Turning Chapter 967

At the same time, at the very bottom of the group, cutting through the current beside Kishiar, Yuder was thinking.

“We’ve done everything we could under the sea.”

The moment passed, distant and blurry, when all he could do was forget everything and focus on exerting his power in the deepest part of the ocean floor. And now, Yuder instinctively realized—there were no longer any external forces trying to break through his defenses and burrow further beneath the seabed.

That meant one thing: Yuder had successfully protected the ground, and the monster Kishiar had drawn out with his power had been expelled in a direction other than downward.

It was a result beyond even their expectations—a complete success.

But of course, that didn’t mean everything was over. The monster that had been forced out would have ridden the flow of water upward, and now they had to brace for the aftermath of the final rift’s disappearance. That aftermath would be, naturally, an earthquake.

The final rift was half-buried beneath the seafloor. Even though they had prevented the monster within it from tunneling further underground, the moment that rift disappeared, it would leave an empty cavity. And all the rock that Yuder had previously shattered would shift at once to fill the void.

Even with Kishiar’s support and all his might, it had taken them this long to collapse the area as far as they had. Building something took time, but collapse happened in an instant. With the little strength they had left, they couldn’t possibly stop the quake outright. And pouring their remaining energy into that now would yield too little reward—worse, it would only drag Kishiar into danger alongside him.

So, in the end, the earthquake couldn’t be completely avoided. That was something Yuder had already anticipated—and had told the other members before they began.

Originally, he hadn’t expected things to go this well. He thought the process of extracting the monster would trigger minor quakes or some kind of unexpected chaos. He had expected that, even if the goal were achieved, they would have to stay behind at the seabed to manage the aftermath for quite a while. But now, they had succeeded in separating the monster without a seabed quake. The rift hadn’t disappeared immediately either. Just before its collapse, a very brief window had opened up.

Which meant... a secondary plan could now be considered.

The quake that would be caused by the rift’s disappearance would certainly be weaker than the one that should have happened had the monster burrowed deeper. They had time now—what if they used this window to regroup with the nearby members and quickly retreat to the surface, where they could then deal with the rift’s aftermath and any remaining monsters?

If they could pull it off, they could protect the members for sure. In their current state—running low on strength—this would be the safest possible outcome.

But what if Yuder was wrong, and the quake caused by the rift’s collapse was just as strong as the one from the monster?

What if something had already happened to Steber’s group before they could regroup?

Sure, joining the other members on the surface sounded easy—but what if doing so only caused more confusion?

If it were just Yuder, it might be better to stay and hold ground like before—but wasn’t it the right call to send Kishiar up first?

Ironically, the fact that things had gone too well made deciding what to do next even harder. Yuder, usually decisive, now found himself hesitating. A single moment of misjudgment—just like in his past life—could mean the loss of tens of thousands of lives. Who wouldn’t be afraid of that?

And then, the one who ended that short yet fierce internal debate was none other than Kishiar la Orr.

Still holding tightly to Yuder’s hand, Kishiar gently tugged. As Yuder turned his head, the man reached out with his free hand, brushing Yuder’s cheek, his glowing golden eyes warm even in the cold, dark waters.

That slow, deliberate touch in the frigid deep felt like fire. But not the kind that burned. It was more like the heat from a hearth in winter—so hot it felt comforting, secure.

Kishiar parted his lips and spoke a few brief words, clear enough for Yuder to understand even without sound.

“–Actually, at the last moment, I redirected the force.”

Redirected... the force?

“What do you mean...”

For a moment, Yuder couldn’t make sense of the cryptic statement. But then his eyes widened.

While Yuder had been manipulating the earth, Kishiar had been keeping the monster from burrowing deeper into the rift. If he’d redirected that force at the last second, it could mean he had reversed it—pushed the monster away instead of pulling it in.

But pushing something didn’t have to mean only one direction.

Yuder recalled what the members had told him about Kishiar’s battle.

That miracle—when the enormous monster had been shattered into fragments so that the others only had to fight smaller ones. They didn’t know exactly how he had done it, but it must have involved wounding the creature’s exterior and then using his power to “push” and sever the connections between the smaller entities that made up the larger whole.

So... if Kishiar had just pulled off something similar again—

The monsters thrashing to escape the rift wouldn’t have been fully linked yet. Entangled in the seabed collapse that Yuder had triggered, they would’ve been vulnerable. And with Kishiar’s power, perhaps he’d found a way to exploit those weak connections, however briefly.

If that’s what he had done—if he had penetrated those fragile links and unraveled the binding threads—

Then the last monster, the massive one that had just escaped, wouldn’t be able to move as a single body like the previous ones. It wouldn’t be able to generate its own massive current. And if they were lucky, even a small attack could break it into pieces right in the water. Fragmented monsters weren’t easy opponents, but at least they couldn’t do what the big one could.

If that was the case, then the second plan he’d just been mulling over suddenly seemed not just possible—but very viable.

Yuder stared blankly at the man who had accomplished such a feat amidst the chaos... and silently smiled.

“...Then heading up is the better option.”

“Shall we, then.”

The hesitation vanished. Yuder realized—only now—that he had truly wanted to go with the second option all along.

Rumble. A vibration echoed from the giant crater Yuder had formed in the seabed. The rift, with nothing left inside, was finally beginning to collapse.

Kishiar wrapped his arms around Yuder’s waist. If Yuder had relied only on his own strength, they’d never have made it up fast enough. But the moment Kishiar’s power added to his, the current reversed and launched them upward without resistance.

And now—this was the moment.

The shattered earth began to shift, filling the void left by the disappearing rift. The vibration rippled through the water. The tremors began stirring the sea, sweeping up the scattered fragments of monsters # Nоvеlight # and drawing them upward.

Yuder felt the entire sequence of events more clearly than anyone. Without looking back, he focused entirely on pushing everyone upward with everything he had left. His strength was nearly gone, but the current he created never weakened—it didn’t vanish. It kept doing its job.

Not just because Kishiar’s power was aiding him—but because the other members, too, were quietly adding what strength they could to the flow Yuder had begun.

They ascended rapidly. The pressure changed violently. A protective force, glowing white, surrounded their bodies. The black sea turned blue, then pale, then bright—until at last, it rose around them as a massive wave.

–SPLASH––!

With a rush of water crashing over their skin and a sound like something being hurled from the deep, they burst to the surface where their companions waited.

“–Haaah! Cough, cough!”

“Commander!”

“Yuder!”

The members—struggling to steady a boat that had nearly overturned—rushed forward, reaching out to pull them in. Steber and the others, floating and gasping, coughed up seawater.

Yuder instinctively turned his head upward toward the sun. It was high in the sky now. Beside him, another figure emerged from the water, drenched, golden hair dripping. His pale face wore a faint smile.

His skin was covered in thin cuts. His clothing, far from what one would expect of a noble royal, was in complete disarray.

And yet—he was alive. Smiling. He had returned with them, alive.

“What happened down there? The sea, it—”

At that moment, the waves surged ominously once more. Kishiar’s expression shifted. Still half-submerged, he raised a hand and pointed toward the deep.

“A wave carrying the monsters will hit soon. But this will be the last one. Is everyone ready?”