CHAPTER 231: DESCENT INTO ATLANTIS HEHE

An hour later.

Far below the surface, deep within an endless sea glowing with light and color, an entire city stretched across the ocean floor vibrant, alive, and unreal.

The city shimmered beneath the waves, its structures built entirely of corals red, blue, violet, and gold forming towers and bridges that pulsed faintly with energy. Every wall seemed alive, every street glowing softly as if breathing. The entire landscape gave the impression of a living, moving organism, a harmony of magic and marine life fused into civilization.

Despite being deep underwater, the world here wasn’t dark. Instead, everything glowed with radiant luminescence schools of golden fish drifting through coral arches, glowing shells illuminating the paths below, and bright rays of light shining down from above as though the sun itself had sunk beneath the sea to live among them.

And strangely enough, even though this was all underwater, the pressure was light almost like air. The water wasn’t suffocating or crushing. It was soft, weightless, almost dreamlike.

It was a place that shouldn’t exist, yet here it was.. Atlantis.

At the very edge of that vast coral city, the waters above suddenly rippled.

Then

A sharp streak of movement split through the glowing surface, slicing downward through the water at incredible speed. It cut a glowing line through the sea like a falling meteor.

The streak grew larger and larger as it descended, trailing light and bubbles.

It wasn’t an object. It was two figures.. a boy and a girl Razeal and Maria, both falling from the chaos of the Reverse Gates high above.

They were being shot downward through the ocean, spiraling uncontrollably through the deep blue expanse, propelled by the sheer force of the current that had spat them out.

Razeal had one arm locked tightly around Maria’s hand, gripping her so firmly it almost hurt. Both of them were plummeting through the water like a bullet, the current dragging them wherever it pleased.

They had no footing, no ground to brace themselves, no control over the speed. The only thing they could do ..was fall.

"Arghhhhhh!" Maria screamed, her voice echoing strangely through the water.

Even she couldn’t comprehend how she was screaming.. her mouth open, her lungs still full of air, the sound somehow traveling through liquid as if through air. She didn’t care to understand it. All she could see was the world spinning, the currents rushing past her face, and the ground far below rushing closer and closer with terrifying speed.

Her wide eyes reflected the glowing city coming into view beneath them, the enormous coral structures that now looked more like sharpened blades from this angle. A glowing square-shaped building was directly below them the size of a small mountain, bright and luminous and they were headed straight for it.

Her mind blanked. There was no room for thought, only raw panic.

Her hands flailed instinctively even though Razeal’s grip on her was like iron. She couldn’t move, couldn’t think.. only watch as the ground below became clearer, closer, and terrifyingly fast.

She could see the glowing coral spires rising toward her like spears.

She didn’t even have the time to pray.

Razeal, however, wasn’t screaming.

His dark eyes were focused, cold, and calculating though behind that calm face, frustration burned.

What an idiot, he thought grimly, glancing briefly at the girl he was holding. She was panicking, thrashing, her expression filled with absolute fear. And though he couldn’t blame her, part of him couldn’t help but feel annoyed at himself instead.

He should’ve known this could happen. He should’ve expected something like the Reverse Gates.. something unpredictable, dangerous. Usually, he would’ve prepared for this sort of situation. He always did. But this time... his focus had been elsewhere.

He had let his concentration waver.

For the past several days, his attention had been almost entirely absorbed by the Book of Eventual Evil. Every spare moment had gone into studying it, deciphering its strange runes, memorizing its ancient scripts. Everything else including his surroundings had faded into the background.

And now, this was the result.

Pathetic, he thought bitterly. I let my guard down.

But even now, in the middle of this freefall through the sea, his mind was racing scanning every possible spell, technique, and power he could use to slow their descent.

His dark mana reserves were still completely drained. He could feel the emptiness gnawing at him, the hollow cold within his body.

If I had even a fraction left, I could’ve used Shadow Manipulation to cushion us... he thought grimly. But no.. that wasn’t the option..

He considered using Flow but immediately dismissed it. His body was already too unstable; using that technique in this state would only shred his body itself..

And as for the dark rituals or anything from the forbidden arts... impossible. All of them required dark mana as a base.

His options were gone.

He wasn’t worried about himself his body could take it. His bones were strong, reinforced with mana through years of conditioning. His regeneration alone would handle most of the damage.

But the women?

He glanced at Maria.

Her breathing was erratic. Her pupils were dilated, her hair floating wildly around her face. Her body trembled, and she was clearly half-conscious from shock.

At this speed, if they hit anything, even sand resistance down alone could crush her from the impact.

Razeal sighed..

He couldn’t let her die.. not yet.. for reason he wasn’t entirely sure but it was sure that she could come into help..

What an idiot, he muttered again under his breath, though he wasn’t sure if he was referring to her or himself.

With a sudden, sharp movement, he pulled on her arm, yanking her toward him. Maria gasped as her body was forcefully drawn against his chest.

Her wide, terrified eyes met his for a fraction of a second.. and before she could process what was happening, he had wrapped his arms tightly around her.

Her face pressed against his chest, her hands caught between them as he locked her in place.

The sudden warmth of his body contrasted sharply against the cold of the deep sea.

"What are you...?" Maria managed to say, her voice trembling, half-choked by the pressure of their descent. Even in the chaos of the fall, even as they hurtled through the glowing water toward the ground below, she couldn’t stop herself from questioning what Razeal was doing.

Her eyes widened when she realized just how close their faces were so close she could feel his breath brushing against her cheek. His grip around her waist was like iron, his body pressed tightly against hers as the currents screamed past them.

For a brief, ridiculous second, a thought flashed through her mind was he trying to take advantage of her? Her body stiffened at the sensation, at how her chest was pressed against his, her legs tangled with his. The warmth of his body against hers felt unnervingly human even in the cold water around them.

But then.. she looked down, meeting his face.

It was calm. Expressionless. Cold and.. Uninterested.

There wasn’t a single flicker of desire, panic, or even awareness of the closeness between them. His dark bottomless eyes stared downward with complete focus, scanning the rapidly approaching coral ground below. He wasn’t even looking at her as if she didn’t exist.

What the... does he not feel anything? Maria thought, utterly bewildered.

Before she could dwell on it further, Razeal suddenly shifted his position, twisting his body mid descent.

He turned his back toward the ground and pulled her against his chest so that she was facing upward now, shielded beneath him. It took her a second to realize what he was doing turning himself into a barrier, putting his own body between her and the impact that was seconds away.

A dozen confused thoughts stormed her mind. What is he doing? Why would he..

But before she could finish even one, his arms tightened even more around her, pulling her closer until she could feel his heartbeat steady, unfazed, unbothered.. even as they plummeted faster and faster.

Her own heartbeat was wild, erratic, pounding against her chest like a trapped bird. Her face flushed, her mind blanking from confusion and panic. She couldn’t even think straight anymore, not when she could feel the vibration of his voice in his chest, not when his warmth was the only real thing in the chaos around her.

Then suddenly, he raised his head slightly his lips brushing so close to her ear that she felt the faintest whisper of air against her skin. The sensation sent a sharp shiver down her entire spine, her body freezing in place.

For a single, terrifying moment, she thought Is he going to kiss me?!

Her eyes twitching.

But the words that came next instantly crushed that thought to dust.

"What the fuck are you doing, you idiot..."

His voice was calm, low, but edged with irritation.

"You have water affinity, and we’re inside water. Can you not use it and try to at least stop our descent? Believe me, nothing’s going to happen to me.. but you’ll definitely die a death fitting for a stupid bird who wanted to become meat paste."

His whisper was sharp, his tone unbothered.. but his words were filled with clear annoyance, even a hint of worry hidden behind the coldness.

Maria blinked in disbelief, momentarily forgetting the fact that they were literally falling through the ocean.

Water affinity... oh right..

Her eyes widened as realization struck her like a bolt of lightning.

"Ahh!" she gasped as her aqua blue eyes glowing suddenly, faintly illuminating the water around them. How could she forget something so basic? She was a water user, one of the best of her whole family ..and yet, in her panic, she hadn’t even thought to use her ability.

Her fingers twitched, and in the next instant, shimmering layers of energy began to form around them.

The water beneath Razeal’s back rippled and hardened, forming dense waves of compressed currents. It looked like a translucent wall of liquid glowing faintly with aquamarine light. The magic flared outward, forming rings beneath them to slow their speed.

The resistance hit immediately. Razeal felt it the pull of the water pushing against them, the pressure increasing slightly. It wasn’t enough to stop them entirely, but he could feel their descent slowing by a fraction.

Still, his face remained blank.

"Useless," he muttered quietly, his words brushing against her ear again.

The whisper was enough to make her grit her teeth in frustration.

"Shut up!" she hissed, her eyes narrowing as she pushed harder, pouring every ounce of focus and mana she could muster into the spell. Her aqua-blue glow brightened, spreading through the water like ripples of light. The liquid barrier beneath them thickened, shimmering brighter as more layers formed.

But it still wasn’t enough.

Their fall continued, faster than her magic could resist. The barrier rippled violently under the pressure, cracking, breaking apart into bursts of blue light.

From afar, their descent looked like a streak of glowing azure fire two figures wrapped in blue energy, tearing through the deep water like a comet.

Maria didn’t stop. Even as her body trembled, even as her mana drained rapidly, she kept forcing the water to harden beneath them, to push back, to resist. Every second they slowed even slightly was another second that might save her life.

Her eyes burned from the glow, her hands trembling as she kept channeling. Her heartbeat thundered in her chest.

Razeal, meanwhile, didn’t move. His expression didn’t change. His grip around her remained strong and firm, like an anchor holding her steady in the storm. He could feel her struggling, sense the desperate bursts of mana leaving her body but he said nothing more.

He had already adjusted his position, prepared for impact. His focus was entirely on the ground now.

And then.. he saw it.

The square coral building below them, glowing with faint golden blue light. The runes etched into its surface reflected through the water, forming a geometric pattern of light.

They were falling directly toward it.

There was no time left.

Maria’s last layer of resistance cracked, shattering like glass. Her eyes widened, knowing it wasn’t enough they were still going too fast.

She clenched her teeth, shut her eyes tight, and pushed all her remaining mana into one final burst a last, desperate attempt to slow them down.

The ocean glowed bright blue for a single moment.

And then

BOOOOOOOM!

The impact exploded through the water, shaking the coral building to its very foundation.

A violent burst of bubbles and light erupted in every direction as they slammed into the rooftop. The roof shattered instantly, coral debris scattering like shards of glass.

They went straight through it a trail of destruction left in their wake.

CRASH!

They broke through another layer, crashing down into the building’s interior smashing through tables, walls, and furniture made of crystal-like coral. The impact sent cracks spreading through the marble floor, and sand from the ocean bed beneath rose in thick clouds, floating upward and drifting through the glowing water like dust in sunlight.

Maria’s eyes were shut tight. She didn’t even feel the impact just the crushing pressure of Razeal’s arms around her and the deep rumble of the world shaking.

The impact didn’t just shake the building.. it erupted through it like a cannon blast.

All around the coral restaurant, people who had been sitting peacefully moments ago laughing, chatting, and eating were sent flying from their chairs. The shockwave rippled outward, shattering plates, scattering food, and overturning tables made of crystal coral.

Dishes, silverware, even the glowing cups filled with bioluminescent drinks went tumbling into the water, spinning through the air like colorful debris.

Crashes, shouts, and startled screams filled the entire room.

A man who had been sipping his drink moments ago was suddenly slammed into the wall, his cup floating away like a bubble. A couple at the corner table clung to each other as their table flipped, and others tumbled over one another in a chaotic swirl of motion.

Everything had happened so suddenly that for a moment, no one could even understand what had just struck them.

From the hole in the ceiling a jagged, cracked wound in the coral roof.. dust and sand drifted downward like smoke. The once tranquil, vibrant place now roared with confusion.

And amid all the noise and panic, at the far corner of the restaurant, a young woman with striking yellow hair sat calmly at her table.

She had been the only one who hadn’t panicked. Her expression was composed, though one brow had lifted slightly in curiosity. Her yellow eyes reflected the chaos unfolding in front of her yet there was no disturbance in them, only sharp interest.

Even when chunks of coral stone flew toward her, she hadn’t flinched. Her movements were fluid, her head tilting just slightly to the side, letting the debris miss her by inches.

Her gaze had already caught it the blur that had fallen through the ceiling.

Through the cloud of dust, she had seen the moment it happened. A man... his arms tightly wrapped around a woman had come crashing down through the roof, shielding her from the impact.

That alone would have been strange enough. But what made her golden eyes narrow was the aqua-blue glow that surrounded them as they fell..

"Interesting..." she murmured to herself, the corners of her lips curving faintly as she rested her chin on her hand, watching the crater forming in the center of the floor.

The chaos around her faded into background noise.

Now ..present moment.

Cough. Cough.

Maria’s voice broke through the silence as she pushed herself up from the rubble.

The impact had carved a deep crater into the coral floor, the edges cracked and broken, fine grains of sand floating in the water around her. She blinked several times, her vision swimming for a moment before it cleared.

Her arms trembled slightly as she tried to stand, her chest heaving.

Her eyes fell downward ..and there he was.

Razeal.

He was already on his feet, dusting himself off calmly, his dark eyes scanning their surroundings as if nothing extraordinary had happened.

Maria blinked again, trying to comprehend how he could be that composed after the fall they’d just taken.

She looked down at herself her clothes were wet and a little torn at the edges, but there wasn’t a single injury on her body. Not a bruise. Not even a scratch.

Her magic alone couldn’t have done that. She knew her limits better than anyone. Her water affinity had slowed their descent a little, but the force of that crash should’ve been enough to break bones ...even with her water magic.

So then...

She turned her gaze back to Razeal, her expression softening for the first time.

It was him.

She didn’t know how, but deep inside she could tell.. he had saved her. Again.

He had done the same thing on the ship, when she was about to be flung away by the violent tide. And now, even falling from who-knows-how-high, he had somehow managed to protect her from the worst of it.

Her throat tightened slightly. She wasn’t the kind to easily admit gratitude.. especially to someone as unreadable and irritating as him but this time, she couldn’t stop herself.

"...Thanks," she whispered, her voice quiet and slightly hesitant.

Razeal, who was in the middle of brushing wet sand and coral dust from his black coat, glanced sideways at her, his expression blank.

"What?" he asked, his tone flat as if he hadn’t quite heard her or maybe just didn’t care to.

Maria blinked, caught off guard. "Nothing," she said quickly, her voice curt, turning her face away before he could see the faint flush on her cheeks.

Razeal shrugged. "Whatever." He returned to cleaning himself off, ignoring her completely.

He stood inside the crater, the water around him shimmering faintly with dust and light. The cracks spread across the marble-like coral floor, glowing faintly from the energy of their fall.

But Razeal didn’t look disturbed. If anything, there was a faint smirk tugging at his lips.

That worked, he thought to himself.

He analyzed every detail of what had happened.. how he had managed to survive that fall, and how Maria had escaped unharmed. It hadn’t been luck. It had been calculated.

He had done something in that final second something risky even by his standards... But again.. It wad cool..

When he realized there was no way to stop their fall completely, he had used his Flow ability. Normally, using Flow in that unstable state would’ve torn his body apart, but he’d taken the risk anyways...

He had redirected every ounce of kinetic energy.. the crushing force of their fall into himself. More precisely, into his Obsidian Bones, the near-indestructible skeletal structure that absorbed impact and distributed force.

And beyond that, he’d done something even more difficult.

He’d used his custom variant of the Flow technique the "Untouchability" field overlapping it over both of them by merging their energies. Because their bodies were pressed so close, he had been able to envelop them both within a single protective layer and even between them if not more on maria...

The result: the impact had been devastating, but survivable.

To Maria, it had seemed miraculous. To Razeal, it had been precision of ridiculous analysis and experience.

Of course, that didn’t mean he was unscathed. Inside his body, chaos reigned.

Several of his organs.. his liver, kidneys, even part of his lung had ruptured from the energy shock. Blood had filled his veins painfully before his Divine Healing (S-Rank) had triggered, repairing everything within seconds.

On the outside, he looked perfectly fine. But the faint stiffness in his shoulders and the dull ache in his back betrayed the truth.. it had fucked him from within.

Still, he didn’t complain. Pain meant nothing. The method worked. And that was all that mattered.

He was just finishing brushing the sand off his sleeve when

"WHAT THE FUCK, YOU BRAT!?"

The loud, booming voice cut through the muffled silence like thunder.

Razeal didn’t even have time to turn before a massive hand grabbed the collar of his coat and yanked him upward.

He found himself face-to-face with a towering man nearly seven feet tall, his skin a bluish hue that shimmered faintly under the light. His body was massive, thick with muscle, his face angular with fin like markings running along his temples.. an Atlantian he guessed.. Maybe?.

"You destroyed my restaurant!" the man roared, his voice echoing through the room. "Who’s going to pay for all this damage, huh?!"

The surrounding crowd, who had only just started getting back on their feet, froze.

Maria, still standing in the crater, blinked in shock as she saw the massive man holding Razeal by the collar, his anger radiating like heat.

She stepped forward instinctively, still a bit disoriented.

"He’s gone..." she murmured softly, seeing Razeal hanging there..

Razeal didn’t react.

He wasn’t struggling. He wasn’t even frowning. His dark eyes were calm as ever, staring up at the man with the same cold, detached expression.

For a moment, the two locked gazes the furious blue-skinned giant and the calm, red-eyed boy.

The silence that followed was suffocating, heavy with tension.

And somewhere, from the far end of the ruined restaurant, the Yellow-haired woman still sat watching her chin resting on her palm, her lips curved in a faint, intrigued smile.

"...Well.. He looks kinda intresting," she whispered again.

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✨ Happy Diwali to all of you! ✨

May your lives be filled with endless happiness, sparkling light, and moments that warm your heart. 🤧☝️

Wishing each one of you a day full of smiles, laughter, and love.

Enjoy every moment, spread kindness, and let the light within you shine bright! 💫

Thank you for reading, and sending lots of love your way ❣️❣️

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