The next day quickly arrived... or maybe it was still the same day; one couldn’t really tell.

The trio, Adrian, Renelle, and Marion walked out the gate and towards the direction of the black sea.

The other five had stayed back since the Prince claimed he had something to deal with, and Darius and the others would be responsible for keeping the people safe if something went wrong during the search for the dungeon’s core.

Renelle, still in her armor, glanced at the dark sky above them before looking forward again.

Adrian noticed it and asked, "Is something wrong, my lady?"

"Nothing," she shook her head in response, "just a random thought."

She went silent for a short while before glancing back at the sky and saying, "I wonder what this place would look like, with stars."

"Years ago, when we first entered this place," Marion suddenly spoke up as he also looked upwards, "there were stars in the sky."

"But one day," he continued, "with the arrival of the black sea, the stars suddenly went missing, as if snatched from the sky."

Adrian and Renelle quietly listened as they continued walking forward.

"Some claimed to have seen what resembled a giant snake swallowing the stars," Marion said as he took a round metal from his robe and tossed it to Adrian, "they claimed it looked like that."

Adrian looked at the coin-looking metal and noticed the snake carved on it was oddly familiar.

It was a giant one that was eating its own tail and used its body to form what seemed to be, infinity.

Oroborus.

"Why is it eating itself?" Renelle asked as she also glanced at the metal.

"I have no idea," Marion shrugged, "some believe that after feeding on the stars, the snake got hungry again, and with nothing to eat, it started feeding on itself."

Adrian recalled a similar mythology from Earth, but given the way Marion behaves, he was certain that the man was not a reincarnator or transmigrator.

So this might either be a coincidence, or the snake actually existed in this dungeon.

He was about to return the coin when Marion shook his head and said, keep it as a souvenir, besides, I’ve got another.

Adrian looked at the other coin-like metal, in Marion’s hand, and without thinking too much, he put the one he had, in his pocket.

His glasses didn’t pick up any sort of mana or anything weird coming from it, so it should just be a harmless metal coin.

"I see," Renelle muttered after hearing his story.

If the serpent truly exists, then would that mean that they possibly have to face it beneath the black sea? 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

But before she could dwell on it further, Marion suddenly stretched his arms lazily while continuing forward.

"Well, enough depressing stories," he said casually, "we’re almost there."

As if on cue, the atmosphere suddenly changed and they could now feel the corrupted mana in the air.

Being this close, Adrian didn’t even need the glasses to sense the corrupted mana as it was forcibly trying to get him to absorb it.

But his attention wasn’t on that, but rather, the fact that the black sea had moved again.

At first, he thought its movement was slow, but now?

The forest he had to navigate through whilst drunk, was no more... Hell, the shore was now closer to the ruins where he first met Marion.

Even Renelle had a frown on her face as she looked towards the black sea, they had explored close to these parts, but not once had they sensed or heard. The black sea so close.

Marion, on the other hand, looked completely unbothered by the fact, Instead, he just looked towards the water.

"I guess it’s time to move my stuff toward the village," he muttered while staring at the black sea, "that is, if we don’t find an exit."

"Though this is definitely faster than usual."

Adrian remained silent for a few moments while observing the sea.

The movement truly was abnormal.

At this rate, the kingdom would eventually disappear beneath it entirely within just a few weeks.

But the people within the kingdom were what he was worried about.

If the black sea swallowed all the corrupted beasts on the land, and somehow got them to mutate, then it’d be an issue.

Also,

«I can now sense something interesting beneath,» Noctis said as he appeared atop his head.

The last time, Adrian was focused on not drowning, so he didn’t have the chance to sense even deeper below the sea, but now that he wasn’t in any immediate danger, he spread his senses and immediately sensed multiple corrupted beasts below, even this close to the shore.

Marion’s gaze moved toward the cat briefly, but he chose not to comment on it.

Instead, he asked casually, "So? Where’s the vessel?"

Renelle also looked toward Adrian afterward, unlike the others, she already roughly knew the answer.

Adrian calmly stepped closer toward the shore before extending a hand slightly.

The next second, his shadow suddenly expanded unnaturally beneath his feet.

Marion’s smile faded for the first time since they arrived.

Then, from within the darkness itself, something massive slowly began emerging.

A second later, close to the shoreline, the submarine appeared, this time fully completed.

The kid, Elias, had been so excited for Adrian to see his work this morning that he hadn’t slept the entire night.

Unfortunately, though, they hadn’t had the chance to test it just yet, so Adrian had to trust that it worked.

"How truly interesting," Marion muttered seemingly getting a bit excited before he quickly hid it.

He then slowly circled the submarine afterward, his black eyes carefully observing every inch of it.

The crystal cores embedded along the body pulsed faintly while strange mechanisms rested along its sides like folded claws.

The more he looked at it, the wider his smile became.

"A vessel capable of traversing the bottom of the black sea..." he muttered softly, almost to himself, "human creativity truly is terrifying sometimes."

Adrian ignored him and instead walked toward the hatch Elias had built onto the upper side.

The metal door slid open after he sent a pulse of mana through it and Adrian offered a hand to Renelle, leading her into the vessel.

The interior was kept lit by multiple controls on the panel, and it was wide enough to comfortably fit four people.

Adrian and Renelle sat on the chairs at the very front, before them was a glass that showed the black sea ahead.

Marion casually entered and sat down near one side of the submarine while looking around with open curiosity.

"So," he asked while tapping one of the walls lightly, "which one makes this thing move?"

Without an answer, Adrian tapped on a button on the control panel and the hatch suddenly sealed them in.

It then stood up on what seemed to be four mechanical legs and walked into the sea. The moment it moved past the shallow area, it started sinking towards the bottom.

Marion leaned back afterward and crossed his legs comfortably.

"Well then," he smiled, "let’s descend into the abyss."

****

Meanwhile, back in the kingdom, Lucian stood before the king with a blank expression on his face.

"Well then Lucian Lightbringer," the king muttered with a small smile, "what do you want?"

Lucian was silent for a while, unsure of his thoughts, but his suspicions were too strong to ignore, so he finally asked.

"What are you?"

"Hmm?" The king sat up straight before muttering, "I was certain the Butler wouldn’t say anything."

Lucian’s expression darkened slightly after hearing those words.

So Adrian truly had met the king beforehand just as he had suspected and judging from the response just now, it clearly hadn’t been a pleasant meeting.

"Well, no matter," the king continued, "I guess you could call me a messiah to these people."

Silence filled the throne room.

From all he had gathered, Lucian now understood one thing.

This kingdom was an entire false paradise that existed only because one man chose survival over humanity.

The king stood up and spread his arms slightly afterward, "Look at what I created."

"A functioning kingdom."

"Order."

"Hope."

"A place where people still smile despite the end slowly approaching."

"What disgusting lie," Lucian said with a frown, "all you created is a feeding pen."

The next second, a sword made completely of golden hard light was formed in his hand as he pointed it at the King.

"What?" He looked mockingly at the king, "You think we didn’t know about the disappearances?"

"You only stopped because the humans had absorbed too much corrupted mana for your liking," Lucian continued coldly while staring directly into the king’s eyes, "but with our arrival and the cleansing, people mysteriously started disappearing again."

"I see," the king muttered almost to himself, "I guess I shouldn’t expect someone like you to understand."

The next second, Lucian stood witness to the most horrifying scene he had ever witnessed.

The king....was ripping himself out of his skin.