Chương 224

The dark water rippled gently as they approached the thirteenth island. Small, glowing blue barnacles were stuck to the bottom of Chief Thalassa's wooden boat. They pulsed faintly in the pitch-black water, casting a strange, ghostly light on the waves. The island itself was a flat stretch of rocky shore leading up to a large stone building.

"Here we are," Thalassa said, resting his oars against the side of the boat.

"The thirteenth trial. I will wait here on the shore, Challenger." Rudra stood up and stretched his arms.

"What are the rules for this one?"

"The inside of that stone building is an endlessly deep underground sea," Thalassa explained. He looked incredibly nervous just talking about it.

"The exit door is ten kilometers away across the dark water. All you have to do is row silently across the water and reach the exit. If you make even a single splash, the Blind Leviathan will hear you. If it hears you, it will drag you to the bottom. You cannot fight it in its own domain." Rudra raised an eyebrow.

"Wait. The exit is ten kilometers away? But the building outside is barely the size of a large house."

"It is ancient magic," Thalassa nodded solemnly. Rudra grinned, tapping his heavy staff against his shoulder. A spatial expansion. That was incredibly rare. He definitely needed to scan the architecture using his [Legendary Sage's Eyes] before he left so that he could use it in his territory. A minor system ping flashed in his peripheral vision. [Your clone has successfully created [Seared Island Fish]!] [Rating: Rare] Rudra sighed.

The clone back on the beach was working hard, but the 10% stat penalty was heavily capping its production quality. It couldn't easily break through to the Epic-tier. He would have to do the Cooking Saint quest himself. He and Kratos walked up to the stone doors and pushed them open. [You have entered the Thirteenth Trial of the Orca Archipelago!] The moment they stepped inside, a terrible smell hit them. The air was thick and heavy. It smelled exactly like old copper and stagnant seaweed.

Both Rudra and Kratos immediately wrinkled their noses. Thalassa wasn't lying. They stood on a small stone platform near the entrance, but beyond that, it was miles of dark, still water. Rudra's eyes glowed faintly. He activated [Legendary Sage's Eyes] and looked at the cavern walls. The system began translating the incredibly complex spatial expansion magic. [Understanding of the Spatial Expanded Building is increasing...] [Understanding: 1%...]..

"That's going to take a few hours," Rudra muttered.

"Let's clear the trial first." He walked to the very edge of the stone platform. He didn't cast a silencing skill or try to sneak through. He just kicked a heavy rock directly into the dark water. SPLASH. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. The sound echoed loudly across the cavern. For two seconds, it was completely quiet. Then, the water fifty yards away violently erupted. A massive, terrifying serpent breached the surface.

It was covered in thick, dark blue scales. It had no eyes, just a smooth, armored head and a jaw filled with hundreds of jagged teeth. [Blind Leviathan Lv. 460] Rudra stared at the massive beast. Its oppressive, heavy aura immediately reminded him of Vritra. The Leviathan was still a few levels below his storm serpent partner, but it was easily one of the most formidable monsters he had faced. The beast's health bar hovered around a staggering 100, 000, 000 points.

[The level difference with the target is greater than 150!] [Title: 'Unreasonable Challenger' effect activated! Your damage increases by 10%.] The Leviathan didn't hesitate. It lunged forward with terrifying speed, its massive jaws snapping shut right toward the platform. [Target's jaw is snapping shut at your current coordinates in 0. 4 seconds. Roll left.] Rudra obeyed his [Super Sensitivity] immediately. He threw himself to the left.

The massive jaws slammed into the stone where he had just been standing, shattering the rock. Rudra kicked off the ground, using [Abyssal Step] to create invisible footholds in the empty air over the water. He brought Extortion around in a heavy swing. CLANG. The heavy metal bounced off the thick blue scales. Sparks flew into the dark air. [You have dealt 14, 500 damage to the target.] Rudra felt the recoil travel up his arms. The 150-level gap was a massive wall.

His normal swings barely scratched its health pool. The Leviathan twisted its body and whipped its massive tail out of the water. [Target is initiating a sweeping attack from your blind spot. Defend immediately.] Rudra barely raised his staff to block. The impact threw him backward. He skipped across the surface of the water and crashed hard into the cavern wall. [You have suffered 112, 000 damage!] He coughed up blood and dropped back to the stone platform. The fight turned into a brutal brawl.

The cavern was too dark, and the beast was too fast. Rudra relied entirely on [Mind's Eye] and [Super Sensitivity] to track the incoming attacks. He dodged wildly, flipping over massive tail swipes and side-stepping sonic blasts of water. He kept his [Legendary Sage's Eyes] active the entire time, scanning the beast every time it breached. [Understanding of the skill [Echolocation] has reached 100%] [You have fully understood the target's skill: Echolocation!] [You have learnt a Epic-rated knowledge!] [+1 Insight] [+1 Wisdom] [Echolocation] [Passive] [Allows the user to perfectly map their surroundings and track moving targets through sound waves up to 5 kilometers away. Condition of Use: Presence of Gills] [Understanding of the skill [Sonic Water Cannon] has reached 100%] [You have fully understood the target's skill: Sonic Water Cannon!] [You have learnt a Epic-rated knowledge!] [+1 Strength] [+1 Wisdom] [Sonic Water Cannon] [Active] [Compresses water and sound into a highly destructive projectile. Deals 400% magic damage and inflicts permanent deafness Condition of Use: Presence of Sonic Organ Resource Consumed: 500 Mana Skill Cooldown: 10 minutes] Rudra smiled, hoping for a new combat trick. But the text immediately turned red. [Error. Your human anatomy lacks gills and a sonic organ.] [These skills cannot be used. They have been locked.]"Completely useless," Rudra complained, dodging another massive bite.

Every time he tried to start his [Avalanche] combo to build up his momentum, the Leviathan would dive underwater and break his chain. Then, he missed a cue. The Leviathan dove deep, disappearing entirely from the surface. A split second later, the water directly beneath Rudra's feet exploded upward. The massive armored head breached vertically, slamming squarely into Rudra's chest. The sheer weight of the monster crushed him upward, pinning him violently against the stone ceiling of the cavern.

[You have suffered 350, 000 damage!] [Your health has dropped to 0!]