The cave on the continental shelf was not a straight path inward.
Under Wizard Ronald’s magic vision, the nurous shellfish embedded in the cave walls shimred, guiding him along the path like scattered crystal lamps.
He navigated around four sharp turns.
Then, after about seventy ters of straight passage.
Wizard Ronald stepped onto the fine-textured wall within the water, and with a push, he propelled himself along this path.
And then...
Then ca the sudden, astonishing discovery!
After traversing the cave, Ronald found himself directly beneath Springs.
In this place,
an imnse underground cavern stretched out as far as the eye could see.
Though completely subrged, the space was certainly vast enough to house a city!
Thump, thump—
At that mont, the familiar current appeared again.
And unlike the sporadic streams in the ocean outside,
deep within the underwater cavern, countless currents erupted, causing turmoil in the flowing waters of the entire space.
Only a few chaotic streams managed to find their way into the cave, serendipitously reaching the sea outside.
"..."
Within the chaotic flows,
Wizard Ronald struggled to stabilize his position.
He tried to focus on the source of the erupting currents, but the distance was too great to discern anything from this vantage point.
Having co this far,
what else to do but proceed?
With a shift in body orientation, Ronald continued swimming deeper toward the base of this vast space.
As he approached the ground below,
a somber expression crossed Ronald’s face.
What should have been the ocean floor had many ruins of buildings, with lots of residential wreckage as well as comrcial and dining areas.
This place was not a natural cave at all.
It was a city lost beneath the continental shelf!
Deeper still,
Ronald suddenly felt a sense of familiarity with so of the building’s shapes.
Slowing his swimming pace, he sorted through his mories.
In his mind’s eye, a similar site to this ruin quickly surfaced.
—The island ruin!
During a past typhoon event in Springs,
Ronald had explored the underground remains on that island.
The ruins there bore a striking resemblance to the architectural style of this underwater cavern—perhaps even the sa style!
Could there be a connection between the island’s ruins and the city’s remnants beneath Springs?
What sort of link could there be between the two?
Confused thoughts surged within him; with only the clues before his eyes, Ronald could not fathom exactly what this place was.
Thump, thump—
At this mont, the water burst forth again.
Now, being closer to the city ruins, Ronald quickly determined that the epicenter was within the city’s core.
Amidst the seawater, Ronald gestured with one hand.
This ti, not only using the enhancent of "Origin of Species," Ronald unleashed several spells at once, carving the way forward and speeding toward the city center several notches faster.
The further he progressed, the more Ronald saw.
The layout was indeed identical to the ruins on the island, even the city planning was of the sa layout. If he was not mistaken, the center of this city—the source of the currents—
should also be,
like on the island,
a ritual altar!
"..."
Several more minutes passed.
Ronald knew he had guessed wrong.
The slap of reality ca at him way too fast!
At the place where an altar should have been, lay a giant sea creature as terrifying as the behemoths of the North Sea, coiled in place. Although it was not on the scale of Bapulor in the "Infinite Negative Domain," it was definitely an absurd size, well over a hundred ters.
When Ronald arrived here,
The massive monster appeared to be in a dormant state.
The water flow he had previously detected actually ca from the creature’s physiological activity—it was sleeping, swallowing and expelling seawater like humans breathing air.
Because these physiological activities were happening all over its tentacles and body, countless water flows would appear here intermittently.
As for the magic power within the water...
That was rely the residual left behind when the water left the creature’s body.
"..."
At that mont,
Ronald instinctively halted his advance.
He thought about the things he encountered in the labyrinth picture book, which, if the style were changed, would probably resemble what was before him now.
—The situation had beco simple.
—This was an enemy!
As for the creature in the picture book labyrinth that attacked Ronald, let alone its activities of dragging humans away with its tentacles in the well, these were definitely not the actions of a kind being; it might even be a species that treated humans as food.
So, a sowhat tricky question was laid out before Ronald.
Should he take imdiate action now?
Before he dived into the water, Ronald thought that what was hidden beneath the sea was a backup plan by so malevolent individuals, so he intended to deal with the problem here before the Wizard of Barrier Mountain arrived, ensuring that no surprises would occur during the upcoming battle.
But now it seed...
Whether this apparently ancient sea monster would interfere in the battle later was not even worth considering.
Just Ronald taking on such a large being
Would undoubtedly take a significant amount of effort.
If he got delayed here and missed the fight with the Wizard of Barrier Mountain, it would truly be a loss unworthy of the gain.
"..."
Since it wasn’t the evil Magician or the "Nine Commandnts Gathering,"
He should leave it be for now and co back to deal with this creature after addressing the most pressing issue.
Having made up his mind,
Ronald dispelled any spells that might disturb the monster and quietly swam back in the direction he had co from.
He was not the kind of guy in movies who alarms the enemy at critical monts.
Almost soundlessly, Ronald made a quiet escape from the underwater cave. Even the unavoidable water currents generated by his swimming were kept within a reasonable limit.
"..."
From the undersea ruins to the entrance of the tunnel,
Ronald took just over a quarter of an hour to return to his entry point.
He looked back at the deep blue water; the quiet underwater cave was just the sa as at the start, and his departure hadn’t disturbed a thing, not even the fish in the water.
Moreover, by returning to the surface now, he could get back to Springs before the Wizard of Barrier Mountain.
There was plenty of ti.
Satisfied, Ronald nodded and swam out.
"..."
Thud, thud—
anwhile,
In the pitch-black water, the sea creature coiled in the center of the city expelled water once again.
But after this ’breath,’
It didn’t remain motionless as it had done just before.
Its huge body floated up in the pitch-dark water, a strange magic power attached to its surface, erasing all traces of its movent.
Equally silently,
It moved toward the direction Ronald had left in—the entrance to the tunnel.
The enormous body moved like a ghost lurking in the depths of the sea.
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