Dark.

Even that would be an understatement for beneath the dark sea.

Despite the lights from the submarine that tried peering through the darkness, it didn’t move past a meter ahead.

Though, it wasn’t an issue for the three within the submarine, Renelle because she just relied on her mana senses, Adrian because the sea was as clear as day for him, and Marion because....well, because he didn’t seem to be bothered by it.

The submarine silently continued through the sea without any disturbance...for now, after all, the beasts around them were currently drowning.

Unlike what Adrian thought, the sea, despite being the greatest carrier of corrupted mana, didn’t help mutate the land beasts.

Instead, the weaker beasts that existed within the black sea fed on them.

But problems started arising the closer they got to the center.

As Adrian had already figured out, the creatures down here were completely blind, but their lack of sight was nullified by the fact that they could sense mana.

Especially an uncorrupted one.

Something soon moved past the viewing glass.

It moved slowly, whatever it was, long and dark and trailing something behind it that might have been fins or might have been something else entirely.

It seemed to be curious about the vessel for a few seconds, and the trio kept their senses on it.

Before anyone could say anything, the submarine suddenly shuddered as whatever was observing it suddenly slammed itself into it.

"That’s not good," Marion muttered as he grabbed the wall.

Adrian was already on his feet. Renelle stood beside him, one hand on the wall and the other gathering frost at her fingertips as the submarine lurched violently sideways and the viewing glass suddenly filled with something massive.

It was a creature as large as a whale and also looked like one, but mutated.

Adrian was granted a clear view of it, even in this darkness, and he noticed that it had multiple eyes, all milky white and a massive mouth filled with rows of sharp teeth.

From its corrupted mana, he was certain that the creature was the same one that had almost swallowed him just a few hours after he entered the dungeon.

And it was coming towards them again.

"Hold on," he said as he looked at the control panel again, immediately spotting what seemed to be a lever.

Pulling it down, the submarine suddenly dived down, narrowly avoiding the creature’s maw.

Still, its tail slammed into them again, this time, denting the walls and creating an opening that let the dark sea flow into the vessel as it was launched towards the seabed.

The beast, noticing that whatever it wanted to swallow was made of metal it decided not to give chase.....or perhaps, it was because it was more terrified of whatever lay down there.

***

The submarine continued sinking uncontrollably as water filled the hall, despite Adrian’s efforts to keep it steady. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

It let out a tremble as it crashed into the sea floor.

Renelle swam up, towards where the hatch was and the spot that hadn’t been submerged yet.

She immediately gathered her mana. Ice spread from her hands outward, sealing the hole through which the water was flooding the compartment, buying them a few precious seconds.

Adrian was beside her in the next moment as he let go of the submarine’s controls.

"My lady," he said, and she heard in those two words everything he didn’t say.

"I’m fine," she answered.

Marion also pulled himself up against the tilted wall, shaking water from his hair with an expression of profound annoyance.

If one looked closely, they’d notice that the spider on his chest was growing larger, a sign that his corruption was getting worse.

Exactly as he suspected.

It wouldn’t take long until he became a mindless monster, but he had to hold on, after all, he was so close.

In just a few hours, hopefully, he wouldn’t have to worry about the corruption anymore.

"That’s strange," Adrian muttered with a frown on his face.

"What?" Renelle asked.

The corrupted beasts swimming above us, they seemed to be avoiding coming down here.

"Probably because of that," Marion suddenly spoke up, pointing towards the part of the viewing glass that wasn’t underwater.

Adrian looked forward and noticed that just a small distance away from them was strangely.... a building.

No, it was more accurately a stone temple with architecture similar to Greek temples.

The strange part was, how Marion had noticed it in this darkness?

Even down here, visibility wasn’t an issue for him. His senses had already spread across the seabed like a net.

Anything large enough should have been obvious.

Yet that structure... had simply not existed in his perception until the very moment Marion pointed it out.

Still, he didn’t say anything, instead, he just let his shadow detach from him, flail towards the temple..... A scene that Renelle would’ve laughed at, if they weren’t currently in such a situation.

"..."

After a few embarrassing moments, the shadow realized that it didn’t have to swim at all, it could just move through the sea floor until it reached the temple.

Through it, Adrian noticed that there was some sort of barrier at the entrance....or at least, the water formed a wall on it.

The moment, the shadow went through, Adrian realized that there was no water within.

"My lady," he extended his hand towards Renelle and she gently took it without any questions.

The next second, right in front of Marion, they disappeared, leaving him alone in the sinking hall.

"Well, that was certainly unexpected," he muttered, but unlike what he expected, one of Adrian’s clones suddenly took his place.

It looked at him for a second before placing a hand on Marion’s shoulder and they also disappeared.

The ice patch Renelle created suddenly melted and the dark water immediately flooded the submarine.

The pressure pads suddenly stopped working and they immediately crumpled like a piece of paper.

***

The trio found themselves before a door made completely of stone and behind them was an invisible barrier that separated them from the black sea.

"Well," Marion muttered as he looked at the stone door before them, "I suspect that’s our way in?"