Chapter 73: Bait and Chitin
Gray swam slowly through the obsidian crab territory, his body fully restored. The warm currents carried faint trails of minerals, and small bubbles rose from cracks in the seafloor, glowing softly before vanishing into the dark.
He passed through coral formations that rose like black towers, their surfaces dotted with tiny bioluminescent specks. Small creatures scattered as he passed.
Then his tentacles caught a familiar vibration ahead.
An Obsidian Crab was feeding near a cluster of volcanic rocks, its massive crusher claw cracking open the shell of some smaller creature. The crimson glow of its eyes swept the area slowly.
Cindy’s voice slipped into his mind, lighter now after their rest.
"Oohhh, this one’s quite big."
Gray studied the crab from a distance. ’That’s perfect,’ he said. ’I’m starving.’
He circled wide, keeping the current between them. The crab continued feeding, oblivious. Gray positioned himself above and behind, where the armor was thinnest.
He opened with Cavitation Pulse.
The superheated jet of water and crystal shrapnel shot through the dark and struck the crab’s rear leg joint. The explosion of boiling water and molten sediment scoured the armor, weakening the plating around the joint.
[CAVITATION PULSE — 54 DAMAGE]
[20% DEF PENETRATION — APPLIED]
[OBSIDIAN CRAB — HP: 866 / 920]
The crab screeched and spun, its crusher claw sweeping through the water in a wild arc. Gray pulsed sideways, 138 SPD carrying him easily out of reach. The claw smashed into a volcanic rock, shattering it.
He deployed Neurotoxic Drift as he moved, the venom cloud spreading through the water around the crab.
[NEUROTOXIC DRIFT — 19 DAMAGE]
[NEUROTOXIC DRIFT — 18 DAMAGE]
[OBSIDIAN CRAB — HP: 829 / 920]
The crab lunged, its serrated left claw snapping forward. Gray dodged again, but the claw clipped the edge of his bell, scoring a thin line across his armor.
[-16 HP]
[GRAY ASHFORD — HP: 694 / 710]
[VENOMOUS RIPOSTE — ACTIVATED]
[TOXIN VULNERABILITY — APPLIED]
The spines along his margin lashed out automatically, pumping venom into the claw joint. The crab faltered, its limb twitching.
Gray fired another Cavitation Pulse at the same rear leg, widening the crack in the armor.
[CAVITATION PULSE — 56 DAMAGE]
[OBSIDIAN CRAB — HP: 773 / 920]
As he circled for another strike, Cindy spoke up.
"Hunting one by one is taking too long," she said. "Why don’t you lure several crabs together and finish them at once? It would be much faster."
Gray dodged another sweeping claw, then fired a quick Cavitation Pulse at the crab’s exposed joint.
’You’re right,’ he admitted, watching the crab stumble. ’That would be easier and more efficient. Let’s try it.’
He deployed a dense cloud of Neurotoxic Drift around the wounded crab to weaken it further. The venom seeped into its joints, slowing its movements.
He left it there and moved on, searching for more.
The second crab was smaller, near a field of black sand. The third was larger, almost as big as the first, scuttling between two coral spires. Gray approached each one just close enough to provoke, then retreated, drawing them toward the first crab’s position.
Cindy’s voice came again, amused. "You’re herding them like livestock."
’Something like that,’ Gray replied, dodging a half-hearted claw swipe from the second crab. ’Just need to get them in one place.’
The three crabs converged near the volcanic rocks, their crimson eyes glowing in the dark. They were wary of each other now, claws raised, each one unsure whether the others were rivals or allies. The wounded first crab snapped its crusher in warning.
’Now they’re bunched up. Time to cook.’
He activated EMP Shroud.
The electromagnetic pulse radiated outward, and Gray vanished from the crabs’ senses. All three of them froze, their eyestalks swiveling blindly.
He drifted above them, positioning himself directly over the center of the group.
’Cindy, you might want to watch this.’
"Oh~ I’m watching."
He deployed Neurotoxic Drift at maximum concentration. The venom cloud descended over all three crabs, thick and invisible, seeping into their joints and gill spaces simultaneously.
[NEUROTOXIC DRIFT — 20 DAMAGE]
[NEUROTOXIC DRIFT — 19 DAMAGE]
[NEUROTOXIC DRIFT — 18 DAMAGE]
The crabs convulsed, their claws snapping wildly at nothing.
Then Cavitation Pulse aimed at the volcanic rock beneath them. The superheated blast erupted against the seafloor, sending a shockwave of boiling water and molten sand upward through the entire group.
[CAVITATION PULSE — 58 DAMAGE]
[CAVITATION PULSE — 52 DAMAGE]
[CAVITATION PULSE — 54 DAMAGE]
The crabs shrieked, their armor scorched, their legs scrambling for grip on the superheated sand.
EMP Shroud faded. Gray’s electrical signature flickered back into existence, and the crabs turned toward him with fury but they were already wounded.
’Now finish them.’
He activated Abyssal Lance, aimed at the largest crab’s head. The crystalline barbs punched through the scorched armor, driving deep into the creature’s core.
[ABYSSAL LANCE — 108 DAMAGE]
[OBSIDIAN CRAB — HP: 0 / 920]
[OBSIDIAN CRAB DEFEATED — 450 EXP]
The massive body went limp. The other two crabs tried to flee, but the venom was already in their systems, their legs sluggish. Gray chased down the smaller one first. Overcharge detonated at point-blank range.
[OVERCHARGE — 88 DAMAGE]
[OBSIDIAN CRAB DEFEATED — 380 EXP]
The last crab, the wounded one from the start, was dragging itself across the seafloor. Its crusher claw hung useless, its legs barely responding. Gray drifted above it, watching its crimson eyes flicker weakly.
’No hard feelings,’ he said, and fired one final Cavitation Pulse.
[CAVITATION PULSE — 54 DAMAGE]
[OBSIDIAN CRAB DEFEATED — 420 EXP]
Three massive bodies lay scattered across the seafloor, their crimson eyes dimming one by one.
Cindy let out a soft breath. "That was... efficient."
’Yeah, thanks.’
[TRAIT FRAGMENT ACQUIRED: "Obsidian Carapace" (4/5)]
Gray absorbed the corpses one by one, his feeding surface working through the dense chitin. The fragment notification glowed softly in his vision.
’One more,’ he thought.
Cindy’s presence flickered at the edge of his thoughts, thoughtful and still.
"This place isn’t as terrifying as I expected," Cindy said softly. "When I first woke in the locket, I thought the abyss would be... worse."
’That’s because you haven’t seen the worst of it yet.’
"What do you mean?"
Gray drifted past a cluster of tube worms, their phosphorescent tips retracting as he passed. The water was still and heavy, the darkness absolute beyond the faint glow of the distant forest.
’This place it’s dangerous, but it’s not the true deep. There are things down here that make the crabs and krakens look like krill.’
Cindy was quiet for a moment. Then, hesitantly, she asked, "Is there... something more frightening than the Sun Eater?"
Gray’s bell tightened at the memory. The Sun Eater’s depthless eyes, its wing-like fins, the way it had turned EMP Shroud aside like smoke. It had been beyond anything he’d ever faced. But the truth sat heavier than the memory.
’Yes,’ he said quietly. ’There are things far worse. I’ve only glimpsed two of them, and I pray I never see the third again.’
"How... do you know? You keep saying ’this place’ like you don’t belong here. But you clearly know it too well."
’I don’t belong here,’ Gray said. ’I’m not from the abyss. I came from above. The kelp forest and the volcanic slope, far above the Veil.’
Cindy’s voice sharpened with surprise. "Above? Then how did you end up down here?"
Gray drifted over a ridge of black volcanic rock, his tentacles sweeping the water ahead.
’I was swallowed by something,’ he said. ’It grabbed me and dragged me into the abyss. When I finally escaped, something else found me.’
He paused, the image of that vast, tentacled shape flashing through his mind.
’A massive tentacle with suckers the size of my whole bell. It pulled me down into the Veil before something severed it. I never saw what it belonged to.’
Cindy’s voice came out barely a whisper. "You were dragged here by a monster..."
’Not just any monster,’ Gray said. ’I think... it might have been the mother of the octopuses here.’