Chapter 123: Old Debt

They hunted for hours, moving through the pale stone ridges and the dark, cold waters beyond. Cindy fought beside him now, not just supporting from behind, her silver light flashing through the dark as she bound enemies and struck them down with Mana Bolts and Spell Piercers.

Gray found himself adjusting his rhythm to hers. He’d lure a group of enemies into a cluster, and Cindy would bind the stragglers while he carved through the main force. She’d call out when something was preparing a ranged attack, and he’d intercept it before it could land. They moved like two parts of the same predator.

By the time they stopped, Gray had completed the Water Flow Mastery trait and collected two more fragments for Fear Eater. His EXP bar was climbing steadily, and Cindy’s mana was growing more stable with each fight.

They rested in a shallow cave, the entrance partially blocked by fallen stone. Cindy sat on a flat rock near the back, her frills swaying as she reviewed her mana channels. Gray hovered near the entrance, his senses spread wide.

’I didn’t expect this hunt to go so smoothly,’ Gray said, his voice relaxed.

Cindy immediately straightened, her frills going rigid.

"Don’t say that," she said sharply. "You’ll jinx it."

Gray turned toward her, his bell tilting with amusement.

’Jinx it? Since when are you superstitious? You’re a mage, not a sailor.’

Cindy huffed, crossing her tiny arms.

"A mage who got swallowed by a giant fish because she ignored her instincts. Believe it or not, this universe has a terrible sense of humor."

Gray was quiet for a moment, remembering everything that had happened to him since he’d fallen into this abyss.

’...You have a point,’ he admitted. ’Last time I said something like that, I ended up inside a monster’s stomach. I’ll keep my mouth shut.’

Cindy nodded, satisfied, her frills slowly relaxing.

"That’s a wise decision. We never know when our luck might turn."

Gray was quiet for a moment, then his bell tilted slightly.

’Maybe since I met you?’

Cindy’s head snapped toward him, her silver eyes locking onto his bell with an intensity that could have cracked stone.

"What did you just say? Are you saying I’m bad luck?"

Gray’s tentacles swayed innocently.

’I didn’t say that. You said that.’

Cindy’s frills flared wide. She launched herself off the rock and latched onto his bell margin, her tiny mouth clamping down on his crystalline armor with all the ferocity her small body could muster.

"It’s the same thing! You were implying it!"

Gray felt the bite—it was barely a pressure, more like a soft pinch than an actual attack. Her tiny teeth couldn’t even scratch his armor.

’Okay, okay! I’m sorry! I was just joking!’

Cindy held on for a moment longer, then released him and drifted back to her rock, her frills still quivering with indignation.

"...You’re lucky this body can’t bite hard enough to hurt you."

’Yeah,’ Gray said, his mental voice carrying a faint trace of amusement. ’I’m real lucky.’

Cindy turned back toward him, her silver eyes narrowing.

"If you joke about that again, I’ll freeze you solid."

Gray’s bell tilted with amusement.

’Freeze me? With those tiny hands of yours?’

Cindy’s frills flared. She raised one small hand, and the water around her began to crystallize. Ice spread outward in delicate spirals, forming thin, shimmering blades that hung suspended in the current. The temperature dropped sharply, and frost crept along the nearby rocks.

"Oh, really?" she said. "Small hands, maybe. But I can still do things like this."

Gray watched the ice crystals spread, his senses tracking the sudden shift in the water.

’...Okay. That’s actually impressive. You can do that too?’

Cindy lowered her hand, letting the ice slowly dissolve back into the water.

"Of course. This body has a high affinity for ice. It seems the Glacial Axolotl wasn’t just chosen for its regeneration." She paused, her frills settling. "The mana channels in this body are naturally attuned to cold. It makes casting ice-based spells much easier than it should be."

Gray drifted closer, studying the lingering frost on the rocks.

’You adapted to that body faster than I expected.’

Cindy crossed her tiny arms, a flicker of pride returning to her voice.

"What did you think I was? A helpless little creature?" She huffed. "It’s true that this body is... smaller than I’m used to. And there are things I still struggle with. But it’s not that bad."

Before Gray could say anything else to deflate Cindy’s growing pride, he felt a vibration he recognized, a vibration that had once terrified him when he was still weak and helpless.

He swam toward the cave entrance. Cindy, noticing his sudden change in demeanor, asked with confusion.

"Gray? What’s wrong? Where are you going?"

Gray didn’t answer at first. His senses swept outward, tracing the vibration to its source. The trace was faint, moving slowly through the dark water beyond the pale stone ridges.

’It’s here,’ he said, his mental voice seething.

"What is?"

Gray stopped at the cave entrance, his tentacles coiling tight with long-suppressed anger.

’The creature that bit me and dragged me down into this place. It’s still alive.’

"The one from before? The one you told me about?"

’Yeah.’ Gray’s voice was angry, stripped of its usual humor. ’It’s here. And I’m going to make it regret the day it chose me as prey.’

He slipped out of the cave and into open water, his Hollow Cloak folding around him instantly. Cindy followed close behind, her silver light dimming as she matched his pace.

The water grew colder as they moved along the ridge. The dark, twisted spires loomed around them, and the faint bioluminescence of distant creatures flickered like fireflies in the night.

Then Gray saw it, the Abyssal was drifting through the dark ahead, its massive body coiling and uncoiling with that same terrible, liquid grace.

Its circular, jawless maw, ringed with rows upon rows of needle teeth that spiraled inward into a black, bottomless throat, opened and closed with slow, rhythmic contractions.

It was even larger than he remembered.

But Gray was no longer the helpless jellyfish it had once dragged into the abyss.

He had evolved and become stronger.

’I’ve been waiting for this,’ Gray said, his mental voice trembling with barely contained fury. ’Since the very first day I woke up in this ocean.’

The Abyssal kept drifting, unaware of the predator now stalking it.

’This time, you’re not the hunter.’

Gray flexed his crystalline barbs, and the water around him began to hum with gathering electricity.

’I am.’