Splash-!
What appeared before them as they dove into Alexandra’s memories was the Slayers in the midst of an intense battle.
“Ugh. Guess we can’t see anything from the ascension. That’s a bummer.”
“Russell, Xiao said we can only see memories up to four hours before death. Were you not listening?”
Elvira’s blunt rebuke had some weight. It was a common occurrence with Oceanos, but this time, Xiao’s reaction was a bit different.
“Jiyong. Focus.”
Her voice was heavy and serious, enough to put everyone, including Parang, slightly on edge.
Casual chatter flew away as they gave their full attention to the Slayers’ battle scene.
But… something seemed off.
“What are they fighting?”
No matter how they looked, there was no enemy in sight—only a massive swarm of monster fish, including Bellua. It was almost half water, half fish. Han Siwoo and the Slayers were shooting various skills downward.
Peering down, they noticed nothing but a pit that looked like a sinkhole.
“Xiao, can you explain what’s going on? I have no clue just looking at this.”
“Got it.”
With the view still directed down, Xiao paused the playback.
“What’s in that pit? Are they fighting that?”
Impatient Russell couldn’t help but ask.
“No. They’re fighting in that pit.”
“…What?”
“Look closely. That’s not a sinkhole; it’s a mouth.”
At those words, the entire Oceanos crew froze as they examined the pit more intently.
Indeed, it was true. What they thought was a geological feature, a sinkhole, turned out to have teeth around its circular edge.
They were fighting against a massive mouth.
A mouth with a radius of several kilometers.
It had a shape that made one question its mere existence in this world.
Moreover, that mouth was just lodged in the ground, apparently not doing anything but receiving attacks.
Shua—!!!
The giant mouth that was taking hits from the Slayers suddenly opened wider and began sucking in water at an alarming speed.
Vroom vroom vroom–!!
The ground shook violently, and everything around was getting sucked into the giant mouth.
“What the hell, what’s the current…?”
“Looks like about 25 m/s.”
Elvira pointed out, watching Bellua being pulled helplessly downward.
That’s about 100 km/h.
The speed of military fast boats is around 50 knots, which translates to about 92 km/h.
In other words, even military fast boats would find it impossible to escape this vortex.
With a radius of several kilometers, this vortex unleashed devastation upon the area.
Hundreds, if not thousands, of monster fish floundering in the vicinity were dragged into the pit without so much as a fight.
With the already fast current, it created a swirling effect, making it absolutely impossible to escape.
Indeed, it was powerful.
Shua—….
Just as they thought the vortex might have calmed down, another attack came.
Gurgle- gurgle-
The pit, having sucked in as much water as it could, began to twist menacingly.
There is an immutable truth in the world: if something goes in, something else must come out.
However, what came out of that pit was too horrific compared to what had gone in.
Kuaaaaaa-!!!!
What spewed forth, unthinkable as a mere output, was a dreadful dark purple liquid that erupted from the pit like a volcano.
If such liquid is expelled at that speed, even if it were water, the physical impact would result in death upon contact.
But this demon’s pit was going several steps further, spewing a potent poison.
■■■■-!!
■■■■…….
Monster fish that narrowly evaded the liquid from the pit suddenly began dying off one by one.
It was as if they had been possessed by Sakis. They flipped over, floating.
Soon, it became apparent that these creatures’ bodies were rotting away.
Flesh disintegrated into black powder, scattering in the water, leaving behind only sparse bones.
All nearby creatures, regardless of species, perished in that manner.
Not stopping there, the poison began to spread.
And rapidly too. Within a minute of bursting forth, the area was shrouded in poisonous fog, obstructing visibility.
Furthermore, bizarre attacks continued.
Tentacles as big as buildings shot out from the ground, or numerous eyes within the pit gazed up, launching mental assaults.
Parang thought to herself.
Did the Slayers get wiped out while fighting such things?
Wiped out…?
She felt something odd.
That pit certainly felt… like a final boss. Its size and impact were fitting.
Even if all six of Oceanos charged in, a complete victory would be difficult.
Details could only be learned through battle, but an overwhelming victory was impossible. If things went sideways, two or three members might even die.
But with Parang around, Kraken would eventually absorb it, yet absorbing a monster of that size would take considerable time.
If someone were to get hit head-on by one of the attacks from that pit in the meantime…
Hmm.
She shook the horrific thought from her head.
Yet…
It was impossible that the sixteen Slayers, endowed with the divine physique, would be wiped out.
On the contrary, it seemed the Slayers could still achieve a complete victory without casualties.
Of course, if Oceanos had all sixteen members, the outcome would definitely be a complete victory.
Well, anyway. There’s no way the Slayers would lose and be wiped out here.
In fact, the Slayers were already gaining the upper hand.
The very fact that Oceanos could witness the series of attacks that pit unleashed meant that Alexandra was alive.
“Hold on tight everyone!!!”
“Thanks, Siwoo!!”
When the pit sucked in the water, Hunter Han Siwoo lifted a massive piece of rebar from the ground, bracing it so everyone could hold on and survive.
“Yuri!!”
“Let there be light!!!”
When the pit sprayed poison, the protective barrier cast by Kang Yuri ensured everyone’s safety.
“Dieeeee!!!!”
“Begone! Unclean one!!”
Continuing onward, the Slayers utilized their skills to nullify the bizarre techniques pouring from the pit one after another.
If one member was caught in a penalty after using a powerful skill, the rest stepped in to provide protection.
Of course, as expected from a protagonist party, their individual power as well as their combinations were exceptional.
And as time flew by. Two hours before Alexandra’s death.
■■■■■■………!!!
The Slayers had defeated the pit.
The result was the survival of all sixteen Slayers, including Alexandra.
“What the….”
“Jiyong. This is where the real deal starts.”
Xiao cut in again, her voice even more serious than before.
Even as Russell grumbled, he began to concentrate once more.
“Feels like we won, right?”
Hunter Han Siwoo turned to the Slayers.
As is typical for protagonists, they were good-looking. With a bright halo behind them, they truly resembled main characters.
When he turned around, he noticed an abundance of beauties. The heroines from the stories. They all had sculpted appearances.
Though a few looked completely drained after that intense battle, ultimately, everyone was alive.
“Seems that way. But where exactly are we? Didn’t we ascend?”
From this point on, everyone began to focus. This conversation was truly important.
“I have no idea. To begin with, I don’t even know why we ended up in space. We should have stopped well below. We shouldn’t have even ended up in a place like this underwater.”
A woman wearing a lab coat and horn-rimmed glasses spoke curtly.
Charlotte Eira.
The scientist and researcher of the Slayers. The one who interpreted and designed the “Ascension Ritual.”
“Was there a miscalculation?”
“I certainly cross-checked dozens of times. Of course, given how things turned out, I won’t deny the possibility of my mistake.”
“Even so, how could the Ascension Ritual lead directly into that darn pit? It practically looks like some trap. Not some fish caught on a fishing hook.”
“Though it seems the fish somehow ended up eating the fisherman….”
“Okay, okay. This probably won’t end up with a conclusion by discussing it, so let’s head up. If we get out of the water, there might be something visible.”
As the ruckus continued, Hunter Han Siwoo, with a friendly smile, mediated the situation.
Parang felt some strange emotions seeing that.
Although she hadn’t paid much attention to them since her reincarnation, they were the key characters of a story she had once loved.
Seeing them interact amicably in this reality was somehow heartwarming.
“Wait, Siwoo. There’s one last thing I need to mention.”
“Huh?”
“This definitely looks like Earth.”
“What?!”
“Is that really true?!”
“Among those bizarre things circling the pit earlier, there was one that I recognized.”
“What was that?”
“It’s a creature called Bellua Maria, a monster that emerges from the gate in the ocean.”
“So, you’re saying this place is Earth?!”
“Likely, yes.”
“No, wait! Just a second!! We were in space! And now suddenly we’ve teleported to Earth’s ocean? That makes no sense! What, we fell into a giant cosmic gate or something?”
“Mary, firstly, once the Ascension Ritual had an error, anything could happen without it being too unnatural. Secondly, it doesn’t make sense for this massive space to be inside a gate.”
“Well, I mean… cosmic gates could differ….”
“I always find it hard to keep up with your imagination, Mary….”
“What, hey!!”
“Now, now, let’s stop and think. If this is truly Earth, it’s probably better to go up and find out what’s going on. Let’s get out of the water and think.”
However, they wouldn’t get a chance to rise above the water.
“Siwoo. Over there.”
“…Yeah. I see it too.”
“What is… what is that…?”
From a distance, something was approaching.
At first, Parang thought it was a cloud.
Even though they were underwater, she thought so simply because it genuinely looked like a cloud. There was a dark silhouette beneath it.
But it didn’t take long for Oceanos to figure out what it was.
A horrifying number of underwater monsters.
They swam closer, enough to darken the entire field of vision with countless creatures.
It looked like there were millions, if not tens of millions of them.
It truly seemed as though all the creatures in the world had come out to fight the Slayers.
What Parang thought was a shadow turned out to be countless statues marching along the ocean floor.
Yes, the statues.
Statues marching in perfect order toward the Slayers.
A true army of monsters.
This was footage from ninety minutes before Alexandra’s death.
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