[ February 13th, 2088 (Thursday, Afternoon) ] - [ BDV Iron Convoy #15 (Cargo Ship) > North-East Pacific Ocean > Earth ]
Outside the BDV Iron Convoy ships—
war had fully erupted in the fog.
The ocean itself seemed alive.
The defensive weapon systems of all three convoy vessels thundered relentlessly into the darkness.
Phalanx auto-miniguns screamed nonstop.
Heavy rotary cannons spat streams of tracer fire into the fog.
Missiles launched upward and sideways in violent bursts of smoke and fire.
The entire convoy shook continuously beneath overlapping impacts.
Even the shimmering defensive barriers around the ships visibly flickered now.
The force fields still held—
barely.
And then Niero finally saw what they were firing at through fractured windows and brief gaps in the fog.
Shapes.
Huge shapes.
Mechanical-organic dolphin-like entities burst from the ocean in high-speed arcs, their bodies covered in metal plating, coral growths, and mounted weapon systems fused directly into flesh.
Some launched spikes.
Others rammed the shields directly like living torpedoes.
Then came the whales.
Massive abyssal creatures partially armored with shipwreck metal and cannon-like growths protruding from their backs.
One emitted a distorted whale cry so loud the ship walls vibrated.
And attached to many of them—
clusters of Scuba-Scums.
Like parasites riding larger predators.
Some simply leapt from the creatures onto the ships.
Others climbed directly up the hulls with horrifying speed.
The Black Tide wasn't merely attacking.
It was boarding.
Systematically.
Inside BDV Iron Convoy #015, the situation worsened by the minute.
Scuba-Scums flooded breached sections of the vessel like invasive predators hunting prey inside a floating carcass.
Some killed indiscriminately.
Others—
more disturbingly—
attempted to capture people alive.
Niero saw signs of struggle everywhere now.
Dragged bodies.
Blood trails.
Broken barricades.
The realization chilled him.
> "They're taking prisoners."
Vuldyr immediately responded:
> ["Likely for biological conversion, experimentation, or worse... assimilation."]
Further ahead, combat erupted around one of the emergency shelter sectors.
Manaless soldiers fired disciplined bursts from assault rifles down narrow corridors.
Spent casings littered the floor.
Some staff members wielded captured harpoon-crossbows awkwardly, desperately trying to defend themselves.
And among them—
student candidates fought too.
Mostly the female students with their unique Mana Arts.
Niero's eyes widened slightly as the Golden Eye identified familiar signatures.
The Three Stooges he knew.
JD.
Flick.
Bart.
The entrance to one of the emergency shelter rooms had become a defensive choke point.
JD fought near the front line like an absolute maniac.
Semi-translucent green psionic exo-constructs enveloped both his arms and shoulders like oversized mechanical gauntlets.
He fought like a professional boxer, tucking his fist, weaving, and dodging their attacks, then going for his powerful strikes. Jabs, uppercuts, and even some nasty haymakers.
Every punch shattered bone and coral alike.
One Scuba-Scum got hit so hard its upper torso folded sideways into the wall.
"GET OFF THE SHIP, YOU SEA-ZOMBIE FREAKS!!!"
Despite the situation—
still JD.
Nearby, Flick stood behind partial cover with surprising composure.
Pens.
Metal shards.
Broken bolts.
Anything sharp around him floated telekinetically in the air.
Then fired rapidly like bullets from machine guns.
THUK-THUK-THUK.
A Scuba-Scum's mask shattered inward from a metal shard driven straight through its eye socket.
Flick looked horrified at what he just did—
but immediately forced himself to continue with steel resolve and willpower.
Yet, Flick being Flick-
"I-I refuse to die in this filthy place!"
And then there was Bart.
Niero finally understood what he meant by "grow bigger."
The boy had transformed into an absolute wall of muscle.
His body had expanded massively, ripping parts of his uniform while his frame swelled large enough to physically block portions of the shelter entrance.
He stood like a human barricade while shielding terrified candidates behind him and yet stuck around the corridor in front of that door due to his body being too big for the hallway.
A Scuba-Scum lunged at the doorway—
and Bart grabbed it with one hand before slamming it headfirst into the floor hard enough to crack metal plating.
Despite everything—
despite the chaos—
Bart still shouted in a deep yet cheerful voice:
"DON'T WORRY, EVERYBODY! ME GOT BIGGER!"
Niero stared for half a second.
> "…Huh. So that's what he meant by it..."
Vuldyr responded dryly:
> ["His explanation was technically accurate despite the lack of context."]
More Scuba-Scums rushed down the corridor toward the barricade.
The defenders were holding—
for now.
But Vuldyr's tactical overlay showed the truth clearly.
Ammo reserves decreasing.
Mana reserves dropping.
More enemy signatures converging.
Another violent tremor rocked BDV Iron Convoy #015 hard enough to nearly throw several defenders off balance.
The ship groaned.
Metal screamed.
Outside the fog-covered ocean—
something massive moved.
Then suddenly—
the sea itself exploded upward.
BOOOOMMMM.
Towering pillars of water erupted around the convoy ships like ascending serpents.
Whirlpool-like tendrils spun violently through the air before slamming into boarding Scuba-Scums and mechanized dolphin creatures with devastating force.
Entire clusters of Black Tide invaders were smashed off the hulls and hurled back into the ocean.
One biomechanical dolphin got caught mid-leap—
only to be crushed beneath a spiraling mass of ice and seawater.
The emergency corridor windows flashed blue-white with elemental light.
Even the defenders near the shelter entrance stopped fighting for half a second just to stare.
Niero immediately rushed toward one of the damaged viewing sections.
Then he saw her.
Floating above the ocean.
Sororitae Sifang.
The blind Mistress of the Elements.
Her sleeveless qipao-like Sororitae attire fluttered amidst roaring wind currents while ribbons of water spiraled around her body like orbiting dragons.
Ice crystals formed in the air around her footsteps despite there being no surface beneath her.
One hand raised gracefully—
and the ocean answered.
Entire waves twisted unnaturally under her control.
Water pillars smashed into Black Tide boarding forces.
Air currents shredded incoming harpoons out of the sky.
Sheets of freezing mist crystallized over enemy swimmers climbing the hulls.
To the terrified passengers and candidates—
she looked less like a human being and more like a divine protector descending from myth.
A goddess in the storm.
Then wind gathered around her again.
Compressed.
Amplified.
Her calm voice boomed across all three convoy ships like a living megaphone.
"All passengers and candidates, proceed immediately to designated emergency shelters."
Another water tendril smashed a Scuba-Scum into the ocean below.
"Remain calm. Reinforcements are en route."
A wave of relief visibly spread through many people nearby.
Some candidates actually cried from hearing her voice.
Others regained morale immediately.
Soldiers shouted louder.
Defenders steadied themselves.
Hope returned.
Even JD looked energized.
"HELL YEAH! THAT WATER LADY IS ABSOLUTELY BADASS!"
But Niero remained still.
Watching.
Thinking.
Vuldyr spoke quietly in his mind.
> ["She is stabilizing morale."]
Niero nodded faintly.
He understood immediately.
Sifang wasn't lying—
backup probably was coming.
But not soon enough.
Not if the ArkNet blackout remained active.
Not if the ships stayed isolated.
Every second the interference persisted—
the Black Tide maintained battlefield control.
And even someone as monstrously powerful as Sifang could not protect three entire convoy ships indefinitely while fighting in the middle of anomalous ocean territory.
Niero's gaze sharpened.
Through the Golden Eye overlays, static distortion still crawled across sectors of the ship map.
Like an infection.
Like a blind spot deliberately embedded into reality itself.
Vuldyr confirmed his thoughts.
> ["External rescue response remains heavily delayed without proper ArkNet synchronization."]
Another massive impact shook the ship.
Far beyond the fog, something enormous moved beneath the ocean surface.
Even Sifang subtly shifted attention toward it.
Niero immediately understood the situation.
Sifang was buying time.
Nothing more.
And if the interference source remained active—
that time would eventually run out.
His grip tightened around [Purple Fang].
Black Tide blood still dripped from the blade.
> "Then we find the distortion before this whole ship turns into a graveyard."
Vuldyr's voice sharpened with approval.
"Agreed."
The tactical overlay updated again.
One distortion cluster pulsed deeper within the ship.
Near the lower internal maintenance sectors.
Closer to the vessel's inner systems.
The interference source.
Or at least—
something connected to it.
=
=====
=
Niero barely made it halfway down the corridor before more movement signatures flooded the Golden Eye overlay.
Red markers.
A lot of them.
Vuldyr immediately highlighted the incoming vector.
> ["Twelve hostiles approaching."]
The next second—
a squad of Scuba-Scums surged into view from the adjacent corridor intersection.
Their distorted scuba-mask heads snapped toward him simultaneously.
Then came the wet, guttural noises.
Not random growling.
Commands.
Coordinated signals.
The creatures raised their harpoon-crossbows at once.
THUNK-THUNK-THUNK-THUNK.
A storm of harpoons shot down the corridor.
Niero moved instantly.
His body blurred sideways with superhuman speed as harpoons slammed into walls, doors, and pipes behind him.
One nearly grazed his shoulder.
Another pierced straight through a steel support beam.
Niero weaved between the projectiles fluidly while sprinting forward.
Then—
one Scuba-Scum suddenly pulled out a spherical object filled with swirling liquid.
Vuldyr's voice immediately sharpened.
> ["Incoming secondary attack."]
The creature hurled it directly toward him.
Niero's instincts screamed danger.
> ["Use psychokinesis now!"]
Without hesitation, Niero thrust out his hand.
Invisible force slammed into the device midair.
The sphere abruptly reversed direction—
flying directly back into the Scuba-Scum formation.
The creatures barely reacted before—
BOOOOM.
A violent compressed-water detonation erupted through the hallway.
The explosion wasn't fiery.
It was pressure.
A brutal hydraulic shockwave blasted outward like an underwater implosion detonating in open air.
Several Scuba-Scums were launched violently into the corridor walls hard enough to crack metal plating.
Others tumbled across the floor in broken heaps.
The hallway itself warped inward slightly from the pressure burst.
Niero blinked once.
"…Okay, what the hell was that?"
Vuldyr immediately identified it.
> ["Black Tide Aqua Bomb."]
The remains of the burst water still sprayed across the corridor ceiling like rain.
> ["Compression-based concussion grenade. Internal liquid mass is hyper-compressed before rapid destabilization."]
Niero stared at the wreckage.
Then grinned slightly despite himself.
"…That's actually kinda cool."
A beat.
"I want one."
> ["You are currently under attack."]
"I can multitask."
Some of the Scuba-Scums began rising again despite broken limbs and cracked coral armor.
High pain tolerance indeed.
Unfortunately for them—
Niero was already moving.
He dashed forward like a predator unleashed.
The first creature barely got halfway up before [Purple Fang] removed its head.
The second lost both its weapon arm and neck in the same motion.
The third attempted to stab him with a harpoon—
Niero caught the shaft barehanded and slit its throat instantly.
Oil-black blood sprayed across the corridor in violent arcs.
Bodies fell one after another.
Fast.
Too fast for ordinary eyes to properly track.
And behind him—
space itself split open.
[Hungry Maw].
Massive human-like lips tore open from midair like invisible flesh being peeled apart.
Gigantic mouths emerged behind Niero while he fought, consuming corpses almost immediately after they dropped.
Hands reached outward from the mouths' depths—
dragging the dead Scuba-Scums inside while the battle was still happening.
One creature got decapitated—
and before its body even hit the floor, a Maw swallowed it whole midair.
The scene became horrifyingly surreal.
Like Niero was being followed by living dimensional predators cleaning the battlefield behind him.
The last surviving Scuba-Scum attempted to crawl away desperately.
Niero ended it with a clean downward slash.
Silence returned.
Only alarms.
Steam.
Dripping blood.
And the distant sounds of naval warfare outside.
Then the system notifications appeared.
-
<[ HUNGRY MAW: RECOVERY RESULTS ]>
> Omnia Matter (×94 Units)—Universal anomalous resource matter utilized for crafting, enhancement, reconstruction, and energy conversion.
> Unknown Black Blood Vials (×17 Vials)—Dense, oily, anomalous blood harvested from Black Tide organisms. Exhibits weak psionic and aquatic mutagenic properties.
> Black Tide Harpoon-Crossbow Rifles (×12 Rifles)—Crude but effective biomechanical projectile weapon utilized by Scuba-Scum infantry units.
> Harpoon Ammunition (×48 Harpoons)—Hardened anti-personnel harpoons designed for underwater pressure penetration.
> Aqua Bomb Grenades (×21 Grenades)—Compression-based aquatic concussion explosives. Generates violent water-pressure shockwave upon detonation.
> Black Tide Corals (×39 Fragments)—Anomalous bone-like coral formations extracted from Black Tide physiology. Contains trace Omnia conductivity.
> Black Tide Vulcanized Rubber (×41 Material Bundles)—Pressure-resistant organic rubber-like material utilized in Black Tide diving suits and biomechanical sealing systems.
-
Niero stared at the rapidly growing loot list with a small tug on his lip.
Vuldyr sounded far too calm about this.
> ["Efficient resource acquisition improves survivability."]
Niero crouched briefly, picking up one recovered Aqua Bomb physically while inspecting its sloshing interior.
The transparent casing vibrated faintly from contained pressure.
> "Mom would absolutely tell me not to throw this indoors."
> ["Your mother would be correct. Have you seen the damage it can do?"]
Another tremor shook the ship violently.
This time stronger.
The corridor lights dimmed briefly.
Then the Golden Eye overlay pulsed again.
The distortion cluster deeper within the vessel intensified.
Closer now.
Niero barely slowed as the corridor behind him faded into flickering red light and dripping silence.
The ship kept shaking in irregular pulses—like something massive was still grinding against its outer hull in real time.
Then the hunger hit.
It wasn't normal.
Not "missed a meal" hunger.
It was sharper.
Heavier.
Like his body had suddenly realized it had spent energy it didn't properly account for.
Niero grimaced mid-stride.
"...Why am I hungry all of a sudden?"
Vuldyr immediately ran diagnostics through the Stargod System.
A brief pause.
Then:
> ["Likely side effect of [Hungry Maw] activation."]
Niero frowned harder.
> "That would've been nice to know earlier."
> ["No prior recorded instances of first-time overuse in your profile. This is an unanticipated baseline reaction."]
Translation: nobody taught us this part.
Niero clicked his tongue.
Annoying—but survivable.
He kept moving.
Boots striking metal.
Golden Eye overlay is still pulsing with interference ahead.
Then he slowed just long enough to stabilize himself against a wall, pulling from his Stargod System's Inventory.
A compact ration pack.
A small packet of cream crackers and a sealed bottle of mineral water.
He tore it open while walking.
Eating and drinking at the same time, eyes still scanning forward corridors.
Behind him, distant structural impacts echoed through the ship—like something outside was still battering the convoy with coordinated force.
Vuldyr continued calmly:
> ["Recommendation: do not repeatedly activate [Hungry Maw] unless operationally required."]
Niero swallowed a mouthful of crackers.
> "Yeah, I figured."
> ["The boon likely consumes metabolic and psionic throughput beyond standard regeneration rates."]
He exhaled through his nose.
> "So it's basically… draining me."
> ["More or less. Its comparable to accelerated muscle fatigue following first-time overexertion."]
Niero frowned again, adjusting his grip on [Purple Fang] while still moving.
> "So if I spam it, I crash mid-fight."
> ["In worse case scenario, yes.."]
A beat.
Vuldyr added, more seriously:
> ["It is an efficient ability, but not a sustainable one in prolonged engagements at your current Level 30 threshold."]
Niero stored that away immediately.
No hesitation.
No debate.
Just tactical acceptance.
He finished the water bottle in one go, tossing it into his inventory again out of habit.
Then he rolled his shoulder once.
The hunger eased slightly but didn't fully disappear.
> "Noted. Don't overuse Hungry Maw unless absolutely nessasary."
> ["Correct."]
=
=====
=
Far down a separate corridor of BDV Iron Convoy #015, the situation was just as desperate—only noisier, messier, and far less controlled.
Emergency lights strobed red across a half-collapsed hallway.
Steam hissed from ruptured pipes in the ceiling.
And Scuba-Scums kept coming.
The soldiers were firing in disciplined bursts, but the corridor was too narrow, the enemy too aggressive, and the numbers far too unstable.
"Fall back to the shelter line!" one of the female soldiers barked into her radio.
"We can't! Too many civilians unaccounted for!"
Then—
JD stepped forward anyway.
A Scuba-Scum lunged from the smoke-filled end of the hall.
JD met it head-on.
BOOM.
His psionic exo-skeleton arm formed instantly—green translucent energy locking around his forearm like a reinforced gauntlet.
He drove a straight punch into the creature's chest.
The impact sent it crashing backward into two more Scuba-Scums behind it.
"I heard the radio!" JD shouted over the chaos. "You got people stuck up ahead!"
Another Scuba-Scum fired a harpoon.
JD twisted sideways, the projectile scraping past his shoulder and embedding into the wall.
"We're not just gonna sit in a corner while people get turned into fish bait!"
Behind him, Flick hovered slightly off the ground in an unusually tense posture.
He hated this.
Everything about this.
The blood.
The noise.
The smell of salt, metal, and something worse.
But his hands were steady.
Pens, screws, shattered metal fragments—all floated around him in a tight orbit.
Then he flicked his fingers.
The objects shot forward like telekinetic bullets.
THUK—THUK—THUK.
A Scuba-Scum dropped instantly, its mask cracked through.
Another staggered backward, clutching its chest plate.
A soldier nearby glanced at him in shock.
"You can actually aim—"
"Yes, obviously I can aim!" Flick snapped. "I'm not some useless rich kid stereotype!"
Then immediately quieter, muttering:
"…I just don't like getting dirty."
A Scuba-Scum tried to flank from the side corridor.
Flick noticed instantly.
His expression tightened.
The floating debris around him shifted trajectory in mid-air.
All at once.
THUNK.
The attacker collapsed without even reaching melee range.
JD whistled briefly.
"Okay, Richie Rich got hands too."
"Do not call me that, Rope-Head!"
The soldiers—despite everything—began adapting to them.
JD took point like a shock trooper, absorbing attention and breaking enemy lines.
Flick provided precision suppression fire, cutting down anything JD missed.
Together, they formed something unexpectedly effective.
Still—
it wasn't enough to clear the corridor completely.
More Scuba-Scums kept emerging from side access hatches.
One soldier shouted into her comm:
"We need back up—NOW!"
Static.
Only static responded.
Flick's face tightened.
"Communication is still jammed…"
JD cracked his knuckles, green energy pulsing brighter around his arms.
"Then we just keep moving until we find them."
A Scuba-Scum lunged again.
JD met it with a brutal uppercut.
Flick followed instantly with a telekinetic burst of metal fragments that tore through the creature in mid-air.
For a brief moment, the corridor cleared.
Just enough to breathe.
The soldiers, JD, and Flick pushed carefully through the smoke-filled corridor, stepping over spent casings, broken harpoons, and black blood smeared across the floor.
The deeper they went—
the more unstable the ship sounded.
Metal groaned constantly now.
Somewhere far outside, another abyssal whale-creature screamed through the fog.
Then suddenly—
THUD.
Something flew around the hallway corner ahead of them.
A Scuba-Scum body.
It slammed across the corridor floor and rolled to a stop at their feet, its scuba-mask cracked inward like it had been hit by a hydraulic press.
Everyone immediately raised weapons.
Then they looked around the corner.
And froze.
A female tiger beastfolk stood in the adjacent corridor.
Pastel cardigan.
Oversized round glasses.
Comfy casual clothes.
Braided tiger-striped twintails.
She looked like she should've been blogging about Sororitae rankings while sipping bubble tea.
Instead—
she was currently beating the absolute life out of two Scuba-Scums simultaneously.
Her stance was compact.
Efficient.
Deadly.
The moment one creature lunged—
her fists exploded forward.
THUK-THUK-THUK-THUK-THUK.
Rapid-fire Wing Chun strikes hammered into the Scuba-Scum's chest and face with machine-like speed.
The second attacker tried flanking from behind.
Mei pivoted instantly.
Soft.
Fluid.
Almost graceful.
Then her elbow smashed into its throat before her palms struck its torso repeatedly in a blur.
Even the soldiers stared.
Her movements contrasted so violently with her dorky appearance that it almost looked unreal.
The Scuba-Scums barely managed to react before Mei stepped in—
and unleashed a brutal forward kick directly into one creature's abdomen.
CRACK.
The impact caved its torso inward.
Black liquid exploded from the cracks in its fused scuba-mask as it collapsed lifelessly.
The second creature tried to recover—
too late.
A rapid palm strike combination shattered its mask completely.
It dropped, twitching, beside the other.
Silence.
Even the emergency lights seemed stunned for half a second.
That tiger beastfolk—
It's Lin "Mei" Meihua.
Then—
JD slowly lowered his fists.
"…Yo."
Flick blinked behind floating metal shards.
"…What."
JD let out a low whistle.
"Tiger girl got MAJOR HANDS."
The soldiers themselves looked openly impressed now.
One muttered:
"Those strikes were military-grade…"
Mei finally noticed the group staring at her.
Immediately—
her entire demeanor changed.
The sharp-eyed predator aura vanished almost instantly.
Her ears lowered slightly.
Her tail twitched awkwardly.
And suddenly she looked like the same adorkable fangirl Niero had bumped into earlier.
JD grinned widely.
"Nah, hold up—"
He mimicked rapid punches with both fists.
"That 'BADABADABADABA' thing you just did? I've only seen that kinda stuff in old martial arts movies! IP-Man style, yo."
Flick adjusted his clothing dramatically despite the blood-covered hallway.
"You dismantled them with your bare hands…or claws maybe..."
Mei immediately scratched the back of her head awkwardly, ears flicking nervously.
"Ahaha… it's really not that special…"
A nearby dead Scuba-Scum with a shattered ribcage strongly disagreed.
One of the soldiers raised an eyebrow.
"Miss, what exactly is your Metatalent?"
Mei blinked.
Then answered sheepishly:
"…Actually, I don't really have a combat-type Metatalent, let alone Mana Art."
Everyone stared harder.
JD pointed at the mangled corpses.
"…Then what the hell was THAT?"
Mei's fluffy tail swayed slightly as she smiled awkwardly.
"My grandma just really believed in traditional kung fu…"
The corridor stayed tense even after the fighting stopped.
Dead Scuba-Scums lay scattered across the floor, their black oil-like blood pooling into cracks in the ship's metal plating. Steam hissed from ruptured pipes above, and the emergency lights continued their unstable red pulse.
One of the soldiers lowered her rifle slightly and stepped closer to Mei.
"What were you doing down this corridor alone?"
Mei blinked, still a little flustered from the attention.
"Ah—right. I was rescuing someone."
That immediately changed the tone.
The soldiers straightened.
Even JD and Flick focused.
Mei gestured down the corridor she had come from.
"One of my cabinmates has a pocket-dimension type Mana Art. She managed to keep survivors in her pocket dimension and helped to relocate them into a barricaded cabin. There were like 13 of them"
She hesitated, then added quickly:
"There are more people there. Safe for now. But we need to move them properly before—"
A distant metallic THOOM echoed through the ship, cutting her off.
Flick frowned.
"Before the ship gets torn apart, yes. That part is PAINFULLY obvious."
JD nodded seriously for once.
"Then we go now."
The lead soldier immediately made a decision.
"Alright. You'll guide us. We secure the barricade and extract survivors."
Mei nodded quickly.
"Yes—follow me, it's this way—"
She turned slightly to lead the group forward.
JD shifted his stance.
Flick lifted a few sharp metal fragments into the air again, preparing to move.
The soldiers adjusted formation.
For a brief moment—
it looked like they might actually stabilize this section.
Then—
click.
A wet, deliberate sound came from the floor behind them.
Everyone froze.
One of the downed Scuba-Scums—
still alive.
Barely.
Its scuba-mask was cracked open, black fluid leaking steadily from its body.
Its arm twitched.
Slowly—
it pulled a cylindrical vial from its gear.
Inside it: dark liquid swirling unnaturally, denser than the surrounding black blood.
A syringe was attached.
Before anyone could react—
it stabbed the syringe directly into its own chest.
SHHK.
Silence snapped into tension instantly.
The creature convulsed violently.
Its limbs jerked in unnatural rhythm.
Black veins—if they could be called that—rapidly expanded across its body like spreading corruption.
The air around it grew heavier.
Wet.
Wrong.
JD immediately stepped forward.
Flick's floating debris snapped into firing position instantly.
"That is absolutely not normal biological behavior."
The soldiers raised their rifles again.
Mei's posture shifted subtly—eyes narrowing.
But the Scuba-Scum wasn't dying.
It was changing.
Its body began to swell slightly, armor plates cracking as something inside forced its structure outward.
A distorted gurgling sound escaped its broken mask.
Not pain.
Not panic.
More like—
activation.
The corridor erupted into chaos the moment the Scuba-Scum finished its transformation.
Its body had stopped resembling anything remotely human-sized.
Muscle mass ballooned outward in grotesque pulses.
Black veins spread like cracked ink under pressure.
Its scuba-mask split at the edges as its jaw unhinged further, producing a low, wet roar that rattled the hallway panels.
JD took a step back without even realizing it.
"Yeah—nah, that's a phase two. That's definitely a phase two."
Soldiers immediately opened fire.
BRRRT—BRRRT—BRRRT.
Rifle rounds hammered into the creature's swollen torso.
Flick followed instantly, snapping his fingers.
Dozens of metal shards and harpoons ripped through the air like accelerated bullets.
THUK-THUK-THUK-THUK.
Mei tightened her stance, hands up, eyes locked on the target.
But—
the attacks barely slowed it.
Bullets lodged into its thickened tissue and were pushed out by expanding muscle mass.
Flick's telekinetic projectiles pierced it, but the wounds sealed almost immediately as black fluid surged to compensate.
The creature stepped forward.
Each step cracked the metal floor.
JD cursed under his breath.
"Okay, so what—this is just unfair now."
He glanced at Mei.
"Tiger girl—any kung fu miracle technique? Secret anime finisher? Anything?"
Mei swallowed, visibly tense for the first time.
"I… I don't think I can even a proper 1-inch punch—"
The creature roared again.
And lunged.
Its massive fist swung directly toward Mei.
The air pressure alone forced everyone to brace.
JD moved to intercept—
Flick shifted his telekinesis—
The soldiers tried to reposition—
But all of them were half a beat too slow.
Then—
BOOM.
A violent energy bolt tore across the corridor from the right side like a horizontal comet.
It struck the creature mid-abdomen.
The impact was not just forceful—it was overwhelming, compressing space with raw kinetic enhancement.
The Scuba-Scum was instantly ripped off its trajectory.
It slammed sideways through the hull wall—
CRRAAAASH—!!
Steel and insulation exploded outward as it was launched through into the adjacent mess hall.
Tables, chairs, and food prep equipment were obliterated in a cascading chain of destruction.
Silence hit the corridor for a fraction of a second.
Dust and debris drifted through the broken wall.
Then—
footsteps.
From the mess hall breach.
Something moved through the smoke.
A figure stood atop the cratered body embedded in the mess hall wall.
Energy was still crackling across his limbs in faint arcs of light.
The air around him shimmered with residual force output.
His eyes were sharp.
Focused.
Dangerously calm.
Niero Ripley.
Still glowing faintly from the "Booster" output.
Karambit at his side.
Black Tide blood spattered across the blue V on the tank top and the rest of his clothes.
He exhaled once, steadying his stance while looking at the creature beneath him.
Then, without even raising his voice much:
"...You guys good?"
Residual blue-white energy still danced around his limbs before fading away.
JD was the first to break the silence.
His eyes were practically glowing.
"NIGGA, WHAT!!! BRO! DUDE!"
He pointed dramatically toward the crater.
"THAT. WAS. COOL."
Niero winced.
"Uhh...thanks?"
JD threw both hands up.
"Nah, don't 'thanks' me. You launched that bulky freak through an entire wall!"
He mimicked the motion.
"WHOOSH—BOOM!"
Then pointed accusingly.
"You never told us your Booster thing could make you move like a lightning-fast cannonball."
Flick adjusted his clothing despite the battlefield around them.
"Frankly, I assumed he was exaggerating, if not lying about his abilities."
A pause.
He looked at the massive hole in the wall.
"...I now believe he was underselling them."
Niero shrugged.
"I've been training."
"UNDERSTATEMENT."
Meanwhile, Mei stood awkwardly nearby.
The moment Niero glanced toward her—
their eyes met.
Immediately.
Her ears twitched.
Her tail stiffened.
And her face started turning red.
The memory of him accidentally scratching under her chin earlier clearly hadn't been forgotten.
"H-Hello again."
"Hi."
An awkward silence followed.
JD immediately noticed.
His grin widened.
Dangerously.
Flick noticed too.
Even more dangerously.
Fortunately for Niero, the soldiers intervened first.
One of them stepped forward.
"Candidate 157, Ripley."
"Yes?"
"Where have you been?"
The second soldier folded her arms.
"You were supposed to be inside an emergency shelter."
Niero scratched the back of his head.
"I got caught up dealing with some Scuba-Scums."
JD immediately muttered:
"Ooooh. So that's what those freaks are."
Flick nodded.
"Appropriately insulting."
The soldiers exchanged a glance.
One of them clearly wanted a much longer explanation.
Then—
CRRRRRK.
Everyone turned.
The enhanced Scuba-Scum moved.
A huge arm pushed aside twisted metal.
Black veins pulsed beneath its enlarged flesh.
Its shattered torso slowly began repairing itself.
JD immediately formed his psionic gauntlets.
Green energy surged around his fists.
Flick's telekinetic projectiles floated into firing position.
The soldiers raised their rifles.
Mei shifted into her Wing Chun stance.
But Niero lifted one hand.
"No!"
Everyone looked at him.
He nodded toward the hallway.
"You have survivors to rescue."
The soldiers hesitated.
Niero continued.
"I heard the radio traffic."
He glanced at the lead soldier.
"People are trapped."
Then toward JD.
"You need to help them."
Toward Flick.
"You too."
Then toward Mei.
"And you too as well."
The Scuba-Scum behind him released a monstrous roar.
Metal buckled beneath its feet as it forced itself upright.
Nobody moved.
Niero sighed.
"Guys."
He pointed his thumb behind himself.
"I've got the ugly one."
JD looked uncertain.
For perhaps the first time since boarding the ship.
"...You sure?"
"No."
That answer caught everyone off guard.
Niero smirked.
"But somebody has to keep it busy."
The soldiers exchanged another glance.
Then one of them received a ping on her portable scanner.
Her expression changed.
"Signal confirmed."
She pointed down the adjacent hallway.
"Barricaded cabin located."
The other soldier nodded.
Decision made.
JD looked at Niero.
"Don't die, Man."
Flick immediately added:
"Please do not die. Explaining that paperwork would be insufferable."
Mei hesitated longest.
Her tiger ears lowered slightly.
"...Please...be safe."
Niero gave a small nod.
"You too."
The group finally began moving.
The soldiers took point.
JD followed.
Flick covered the rear.
Mei gave one last glance over her shoulder before disappearing around the corner with the others.
Soon—
only Niero remained.
The damaged mess hall fell quiet again.
Outside the ship, distant weapon fire echoed through the fog.
The emergency lights pulsed crimson.
Across from him, the enhanced Scuba-Scum fully rose to its feet.
Its body looked even larger now.
More unstable.
More monstrous.
Black fluid dripped from its claws.
Its ruined mask stared directly at him.
Vuldyr's voice sounded calmly inside his mind.
"Threat assessment updated."
A Golden Eye overlay appeared.
-
> [Black Tide: Scuba-Scum Brute — Rank D]
> Status: Mutagenically Enhanced
> Condition: Highly Aggressive
> Warning: Significant regenerative capability detected.
-
Niero rolled his shoulders once.
Then twirled [Purple Fang] between his fingers.
"Rank D, huh? Just like that Ork"
The Brute roared.
Niero grinned.
Not because he wasn't afraid.
But because after months of training, near-fatal breakthroughs, and being thrown into the middle of an abyssal invasion—
this was the first enemy on the ship that actually looked like a challenge.
Blue-white energy crackled around his body.
The damaged mess hall shook.
And both combatants charged at the same time.
The Black Tide Brute roared loud enough to shake the damaged mess hall.
Its distorted muscles bulged beneath its slick black skin.
Chunks of coral-like bone protruded from its shoulders and forearms.
Unlike the ordinary Scuba-Scums, this thing wasn't relying solely on its harpoon rifle.
It was using the environment itself as a weapon.
The Brute seized a damaged metal table.
Its enormous fingers crushed the steel frame like cardboard.
Then—
WHAM!
It hurled the twisted mass at Niero.
A moment later, chairs followed.
Then another table.
Then broken kitchen equipment.
The mess hall transformed into a storm of flying metal.
Yet Niero's body moved almost instinctively.
Months of training.
Months of getting beaten down and drilled by Emmy Ripley.
Months of dodging attacks from opponents far stronger than himself.
The world seemed to slow.
Not literally.
But his boosted senses allowed him to process it faster.
One step left.
Duck.
Slide.
Pivot.
The first table smashed into the wall behind him.
CRASH!
A chair embedded itself into a bulkhead.
Another projectile flew past his face close enough to feel the wind.
Then he accelerated.
Blue-white energy crackled across his body.
Instead of retreating—
he charged.
Zig-zagging across the room.
The Brute attempted to track him.
Too slow.
Each time it adjusted its aim, Niero had already changed direction.
The monster bellowed in frustration.
Then abandoned throwing objects entirely.
It rushed forward.
Its massive fist swung like a wrecking ball.
BOOM!
The punch demolished a serving counter.
Niero had already slipped underneath the strike.
Another punch.
Another dodge.
The Brute swung wildly.
Niero danced between the attacks.
His movements are efficient.
Precise.
Minimal.
Just as his mother taught him.
Never waste motion.
Never waste stamina.
Never underestimate an enemy.
As he slipped past another swing, he lashed out with Purple Fang.
The karambit was carved across the Brute's ribs.
Black blood sprayed.
The creature roared.
Niero immediately moved again.
Another slash.
Then another.
Each strike targeted tendons.
Joints.
Weak points.
Places Emmy had drilled into him relentlessly.
The Brute was stronger.
Much stronger.
But strength alone wasn't enough.
As Niero avoided another devastating punch, a thought crossed his mind.
Compared to his first battle against the Rank-D Orkoid Berserker...
This felt different.
The Berserker had been terrifying.
A monster that radiated raw killing intent.
Compared to that battle—
this Brute felt predictable.
Dangerous.
But predictable.
And compared to training against his mother?
Niero almost laughed.
A memory flashed through his head.
=
"Again."
Young Niero lay face-first in the dirt.
Bruised.
Exhausted.
Unable to stand.
Emmy stood over him holding a practice knife.
Not even winded.
"Mom, that's not fair."
"Monsters don't care about fair."
"You broke my ribs. THREE OF THEM!!!"
"Only two. Hairline fractures."
"...THAT'S NOT BETTER!"
=
Back in the present, Niero narrowly avoided another attack.
The Brute's fist smashed through a cafeteria table instead.
CRAAASH!
Vuldyr's voice sounded in his mind.
> ["Analysis complete."]
A holographic overlay appeared.
Several glowing lines highlighted the Brute's body.
> ["Its regeneration originates from concentrated anomalous tissue around the upper spinal column and heart region."]
"Meaning?"
> ["Destroy those simultaneously and regeneration should cease."]
"On It."
That confirmed it.
Simple decapitation wouldn't be enough.
Not this time.
The Brute lunged.
The floor buckled beneath its charge.
Niero tightened his grip on Purple Fang.
Blue energy surged around him once more.
His smile faded.
Training was over.
Testing was over.
This wasn't an exercise.
This was a real battle since last year's Radiant Day.
The moment the battle briefly created some distance between them, Niero mentally opened the translucent blue interface of his Stargod System.
The Brute was still roaring.
Still regenerating.
Still trying to tear itself free from the damage he had already inflicted.
But Niero knew something important.
He had not gained any levels.
Yet he still possessed unspent Ascension Points.
And right now, survival mattered more than saving them.
-
[STARGOD SYSTEM — ASCENSION STATUS]
STR (Strength): 02.85 → 05.85(+3)
AGI (Agility): 02.85 → 04.85(+2)
END (Endurance): 02.85 → 04.85(+2)
INT (Intelligence): 02.85
PER (Perception): 02.85 → 03.85(+1)
LUK (Luck): 02.85 → 03.85(+1)
CRM (Charm): 01.85
CRT (Critical Rate): 02.85 → 03.85(+1)
Unused Ascension Points: 14 → 4
-
The confirmation window vanished.
A powerful pulse surged through his body.
His muscles tightened.
His bones felt heavier.
His senses sharpened.
His heartbeat thundered in his ears.
It wasn't like leveling.
It felt more direct.
Like reinforcing a structure from within.
Niero clenched his fist.
The strength increase was immediately noticeable.
> "Whoa..."
Vuldyr sounded mildly impressed.
> ["Physical performance increase confirmed."]
> "How much?"
> ["Enough that your next punch will be significantly less embarrassing."]
> "...Thanks."
The Brute suddenly charged.
Its massive arm swung downward like a wrecking ball.
The attack would have shattered concrete.
Niero didn't dodge.
Instead—
he activated a Boon.
[BOON ACTIVATED: HUNGRY MAW]
Space itself split apart.
A massive human-like mouth erupted into existence.
Rows of teeth unfolded unnaturally wide.
The Brute's incoming fist disappeared directly into the mouth.
CHOMP.
The jaws slammed shut.
The entire arm became trapped.
The Brute immediately roared.
It pulled.
Twisted.
Struggled.
The mouth refused to release it.
Niero's eyes widened.
> ["Damn, it works!"]
> "Apparently."
The Brute attempted to free itself.
Then threw its remaining fist.
Before it could connect—
Niero activated Hungry Maw again.
And again.
And again.
And again.
Four additional mouths tore open through reality.
One latched onto the Brute's head.
One consumed its free arm.
Two more bit down on each leg.
The result looked horrifying.
The enormous creature became suspended in midair.
Five monstrous mouths held it in place like predators pinning down prey.
The Brute thrashed violently.
Its regeneration worked overtime.
Muscles bulged.
Bones cracked.
It tried to break free.
Nothing happened.
The mouths simply bit harder.
Niero felt another surge of hunger from somewhere deep inside himself.
But ignored it.
This needed to end.
Now.
He brought both hands together.
Blue-white energy gathered between his palms.
Crackling.
Growing.
Condensing.
The air around it began to distort.
Even the emergency lights flickered.
Vuldyr's voice became serious.
> ["Nova-Spark Energy concentration exceeding standard combat output."]
> "Good."
The orb continued growing.
Violent arcs of energy whipped around it.
The Brute sensed danger.
It began struggling even harder.
The mouths groaned under the strain.
Niero stepped forward.
His hands trembled from the sheer power.
"Stay still."
The Brute roared.
Niero thrust both hands forward.
"FUCK OFFFF!!!!"
The orb struck directly into its chest.
For a split second—
nothing happened.
Then—
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
A concentrated jet of Nova-Spark Energy erupted through the Brute's torso.
Not an explosion.
A beam.
A violent stream of condensed stellar energy.
The creature's chest vanished.
Coral armor vaporized.
Bone disintegrated.
Regenerative tissue evaporated.
The blast punched clean through its body and struck the far wall of the mess hall.
The Brute's roar abruptly stopped.
The five Hungry Maw mouths immediately reacted.
Like starving predators sensing a dying animal.
They lunged.
Teeth tore through flesh.
Arms.
Legs.
Head.
Torso.
Everything.
The Brute disappeared piece by piece into the impossibly large mouths.
Within seconds—
nothing remained.
No corpse.
No blood.
No bones.
Only silence.
Then the mouths closed.
And vanished.
The mess hall became quiet.
Only the flashing emergency lights remained.
A notification appeared.
-
[HUNGRY MAW RECYCLING COMPLETE]
Items Acquired:
> + Omnia Matter ×187
> + Unknown Black Blood Vials ×32
> + Black Tide Coral Fragments ×74
> + Black Tide Vulcanized Material ×51
> + Aqua Bomb Grenades ×8
> + Enhanced Black Tide Mutagen ×1
> + Brute-Class Regenerative Organ ×1
> + Unknown Signal-Reactive Coral Node ×1
-
Vuldyr immediately focused on the final item.
A holographic analysis window appeared.
-
> [ Unknown Signal-Reactive Coral Node ]
> Status:Active
> Origin:Unknown
> Warning:Emits traces of the same anomalous interference currently affecting ship sensors, ArkNet communications, and Golden Eye detection systems.
-
Both Niero and Vuldyr froze.
Then slowly looked at the highlighted item.
Vuldyr spoke first.
> ["...Interesting."]
Niero wiped black blood from his cheek.
"Please tell me that's important."
> ["Extremely."]
The Logoi's tone became serious.
> ["This is the first physical evidence connecting the Black Tide assault to the signal suppression field."]
A marker immediately appeared on Vuldyr's holographic ship map.
Several new pathways lit up.
All converging deeper inside BDV Iron Convoy #015.
Toward the lower sections of the vessel.
Toward somewhere near the ship's sensor and engineering decks.
Vuldyr's eyes narrowed on the hologram.
> ["Niero."]
"Yeah?"
> ["I think we just found our first real clue."]
And somewhere deep below the ship—
something answered.
A pulse.
A faint, unnatural pulse.
Strong enough that even the damaged Golden Eye could finally feel it.
=
=====
=
Niero stood in the wrecked mess hall kitchen, one hand holding a half-crushed packet of cup salted caramel bread pudding, while the other already sucked it and stored it in his Stargod System's inventory space, like it was the most normal thing in the world after killing a biomechanical sea monster.
He swallowed another bite, leaning against a bent counter still warm from recent impact shockwaves.
Around him, the ship groaned.
Metal creaked.
Distant gunfire echoed through corridors.
Somewhere far away, a missile launcher cycled again—followed by the low, vibrating thoom of something hitting the hull.
He didn't like how quickly "normal" had become "survive first, think later."
Still, he focused.
> ["Vuldyr. Analyze the organ again."]
A holographic interface expanded midair above his wrist.
The harvested Unknown Signal-Reactive Coral Node rotated slowly.
Lines of data streamed across it.
Vuldyr's tone shifted from casual to precise.
> ["Confirmed classification: biomechanical communicative organ."]
> ["Functionally analogous to a short-range transceiver."]
Niero frowned.
"So… it's like a walkie-talkie stuck inside a monster?"
> ["Oversimplified, but accurate."]
The hologram zoomed in.
Veins of black coral pulsed faintly.
Tiny embedded channels moved fluid-like data across its structure.
> ["However unlike standard Black Tide communication organs documented in the Astra Codex,"] Vuldyr continued, ["this variant is enhanced."]
She paused.
> ["By an external anomalous energy source."]
Niero's eyes narrowed.
"Mana?"
A brief silence.
Then:
> ["Negative."]
That answer landed heavier than expected.
Vuldyr projected a secondary scan layer.
The energy signature shimmered—unstable, layered, almost impossible to define cleanly.
> ["It is similar in behavior to Mana, but structurally incompatible with known Queendom energy classifications. I cannot identify its origin."]
Niero clicked his tongue.
"So we've got mystery energy making fish-zombies smarter."
> ["More or less."]
He exhaled through his nose.
Then shifted focus.
"Can you break their communication?"
Vuldyr's response was immediate.
> ["Unfortunately I can't. I cannot sever their network. It is distributed and redundantly biological throughout its short-ranged network."]
A beat.
Then, more confidently:
> ["However…"]
A new waveform appeared.
A rising, oscillating pattern of sonic frequency data.
> ["I can flood their communication channels."]
The hologram sharpened.
> ["If I amplify targeted resonance frequencies through the ship's remaining sonar emitters and converted shipboard systems, I can inject disruptive auditory pressure into their network."]
> ["Think of it as forcing their entire communication system to listen to a collapsing frequency wall."]
Niero tilted his head.
"Will it kill them?"
> ["No. But it can incapacitate them.Temporary neural and coordination disruption. Comparable to sensory overload, but aquatic-biological in nature."]
A brief pause.
Then Vuldyr added, almost clinically:
> ["They will experience it as continuous internal screaming, Screamo style."]
Niero stared at the hologram for a second.
Then nodded once.
"Good."
He finished the bread pudding in two bites and stored the rest in his inventory without shame.
"Do it."
The hologram flickered.
> ["I will require access to auxiliary ship systems."]
Another distant explosion rattled the corridor.
The lights dimmed for half a second.
Then stabilized.
Vuldyr continued:
> ["Once initiated, the signal flood will affect all Black Tide units within range of the vessel's sensor field."]
> ["Including boarders currently inside the ship."]
Niero's expression sharpened.
"Even better."
He stepped toward the shattered doorway of the kitchen, rolling his shoulders once.
The Blue Spark energy still lingered faintly under his skin.
Somewhere deep in the ship, more of them were coming.
And now—
they were about to lose their coordination.
Vuldyr's voice softened slightly but remained focused:
> ["Niero."]
"Yeah?"
> ["This will not end the invasion."]
He tightened his grip on Purple Fang.
"Didn't expect it to."
A pause.
Then:
> ["It will only make the battlefield louder."]
Niero smirked faintly.
"Good."
Vuldyr's holographic interface flickered as she locked onto the ship's remaining operational sonar and emergency broadcast systems.
Her expression—rare for an AI-like being—tilted into something almost playful.
> ["Signal flood protocol ready."]
She glanced at Niero through the projection like she was about to do something mildly illegal and very satisfying.
> ["Music input required. Any recomendation?"]
Niero didn't even hesitate.
He leaned against the cracked kitchen doorway, listening to the distant gunfire echo through the ship.
Then he said with a devious, almost evil smile on his face:
"Sabotage."
A beat.
Vuldyr paused-
then followed with an equally devious smile on her face.
> ["Excellent choice."]
At that moment, somewhere in the system layer of BDV Iron Convoy #015, a file was selected.
"Sabotage," by Beastie Boys
The ship's audio routing system didn't just play it.
It weaponized it.
> [BLACK TIDE NETWORK INTERFERENCE INITIATED]
A deep bass pulse rolled through the vessel's structure like a heartbeat.
Then—
CHAOTIC AUDIO FREQUENCIES detonated across every accessible channel.
The signal didn't just broadcast sound.
It overwrote perception.
The Black Tide's biomechanical communication nodes—especially the coral-like relay organs—began feeding back distorted rhythm, aggressive bass lines, and fractured sonic spikes directly into their nervous systems.
Inside their ranks, coordination collapsed instantly.
Some Scuba-Scum staggered mid-charge.
Others turned violently on walls that weren't there.
A few simply froze, twitching in place as their internal "whale-static" network was overwritten by something far more violent and rhythmic.
The ship itself vibrated with a war-beat pulse.
Even the floating war goddess Sororitae Sifing was confused in their sudden break in coordination.
Vuldyr's smile widened slightly.
> ["Signal flood successful. They are no longer synchronized. They are, however… only a matter of time they change their tactics."]
Niero pushed off the wall.
"Good enough."
He tightened his grip on Purple Fang.
"Now it's our turn."
=
=====
=
Elsewhere on BDV Iron Convoy #015.
The hallway near the emergency shelter routes was pure chaos.
Gunfire cracked in controlled bursts.
Two soldiers moved in tight formation, escorting Mei's cabinmate through the corridor.
The girl was… difficult to describe cleanly.
She looked like someone who had survived too many nights without sleep and too many awakenings in places she didn't understand.
An oversized hoodie swallowed her entire frame.
Her black hair spilled like ink over her face, only parting in disorganized curtains.
When it shifted, you could see wide, exhausted eyes—deep purple-shadowed and constantly scanning like she expected reality itself to change its mind.
Every step she took felt delayed, like she was slightly out of sync with the world.
And yet—
her Rank-C pocket dimension Mana Art held steady.
A warped spatial pocket flickered faintly behind her, containing fourteen civilians from the barricaded cabin.
They were alive.
Terrified.
But alive.
One soldier barked over gunfire:
"Keep moving! "The emergency shelter cabin is two turns ahead!"
Mei moved at their flank, eyes sharp despite her earlier flustered demeanor, fists already raised in Wing Chun structure.
She glanced once at the girl.
Then back at the corridor.
"You okay to keep holding that many people?"
The girl nodded slowly.
Too slowly.
Like the answer had to travel a long distance before reaching her mouth.
"I think… yes…"
Then a distant, whale-like distortion scream echoed through the ship.
All of them froze for half a second.
The Black Tide outside the hull convulsed in response.
Through the corridor, Scuba-Scum units suddenly staggered, clutching their heads, harpoon weapons slipping from their grip.
One soldier muttered:
"What the hell was that…?"
Mei's ears twitched.
Her instincts sharpened.
"Something just changed."
The corridor should have been the end of them.
JD was already shifting his stance, fists up with his psionic exo-skeleton flickering around his arms like unstable neon bone.
Flick hovered slightly behind him, pens and scrap metal trembling in the air like a nervous swarm.
Mei's hands were set in Wing Chun structure, shoulders low, eyes sharp despite the exhaustion in her cabinmate clinging behind her like a sleep-deprived ghost.
The two soldiers had nothing left but a sidearm and a knife.
And the Scuba-Scum closing in from both ends of the hallway looked ready to finish it.
Then—
the ship changed its voice.
A deep, distorted rhythm rolled through the hull like a living thing.
Not gunfire.
Not alarms.
Something… musical.
The Black Tide units reacted instantly.
Their movements broke.
As well as their haunting, gurgling screaming in absolute agony.
Mid-step, one Scuba-Scum dropped its harpoon rifle and clutched its head, convulsing violently as black fluid leaked from the seams of its mask.
Another tried to advance—only to stagger sideways as if its internal coordination had been ripped apart.
Then came the sound again.
Faint.
Warped.
Impossible.
A fractured, aggressive rhythm bleeding through their bodies like a corrupted broadcast.
One is even frantically smashing their head against the metallic wall, as if it tries to get rid of the music from its head.
JD blinked.
"Yo… do you hear... music?"
Flick squinted, still keeping scrap metal hovering defensively.
"That is not normal. That is absolutely not normal."
One of the soldiers stared at the twitching enemies.
Then muttered:
"Whatever's hitting them… it's inside their comms network."
Mei didn't take her eyes off the corridor.
"They're collapsing."
The Scuba-Scum on the left corridor suddenly turned on its own squad, harpoon firing wildly into the wall as if it had lost all target recognition. Another dropped to its knees, shaking so hard its biomechanical joints sparked.
Then—
a distorted, bass-heavy fragment of sound cut through everything.
A recognizable rhythm buried under glitching whale-noise static.
JD froze mid-step.
"…No way."
Flick tilted his head.
"Is that—"
JD finished it, grinning despite the chaos.
"It is music."
The soldiers didn't understand.
But they didn't need to.
Because the enemy was no longer coordinated.
No longer stable.
No longer acting like a unit.
The Scuba-Scum began collapsing in waves—some screaming, some twitching, some just standing still as if their brains had been forced to listen to something they were never meant to process.
JD stepped forward as one of the nearest Scuba-Scum staggered into the wall.
He didn't hesitate.
One clean psionic-augmented punch snapped its head sideways, finishing it instantly.
"I don't know what's happening," he said, already moving, "but I ain't waiting around to find out."
Flick followed, flicking a shard of metal through another disoriented enemy like a guided bullet.
"For once," Flick muttered, "I agree with him."
The group pushed forward through the collapsing ambush line—
while behind them, the Black Tide's bodies continued to seize and break apart under a signal that sounded less like a weapon…
and more like the entire ocean had started screaming in rhythm.
=
=====
=
The hallway leading upward was narrower here—more maintenance corridor than passenger route. Exposed piping rattled with every distant impact from the hull, and emergency lights pulsed in uneven red intervals like a failing heartbeat.
Niero moved through it anyway.
Fast.
Controlled.
Clean.
A Scuba-Scum lunged from a side junction—harpoon already mid-throw.
He didn't slow down.
A single pivot.
Purple Fang flashed in a tight arc.
The projectile clattered harmlessly against the wall behind him as the creature's head separated cleanly from its body.
No hesitation.
No wasted motion.
Just forward momentum continuing through the kill.
> ["Twelve more ahead,"] Vuldyr's voice updated calmly. ["Clustered near the upper conduit junction."]
"Good," Niero muttered.
Another corner.
Three more stepped into view.
This time they were reacting faster—likely still partially resistant despite the signal flood—but their movements were uncoordinated, twitching as the Sabotage-frequency interference continued to fracture their link.
One raised its harpoon rifle.
Too slow.
Niero dashed.
A zigzag burst of Booster-enhanced acceleration cut the distance instantly.
Two decapitations in passing arcs.
A third tried to retreat—only for Niero to reverse-step and finish it with a low, snapping strike through the neck seam.
He didn't stop moving.
The bodies hadn't even hit the ground yet when—
the space behind him opened.
Six pale, disembodied mouths unfolded from the floor and air, like reality had been split into overlapping hunger.
The Hungry Maw activated.
Hands—different sizes, different silhouettes—snatched the fallen Scuba-Scum mid-collapse.
They were dragged downward.
Consumed.
Processed.
Converted.
Loot notifications streamed across his vision in rapid succession.
-
<[ HUNGRY MAW: RECOVERY RESULTS ]>
> + Omnia Matter - x108
> + Black Blood Vials - x22
> + Harpoon Rifles - x13
> + Harpoons - x54
> + Aqua Bombs - x23
> + Coral Fragments - x46
> + Vulcanised Rubber - x51
-
The system didn't pause long enough for sentiment.
Just conversion.
Efficiency.
Niero exhaled once, wiping a smear of black fluid from his sleeve as he stepped over the dissolving remains.
"Still no signal fix," he said.
Vuldyr answered immediately.
> ["Correct. The interference source is not localized to the Scuba-Scum network alone."]
A brief pause.
The ship shuddered again—this time deeper, more structured, like something large moving outside the hull.
> ["It is layered,"] Vuldyr added. ["External suppression + internal relay corruption."]
Niero's eyes narrowed as he looked upward toward the higher decks.
"So killing these guys isn't enough."
> ["Correct."]
He tightened his grip on Purple Fang.
The corridor ahead angled upward—toward the ship's upper systems, antenna arrays, and observation decks.
"Then I go higher."
Another distant scream echoed through the hull—half whale noise, half broken rhythm.
The Sabotage signal still pulsed through the Black Tide like a virus made of sound.
Niero was already moving.
Another staircase.
Another corridor.
Another route toward the upper decks.
Then—
his instincts screamed.
Not Vuldyr.
Not Golden Eye.
Not the Stargod System.
Just pure survival instinct.
Something was wrong.
His head snapped left.
A shadow moved across the emergency lights.
And before he could fully react—
CRASH!
The reinforced ship window exploded inward.
A massive hand composed entirely of intertwined dark-blue and violet tentacles burst through steel, glass, and bulkhead alike.
The thing wasn't merely strong.
It was absurdly strong.
Niero barely had time to widen his eyes before it closed around his torso.
The pressure hit like a hydraulic press.
> ["NIERO!"]
Vuldyr shouted.
Then the world became motion.
Steel tore apart.
Alarms screamed.
The wind roared.
Ocean mist exploded across his face.
The tentacled hand ripped him straight through the side of the ship as if the hull were cardboard.
For a split second he was airborne.
He caught a glimpse of the battlefield outside.
And it was far worse than what the interior fighting suggested.
The ocean itself looked alive.
Black Tide biomechanical whales surfaced between waves.
Coral-covered dolphin-like attackers darted between missile trails.
Anti-air cannons and rotary guns painted the fog with streams of tracer fire.
One vessel in the convoy had visible damage along its starboard side.
Above everything—
far above—
floated Sifang.
The Sororitae hovered over the sea like a divine protector.
Water dragons, ice spears, whirlpools, and gale-force winds erupted around her as she held back an entire invasion force almost single-handedly.
Then Niero's brief aerial sightseeing ended.
Violently.
The tentacled "hand" swung him with the force akin to an accelerated catapult.
And threw him.
BOOM!
He slammed into the forward deck hard enough to crater metal.
The impact sent cracks racing across the armored plating.
Nearby loose cargo containers rattled violently.
Niero bounced once before skidding several meters.
For a moment everything rang.
His vision blurred.
His lungs forgot how breathing worked.
"...ugh..."
Pain shot through his entire body.
Even with Booster-enhanced durability and his increased Endurance stat, that hurt.
A lot.
He pushed himself up slowly.
Groaning.
"Okay..."
He spat blood onto the deck.
"...that fucking sucked."
Vuldyr immediately began running diagnostics.
> ["Minor internal bruising. Three cracked ribs. Fortunately no organ punctures nor spinal damage."]
Niero winced.
"Minor?"
> ["Compared to what could have happened, yes."]
He wanted to argue.
Then the deck shadowed over.
The air pressure changed.
And he realized something important.
The thing that grabbed him...
hadn't tried to kill him.
Yet.
It had specifically pulled him out of the ship.
Specifically brought him here.
Which meant—
it wanted him somehow.
Slowly.
Niero lifted his head.
The ocean wind whipped across the bow.
The fog swirled unnaturally.
And standing atop a cargo container near the front deck—
watching him—
was the owner of that tentacled hand.
A humanoid silhouette.
Tall.
Female.
Her body was partially obscured by drifting fog and sea spray.
Dark blue and violet tendrils moved behind her like living hair—or perhaps a cloak made of tentacles.
One arm appeared mostly human.
The other seemed entirely composed of writhing cephalopod-like appendages.
And unlike the Scuba-Scum.
Unlike the Brutes.
Unlike the Black Tide foot soldiers.
It wasn't mindless.
It wasn't feral.
It was watching him.
Studying him.
Evaluating him.
The way a hunter studies prey.
Or perhaps...
the way a scientist studies an interesting specimen.
Vuldyr's tone became far more serious than before.
Gone was the joking.
Gone was the casual confidence.
> ["Niero."]
> ["I have very bad news."]
He didn't take his eyes off the figure.
"...How bad?"
A scan window struggled to resolve.
Glitching repeatedly.
Failing.
Retrying.
Failing again.
Before finally displaying a partial result.
-
> [ UNKNOWN BLACK TIDE ENTITY ]
Designation: ???
Threat Level: Unknown
Classification: Unknown
Rank: Unable to Determine
Warning: Appraisal Interference Detected.
Warning: External Anomalous Signature Confirmed.
Warning: Source of Sensor Disruption Likely Connected.
-
Vuldyr's voice lowered.
For perhaps the first time since he'd met her.
She sounded genuinely concerned.
> ["I believe..."]
The scan glitched again.
> ["...we just found what has been hiding the Black Tide."]
The figure tilted her head.
Then smiled.
And somehow that smile felt more dangerous than the entire boarding force combined.
Niero's vision swam for a moment as pain pulsed through his back and ribs.
A translucent system notification flashed across his sight.
-
<[ STARGOD SYSTEM - STATUS ]>
HP: 180 / 200
Damage Received: -20 HP (10%)
Status: Minor fractures detected
Combat Effectiveness: Operational
-
"Ow..."
Niero groaned.
"Okay, that one definitely wasn't minor."
> ["I disagree,"] Vuldyr replied immediately. ["You remain alive. Therefore it qualifies as minor."]
"That's not how injuries work."
> ["It is how survivability statistics work."]
Before Niero could continue arguing—
something whistled through the air.
His instincts screamed.
A split second later—
THUNK!
A coral trident slammed into the deck beside his arm.
Then another.
Then another.
Then another.
THUNK! THUNK! THUNK!
The impacts came so fast they sounded like a single burst.
Niero twisted.
Too slow.
The tridents struck around him in a precise pattern.
One pinned his sleeve to the deck.
Another trapped his jacket.
Two more boxed in his legs.
Several scraped against his clothes and skin, drawing shallow cuts but intentionally avoiding anything vital.
It wasn't a killing blow.
It was restraint.
A warning.
Or worse—
a demonstration.
Niero immediately tried to pull himself free.
Nothing.
The coral constructs had sunk deep into the armored deck.
"Great."
"Pinned."
"Wonderful."
Vuldyr's voice was equally tense.
> ["Correction. Intentionally pinned."]
> ["Whoever or... whatever...threw those could have pierced your skull."]
That observation did not make him feel better.
The fog shifted.
Not naturally.
Purposefully.
Like a curtain being drawn aside.
And from it—
she emerged.
A young woman.
At first glance, almost beautiful.
At second glance—
deeply unsettling.
She couldn't have looked much older than her early twenties.
Porcelain-white skin.
Ice-blue eyes.
Platinum-blonde twin tails streaked with vibrant blue.
The ends of her hair subtly shifted and curled with movements that looked disturbingly similar to tentacles.
A black-and-navy sailor-style dress hugged her frame, reinforced with leather straps and dark materials more suited to battle than fashion.
Everything about her looked damp.
As though she'd walked directly out of the ocean itself.
Coral growths protruded from her left shoulder and arm like natural armor.
Blue scales shimmered beneath the moisture on her skin.
And when she smiled—
Sharp, shark-like teeth greeted him.
The smile wasn't angry.
It wasn't cruel.
It was amused.
The kind of smile a cat might wear after catching a particularly interesting mouse.
Niero immediately felt every survival instinct he possessed tell him one thing:
Danger.
Not Scuba-Scum danger.
Not Brute danger.
Not even the danger he'd felt around Sifang.
Something else.
Something smarter.
"...Vuldyr?"
> ["I know. This is very bad."]
That got Niero's attention.
Because almost nothing had ever resisted Golden Eye this aggressively.
The woman stopped several meters away.
Close enough to speak.
Far enough that she clearly wasn't worried about him reaching her.
She tilted her head.
Studying him.
The same way a collector might inspect a rare artifact.
Or a biologist might inspect an unusual specimen.
Her icy eyes wandered over him.
His clothes.
His knife.
His injuries.
Even the coral tridents were pinning him down.
Then she smiled wider.
Showing more teeth.
"Interesting."
Her voice was soft.
Pleasant.
Almost playful.
Which somehow made it worse.
"Very interesting."
Niero's grip tightened around Purple Fang.
Though he couldn't move much.
"You know..."
Niero sarcastcally started.
"People usually introduce themselves before kidnapping someone."
The woman giggled.
Actually giggled.
Like he'd told a joke.
"Kidnapping?"
She tapped a finger against her chin.
"Is that what this is?"
"I was thinking of it more as... an invitation."
"Worst invitation ever."
"You still came."
"Against my will."
"Details. Details"
The grin returned.
Vuldyr immediately whispered:
> ["Niero."]
> ["She's stalling. Or evaluating. Possibly both."]
Niero didn't take his eyes off her.
Neither did she look away from him.
Around them, the naval battle continued.
Cannons roared.
Missiles streaked through the fog.
The ocean churned.
Sifang's elemental storms illuminated the horizon.
Yet for a strange moment—
it felt like the battlefield had narrowed down to just two people on a damaged ship deck.
The mysterious woman.
And Niero.
Then her gaze sharpened.
Just slightly.
The playful amusement remained.
But something else appeared beneath it.
Recognition.
Curiosity.
Perhaps even excitement.
Niero's mind snapped into analysis mode the moment the word formed in his thoughts.
"Witches".
Not a Scuba-Scum.
Not Black Tide infantry.
Something else entirely.
He forced himself to breathe steadily while pinned against the deck, coral tridents locking his limbs in place like judgment stakes.
Hextress-class entities
Disaster Witches
Corrupted counter-Sororitae phenomena
Opposites of Sororitae—not merely enemies but distortions.
Where Sororitae channeled structured Mana Arts under the Queendom's Arcana system, Witches manifested Dark Script—conceptual abilities shaped around abstract domains.
War. Emotion. Decay. Memory.
Sometimes elements.
Rarely stable.
Never fully understood.
Niero's eyes shifted slightly as he processed her presence again.
Ocean motifs.
Coral growth.
Wet-scale armor.
Tentacle-like hair movement.
That wasn't just aesthetic.
That was an expression of Script.
But something didn't fit.
Vuldyr's voice cut in immediately.
> ["Confirmed classification: Witch-class entity."]
> ["But… anomalous deviation detected."]
A flicker of static crossed her tone.
The Witch tilted her head again, watching his expression change.
Like she could tell when he understood.
Her smile widened slightly.
"You're thinking very loudly."
she said softly.
"I can almost hear it."
Niero tested his restraints subtly.
The coral tridents didn't just hold physical mass—they were anchored with some kind of energetic binding that pulsed in rhythm with the ocean outside.
Every movement triggered resistance.
Like the sea itself was enforcing the lock.
Vuldyr continued scanning desperately.
> ["Niero. Additional anomaly. Her Dark Script signature overlaps with Black Tide interference field. But does not originate from it. Which implies—"]
She stopped.
For once, she didn't immediately finish the sentence.
> ["She's not controlling the Black Tide. She's using the same battlefield system."]
The Witch took a step closer.
The deck creaked beneath her bare, damp boots.
Each step left faint wet markings that evaporated too slowly—like reality itself wasn't fully processing her presence.
She leaned slightly forward, studying Niero more directly now.
Not the body.
Not the weapon.
But him.
"You're not scared enough."
she observed.
Almost disappointed.
Then amused again.
"That's rare."
Niero didn't answer immediately.
His mind was already cycling through options.
Break tridents.
Too slow.
Boost burst.
Risky—open exposure.
Hungry Maw.
Uncertain effect against Dark Script anchors.
Golden Eye scan.
Blocked.
System interference layered too deeply.
He exhaled once.
Calm.
Measured.
Then said:
"You talk a lot for someone pinning me down."
The Witch blinked.
Then giggled again.
"I like you."
That was not reassuring.
At all.
Above them, the ocean roared.
A distant explosion lit the fog.
Sifang's elemental storms cracked across the horizon like divine artillery.
But here—
on this fractured deck—
the battlefield had become something else entirely.
A conversation between two anomalies.
And the Witch's smile finally softened into something sharper.
That Witch had stopped so abruptly in front of him that her skirt flipped up just enough—revealing the glossy black bikini bottom clinging to her hips like a second skin.
He barely had time to process it before she crouched, her knees pressing into the dented metal floor of the ruined ship, and slapped him hard enough to send him sprawling backward. Blood trickled from his nose, metallic and warm.
> HP: 175 / 200 (-5)
Scuba-Scums circled them, their rusted diving helmets tilting in unison, as if waiting for her next command.
"So," she purred, tilting his chin up with a grip that bordered on painful.
"You're the naughty brat who stuns and kills my little Scuba-Scums?" Her voice was sugar-coated venom, playful but edged with something darker.
Niero spat red onto the deck. "And I didn't know the Black Tide hired an evil bitch like you to ambush us."
Her smile didn't falter. If anything, it widened—too many teeth, too much delight.
"Such a handsome face," she mused, her thumb tracing the line of his jaw. "Such a foul mouth. My favorite kind of man."
Her grip tightened.
"Maybe I'll keep you. Break you into something useful."
Behind her, the Scuba-Scums shifted, their movements unnervingly synchronized. Not attacking. Just watching.
Niero's head buzzed—Vuldyr's voice, clipped and urgent:
> ["She's not just a Witch. She's rewriting their command hierarchy. That's—Unless she's connected to something bigger."]
The Witch leaned in, her breath cold against his ear.
The Witch straightened, smoothing her skirt.
"Consider that a free sample," she said, stepping aside just enough to let him see past the wreckage—to the ocean beyond, where the Black Tide's fleet churned the water into froth.
And far, far below, something *shifted*.
"Struggle all you want," she murmured. "But you're already in the cage."
The Scuba-Scums raised their weapons—not to strike, but to herd.
Niero bared his teeth.
"Yeah? Then I guess I'll just have to chew through those bars."
She laughed—bright, melodic, and utterly terrifying.
"That's the spirit."
The coral didn't form so much as it unfolded from her hand—as if the ocean had always been waiting inside her bones.
A trident, jagged and wet, extended forward.
Its tip stopped a breath away from Niero's throat.
Cold pressure. Not contact. A threat held perfectly in place.
The Scuba-Scum around them went still again.
Even the battlefield noise beyond the hull felt momentarily distant, as if the ship itself had agreed to listen.
Niero didn't flinch.
Not outwardly, at least.
But his mind tracked everything at once.
Angle of the trident.
Distance to grip break point.
Vuldyr's partial scan recovery window.
The lingering instability in her energy output.
And one key detail:
She hadn't killed him yet.
"So that's it?" Niero said flatly.
His voice was rough but steady.
"I played a song, and suddenly I'm public enemy number one?"
The Witch's eyes narrowed slightly.
Not offended.
More… intrigued by the wording.
"Not just a song."
She corrected softly.
"You didn't just disrupt them."
Her trident tilted a fraction closer.
A warning pressure against his pulse point.
"You collapsed a coordination layer."
Behind her, one Scuba-Scum twitched—then froze again as if restrained by an invisible force.
Vuldyr spoke quickly:
> ["Niero. Confirmed: localized Black Tide network desynchronization still active. Her units are experiencing residual neurological lag. That means your interference is still propagating."]
The Witch listened to that exchange without interrupting.
Then she tilted her head slightly.
"Interesting."
she repeated again.
But this time it was different.
Less playful.
More analytical.
"So it wasn't an accident."
Her eyes sharpened.
"You didn't just survive my system."
"You damaged it."
A faint silence followed.
The trident did not move, but the pressure increased by a millimeter.
Enough to remind him it was there.
Niero finally looked directly at her again.
"Let me guess. That makes me a liability."
A soft smile returned to her face.
But it didn't reach her eyes this time.
"Correct."
she said gently.
"Liabilities get removed."
A beat.
Then she added, almost conversationally:
"Or controlled."
Niero let that sit for a moment.
Then he spoke again, tone dry:
"You're taking this pretty personally for someone who just met me five minutes ago."
That earned a small laugh from her.
Real this time.
Short.
Sharp.
"Five minutes is plenty."
she said.
"In the ocean, that's already a lifetime."
The trident shifted slightly again—
but not closer.
Sideways.
Like she was reconsidering the angle rather than committing.
Vuldyr suddenly tightened her voice:
> ["Niero. Her behavioral pattern is changing. She is re-evaluating target classification. Be extremly vigilant and cautious."]
The Witch leaned in just slightly again, studying him like a puzzle that had started rearranging itself.
"Tell me."
she said softly.
"Who taught you to interfere with Black Tide synchrony like that?"
A pause.
"Because I am very sure no common bottom feeder humans are supposed to be able to do that within such a short frame of time."
The trident hovered steady, pressed againt his throat harder.
But then, she leans closer to him, with her lips brushing his ear.
"See how pretty you'd look on my mantle?"
she whispered.
"Or—better yet—how pretty you'd sound whimpering and kissing at my feet."
Her free hand traced the jagged scar across his collarbone—a souvenir from the last man who'd refused her. The lagoon around them pulsed with bioluminescent sprite, lighting her face in flickering turquoise.
Niero exhaled through his nose. His [Golden Eye] was already cycling: adrenal spikes sharpening his vision, subdermal capacitors humming.
She wanted a fight? Fine. But he'd pick the *kind*.
"Flattery's a bad look on you, witch." He grinned, teeth bloody. "We both know you'd miss me if I was just a skull."
The Witch's smile didn't fade.
If anything, it settled into something more satisfied.
"You're stubborn," she said softly. "That's fine."
Her eyes traced his face again, clinical beneath the teasing cruelty.
"I like stubborn things. Its all too satisfying when they break."
A faint ripple of Dark Script energy gathered around her arm—like the sea itself tightening its grip.
Behind her, the Scuba-Scum shifted again, responding to her intent like an extension of her nervous system.
Niero's mind moved.
Fast.
Nova-Spark energy began condensing under his skin—compressed, unstable light gathering at his core like a held breath.
His psychokinesis followed immediately after, layering control vectors over muscle tension and spatial awareness.
He didn't speak it out loud.
But internally:
One clean opening.
That was all he needed.
He tilted his head slightly against the trident pressure, eyes narrowing just enough to be annoying.
"So let me get this straight," he said. "Your idea of flirting is threatening decapitation and slavery?"
A beat.
"Bit of a red flag."
The Witch blinked once.
Then smiled wider.
"You're still talking. I like that part of you the most."
The trident tightened.
Energy peaked.
She was about to commit.
=
=====
=
<<<[ < QUEST > STARGOD SYSTEM: EMPYREAN RELIQUARY ]>>>
> [ Quest: Beastmaster - Devour Your First 100 ]
> Task: Rend. Slaughter. Devour. Use [Hungry Maw] x100 to consume and breakdown objects and/or enemies
> Tracking: 032/100 (+14)
-
<[ HUNGRY MAW: TOTAL RECOVERY RESULTS ]>
> Unknown Black Blood Vials (x49) — Dense, oily, anomalous blood harvested from Black Tide organisms. Exhibits weak psionic and aquatic mutagenic properties.
> Black Tide Harpoon-Crossbow Rifles (x42) — Crude but effective biomechanical projectile weapon utilized by Scuba-Scum infantry units.
> Harpoon Ammunition (x125) — Hardened anti-personnel harpoons designed for underwater pressure penetration.
> Aqua Bomb Grenades (x46) — Compression-based aquatic concussion explosives. Generates violent water-pressure shockwave upon detonation.
> Black Tide Corals (x95) — Anomalous bone-like coral formations extracted from Black Tide physiology. Contains trace Omnia conductivity.
> Black Tide Vulcanized Rubber (x99) — Pressure-resistant organic rubber-like material utilized in Black Tide diving suits and biomechanical sealing systems.
> The Black Tide's biomechanical communication nodes (x1) —especially the coral-like relay organs—began feeding back distorted rhythm, aggressive bass lines, and fractured sonic spikes directly into their nervous systems.
> Enhanced Black Tide Mutagen (×1) - Unknown form of mutagen that seems to mutate the Black Tide's biomechanical biology to its enhanced state.
> Brute-Class Regenerative Organ (×1) - A new form of biomechanical organ formed from the unknown mutagen, granting them enhaced regenerative healing unless its destroyed.
=
=====
=
<<<[ Ch30, Part 03 - END ]>>>