Chapter 159: The Primordial IV

The Leviathan watched its attack strike the radiant creature, and then it retreated, as if satisfied with what it had done. It dragged the Kraken back into the depths, its tentacles coiling around the ancient horror, pulling it down into the black abyss where it belonged.

The Primordial rose from the shattered rock, its body broken, its white armor cracked and bleeding light. The Leviathan’s attack had torn through it in ways that would have killed anything else. But it was still alive. Still moving. Still burning with divine purpose.

And it was furious.

It turned toward the Sun Eater, the creature that had interfered with its mission, the creature that had delayed its judgment. Its body flared with light, and from its palms erupted a storm of small projectiles, hundreds of glowing needles that shot through the water like a swarm of falling stars.

The Sun Eater roared as the projectiles pierced its hide. The massive creature, already wounded and pinned by the Spear of Judgment, could only thrash weakly as the barrage continued. Its light flickered. Its body grew limp.

The Primordial’s voice echoed through the water, cold and absolute.

"If you had not interfered from the beginning, neither of them would have come. This is your punishment."

It raised its hand, and several blades of pure white energy materialized around it. They hovered in the water like executioner’s swords, their edges gleaming with lethal light. Then, one by one, they drove into the Sun Eater’s body.

The first blade pierced its flank. The second carved through its wing-like fin. The third buried itself in its throat. The fourth, fifth, sixth — each one finding a new place to wound, to tear, to destroy. The Sun Eater’s roars grew weaker, its struggles fading, until finally, it went still.

The creature that had swallowed Cindy’s ship. The monster that had haunted her nightmares. The apex predator that had ruled the abyss for eons. It was dead. Impaled by countless blades, its body riddled with wounds, its light extinguished forever.

Cindy stared at the corpse, her silver eyes wide.

"A monster of the Sun Eater’s caliber... has died..."

Gray was watching the Primordial, his mind struggling to process what he had just witnessed. A creature beyond measurement, a being of divine judgment, had just executed the monster that defined his entire existence in this ocean.

And then the Primordial staggered.

Its body swayed, its light flickering weakly. The wounds from the Leviathan’s attack were deeper than it had let on. Its divine radiance dimmed, and it fell, crashing into the seafloor with a heavy thud.

But it didn’t stay down.

The Primordial pushed itself up, its arms trembling, its light guttering. It tried to rise, failed, tried again. Its voice, when it spoke, was strained but resolute.

"I must... destroy the Seed of Destruction... before it’s too late..."

Cindy watched the wounded being struggle, her frills lowering.

"Gray... it seems like a good creature. Let’s help it."

Hearing Cindy’s suggestion made Gray think about whether it was the right decision, because that creature was a being like a god that could obliterate them at any moment. But he also thought that the creature was on the side of justice, because it wanted to destroy the Seed of Destruction, the orb itself.

Then, slowly, he nodded.

’...Alright.’

They approached the Primordial carefully, watching as it struggled to rise. Its body trembled with each attempt, its cracked armor leaking divine light. It would push itself up, stagger forward, and then collapse again, its limbs too weak to support its weight. But it didn’t stop. It kept trying, kept forcing itself to move, as if the Seed of Destruction was a personal vendetta, a wound that could only be healed by its annihilation.

That determination was terrifying. And also, somehow, sad.

When they got close, the Primordial’s head snapped toward them.

Its eyes, still burning with cold, ancient light, locked onto Gray and Cindy. And the air around it changed. A pressure filled the water, heavy and suffocating, a killing intent so concentrated that it felt like drowning.

Gray realized that the bloodlust was aimed at them.

’This... is bloodlust,’ he said quietly. ’It wants to kill us.’

Cindy’s frills flattened against her body, her small hands trembling.

"Why...? Why does it want to kill us? We only want to help..."

The Primordial spoke, its voice shaking with exhaustion and pain. Its wounds were deep, its light barely holding together, but its words were sharp as broken glass.

"You vile monsters... Do you wish to devour me while I am weak?"

And then it attacked.

It raised one trembling hand, and a lance of white light shot from its palm. It was weak by the Primordial’s standards, a flickering, desperate attack, but it was still a spear of concentrated divine energy.

Cindy reacted instantly. She threw herself in front of Gray, her hands raised.

"[Ice Wall]!"

The barrier formed between them and the lance. But because the attack was too strong, Cindy’s barrier was easily pierced. The beam carved through the barrier and struck Cindy’s body.

She screamed because of the excruciating pain.

"Aaghgg!!!!"

The light seared through her left side, tearing through flesh and bone. Her arm was gone severed cleanly at the shoulder, the wound cauterized instantly by the heat. She tumbled through the water, her silver glow flickering wildly.

"CINDY!" Gray’s voice cracked with fury and fear.

The Primordial stared at the scene, its eyes widening. The attack had been weak, barely a fragment of its true power, but the result wasn’t what it expected. Its voice, when it spoke, was confused.

"That was... Third Circle magic...? You...? How can you use human magic?"

Gray didn’t care about the question. He didn’t care about the Primordial’s confusion, its mission, its judgment. All he saw was Cindy, drifting limp, her arm gone, her blood coloring the water silver.

He turned toward the Primordial, his blade-tentacles spreading wide, his carapace crackling with barely contained lightning.

’You will pay for that, you bastard!’𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚