Chapter 178: The Long Way Up

"Not bad, Lily," Gray said, his luminous gaze shifting toward the star creature. "You’re a pretty good damage dealer too."

Lily pulsed brightly at the praise, her five points spinning with pride. She darted between the lobster corpses, her dark core glowing with satisfaction.

Cindy drifted closer, her frills swaying as she crossed her tiny arms.

"If that’s the case, then next time don’t just brush her off on your own," she said, her silver eyes sharp. "She’s part of the team now."

Gray let out a soft pulse, his tentacles curling loosely.

"Yeah, yeah. I’ll do that."

Lily, apparently satisfied with the acknowledgment, turned her attention back to the lobster corpses. She descended on the nearest one with ravenous enthusiasm, her star-shaped maw stretching impossibly wide as she tore off a chunk of flesh larger than her own body. She chewed once, twice, and swallowed, then immediately went back for more.

Gray watched her for a moment, his bell tilting with disbelief.

"She’s eating faster than before."

"She’s growing," Cindy said. "She needs the nutrients."

Lily moved to the second lobster, then the third, then the fourth, her body visibly swelling with each meal. Her points sharpened, her core pulsed deeper, and by the time she finished the last corpse, she was noticeably larger than she had been at the start of the fight.

Gray drifted toward one of the remaining corpses and pressed his feeding surface against the exposed flesh. The taste was briny and rich, with a faint mineral edge from the shell. Not bad. He ate his fill, his carapace mending, his hunger sated.

Cindy picked at a smaller piece, her frills twitching with each bite.

"It’s... chewy," she said.

When they had eaten their fill, Gray drifted back toward the front of the group, his luminous gaze sweeping the dark water ahead. Lily resumed her position, the black arrow hovering steadily above her, pointing toward the distant dark.

"Alright," Gray said. "Let’s keep moving."

They continued their journey through the dark water. The terrain around them had shifted again, the rocky ridges giving way to open water, the seafloor slowly dropping away into the depths below.

Cindy drifted closer to Gray, her frills swaying as she scanned the surrounding water.

"It feels like we’ve passed into a new area," she said quietly.

Gray nodded, his luminous gaze sweeping the dark.

"I noticed. The pressure’s different too."

He extended his senses outward, probing the water for any sign of life. His electroreception swept through the darkness, searching for anything that might be hiding in the shadows.

But he didn’t find anything.

"That’s strange," Gray murmured. "I can’t feel anything. No creatures. No movement. It’s like... nothing lives here."

Cindy’s frills lowered, her silver eyes narrowing.

"That’s not normal."

Gray’s tentacles spread wide, his carapace crackling with faint electricity. "Stay close. This might be the territory of something strong. Something that keeps everything else away."

Lily drifted ahead, the black arrow above her pulsing steadily. But as they swam deeper, the arrow began to shift. Slowly, gradually, it tilted upward.

Gray noticed it first.

"It’s changing direction," he said. "It’s pointing up."

Cindy followed his gaze, her frills lifting.

"Up? Toward the surface?"

"Maybe. Or maybe the Great Tartarus is just... higher than we are."

They adjusted their course, swimming upward through the dark water. The pressure eased with every meter, the cold growing less bitter, the darkness less absolute.

But the emptiness remained.

Gray’s senses swept the water constantly, searching for any sign of life.

Still he couldn’t feel anything.

"I don’t like this," Cindy said quietly. "It’s too quiet."

"If you’re scared, you can hold onto my tentacle," Gray said, his luminous gaze fixed on the dark water ahead.

Cindy’s frills flared instantly, her silver eyes snapping toward him.

"Who’s scared?!" she shot back, her small body stiffening with indignation.

Lily, apparently sensing the tension, drifted closer and began circling Cindy in slow, gentle spirals, her dark core pulsing with a soft, soothing rhythm. The star creature’s five points orbited lazily, as if trying to wrap her in a cocoon of calm.

Cindy’s frills twitched.

"I’m not that scared, Lily," she muttered, though she didn’t push the star creature away.

Gray laughed softly, then turned his attention back to the empty water ahead.

"At this depth, leviathans are usually active," he said, his voice growing serious. "So we need to be careful. Especially since I can’t detect anything."

Cindy drifted closer, her earlier indignation fading into something more thoughtful.

"Maybe the creature can’t be detected by your senses?" she suggested. "Something that doesn’t give off electrical signals. Or vibrations."

Gray shook his head slowly.

"No. When I encountered the leviathan before, I could detect it. Its presence was overwhelming. There’s no way it could hide from my senses." He paused, his tentacles curling with unease. "So if I can’t feel anything now, it’s not because something is hiding. It’s because there’s nothing there."

Cindy’s frills lowered.

"Then... maybe it’s something else?" she said quietly. "Something that doesn’t work the way we expect."

Gray was silent for a long moment, his luminous gaze sweeping the dark water above them.

"Maybe," he said at last. "Whatever it is, we’ll find out soon enough."

They kept swimming upward, the water around them shifting in subtle ways. The pressure was changing now, growing lighter with every pulse, the cold fading into something almost warm. The darkness above them was no longer absolute, faint traces of light bleeding through the water, distant and soft.

Gray slowed, his luminous gaze fixed on the shifting currents above.

"Before we go higher," he said, "use your barrier, Cindy. Cover every side. Your body might not handle the sudden pressure change."

Cindy tilted her head, her frills swaying with curiosity.

"You know a lot for a jellyfish, Gray."

Gray lifted two tentacles in a casual shrug, his carapace shimmering faintly in the dim light.

"I just have experience," he said.

Cindy raised her small hands and cast a shimmering barrier around herself and Lily. The dome of energy pulsed softly, clinging to them like a protective shell.

"What about you?" she asked, glancing toward Gray. "Aren’t you going to use one too?"

Gray shook his head.

"I don’t need one. I have Apex Adaptation, and jellyfish like me aren’t affected by ocean pressure."