"Ig~ Ig~ Ig~ Ig~"
So annoying…
"Ig~ Ig~ Ig~ Ig~"
Is this ever going to stop…
"Ig~ Ig~ Ig~ Ig~"
Guh! Ishar'mla, please—just kill me already! Anything but this endless chatter!
"Return to the sea, Ig… This place is not our home."
Tch… and since when do you—a creature like you—even know what a 'home' is?
Inside Skadi's body, Ishar'mla's ethereal tentacles were tightly coiled around a small, pitiful Black Snake.
That Snake had split off from Grim to spy on Ishar'mla's condition—only to walk right into the lion's den.
By the black snake's understanding of the Seaborn, a weakened Ishar'mla should have been desperate for nourishment by now. Surely, it thought, it would soon be devoured.
But Ishar'mla didn't eat it.
Instead, she simply wrapped the Snake in her illusionary tendrils and held it close to her chest.
Tch! What in the abyss has this Seaborn evolved into now?
The black snake was terrified.
Every time it made contact with Ishar'mla, she seemed to evolve along some increasingly bizarre path.
And the snake had absolutely no idea what to make of it.
The Seaborn really are unfair creatures… utterly broken!
So it decided to play dead.
If it shut down its sensory perception, it wouldn't have to endure the psychic pressure radiating from Ishar'mla's mind.
Ishar'mla, seeing the Snake motionless, merely tightened her hold.
"The same as Ig in the sea…" she murmured softly.
"Return to the ocean, Ig. The Seaborns need you, your kin need you… The land is not your home—the sea is."
She kept whispering into the snake's unresponsive ears:
"Ig~ Ig~ Ig~ Ig~"
---
Tch… damn it. I should've known that blocking Ishar'mla's signal would only make the real thing come knocking.
Kashchey stared at the increasingly unstable aura emanating from Skadi. He could already tell—this body wouldn't last much longer.
Unbelievable… This vessel has survived war, endured a dragon's breath, and now it's going to die here of all places.
Freshly wounded and still weakened, the Duke of Kashchey was no match for Ishar'mla.
When he had severed his connection to the Black Snake inside Skadi earlier, he hadn't realized that she was actually affiliated with Rhodes Island.
Given how Grani had looked at Skadi with open hostility—and how her attacks were so utterly merciless—there had been no reason to think they were allies.
Kashchey had even felt Grani's fear firsthand.
As for Skadi…
One snake went in.
One snake got tied up.
One snake pretended to be dead.
He never had time to consider what was going on inside her mind.
Just as Kashchey was about to give up resisting, Ishar'mla—still wearing Skadi's skin—tilted her head slightly, eyes falling upon the bandages wrapped around him.
"Ig~ Ig~ Ig~ Ig~"
She was certain now. This was Ig.
Without hesitation, she bit into her own arm.
Blood dripped down—but the crimson drops came alive, slithering like living creatures. Before Kashchey could even react, they crawled across the floor and onto his body.
The Duke was far too weak to resist.
"You're hurt, Ig," Ishar'mla said gently, almost tenderly.
But Kashchey was anything but moved.
On the contrary, dread filled his heart.
Damn it—she's not injured at all!
He forced a polite expression, feigning calm as he reached to move the unconscious Skadi aside toward the wall.
Tch… heavy.
Feeling his strength failing, Kashchey simply dropped her onto the floor.
While no one was watching, a thin Black Snake slithered out from Skadi's eye and reentered Kashchey's body.
He looked up at the corridor camera and offered a friendly, reassuring smile.
From that angle, the footage showed only that Skadi had blocked his path and then suddenly collapsed for no apparent reason.
Kashchey didn't linger. He turned and hurried away.
"..."
The Sweep Team, who had been secretly monitoring him through the camera feed, immediately mobilized. They rushed to recover Skadi and brought her to the medical bay.
But when they examined her, they found something strange—
Not a single wound on her body.
---
"Ishar'mla, what are you trying to do?"
Leaving Rhodes Island behind, Duke Kashchey trudged into the barren desert. He touched the bandages wrapped around his body—
and immediately sensed that the wounds beneath had completely healed.
"Ig… why did you leave the ocean?"
A mouth suddenly formed on his neck, speaking in the ancient tongue of Aegir.
"…Ishar'mla," Kashchey sighed, hastily pressing his hand against the grotesque new mouth. "You could have just spoken to me through thought. This—this is unnecessary."
It was hideous.
Utterly unsightly.
And completely at odds with Kashchey's sense of aesthetics.
He would not tolerate Ishar'mla defiling his body like this.
"…Sorry?"
The mouth gradually faded, and his neck returned to normal.
'But weren't you the one who said we shouldn't rely too heavily on the Seaborn communication network?'
'That was meant to preserve the independence of our kin—to keep them from growing lazy and thinking that having a Seaborn meant they no longer needed to struggle! You and I are different. We've entrusted our lives to each other—we're comrades who fight for the future of the Seaborn! Between us, there's no need to fuss over such details.'
'I see…'
'So, Ishar'mla—since you don't seem to be injured, why have you come onto land?'
'And why did you leave the sea, Ig?'
'Naturally, for the good of the Seaborn! I realized that my knowledge of the surface was still too shallow. I haven't yet gathered enough experience to properly summarize what I've learned. So, I plan to stay on land a bit longer to continue my research. Ishar'mla, you should wait in the ocean for my good news—there's no need for you to come ashore.'
'…'
'Do you need me to help you return?'
'Ig… you sound strange.'
'!'
'You're not… lying, are you?'
'How could you question my loyalty to the Seaborn! I thought we both shared the same ideals—to fight and strive for the Seaborn's growth! And yet, now you suspect me… Ishar'mla, infighting has never been a wise choice!'
'But your behavior fits the word you once taught our kin… lying.'
'…Ishar'mla, use that brilliant mind of yours—the one that embodies the collective wisdom of the Seaborn. Think carefully. Why would I lie? What possible reason could I have to betray the Seaborn? I've poured everything into gathering the knowledge of the surface world and offering it to our kin—what could I gain from deceit?'
'…I'm sorry, Ig.'
'It's fine. I forgive you.'
[(Ursus profanity)! This Seaborn's evolution is getting out of hand… Did she learn something else from that Aegir host?]
[She's getting harder and harder to deceive. I need to drive her out of this body before it's too late.]
[A Seaborn acting too terran… That can't end well.]