"We’re almost there! Just try not to die."

Try not to die?! An attack from such a massive creature would be enough to completely vaporize me!

How could I not die?!

Dammit, I should’ve left that stupid shrimp alone. It’s way more trouble than it’s worth, and it didn’t even taste good!

’Master!’

’Sire, if you would like, we would be delighted to hold off that monster while you make an escape.’

’No, that won’t work. None of you stand a chance.’

It would be like sending out ants to catch a meteorite.

"Can’t you do something? You’re in the danger zone too."

The siren looked back at me, still beaming.

"I’m in no real danger since, if I end up dying here, I would just respond later. But as for you, the moment it releases that attack, the shock wave from it will cause your internal organs and core to explode immediately. Long before the real attack even gets to you."

I felt a shiver climb up my lower back. It felt as if my blood and internal organs coiled up inside me in fear.

Is this what it feels like when you’re going to die?

"Don’t worry, I won’t allow anything to happen to you."

Her words surprised me.

"Why?"

Suddenly a sadistic smile spread across the siren’s face as she looked back at me.

"Just imagining how pissed that bitch will get when I let you escape fills me with unbridled joy! I just can’t wait to see the look on her face."

Her reasons weren’t anything grand but...

"Whatever floats your boat, I guess."

Suddenly, the siren slowed down and positioned herself behind me.

"The drop-off is a straight shot from here; just position yourself."

Using her trident like a water cannon, she propelled me at least 10 times faster than the speed I was moving before.

Everything around me became a blur as my eyes could barely keep up with the speed at which everything was going by.

Soon the sea floor came into view. Instead of sand, the sea floor was made of beautiful marble.

There was even a wide hole inside the marble. It looked almost man-made.

Or made by some creature that possessed intelligence. My body slipped through the hole with ease, and immediately a powerful current began dragging me downward.

Even if I wanted to. Even if I fought, I couldn’t resist the current. It was as if I were being carried away against my will.

I glanced back, and I could see the siren’s majestic outline off in the distance. She had her trident raised towards the monster.

At that moment, everything went quiet. It was only when large cracks began to appear in my exoskeleton and my own blood filled the surroundings that I finally realized what happened.

The organ responsible for my hearing exploded. And worse of all, I could no longer sense Amanda’s presence.

It was as if she disappeared.

I wanted to look around and search for her, but my body was completely paralyzed, and in the next second, the marble walls around me began to cave in.

I didn’t see the crocodile’s attack. This was just the shockwave from it, and the moment the real attack hit, everything in its path would cease to exist.

The water pressure alone would break everything down to its tiniest molecule.

Slowly my eyes began to close as my body was drained of all its strength. The last thing I saw as my mind drifted away was the severed half of my body drifting beside me.

...

The first thing I felt was pain. Unimaginable pain that felt as if my very being were being ripped apart.

As if every cell were being doused with gasoline and set on fire.

Still, my body was so weak that I could barely open my eyes, but even when I did, my vision was blurry.

I could hardly make out a few moving black dots.

’It hurts. It hurts so much.’

A part of me wanted to die right here and now. The pain was just too unbearable, and it felt as if I was slowly losing my mind.

I knew that if I passed out again this would be the end. Something was wrong.

Something was very wrong. My instincts were telling me so. It felt as if someone were scrapping a piece of metal against my brain as if they wanted me to do something, but I couldn’t.

I couldn’t even thin straight.

’It just hurt so much.’

My eyes slowly began to close as I drifted off, but a sudden image jolted me away.

Amelia...

I was seeing her clear as day as if she was right here in front of me. She was holding something.

A child. Covered in shadows. It was my child, but I couldn’t see what they looked like.

If I close my eyes, I’ll never see what they look like.

I have to do something.

Immediately I pushed through the fogginess in my mind and lifted my head just enough to see what was happening.

My body was ripped in half. My internal organs spilling out onto the ground.

Around me were giant ants devouring my organs like scavengers while I lay helpless on the ground.

Seeing this made the pain all the more unbearable, and I suddenly got the urge to throw up.

I had to do something, but my mind was a mess. Just like the rest of my organs, my brain was destroyed, leaving only 1 consciousness remaining.

I think this was the consciousness responsible for flight. The consciousness responsible for my skills was destroyed, or else I would’ve molted instantly.

Somehow I have to find a way to use this consciousness to activate the skill, but just the thought is giving me a migraine.

Taking a deep breath, I cleared my mind of everything. Even the pain I was experiencing.

I washed it all from my mind and focused intensely. I imagined the sensation whenever I used this skill, and slowly it all became clear to me.

It felt as if my mind were being split in half, yet still I fought through it and willed the mana from my core into my body.

Almost immediately my current body began feeling like an empty husk as a new body began to form around my core.