"You’ll die..."

He can speak underwater?! Then... he can breathe too?!

"...only after I’m done pummeling your face."

Instinct drove Raze Dawg to react, but the water betrayed him again. Slowed and caught at an awkward angle, his guard opened just as Martin drove straight toward him and punched him in the face, sending him deeper into the basin.

Countless Dark Aquatic Ants skittered across the lower levels, watching the two players duke it out. Their eyes shone menacingly at the bottom of the lake, waiting for the first prey to sink low enough for them to tear apart and devour.

The fight stopped looking like a duel.

Raze Dawg landed counters whenever openings appeared. His fists were heavier, his instincts sharper, and each clean hit rattled Martin’s armor hard enough to spread cracks through the broken helmet. On land, blows like that would have folded Martin.

Down here, every current and narrow wall kept pushing the exchange back into Martin’s reach.

Martin slipped with the current, kicked off ruined stone, and came back again. Nothing about his punches looked elegant. They were stubborn, furious, and personal. Knuckles struck cheek, jaw, ribs, and guard. Every block gave Martin another surface to hit. Every retreat ended against the water or the tunnel walls.

They fought until every impact rolled through the water in heavy, muted bursts.

Every exchange hit harder than the last, but every second underwater took more from Raze Dawg than from Martin.

[Oxygen deprivation detected.]

[Stamina recovery disabled.]

[Suffocation damage imminent.]

His lungs started burning. Deep pressure squeezed his chest, and the water clung to his limbs until every counter arrived a fraction too late.

Panic finally cut through his arrogance.

Raze Dawg tried to inhale by instinct and found only pressure. His throat tightened. His chest clenched on nothing. The game denied him air, and the lake offered no exception for his level, his legendary weapons, or the number beside his name.

Better stats, better gear, and a ridiculous level meant nothing when his body had no air.

This mutt can actually... breathe underwater.

I’ll die to him.

A distorted sound reached him from behind.

Raze Dawg looked over his shoulder and saw his pet and reliable companion, Ashy, clawing through the water toward him. Its paws flailed awkwardly against the pressure, but the hyena forced itself deeper anyway, jaws stretched open as bubbles streamed from between its teeth. It had sensed his predicament and taken the dangerous route through the depths to help him, even though it could not breathe underwater either.

It was touching.

So touching that a sapphire shape rose beneath Ashjaw, round, bright, and absolutely ready to commit violence.

Ao Tenshin’s adorable face appeared through the murk, innocent only until she moved.

Then her shell smashed into Ashjaw’s ribs hard enough to flip the hyena sideways.

The impact sent a pulse through the water. Ashjaw twisted, claws scraping uselessly through the current, but Ao Tenshin was already moving again. She circled Ashjaw, rolled beneath its snapping jaws, spun around its flank, and pulled off maneuvers neither Martin nor Raze Dawg could have named.

The hyena cried out, but the sound broke into bubbles.

It still pressed forward.

Ao Tenshin showed no mercy.

Shooting upward, she tucked her head and slammed her full weight into the hyena’s stomach. Ashjaw folded around the blow, choking on water as more bubbles burst from its mouth. Before it could recover, Ao Tenshin swept around behind it and smashed her shell into its back, forcing it farther from Raze Dawg.

Only level eleven, she was already half of Martin’s height. Her shell weighed far more than it looked, and in the water, that weight did not make her slow. It made her a living battering ram.

Ashjaw clawed toward its master again.

Ao Tenshin cut across its path.

Bright, stubborn loyalty shone in the little dragon turtle’s eyes as she rammed the hyena again, making one thing clear: no ugly dog was getting between her and Martin’s fight.

But the only one moved by that touching moment was Raze Dawg.

He turned desperately toward his companion, only to catch a flicker of a black sword at his side.

That’s the guy’s sword!

Martin teleported to his weapon and drove his knee into Raze Dawg’s face.

The blow cracked through the water with enough force to bend Raze Dawg’s head back.

"You took out Chaos. You insulted Cassandra." Martin’s voice cut through the water, cold and clear. "That’s all the reason I need to beat your face in. In any other place, I’d be dead meat, but not here. This is my turf, Raze Dawg."

Raze Dawg grimaced.

[Oxygen deprivation critical.]

[Your lungs have given out.]

[Suffocation damage triggered.]

Something inside his chest exploded.

Panic turned into pain. His body convulsed, and the last of his confidence went with it. Raising his guard took too much effort. Kicking away did nothing while the water locked around his legs. Even when he tried to glare at Martin and keep some scrap of that vicious grin, his mouth opened only to release bubbles.

Martin did not swing wildly.

His fist drew back through the water. The current gathered behind his shoulder, and the seconds Chaos had stolen became one final punch.

The punch landed cleanly.

For the first time since the fight began, Raze Dawg did not counter.

The impact tore through the last of his health.

[You have killed Raze Dawg, Lv. 60.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have...]

In Raze Dawg’s place, one of his two greatswords remained suspended in the poisoned water, wrapped in a golden aura that refused to dim. It spun slowly, too bright for the brutal silence left behind.

Martin reached out and seized the hilt.

The sword was heavier than expected. Even underwater, even with the system helping him, it carried the weight of the monster he had just dragged into his own battlefield and beaten with his fists.

He stored it in his inventory.

Broken pieces of Martin’s helmet drifted around him, turning slowly through the poisoned water. Blood seeped from the split seams of his gauntlets, but his expression remained cold.

"That was personal."

Then his mouth curved into a wide smile.

"But I got you covered, Chaos."