Turning Chapter 965
The seafloor—untouched by mankind since the birth of the world—began to collapse, finally crumbling with a silent scream.
Rumble...
The pitch-black hole that had been hiding itself emerged. A dense, pale cloud of silt billowed upward like mist, and the pressure of the surrounding water spiked as it thickened.
Only then did the grotesque beings lurking inside the rift react. Amid the collapsing—or already collapsed—earth, they thrashed and howled, desperate to escape.
Under normal circumstances, their struggle would have shaken and ruptured the seabed, triggering destructive quakes. But thanks to Yuder’s power, the earth had already softened. The impact, while considerable, failed to spread wide enough to escalate into a full seismic event. Instead, the monsters’ attempts to break free only served to further accelerate the collapse initiated by Yuder’s power.
Even so, not all of the surrounding seabed had given way yet. Giant, ancient rock formations—pillars that had held up the seabed for eons—still stood scattered like hidden reefs. When the monsters smashed into them, deafening shocks reverberated through the ocean, like the world itself was tearing apart.
Yuder felt his pores stand on end, as if the entire world was threatening to split open.
But in that chaos, he didn’t blink. He remained utterly focused, pouring out every last drop of power he had.
His body trembled instinctively, teetering at the edge of pain. But inside his mind, there was perfect clarity. Stillness.
It was strange. Even while focusing with such terrifying intensity, it felt like his consciousness was somehow split—as if he could also fully savor this fleeting moment of being together with Kishiar. As if he were grateful for it.
He was not afraid. He wasn’t worried.
Yuder, like a man who had forgotten all else, drew out his power mercilessly. The energy around his body glowed faintly red in the darkness, violently pulsing. Even the seemingly immovable rocks of the deep finally began to weaken and fracture.
From within the rift, the monsters struggled—entangled in collapsing earth. Tentacle-like masses, barely managing to slip out, were crushed under the weight of soil. The next waves of flesh came to fill those gaps, only to be destroyed in turn.
It looked like a brutal contest of strength, a tug-of-war on an enormous scale.
Each time Yuder’s power clashed ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ with the monstrosities at the rift’s edge, the impact shook him to his core—like his body would be torn apart. Yet he didn’t stop. No sensation could match the grounding grip of Kishiar’s hand, still tightly entwined with his in the dark.
“......”
As if Kishiar sensed Yuder’s thoughts, the hand grasping his tightened slightly.
Yuder responded, tightening his own grip as he closed his eyes.
And at last—
Rrrrmmmble, rrrrrrrmmmble...!
Yuder’s power pierced through the rift and gripped the seabed that had hidden it. The earth, surrendering to the strength of a single human, began to form a vast hole—large enough to swallow a city—smoothly, savagely, and without resistance. Had anyone been watching from above, it might have resembled sand sinking rapidly into a vortex, a stage collapsing from underneath.
As the buried rift was fully exposed, its contents threatened to spill out in a single, catastrophic wave.
But at the same time, it was also the moment when they had the best chance of forcing the monsters out without triggering a total collapse of the seafloor.
Yuder thought, calmly—
Now.
At that exact moment, Kishiar’s power was unleashed.
There had been no signal. And yet, perfectly in sync with Yuder’s intentions, Kishiar’s energy swept gently but swiftly past him, racing toward the rift. It struck a portion of the monster mass already emerging.
----!
The monsters—too massive for Yuder to properly engage on his own—howled in fury.
The formless chaos that had been pouring out without order or intent suddenly paused, as if grasped by an invisible hand.
Only Kishiar could interpret and respond to Yuder’s thoughts like this. Only he could use his power in this way.
Yuder hoped—desperately—that Kishiar’s power would be effective.
And then—
CRAAAAASH!
A roar erupted from below as the water currents reversed. The results appeared instantly.
Yuder instinctively knew: Kishiar’s power had connected.
What Yuder had asked of Kishiar was deceptively simple and incredibly difficult:
Before the monster mass could dig downward and trigger a quake, use the vacuum Yuder had created to redirect them—pull them, twist them—upward.
Kishiar’s power wasn’t absolute. Even in full strength, it was doubtful whether he could manipulate such a massive being alone. But in the sea—once something entered its flow—resisting the current became nearly impossible.
If Kishiar’s power could ride that current, if it merged with the natural flow Yuder had set in motion, then it didn’t need to be overwhelming. That alone made this impossible task possible. Not for anyone else—but for Kishiar, it could work.
And it did.
At the perfect moment, Kishiar’s power met Yuder’s and didn’t oppose the overwhelming flow—it rode it, fused with it.
WHOOOOOOSH!
The monster mass, which had been attempting to slither upward in a half-formed tentacle, suddenly recoiled—caught as if struck in the back of the head.
Then the “pulling” force—combined with the water’s flow—grabbed it.
Even the smallest pebble can trip a giant if it hits the right spot. Kishiar’s move had exactly that effect.
In an instant, the flow surrounding the rift shifted. The monstrous mass, which had once surged against the current in a chaotic rage, now lost control—entangled in itself, flailing helplessly.
No longer did the creature emerge from the rift of its own volition. Now it looked as if some unseen hand was dragging it out against its will.
And this, miraculously, did not interfere with Yuder’s efforts. It aligned perfectly, amplifying the collapse, breaking the monsters’ advantage.
The water had become a battlefield. Thick with debris, completely obscured. Danger loomed on every side. The deadliest enemy was the one you couldn’t see—the one poised to strike from nowhere.
Fighting here without armor, without rest, pulling power from your own body was no different than gambling your life.
Yet neither Yuder nor Kishiar retreated.
Their two completely different powers interlocked, striving for the same goal—protecting each other, covering one another’s blind spots.
No matter how violently they were thrown around, no matter how much they bled, their powers never ceased. They never faltered.
In the chaos, in the disorder—Yuder thought only one thing. It wasn’t profound.
He didn’t want to let go of this hand.
That was all. That thought alone remained.
The vibrations from the seabed finally stopped.
The Cavalry members, who had been spending all their strength just to protect themselves, finally allowed themselves a shaky breath.
Just resisting the upward surge from below had nearly killed them. The energy cost was severe. Steber, ignoring the fresh blood leaking from a new wound, clenched his jaw as he stared into the darkness below.
‘...I don’t even have the strength to wonder or worry anymore. Are Yuder and the Commander alright...?’
Even knowing how superhuman they were, it was hard not to worry after a quake like that. Yuder had said that if his plan worked, the monsters would come to them. Had it worked?
If it hadn’t, then soon, the monsters would erupt from the buried rift—and a massive undersea quake would follow. Death would be inevitable. They would have to prepare for that.
‘I made peace with that already...’
Still, he couldn’t help but think of the family he’d left behind.
‘I told them when I wrote my will—not to grieve too deeply. Just to be proud.’
Even if he went to the surface and survived, it wouldn’t be a path he could be proud of. That was why he had refused to retreat, no matter how many chances he’d been given.
Just then, as Steber blinked painfully, he noticed the man who’d come with the Commander—Mick—mouthing something and pointing downward.
Following his finger, Steber looked down—
—and at that moment, an unmistakable surge of water and vibration erupted from below, shaking his entire body.
‘----!’
From within it, a massive, serpent-like monster rose—rushing toward them.