Chapter 153: The Crimson Net

They continued their journey through the dark water, moving past the pale stone ridges and the twisted coral formations that marked the edge of their familiar territory. Gray led the way, his blade-tentacles sweeping the currents ahead, while Cindy drifted close beside him, her silver glow steady and calm.

"By the way," Cindy said, her voice carrying a note of curiosity. "Why are we going back to the Verdant Hollow? We’ve already explored so much of this area."

Gray pulsed forward, weaving between two jagged spires.

’Because it’s close to everything,’ he said. ’The volcanic slope, the violet, the mana spring. It’s a central hub. We can reach any of them quickly from there.’

Cindy considered that for a moment, her frills swaying.

"That’s true. But we could also just stay here. This area isn’t bad either. The coral grotto was comfortable, and there’s plenty of unexplored territory nearby."

’We could,’ Gray agreed. ’But then we’d be starting from scratch. New shelter, new hunting grounds, new threats we don’t know about.’

"So you want to keep the Verdant Hollow as our main base and expand outward from there?"

’Exactly. We can go back and forth between both places. That way our territory gets wider, and we have more options for hunting and resting.’

Cindy nodded slowly, her silver eyes thoughtful.

"That makes sense. A wider territory means more resources and more places to hide if something goes wrong." She paused, her frills lowering slightly. "But it also means more chances to run into something we can’t handle. The more we expand, the more enemies we’ll meet."

’True,’ Gray admitted. ’But that’s also how we get stronger.’

Cindy let out a soft sigh.

"You really are a monster, you know that? Always thinking about the next fight."

’I prefer to think of it as being proactive.’

They continued in silence for a while, the terrain shifting around them. The pale stone gave way to darker rock, and the seafloor began to slope downward into a wide, shallow depression. At the center of the depression was a coral crater, its edges jagged and broken, its interior filled with a dense tangle of crimson and black coral that pulsed with faint, rhythmic light.

Gray slowed as they approached, his senses sweeping the crater.

’Careful,’ he said. ’Something’s not right here.’

Cindy drifted closer, her frills splaying as she read the mana currents.

"The coral is... active. It’s pulsing like it’s alive. And the mana flow around it is strange. It’s not flowing naturally. It’s being drawn inward."

Gray moved past the coral slowly, his blade-tentacles spread wide, his electroreception mapping the crater’s interior. The coral walls were thick, their surfaces covered in small, glowing polyps that pulsed in unison. And beneath the coral, in the dark spaces between the branches, something was moving.

’There’s a lot of movement down there,’ Gray said quietly. ’Dozens of creatures. Maybe more.’

Cindy’s frills stiffened. "Dozens? What kind of creatures?"

’I don’t know yet. They’re small, but there are so many of them. They’re moving in patterns, like they’re... organized.’

"Organized?" Cindy repeated. "That doesn’t sound good."

Gray drifted closer to the crater’s edge, his senses straining to identify the creatures below. He could feel their electrical signatures, dozens of small, bright pulses, moving in tight, coordinated patterns through the coral.

And then he saw them.

They emerged from the coral in a swirling cloud, their bodies small and sleek, their scales a deep, iridescent crimson that caught the faint light of the crater. Their fins were long and flowing, like ribbons of blood in the water, and their eyes were black and depthless. Rows of needle-thin teeth lined their jaws, and their gills flared with each synchronized movement. ℯ

[CRIMSON SWARM FISH — Level 30]

HP: 220 / 220

Count: 24+

Threat Level: HIGH (In Swarm)

« Analysis »

A highly aggressive schooling predator found in coral craters and enclosed basins of the abyssal zone. The Crimson Swarm Fish hunts in coordinated groups, using their numbers to overwhelm larger prey. Their needle-like teeth can strip flesh from bone in seconds, and their scales are sharp enough to cause lacerations on contact.

Behavior: Extremely territorial. The swarm will attack anything that enters their nesting ground, regardless of size. They coordinate their attacks through subtle vibrations in the water, allowing them to surround and isolate individual targets.

Weakness: Individually fragile. Disrupting their formation significantly reduces their threat level. Area-of-effect attacks are highly effective against clustered groups.

Gray stared at the swirling cloud of crimson fish, his blade-tentacles curling tight.

’...That’s a lot of them.’

Cindy’s voice was tense.

"Gray, we should leave. That’s a nest. If we disturb them—"

But before she could finish, one of the fish broke from the swarm and darted toward them, its black eyes locked onto Gray. It stopped a few feet away, its body trembling, its gills flaring.

Then it let out a sharp, high-pitched shriek.

The swarm erupted.

All at once, the crimson fish surged from the crater, their bodies moving as one, their needle teeth gleaming. They didn’t attack randomly. They spread out, forming a wide crescent that cut off every escape route.

Gray activated Phantom Cloak on instinct, vanishing from sight. But their numbers were too many and their movements too wild. They didn’t need to track him precisely. They just filled the water with teeth and scales, a living net of bodies that left no gap to slip through.

A fish grazed his bell. Another clipped his tentacle. A third slammed into his carapace from behind.

[-24 HP]

[-18 HP]

[-32 HP]

[GRAY ASHFORD — HP: 1276 / 1350]

’They’re not even aiming,’ Gray realized. ’They’re just everywhere.’

Cindy raised her hands, an Ice Wall forming between them and the swarm. The fish slammed into it, their scales screeching against the frozen surface.

[ICE WALL — HOLDING]

But more fish were coming, circling around the barrier, spreading wider.

"Gray!" Cindy shouted. "There’s too many! We need to retreat!"

’Retreat where?!’ Gray snapped. ’They’re blocking the way we came!’