An hour after walking on the seafloor accompanied by Olivia and Senia, Orion arrived near the slope leading to the abyss.


    "Strange."


    Not long after leaving the shallows, he noticed a very obvious change.


    "I know, right?"


    Senia agreed with him and worriedly looked around.


    "When we entered that threshold, all life seized to appear. There''s not a single fish, and barely any coral, only endless sand. And..."


    His eyes looked toward the endless void in the distance.


    "This ominous presence down there."


    Olivia gulped. This was her first time being subjected to such corrupted intensity. She gathered that the beast was evil by nature just by the wave of bad feeling coming out of its direction.


    While discussing, they suddenly caught off guard when the sound of a large object moving into the water.


    "That sound, I recognize it! It''s the giant!"


    She looked at Orion with a frightened expression. Just thinking about it attacking them so suddenly when they had no plan ready yet filled her with worry.


    "You two, stay close to me!"


    Olivia suddenly grabbed their arms and pulled them closer to her. Trusting Senia''s words, she activated her water magic without waiting.


    When she released her grip on their arms, she pointed the palms of her hands forward.


    Both stayed silent while watching a bubble form around them. Olivia gulped and waited until the beast emerged from the darkness.


    *FUUUUUSH*


    A violent marine current washed across the seafloor, lifting a large amount of sand at the same time.


    A massive shadow swam in the distance, scanning the surrounding area with its massive red eye.


    (Don''t make any sudden movements.)


    (I know.)


    Orion said to Senia, who looked terrified. He turned to look at the beast.


    (Senia, do you see it clearly?)


    She shook her head slowly.


    (I don''t. It''s incredibly dark for me. I can only see its size and its red eye.)


    ''Well...''


    His eyes focused back on the giant.


    ''I can see it very well.''


    A gigantic moray eel, the size of a city with a single eye, writhed and turned in the water. All over its body were flappy fins that looked battered, probably thanks to it battling various creatures.


    Here and there on its body were marks of previous battles, be it bite marks, or suction marks.


    ''This thing has been fighting squids and orcas... but it''s not healing like other corrupted?''


    Orion made a quick realization.


    ''Is this a new type of corrupted? If it wasn''t in the Carmel Sea before, then where did it come from?''


    He pictured the map of Triazils in his mind and began to realize something.


    (You fucker.)


    An insult escaped his mouth quietly, directed toward someone else.


    Both Olivia and Senia looked at him, and fell silent, seeing his expression. His face was hidden by a dark veil, but his eyes glistened behind it.


    With pure anger inside him, he just wanted to erase the corrupted in front of him.


    ''Playing around is fine, but playing with lives isn''t. I''ll be sure to make you understand that clearly, Miasma.''


    North of Noctelagia was Eogis. It didn''t take long to piece the apparition of a giant corrupted and the recent corrupted dome that covered the region.


    ''The corrupted giants are coming back now that he has full control of his body. I should have expected that.''


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    ''We need to prepare to see more of them appear as time goes on.''


    The gray eel looked around for a few minutes, before finding nothing. It looked down and swam back into the darkness below.


    Olivia and Senia breathed a sigh of relief when they felt the massive creature leave, but then focused on Orion.


    "Are you alright? You look angry for some reason?"


    "Have we done something wrong?"


    He shook his head to ease their worries and explained his thoughts.


    "You two are fine, it had nothing to do with you. It''s more about that corrupted. Miasma''s working hard in making his weapons."


    It took a second for both of them to understand the meaning of it.


    "..."


    "!"


    "Wait, is that why a giant suddenly appeared? Wasn''t it a simple incident?"


    He shook his head.


    "This is the first case of an aquatic corrupted giant. I believe corruption doesn''t mix well with water. But he works fast, and managed to create a new breed of corrupted, which means this might be his first work."


    "And what better target than the kelpies to test its strength. Truly, this... ''thing''... doesn''t miss the mark. Only a month after being freed, he''s already creating horrible beasts that can''t compare to the one we saw during the invasion."


    Dread filled his mind just thinking about the awful things he would have to fight in the future.


    ''There''s also the earth dragon that went missing. If it becomes corrupted, we might be in a very tough situation.''


    *Sigh*


    "Let''s focus on what''s in front of us first. We''ll discuss that with the others later. We might have to take this matter more seriously."


    "You''re right."


    Until now, they were leisurely taking their time training, enjoying life as much as possible as time passed.


    Since having his soul injured, Orion did his best not to train too hard like he did before fighting Elliott.


    Now, with the apparition of corrupted giants once again, he felt like those days were coming to an end.


    The bubble enveloping them broke off, with Senia turning to Olivia.


    "By the way, what did you do? It completely ignored us even though we were in front of it?"


    Olivia nodded and explained while demonstrating again, this time on herself.


    "That bubble makes you invisible. Well, not really, it just reflects the surroundings on it, practically making you blend into the background."


    She wrapped herself into a bubble, and completely turned invisible. Only sand appeared where she stood.


    *POP*


    When the bubble vanished, she reappeared.


    "That''s incredible!"


    In awe, Senia looked at Olivia with stars in her eyes.


    While the two were talking, Orion walked a short distance away and looked around.


    ''There are not many places where we can hide. To fight, we need to drag it away from the void. We won''t be able to fight freely like Senia.''


    He kneeled on the sand and began to draw the giant corrupted eel into it with his finger.


    ''It has one big red eye, and is probably around fifty meters in total length. Finding the cores is going to take a long time. This thing is gigantic, and we don''t know if the cores are...''


    ''The cores?''


    His thoughts completely changed.


    ''It was because of the cores that the corrupted were able to heal. Remove or destroy them, and the corrupted dies. Simple.''


    ''But this one had injuries, meaning it... doesn''t have a core?''


    The thought of corrupted not having a core was foreign to Orion. It sounded too strange to be possible.


    He knew from Henrietta and Tetra that the cores were a counter against the first generation of corrupted, which were practically immortals. ''Nature'' acted against something that went against its laws, and placed limitations on them as much as possible.


    But Miasma seemed to work on freeing himself from these limitations. Things were changing at an alarming pace, which worried Orion greatly.


    ''If it doesn''t have a core, then it makes things easier for us. I''m not going easy on them anymore. The faster we kill it, the faster we''ll get home.''


    He clenched his fist while standing up, and stepped on the drawing.


    ''Guess I''ll go all out today.''


    Closing his eyes, he began to check his body.


    "..."


    The two women seemed to have ended their conversation and joined a quiet Orion. They waited until he opened his eyes with a serious expression.


    "Hmm. Seems good. I should be able to..."


    *FLASH*


    Orion''s body turned white, and changed. He clenched his fists a few times to adjust to the change, and nodded.


    "It''s fine. I can hold it."


    Both Olivia and Senia opened their eyes wide. Orion had taken the form he used while saving Karteira and Drania from crashing on the dragons, back when he healed from his injuries in Noctelagia.


    His body was enveloped in a soothing white color, with a proper outfit worthy of a prince. A long-sleeved white vest with golden details around the shoulders, and sleek white pants that still gave room for him to freely move around.


    Even the color of his hair and eyes changed. His dark hair turned a golden white, and his irises became white.


    In his hands, a white crossbow familiar to them formed, looking way more refined than it ever was.


    "When did you..."


    "Constant training, and sufficient rest. That''s how I managed to recover."


    He smiled while looking at Olivia, who was shocked beyond belief.


    "No, I mean, isn''t it putting a strain on you? You don''t have to go this far."


    Worried, she grabbed his left sleeve while looking straight in his eyes.


    ''Haa~ He''s so gorgeous...''


    Her brain was half focused on her worries, with the other half focused on admiring her lover. Even Senia seemed a little infatuated by his looks.


    Nonetheless, they were worried about him.


    "I''m fine. Tiohr-nam told me that I had healed enough to be able to use around seventy percent of my strength. This enters the threshold of what I can do."


    With a serious expression, he turned toward the abyss.


    "Also, I don''t think I will be able to go easy on that thing. We are only three this time, I''m not taking any chances."


    "We''re all returning home before dinner. It''s not a promise, it''s a fact. So be prepared, and don''t underestimate it."


    They nodded, Olivia on his left, and Senia on his right.


    "Let''s talk about what to do before going into the fight."


    ""Yes.""


    ...


    A few minutes later.


    "Understood."


    Senia nodded and swam away. She went toward reefs in the distance and hid herself behind them.


    Orion looked at Olivia, who nodded too.


    "I''ll wait for the right moment, too. Be careful."


    "I will."


    Olivia walked away in the opposite direction and used her magic to blend into the scenery.


    ''Alright, let''s get to it.''


    When he saw both were in position, he crouched slightly and activated the Fourth Gear. His legs heated up, as a surge of energy flowed through his veins. He pushed on his legs and flew fifteen meters high in the water.


    He aimed Alcyone into the abyss, and fired a bright white bolt that pierced the darkness.


    -ROOOAR-


    ''I definitely missed it, but I got its attention. Now, come at me!''


    A bright red spot glared at him from the abyss, before it lunged at him rapidly.


    ''Let''s see who''s better!''


    The clash between the Carmel Sea''s corrupted giant and Orion, Olivia, and Senia began.