Aqua
I grit my teeth when the snake manages to graze me when charging forwards. Sending me flying to slam into the wall of the cavern. But thanks to that I manage to make it into the tunnel heading towards the exit of the cave system.
So I just swim straight through the tunnel with the snake eventually entering the tunnel too. Albeit with its face being damn near all I can see when I look back.
The only bright side of this entire situation is that the snake doesn’t seem to have even a single ranged attack.
Either that or it’s just holding back to not send the entire ceiling crashing down on us.
Whatever its reasoning, I continue swimming as fast as I can through the tunnel. And thanks to the size of the tunnel limiting the snake’s movements a little and sometimes making it crash through walls just to cut corners, I manage to keep ahead of it.
But only just.
I continue swimming as hard as I can, with all five of my hearts pounding in my torso. So hard that all I can hear right now are those heartbeats along with the snake’s hissing.
Not the walls crumbling when it charges through them, not the rubble falling from the ceiling, and not even the sound of the water.
All of that just passes in one ear and out the other as I swim as hard as I can.
I swim and swim and swim. Pushing myself until my muscles burn.
Even activating the bracelet for an extra push right when the serpent’s mouth is about to reach me. Letting me build some distance again.
Everything around me just blurs as I focus on nothing but where I’m swimming and on swimming as fast as I can.
I barely even register the right hand flashing by in my vision as I swim, implying that my hand finished regenerating at some point. Possibly an added effect of the bracelet’s berserk increasing my REGEN stat’s effect or something.
But when I reach the end of the tunnel and swim straight out into the waters beyond the cavern, I realize just making it outside doesn’t do much of anything to help. Since the snake just bursts out from the tunnel, collapsing the tunnel entirely in the process behind it. Then it glares at me as its massive body slithers around in the water and its hateful eyes still glare at me.
Clearly upset about me killing all those eels and snakes in that cavern.
Damnit, I knew I should’ve just avoided that cavern. From the moment I realized there was a chance something strong enough to scare off the shark was in there, I should’ve stayed away.
But nope. I just had to get greedy.
Wanting to be as high a level as possible before leaving the caves.
I grit my teeth as I see the snake slowly beginning to move around me in a circle. With its long body literally making a ring around me as it does it.
After a brief moment trying to think of any possible way to get out of this, I decide to just go wild.
I activate every skill I have.
Pressure of the Abyss, Call of the Abyss, Hydrokinetic Wrath, Abyssal Kraken’s Embrace, and even transforming my body in nearly every way possible.
All in the hope to at least slow down the serpent.This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.
But the serpent just suddenly darts its head in, gobbling down two of the orcas and three tentacles all in one bite. With the attacks from Hydrokinetic Wrath literally pinging against its scales. And the thing barely slowing down in the abyss pressured water.
I grit my teeth as the tentacles on my back also ping off of the serpent’s scales.
Even when I finally give in and rush forwards to bite with my own mouth, my jaws transformed into that of an orca’s, my jaws barely dig even an inch into the scale. Much less the skin beneath the scale or the flesh beneath that.
Didn’t think that would work.
The snake lets out an angry hiss before doing another lap and wiping out the rest of the tentacles and orcas. Then as its entire body is beginning to surround me on nearly all sides, it finally brings its head above me in the only large opening left between its body. Just gazing at me from up there with two glowing green eyes.
In the corner of my eye I finally catch the chat again. And their response this time is actually a little surprising.
[Damnit, nooooo! Please don’t die Aqua!!!]
[No, please don’t die…]
[AQUUUUAAAA RUUUUUUUUNNNNN!!!!]
[she’s been dealing with so much, and this is how it’s supposed to end…?]
They’re actually… sad… for me.
The slightest hint of a smile makes it onto my face, only for a message from someone I marked as a priority to appear in my Broadcast System menu in the junk mail section. Which I quickly glance at, only to find tears beginning to form in my eyes as I smile a sad smile in the direction of the serpent that’s just hissing and flicking its tongue out.
Don’t you dare die, you brat! I refuse to let you die on me and those damned mints of yours!
“I’m sorry lady, but…” I smile a sad smile at the message, and technically at the serpent as well as more tears flow from my eyes.
Although I’m not sure how obvious the tears are when I’m underwater and within the effects of Pressure of the Abyss.
The snake flicks its tongue out again as I give a brief, sad salute and leave a simple, “It was a good run.”
Then the snake shoots its head forwards while opening its jaws wide, showing me the inside of its mouth as it approaches. Showing me the end.
A real end this time.
I close my eyes as I run out of mana and the Pressure of the Abyss and transformation skills comes to an end.
But instead of feeling any sort of pain, I feel what seems kind of like an arm wrapping around me as I somehow move at incredible speeds through the water. Making me finally open my eyes just to see me practically pressed up against someone with his arm around my side, carrying me away from the serpent.
A serpent that looks splitting mad right now when its jaws crash down on nothing.
Huh?
I glance at the chat.
[????]
[???]
[What the…]
[A human?]
I turn my gaze to my left to find a face very close to my own in the water. But the man currently carrying me doesn’t seem to be doing too well as we finally come to a stop.
So I break out of his hold and turn my attention back to the serpent that is now looking this way.
The man who just saved me opens his mouth to speak, only for me to suddenly rush at him with even more speed than what he used to carry me away as I grab ahold of him and push him out of the way this time as the serpent rushes by. Trying to chomp the both of us.
Except I just straight up pick him up in a princess carry as I swim, making him look incredibly awkward in the process. Especially since he’s at least a head taller than me.
[LMAO]
[Turnaround!]
[The princess who saved the prince after he saved the princess!]
[And the way she’s carrying him LOL]
As we soar through the water, I can’t help but look at the man in my arms with confusion while asking, “Who are you?”
The man, with his hands held awkwardly in front of him yet to his side, seemingly like he’s trying to keep them far away from my chest to avoid any accidents, says, “Uh, J-Jaleth.” He blinks before breaking out of my arms when we slow down again. “I, uh, I’ve been looking for you for a while now.”
Both of us rush to the sides when the serpent flings itself straight at us from where we got away from it.
“Okay, maybe we should escape before we talk,” the man, Jaleth according to him, says, confusing me for a moment.
“You know how to do that?” I ask with a frown before seeing the serpent beginning to try what it did with me earlier. Coiling itself up to trap us.
It may not be the most flexible of creatures, but it’s fast and incredibly long. So it can wrap itself up to trap us if given the chance.
“Of course,” Jaleth says with a smile on his face. “Just gotta blind them.” Then he throws some sort of blue orb and says, “Close your eyes.”
And while it may not be the best idea to trust a random stranger, said random stranger saved me. So I go ahead and close my eyes.
Only for a bright blue light to shine through my eyelids, making the serpent let out a screech of anger and pain. Following which I hear the man’s voice again as he says, “Let’s go!”
When I open my eyes again, I see him swimming off as the serpent is shaking its head nearby.
Huh.
I guess I’ve lived to see another day.
And without any further hesitation, I hurry up to follow after him.