Chapter 596: Carnival of Desire [28]

"Aaaaaaah--------!"

...

Natalia felt herself being transported—a faint tug at her navel, a brief wave of dizziness, and then her feet touched down on a cold, uneven floor. She opened her eyes to find a dark corridor before her, its walls woven from bones, covered in moss and glistening with damp streaks beneath the faint light filtering down from somewhere above.

Abyssus had brought her here.

Natalia raised a hand to touch the red coral necklace around her neck, the vessel that contained the power of the god she worshipped. She was not afraid. She had been blessed, and with Abussus's protection, nothing could stop her from completing her mission. The master of this dungeon—the one who had nurtured evil and greed in the darkness—would have to kneel before the deity of the ocean.

Yet the moment she stepped inside, she could feel vibrations pulsing beneath her feet, steady and powerful, like the heartbeat of some colossal monster.

Natalia shuddered, but she did not stop.

Then a voice came from behind her, so gentle that it was almost like a breeze:

"Where are you going?"

Natalia spun around.

A man was standing at the far end of the corridor, leaning against the bone wall as though it were the most natural thing in the world. His blond hair fell loosely around his face, while his sapphire-blue eyes gleamed in the dim light. A faint smile rested on his lips, almost tender.

"Natalia, right?" he asked, his voice still perfectly calm. "The guildmaster of the Abyssus Guild. So this is why you decided to enter this dungeon yourself?"

Natalia did not answer. She looked at him, the corners of her eyes curving slightly. "Then I suppose you have exactly the same mission as I do? Adrian?"

Obviously, Natalia had realized that Adrian's mission was the same as hers. Erebus had also ordered Adrian to come here and retrieve the master of this dungeon.

[What are these two going back and forth about?]

[Probably the missions assigned to them by their gods.]

[Tsk, tsk, tsk. If they've come all the way here, then it must have something to do with the entire dungeon.]

[I feel the same. This is probably where everything in the dungeon will be decided!]

Adrian shrugged. "If that's how you feel, then let's just say that's how it is."

Natalia frowned, and the sound of crashing waves echoed from deep within her, as though the sea itself were rising inside her chest.

"In the name of Abyssus, the God of the Deep Sea—"

Her voice rang out, but the words were more than mere words. Power surged through every cell of her body. Her mouth began to split open, while dark blue scales erupted across her smooth, pale skin, tearing through the flesh of her face. Her body twisted and elongated, her eyes turning pitch-black as their pupils narrowed into vertical slits like those of a reptile. A massive fish tail replaced her legs, and she hurled herself toward Adrian like a wave ripping through the air.

Adrian calmly stepped forward. At the same time, he raised a hand, and his body began to transform. His smooth, pale skin became covered in layers of golden scales that shimmered like thin sheets of beaten gold. His sapphire-blue eyes grew more sharply defined, the pupils contracting into two narrow vertical slits. Small horns began to emerge from his forehead, while a pair of enormous wings unfurled from his back, stretching so wide that their tips reached both bone walls on either side.

Natalia charged at him, her tail sweeping in a wide arc as she tried to knock him off his feet. But Adrian simply leaped into the air, his massive wings needing only a single, gentle beat to lift him from the ground. He landed on the bone wall behind her, twisted his body around, and lashed his long tail—now covered in razor-sharp scales—toward her like a whip.

Natalia spun around just in time, but Adrian's tail had already slammed into her shoulder, sending her tumbling across the floor and crashing into the bone walls. She didn't waste a second dwelling on the pain. She immediately pushed herself back up, her mouth stretching unnaturally wide as a sound erupted from her throat—not a scream, but the roar of a raging sea. The bones around her began to tremble, and water started surging up from the floor, rapidly rising higher and higher.

"In the name of Abyssus, the God of the Deep Sea!" Natalia roared.

Water flooded up from beneath the floor and poured into the corridor, churning violently, thick with foam and the sharp scent of salt. A colossal column of water surged toward Adrian like a sea serpent.

Adrian watched it come at him without the slightest hint of panic. He simply raised both hands, and the golden scales covering his body began to glow, radiating a searing heat. Steam erupted the instant the column of water struck him, filling the corridor with a thick white mist. He stepped through the fog, his slit-pupiled eyes cutting through the darkness.

Natalia screamed again. She gathered every last bit of her strength and unleashed a shockwave—a blast of pure magical force powerful enough to flatten the entire corridor.

But Adrian was faster.

His wings beat once, and he shot toward her at a speed the eye could barely follow. His body slammed into hers, the impact sending Natalia sprawling onto her back. She tried to get up, but Adrian's tail had already coiled around her body, tightening until she could no longer move. The razor-sharp scales covering his tail bit into her flesh, drawing a cry of pain from her.

"Come now." Adrian spoke gently, as though they were merely playing around. "You're quite interesting. It's just a shame you chose the wrong one to worship."

Natalia struggled to break free, but her strength was rapidly fading. The blessing of Abyssus was still with her, yet it was not enough to stand against a monster like this.

"Nick," Adrian called.

A dark portal immediately appeared, and with a flick of his tail, Adrian sent Natalia flying through the air.

[What is this?! What is this?!]

[This is a declaration of power. Erebus is on an entirely different level compared to the other gods!]

[I've never seen Natalia get beaten this badly before, hahaha.]

At that very moment, the entire castle began to shake violently. The bone walls groaned and cracked, while fragments rained down from the ceiling. A massive tremor rolled through the floor.

Boom! A second time.

Boom! A third time—harder than before.

Those sounds were not random. They were the heartbeat of something enormous, something awakening deep within the castle.

Adrian looked up, listening to the vibrations. He licked his lips, a faint smile appearing on his face.

His massive tail dragged the old food cart toward him, pushing it across the cold bone floor. Nick and Ember were still lying on the cart, their eyes wide as they stared at him.

Adrian looked down at them. His smile remained gentle, but there was something strangely bright in his eyes.

For a brief moment, even Ember felt that there was something unfamiliar about Adrian like this.