Chapter 950 |
Chapter 950
Many Awakeners found it challenging to wield strength beyond what they were accustomed to using daily. A person who could effortlessly lift a sack of rice could not suddenly lift two and move with ease. Enduring unfamiliar pain while needing to refine control made it a difficult task, even with prolonged practice.
In his past life, and in this one, countless individuals had asked Yuder Aile.
"How do you endure it when you have to?"
"How can you so quickly expand your strength and senses and still withstand it?"
Yuder always answered that practice was the only secret.
It wasn't a lie. Even if practice felt futile at first, with long repetition, one could suddenly muster more strength and handle it more adeptly when needed.
But there was an unspoken secret that Yuder never revealed.
After his awakening, Yuder had never felt pain or difficulty when rapidly expanding his power.
The mist-like power flowing from Yuder's body endlessly dissolved into the sea. Invisible, yet its presence could be felt through the surrounding tremors, ready to obey his will.
All water in this place eventually heads to land. Yuder's expanded senses followed the large direction of the waves, beginning to read the flow.
This process was akin to losing oneself and becoming the sea itself.
The sea, regardless of any turmoil within, flows silently and swiftly.
It brushed past the fleeing schools of fish, over small crabs hiding and curling up, and under the feet of Dover and the first team members, standing on the wave's crest with tense faces, catching their breath.
The wave, like a dark blue horse, raced unrestrained and finally crashed generously against the breakwater from where Yuder had departed. The water, turning over with a splash, shattered into white foam.
Part of Yuder's consciousness scattered with those broken droplets. A tiny droplet, having briefly soared, did not return to the sea but landed on the tip of a man's shoe, standing with his feet in the water.
The man, with golden hair disheveled by the rough sea wind, looked steadily at the waves. His eyes, like a burning sunset, were deep and red.
Even though his gaze was not on Yuder, his heart, which had been as calm as the sea, suddenly pumped hot blood and beat fiercely.
-Thump.
The droplet at the tip of his shoe, unable to withstand, trickled down and returned to the sea. That was when Yuder finally opened his eyes.
-Whoosh!
His golden gaze shone brilliantly like a star in the dark sea.
The increasingly turbulent sea began to respond to Yuder's will at last.
One of the members, relying on the faint light of a bracelet in the darkness, jerked and grimaced, suddenly bringing a hand to his neck.
‘Damn it!’
Cutting the massive tentacles was manageable, despite being strenuous. The real difficulty was avoiding their flailing in the barely visible darkness and getting injured in the process.
However, it was the invisible, small entities gradually filling the surroundings and their attacks that were truly unnerving. Clinging to the skin, biting and scratching, they continually broke concentration and caused chills and curses. In the midst of this, a misstep led to a tentacle strike, injuring his leg.
It was fortunate that being underwater meant no hindrance in movement despite his injured leg.
The member roughly tore off the creature that had been biting his neck. The sting suggested he was bleeding.
'Yuder told us to only attack and do nothing else... But how long must this go on?'
He was enduring the dizzying sensation of blood diffusing into the water, trying to regain his senses, when suddenly the water around him stilled.
-...
'...What?'
He cautiously held his breath and surveyed his surroundings.
'...No, it's not just the water that's stopped...'
The flailing tentacles, growing more violent with each attack, and the ominous, thudding vibrations from below, also ceased abruptly.
Everything seemed frozen, an eerie quiet pervading all.
The surrounding water, as if the entire sea had halted, presented a bizarre spectacle. What was happening? The member, feeling rigid all over, instinctively swallowed and rolled his eyes.
And then, he saw it – a golden light standing tall like a lighthouse in the infinite darkness of the sea.
Yuder Aile's pale face was distinctly visible beyond that golden hue.
His black hair floating around in the water, his expressionless face.
Instinctively, the member realized it. He didn't know what Yuder had done, but this was undoubtedly his power.
Who could have imagined witnessing such a scene in their lifetime?
The vast movement of water centered around Yuder began to sweep away everything that had been enveloping them – torn seaweed, dead sea creatures, other impediments, and finally, countless tiny monster fragments that had been endlessly filling the surroundings.
Everything was swept away in the current, reminiscent of a colossal typhoon made of water, not air.
On land, no matter how immense the exerted force, the sky above and the earth below remain unshaken. Human endeavors are but small ripples under the sky.
But underwater, it's different.
In a place seemingly consisting of only water and darkness, without sky or earth, the tremendous force felt like holding the entire world in one's hands.
'Ugh...!'
The member nearly screamed in alarm as the typhoon approached him. However, the wave spared him and only took away the creature that had been biting his neck. When he regained his senses, he saw that the chaotic surroundings filled with floating debris had been completely cleared.
'How can this be...'
How could a human alone accomplish such a feat?
Amidst the overwhelming sensation, the wave that swept around the world finally began to disappear into the distance, following the direction Yuder had pointed, towards a specific spot.
Carrying countless fragments of monsters, the sea surged forward like a massive horse.
Yuder's golden eye shone brighter, his face growing paler by the moment. Despite realizing that this indicated a tremendous expenditure of power, the member irrationally felt it only made Yuder appear more formidable.
extraordinary display of power had unfolded without the spilling of a single drop of blood. Only after the currents that had entwined the monsters dissipated into the distance did the surging waves slowly calm down.
At the heart of it all, Yuder Aile still stood.
His golden eye, which had started to dim slowly, disappeared beneath his eyelids before opening again. Though still golden, they no longer shone with the intense brightness that could be mistaken for flames.
Silence engulfed everyone. What words could possibly be spoken in such a moment?
It almost seemed as though the entire visible world was waiting for a command from Yuder Aile. Despite accomplishing what none dared attempt, Yuder, without a trace of pain, maintained an expressionless face, appearing as a being from a far-off realm to them.
While the members were still frozen in shock, Yuder slowly raised his hand and spoke.
"Snap out of it. It's not over yet."
Upon seeing Yuder's firm hand signal, the members blinked as if awakening from a dream.
"Ah... Right. It's not over yet… What?"
"We just did that... and it's not over?!"
Far from being over, there was a larger mass of monsters writhing below, more than what had just been dispatched.
The creature was not likely to stop, and it was only a matter of time before something similar to the tentacles they had just faced would emerge again.
Yuder's task now was simply to wait until then.
"For a first attempt, it was relatively successful. But many members are injured... We need to check on them."
"What exactly did we just do? Where did you send those things?"
The members, now fully regaining their senses, crowded around in a frenzy. Yuder calmly answered.
"As you saw, I sent them to land."
"Is that really okay?"
"That's why I sent Steiber. With the Commander there, everything will be fine."
"Ah...!"
The members finally understood what they needed to do. Yuder thought about the land where the monsters he had successfully dispatched were headed.
He trusted Kishiar. Surely, Kishiar would handle what Yuder had sent appropriately.
And now,
Yuder finally heard the news of success through the words of the returned Steiber.