Chapter 933: …Into the Darkest Depths
*Bing-Bong*
The following scene of Rodenia and Kit screaming their non-existent lungs out as Zhen Xun Tian forced the two of them to ride a bubble made of light through a tunnel submerged in water that will literally swallow your soul as your forced to relive your darkest and most embarrassing moments has been removed by the writer of this work.
It was deemed by the writer to be, to quote, “Eye-cancer, because no one wants to read ‘AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH’, every other line to help convey the fact that a pair of possibly lungless creatures were screaming the whole way down.”
Instead, we will be picking up immediately after that scene, with the group arriving to the Abyssal Lands.
And them realizing that they might’ve been misled in regards to the name of this place.
Thank you.
…
Alright, I’ll admit it. This is one of the few times you being lazy is justified.
|Told you.|
Yeah, yeah…
|Besides, this part would look way more interesting with visual aids.|
True.
*Bing-Bong*
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Sound of a giant glowing bubble suddenly popping out of a weird ceiling tunnel…
“Woo! Man, you guys have hella lung capacity! I don’t think I heard you guys take a pause to breathe at all during our descent.”
“That’s because we don’t have lungs.”
“That’s…true…”
It took the kaijin a couple of moments after arriving to catch their bearings, mentally not physically, until they were ready to fully take in their new surroundings.
Once they did, they realized why it was a good thing that they entered this place while coated in a giant glowing bubble.
“Holy shit…”
“It’s…it’s endless…”
“Not exactly, but…it’s pretty damn close to being as such though,” Zhen Xun Tian agreed as she stared outward.
She had been to the place a couple of times before, but it was always intensely nerve wracking. After all, the Abyssal Lands was the only underground ocean in the entirety of Valresta.
At least, the only underground ocean she was aware of.
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The following is an excerpt on a book dedicated to the history of the Abyssal Lands.
…
The Abyssal Lands is an incredible misnomer.
Located some hundred, possibly thousands, of miles beneath the surface and through winding tunnels flooded with [Shadow Water], a prospective explorer will eventually find themselves in a massive flooded cavern.
This cavern was so large that if one were to try and reach its walls and attempt to circle the cave by keeping an hand on them, it would take them three months if not longer.
The distance between the ceiling and the water’s surface was so great, that if one were to look up while floating on the latter, they would be able to see clouds forming above them while the glowing moss that decorated the cavern’s ceiling would appear like stars to them.
As for the waters of the cavern itself, one would find that it was as undrinkable as the ocean, as dark as it’s deeper it’s depths and filled with all manner of strange, and home to many strange and alien sea creatures that have learned to produce their own light in order to survive and thrive in such conditions or at least, develop in ways that helped them withstand or avoid such heavy water pressure.
It takes a special constitution to live in [Shadow Water] anyways.
Regardless, it is in this scholar’s humble opinion that the place should be renamed the Abyssal Ocean or the Umbral Sea, something to make it clear to everyone that this cavern is not a land in the traditional sense, but a nigh endless body of water filled with monsters and beasts that would sooner turn you into their dinner faster than you could even blink.
However, despite such terrible and downright dangerous conditions, many aether warriors of the Roaring Tide continent scour its entirety in order to find an entrance to this underground ocean.
Not only due to the rare and unusual treasures that could only be found in a place rich in both Caligos and Aquari aether, such as [Starlight Pearls] and [Crimson Oily Sea Grapes], but because of a historical fact that might as well be legend.
In ages past, a tyrannical dragon emperor rampaged across the continent in a bid to claim it for his own.
Hundreds of kingdoms and thousands of heroes fell to his blade and claw.
However, one warrior woman queen managed to not only repel his invasion but injured him in the process as well.
And once the deed was done, she managed to transport her entire kingdom to the Abyssal Lands, never to be seen again.
She was known as the Invulnerable Storm Queen, and her kingdom was said to be home to warriors that defied the very laws of cultivation, and wealth that could turn the lowliest of beggars into emperors…
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“Welp, this place is as creepy as I remember it. Might as well bust out the boat while we still have some air time.”
“Boat?”
“Air time?”
Instead of addressing any questions the kaijin may have had in this moment, Zhen Xun Tian proceeded to reach into what the kaijin could sense was a spatial storage treasure in the form of anpiuch and pulled out yet another aether treasure.
This time, instead of a golden hoop though, this treasure came in the form of a small model boat.
The next thing either Kit or Rodenia knew, Zhen Xun Tian proceeded to pop the bubble and sent them all into freefall.
“Oh bother.”
“Why can’t I fly?!”
“Oh, right, did I forget to mention that the Abyssal Lands has a restriction on flying? I guess it has an effect on kaijin too. My bad,” Zhen Xun Tian nonchalantly apologized while channeling aether into the model boat.
Once the boat reached an invisible limit of aether input, Zhen Xun Tian proceeded to throw the boat directly downwards.
The moment the boat made contact with the water, it expanded to the size of a sailing ship with oars that could comfortably fit a crew of fifteen, with supplies and livestock, and was capped with a figurehead in the form of a demonic woman that looked vaguely like Zhen Xun Tian herself.
Seeing that they had a proper landing zone, and not a giant body of creepy water that may or may not break them down into their basic components, Kit and Rodenia proceeded to perform landing maneuvers. Well, Rodenia performed a landing maneuver.
Kit was well aware that they were made of taffy and used the fact that to simply allow themselves to splatter against the deck of the ship. As for Rodenia, she learned on her journeys with the missionary duo on how to use the shockwaves of her punches to slow her descent.
Splat
“Oof!”
Once the kaijin had landed, Zhen Xun Tian wasn’t far behind as she gingerly landed on the ship like a delicate flower fairy.
A sharp contrast to her usual rough and tumble insanity.
“Welcome aboard to my personal vessel, The Jade Demoness,” Zhen Xun Tian told the recovering kaijin, as she assisted them to their feet. “Don’t worry about having to help me sail this thing, it’s completely autonomous.”
Giving credence to her words, the Jade Demoness vessel proceeded to come to life as the oars that were listlessly hanging out of the side began to move in such a way that propelled the shop forward.
Given that there was no wind to propel the shop forward, progress was slow…which was fine by the kaijin, because they needed time to recover, as well as ask some pertinent questions.
Such as…
Kit: “Wait, you’ve been down here before?”
Answer: “As I said, I am crazy old and I had to fight the Fallen Clan on their terms a few times. This place is not so much my playground, but I do know how to survive down here for extended periods of time.”
Rodenia: “Wait, if we’re not here to help sail the ship, what are are we down here for?”
Answer: “Well, as much as fun as it is to constantly fight off deranged aether beasts that see this vessel as an easy meal, it gets boring doing it by my lonesome.”
“Wait, what?”
“ROOOOOAAARRRRR!”
“OH FUCK!”
Once again, as if the universe was trying to prove a point, a giant translucent eel with spear-like teeth and glowing organs emerged from the water with a vicious gleam in its non-existent eyes.
Having exactly zero experience in regards to creatures such as this eel, both Rodenia and Kit were more less stupefied by the sight.
Which was weird given that they were monsters, but they didn’t realize it…yet.
“Ooooh, these things are actually pretty tasty when grilled, so it looks like we got dinner,” Zhen Xun Tian proudly explained. “So…let’s go!”
And with that declaration, Zhen Xun Tian rushed to take down the eel.
…
‘That…wow. Just wow.’
‘I…I don’t know.’
[I think a better question is, why are the men in this family attracted to that kind of woman?]
‘Look…’
