A streak of black lightning arced across the sky, and in the next instant, a silver-and-black giant emerged above the vast ocean.
Without hesitation, Yu Zhou—now transformed into Dark Tiga—plunged once more into the depths of the sea.
High above, Hudra noticed this and paused in surprise. He hadn't expected Yu Zhou to take the form of Dark Tiga.
Dark Tiga without using pure dark energy wasn't particularly powerful—in fact, weaker than his Composite form.
Yet when Yu Zhou stretched out his hand into the murky waters choked with black mist, nothing happened. No sparks, no resistance, no rejection.
"It works," Yu Zhou murmured inwardly. He gave a slight nod before calling out to Hudra.
"I'm going in to investigate. You wait on the surface."
"No problem," Hudra replied with equal confidence, pulling back toward the sea's surface. For all his recklessness, he trusted Yu Zhou's abilities.
Yu Zhou's silver-and-black frame dove into the black haze. His milky-white eyes shone brightly, cutting through the suffocating darkness, allowing him to see what others could not.
"The black mist spreads in all directions… but there is a flow, a current, guiding its spread." Yu Zhou's thoughts sharpened as he swam deeper.
The dark haze didn't harm him at all. On the contrary—it felt as though his body was slowly recharging.
"Wait… is this mist restoring my energy?"
Indeed, as he continued, his movements grew swifter, his strength fuller. It was clear—Dark Tiga could absorb this darkness.
The deeper he swam along the current, the more concentrated the mist became. His energy rose with it, half his reserves already restored, like a dying battery suddenly brought to life.
"But… why isn't this energy converting into light?"
Normally, Dark Tiga could transform darkness into light energy. Yet this black power, though absorbed, remained unconverted. It filled him, yes—but with pure darkness.
As Yu Zhou pressed on, the seabed dropped away into a massive trench, a bottomless abyss.
From its depths rolled an even heavier, thicker blackness—denser than anything he had seen above.
"There must be something down there…"
Yu Zhou steeled himself and plunged into the trench. At once, the choking blackness swallowed him whole. His body surged with power as the dark energy filled him faster than ever before.
The abyss was vast beyond measure. He swam for what felt like hours, yet the bottom remained unseen.
"Should I turn back?" Yu Zhou hesitated, staring into the endless dark gulf. He was certain the source of the mist lay here, but reaching the bottom could take forever.
Perhaps it was enough to call Camearra and the others later, seal this trench with their combined power, and stop the mist from spreading.
But just as he prepared to retreat, something glimmered.
Tiny specks of light drifted toward him—small, fragile particles that seemed impossibly out of place within this abyss.
"Light particles? Here?"
Yu Zhou froze. This entire place was absolute darkness. For specks of light to appear here was utterly unnatural.
He swam closer, reaching out.
The moment his hand touched one of the particles—his body jolted.
The dark energy within him… stopped.
It was as if his power had been frozen in place, locked, unable to move.
"This—!"
Before he could process it, the fragile light was swallowed by the surrounding darkness, and immediately, his dark energy surged back to life.
Yu Zhou's heart raced.
"These light particles… they can suppress the darkness!"
Just a handful had frozen all the black energy within him.
If there were more—if there were a whole field of them—could they seal this abyss entirely?
"It must be remnants of an ancient seal," Yu Zhou reasoned, eyes narrowing. "In the ultra-ancient era, this darkness was bound here by light. Those particles are fragments of the broken chains."
Determined, he swam deeper. His body was brimming now, his energy nearly equal to Composite Tiga.
Not long after, a heavy sound echoed through the abyss—like chains clashing in the void.
Yu Zhou's eyes sharpened. He focused, channelling the dark energy into his sight.
And what he saw stunned him.
At the bottom of the trench, radiant golden chains crisscrossed the abyss, binding it tight. They shone like divine shackles, sealing whatever horror lay below.
But two chains had already snapped.
Through the cracks they left behind, thick, noxious black mist poured forth, flooding the abyss and spreading into the ocean beyond.
"The source… I found it!"
Yu Zhou surged forward, heading straight for the breach.
"So, you're the one leaking this darkness… Let's see exactly what you are."
He was calmer now. The golden chains reassured him—this evil was bound. It couldn't break free so easily.
And with his immunity to the mist, he had little to fear.
With a sharp burst of speed, Yu Zhou shot straight to the gap, where the black fog roiled like breath from a sleeping beast.