four tentacles around its body and activated Grip Jaw.
[GRIP JAW — 30 DAMAGE]
[GRIP JAW — 28 DAMAGE]
[TRICULARIS PHANTOM — HP: 78 / 310]
The crabs were almost on him. Gray could feel their claws reaching for his back.
’Cindy, one more barrier!’
"Right!"
The barrier flared behind him, and the crabs slammed into it. The silver-blue light held, barely, as the massive creatures clawed against it.
Gray ignored them. He focused everything on the Phantom.
Cavitation Pulse, point-blank. There was no distance to cross, no chance to dodge. The water between Gray and the Phantom flashed into steam as the superheated jet tore through the space between them. The crystal shrapnel buried itself deep in the creature’s flesh, and the shockwave followed an instant later, hammering into its fragile form.
[CAVITATION PULSE — 52 DAMAGE]
[TRICULARIS PHANTOM — HP: 26 / 310]
The Phantom’s body convulsed violently, its sleek form twisting in the water like a fish pulled onto dry land. Its three silver eyes flickered, the cold light within them stuttering like a dying flame, each pulse growing fainter and more erratic until only a dim, ghostly glimmer remained.
’Finish it!’
Grip Jaw clamped down harder, the muscular tentacles locking with bone-crushing pressure. Overcharge followed an instant later, the bioelectric organ in Gray’s bell releasing its last reserves in a single, devastating burst. The electricity ripped through the Phantom’s body, arcing across its scales and through its exposed brain in a web of crackling light.
[OVERCHARGE — 84 DAMAGE]
[TRICULARIS PHANTOM DEFEATED — 520 EXP]
The Phantom stopped struggling. Its body went limp, floating weightlessly in the water, fins still and lifeless. The silver glow in its three eyes guttered out, leaving only three dark orbs behind. The transparent dome split down the center, and the brain within pulsed one final time before going completely still.
Gray released the corpse and turned to face the crabs. Cindy’s barrier was cracking, thin fractures spreading across its surface.
’That’s enough,’ he said. ’Let it drop.’
The barrier gave way, its surface shattering into a storm of glowing fragments. The crabs surged through, their massive claws churning the water, their crimson eyes locked onto Gray with mindless, murderous intent.