Leo was deaf and mute. In fact, he was hollow.
The good news was that he could see—though his vision was limited to shadows and shapes. The bad news? Abyssal Cradle was under attack by monsters.
'Curses! Curses! Curses!'
He was unable to do anything, as he was still having trouble prioritizing and switching between his senses.
'What type of harrowing magic does this damn beast have?'
"Beast" was actually an understatement. "Monster" would have been better. Hell, "Titan" was the best description.
'Huh? Now is not the time, Leo. Snap out of it.'
He shook his head but immediately regretted it. His head felt heavy, and a sharp ache pierced through his skull.
It was no surprise anymore; the ability of the sea monster had to be related to sensory suppression—diminishing and stealing the perception of anyone who looked into its crimson depths.
As his vision blurred even further, he saw the massive shadow of the leviathan coil itself in the water. The smaller shadow—Lyra—was still darting around it like a persistent hornet, but Leo could tell her movements were slowing. The heat she generated was intense, but against an entity that could blind your very soul, how long could a Sagittarius hold out?
Leo couldn't think straight. He concentrated all his senses on his ears, trying to listen to what was happening at the castle. As soon as he regained his hearing, he was assaulted by the muffled roars and heat blasts of the battle, and everything went dark again.
He focused his hearing toward the castle, but it was to no avail. He couldn't find out what was going on; the continuous echoes of Lyra's battle with the abominable shark kept interrupting him.
There was only one decision left: he had to try and break out of the suppression. It was going to be incredibly difficult, as he had determined that the rank of the being—before it succumbed to the madness of Aura—must have been the same as Lyra's. A Sagittarius.
And now that it was condemned of sanity, its mind was filled with nothing but the insidious madness of Aura.
It was a Condemned Sagittarius.
Leo thought about trying to battle the madness in his Seed Domain, but that was a massive risk. He hadn't even awakened yet. Letting a Condemned enter your Seed Domain, or entering the domain of a Condemned, was a death sentence.
A Seed Domain was the physical manifestation of one's Seeds—abilities that dwell within the soul. Someone who hasn't awakened possesses a flat, basic Seed Domain, while Aura Farmers possess much more advanced ones.
Condemned Aura Farmers were even more harrowing, as their domains were filled with nothing but pure madness.
Leo had an intuition: while Lyra dealt with the creature's physical form, he could dive into the Seed Domain and battle the madness entangled around the true human hidden within its depths.
He had learned from Jean that one could enter the Seed Domain of a Condemned—otherwise known as Aura Golems. It was technically "easier" because the madness of Aura had broken their mental resilience to stop soul invasions. However, it required the same monumental spiritual, mental, and physical effort as entering the domain of a sane Aura Farmer.
Not everyone could achieve such a feat, of course. Even Jean had only managed it twice and had said he barely came out alive. So who was Leo to try, when the world's strongest Mage had barely survived another's Seed Domain?
A Seed Domain was one's personal den. Jean had battled sane Aura Farmers directly in their domains, but in a Condemned, only madness ruled.
...There was even a rumor that if one could defeat the madness in the domain, they could save the owner and cure them of their insanity.
Unfortunately, Leo wasn't planning on saving anyone. He hadn't even fully decided whether to enter the Seed Domain or not. It was high risk, high reward.
'But who says the harrowing abilities of the beast won't work in its domain? Shouldn't it be even more powerful there?'
Yes, it would be. But then again, weren't the Aura Farmers' abilities in this realm limited to water? Then what was with the sensory suppression?
'Of course! Lyra was still able to battle because she's of the sea and was almost immune to the suppression. And maybe because she's of the same rank. But still...'
It made perfect sense and no sense at the same time. Was the creature actually suppressing his soul because he was terrestrial and not aquatic? On a normal day, Leo wouldn't be able to see, hear, or move freely underwater because he wasn't an aquatic animal.
So, the monster's ability might actually be revealing the true nature of the human—just as it had revealed Lyra's anger and hatred toward creatures like itself... sharks.
Another answer clicked into his head.
'Lyra's ability isn't boiling or heating… It's rage. Rage of the Depths.'
Now Leo had two options, neither of which seemed particularly good.
First, he could dive into the domain of the monster—if he even survived the attempt. He would be exposed to madness but could try to kill the monster from the inside, gaining an upper hand since the true human would be chained away in its depths.
Second, he could try to lure the monster to the surface. There, it would be exposed to the legendary Tide of Seas, and Leo might gain the upper hand if the creature's suppression ability was ineffective above water.
'Think, Leo. Think.'
Without a second thought, he glanced at the shadows intertwining in a chaotic battle, causing violent bubbles and foam to rise around them. He shifted all his focus to his physical senses and swam at a limited speed toward the shadows, despite having no eyesight or hearing.
He didn't last long in the middle of the fray; he was immediately slammed away by a boiling kick.
'Ow. That was me, you klutz.'
Regaining his balance, he dove into the battle again. This time, he switched efficiently between movement and eyesight, ramming his head into the monster's underbelly.
It didn't do much except distract the monster for a second, but that was enough for Lyra. She immediately sent another blast—this time directly into the snout of the damn fish.
It flew back at great speed, slamming into the side of the ship. Surprisingly, there wasn't a single scratch on the vessel.
Leo regained his senses and didn't waste a moment. He dove toward the monster, barely noticing that he was swimming rather than walking, and sent a kick to its face.
Nodding to Lyra, Leo began swimming toward the surface...