Chapter 180: Breaking the Surface

Cindy moved before the Banshees could open their mouths. Her small hands rose, silver light flaring at her fingertips, and the water around the four spectral predators crystallized in an instant.

"[Frozen Silence]!"

Ice erupted around each Banshee’s head, sealing their jaws shut mid-scream. The sound that would have shattered their minds died in their throats, swallowed by the frost. The specters thrashed, their translucent bodies flickering, their hollow eyes widening with something that might have been panic.

[FROZEN SILENCE — SONIC ATTACKS SEALED]

[BANSHEE (1) — SILENCED]

[BANSHEE (2) — SILENCED]

[BANSHEE (3) — SILENCED]

[BANSHEE (4) — SILENCED]

"I’m sick of running into these things," Cindy muttered, her frills rigid with annoyance. "Every time we get close to the surface, it’s always screaming."

Gray raised one hand, palm outward, and activated Cavitation Pulse. The superheated jet of water and crystal shrapnel shot from his fingertips like a spear of boiling light, tearing through the first Banshee’s chest.

[CAVITATION PULSE — 248 DAMAGE]

[BANSHEE (1) — HP: 652 / 900]

The specter convulsed, its body flickering violently, the ice around its mouth cracking. But before it could break free, Gray fired again, a second pulse that punched clean through its core.

[CAVITATION PULSE — 252 DAMAGE]

[BANSHEE (1) — HP: 400 / 900]

The Banshee’s form began to unravel, threads of sorrow and mana bleeding into the water.

Gray flexed his new fingers, testing the sensation of channeling his skills through a humanoid body. It felt different. More precise and more controlled.

"Are they always this common in human territory?" he asked, firing a third pulse that finished the first Banshee entirely.

[BANSHEE (1) — DEFEATED — 1,200 EXP]

Cindy’s expression tightened. She raised both hands, reinforcing the ice around the remaining three.

"Of course they are," she said. "They haunt the shipping lanes. They follow fishing boats, merchant vessels, anything that carries strong emotion across the water. Crews are terrified of them. Entire ships have been lost because a Banshee screamed in the middle of the night and drove the sailors mad." Her frills lowered. "They’re one of the reasons the sea routes have been so dangerous, even before the Sun Eater."

Gray’s golden eyes narrowed.

"So they’re a plague."

"A persistent one," Cindy agreed. "They’re not strong individually, but they never stop coming. And they’re drawn to fear. The more terrified you are, the more of them show up."

Gray glanced at the three remaining Banshees, their jaws still frozen shut, their hollow eyes fixed on him with that eternal, sorrowful hunger.

"Then we don’t give them fear," he said.

He activated Sovereign’s Presence.

The aura erupted outward, not as killing intent, but as calm, absolute authority. The Banshees faltered, their spectral forms flickering, their hollow eyes dimming as the overwhelming weight of his presence pressed down on them.

[SOVEREIGN’S PRESENCE — FEAR RESISTANCE APPLIED]

[BANSHEE — EMOTIONAL FEEDING — DISRUPTED]

"They can’t feed on us," Gray said coldly. "They can’t scream. They’re just ghosts with nowhere to run."

Cindy’s frills lifted with surprise, then settled into something close to satisfaction.

"That’s... actually terrifying," she admitted. "But useful."

Gray raised his hand again, fingers spread, and fired Needle Storm. The paralytic needles shot from his palm in a wide arc, spreading through the water, striking all three Banshees at once. The needles exploded into crescent blades, carving through their spectral flesh.

[NEEDLE STORM — 212 DAMAGE TO ALL TARGETS]

[BANSHEE (2) — HP: 688 / 900]

[BANSHEE (3) — HP: 688 / 900]

[BANSHEE (4) — HP: 688 / 900]

The Banshees thrashed, their frozen jaws cracking, their bodies flickering with desperate, silent rage. But they couldn’t scream. They couldn’t feed. They couldn’t escape.

Cindy raised her hands again, frost gathering at her fingertips.

"[Glacial Lance]!"

A spear of ice shot through the water and punched through the second Banshee’s core, shattering it in a burst of frozen light.

[GLACIAL LANCE — 336 DAMAGE]

[BANSHEE (2) — HP: 352 / 900]

Gray finished it with a Void Reaper’s Lance, the void-edged spear forming in his hand like a blade of solidified darkness. He thrust it forward, and the spear tore through the Banshee’s unraveling form.

[VOID REAPER’S LANCE — 268 DAMAGE]

[BANSHEE (2) — DEFEATED — 1,200 EXP]

The third and fourth Banshees finally broke free of the ice, their mouths opening wide. But before they could scream, Lily darted between them, her five points spinning, and projected a volley of black spines that shredded through their spectral throats.

[LILY — DARK SPINE VOLLEY — 196 DAMAGE]

[BANSHEE (3) — HP: 492 / 900]

[BANSHEE (4) — HP: 492 / 900]

[SONIC ATTACKS — SEALED]

"Nice, Lily!" Cindy called.

Gray activated Tectonic Shift, slamming his foot into the seafloor. A jagged spire of stone erupted beneath the two remaining Banshees, launching them upward, their bodies breaking apart as they rose.

[TECTONIC SHIFT — 224 DAMAGE]

[BANSHEE (3) — HP: 268 / 900]

[BANSHEE (4) — HP: 268 / 900]

[STUNNED — 2 SECONDS]

He raised both hands, palms outward, and fired two Cavitation Pulses in rapid succession.

[CAVITATION PULSE — 256 DAMAGE]

[CAVITATION PULSE — 252 DAMAGE]

[BANSHEE (3) — DEFEATED — 1,200 EXP]

[BANSHEE (4) — DEFEATED — 1,200 EXP]

The last two Banshees dissolved into motes of fading light, their sorrow unraveling into the golden water. The surface above shimmered, calm and bright, untouched by the brief violence below.

Cindy let out a long breath, her frills relaxing.

"That was faster than usual."

Gray lowered his hands, flexing his fingers again. The humanoid form was still new, still strange, but it was already proving useful. His skills channeled differently through hands and arms, more precise, more controlled.

"They’re not a problem anymore," he said. "As long as we don’t give them fear."

Cindy drifted closer, her silver eyes studying him.

"You’re getting used to that body quickly."

Gray glanced down at his hands, then at the dark cloak Lily had woven for him.

"It’s efficient," he said. "I can see why humans rely on it."

Lily spun happily between them, her dark core pulsing with pride. She had helped and she was growing stronger with every fight.

Gray turned his gaze upward, toward the golden light above.

"Let’s go," he said. "The Great Tartarus is waiting."