CHAPTER 232: INSIDE ATLANTIS

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

The restaurant had fallen completely silent again. The clinking of shattered plates and the drifting of broken coral shards were the only sounds that filled the space for a few long seconds.

The one yelling stood tall easily over seven feet.. his bluish skin shimmering faintly under the light filtering through the water. Thick muscles bulged across his arms and chest, and veins ran like cords beneath the surface, pulsing with tension. His jaw was sharp, his teeth faintly pointed, his fins pressed tight against his neck ..marks of an Atlantian.

His furious eyes burned like stormy seas. From his tone, and the apron tied awkwardly around his massive waist, it was clear this was the owner of the restaurant.

He looked ready to crush Razeal where he stood.

But Razeal... well didn’t seems to be looking scared for now..

"The thing you’re saying isn’t wrong," Razeal replied calmly, his voice smooth and cold. "But the way you’re saying it... isn’t exactly well-mannered."

He reached up casually and gripped the man’s wrist, the one that was still clutching the front of his collar.

In a single, effortless motion, he twisted it and freed himself.

It was done so quickly and so easily that the crowd watching barely caught the movement.

Razeal’s expression didn’t change. His crimson eyes lifted to meet the Atlantian’s calm, detached, and utterly unbothered the look of someone who didn’t see a threat, only a nuisance.

The blue-skinned man’s muscles bulged as he instinctively tried to resist the twist, veins swelling under the pressure. His arm looked thick enough to crush coral, but... the strength behind Razeal’s grip was on a completely different level.

A sharp hiss of pain escaped the man’s mouth before he finally pulled his arm back, his expression flashing with both anger and surprise.

He stared at Razeal again now not just angry, but cautious.

The kid in front of him wasn’t normal.

He had sensed it in that brief moment of contact the unnatural strength, the control, and the calmness that only came from someone who knew exactly how dangerous they were.

The Atlantian frowned, flexing his wrist to shake off the sting. "Yeah, yeah, fine," he grumbled. "But that doesn’t change the fact

.. you’re paying for this. Fast."

He jabbed a finger toward the wrecked ceiling, his voice rising again.

Around them, the restaurant’s customers had started recovering from the earlier shock. Some were peeking from behind overturned tables, others whispering to one another, their eyes darting between Razeal, the furious owner, and the massive hole in the ceiling.

"Where did they even come from?" someone whispered.

"They fell straight through the roof!" another said."And they’re not even injured!..What therr skin made of whale or something?..

Their whispers filled the background, rising and falling like a chorus of uncertain curiosity and unease.

The tension in the air thickened.

From what the murmurs said, the restaurant’s owner the Atlantian called Mordock.. had a reputation for being short-tempered and proud. And now, the way Razeal was standing there so casually after crashing through his ceiling only made it worse.

The situation could’ve gone from bad to violent in seconds until another voice suddenly cut through the air.

"Mordock," the voice called, calm yet amused.

Everyone turned.

A girl with vibrant yellow hair stepped out from between the crowd, her yellow strands glowing faintly in the water’s light. Her expression was easygoing, her tone teasing as she approached.

"Why are you getting so worked up?" she said, her voice smooth like silk. "Let the handsome boy breathe a little. He just fell from... who knows where." She shrugged lightly, eyes flicking toward the cracked ceiling. "Let him get his bearings first. He looks a little lost, don’t you think? Give him a minute. He’s not going to run away."

Her tone was playful, but there was a sharpness in her gaze as she studied Razeal, her eyes narrowing just slightly the same look she’d had when she first saw him fall through the roof.

Mordock growled lowly in his throat. "Lost? From which angle does he look lost?" He pointed straight at Razeal, scowling. "Look at his eyes! Tell me that doesn’t look like someone who’d eat me alive raw if I blink wrong."

The girl followed his gesture and met Razeal’s eyes.

And couldn’t help but twitch her lips..

He wasn’t glaring. He wasn’t even angry. But those eyes.. sharp, dark, focused radiated something far colder than hostility. It was as if his eyes screaming stay away from me i eat people..

For once, even the yellow-haired girl didn’t have an immediate comeback.

"Hmm... fair," she murmured under her breath, smirking faintly.

Razeal, however, didn’t even look at either of them.

He had closed his eyes.

His focus had shifted inward, his breathing slowing as his other senses began to sharpen and expand. The noise of the crowd, the whispers, the creaking of coral all faded into the background.

He reached outward with his awareness a sensory wave expanding like a ripple through the water around him.

He could feel the movement of people, the flow of water, the vibrations of structures nearby, even the faint heartbeat-like pulses of aquatic life passing in the distance.

Hundreds of meters of perception expanded in all directions.. but what he was searching for wasn’t there.

He frowned slightly, concentrating harder.

Nothing.

No sign of Levy, Aurora, or Yograj.

His senses caught fragments of conversation, the hum of life in the city beyond the restaurant the sounds of Atlantians moving, laughing, trading, the rhythm of a vast civilization living beneath the waves but not the familiar presences he was looking for.

His mind formed a picture of his surroundings. He and maria currentlt were at the edge of the city, he could tell to his right, the water stretched endlessly into open ocean, filled with only fish and wild current. To his left, the city sprawled on enormous, complex, and alive.

He slowly opened his eyes again, exhaling softly, a faint sigh escaping his lips.

So that’s how it is, he thought.

The Reverse Gate must’ve scattered them. He’d considered that possibility before, but part of him had hoped they’d be lucky that they’d landed nearby.

But now? Nothing.

They were gone.

He didn’t even know if they were alive.

A faint scowl touched his face, irritation flickering behind his calm exterior.

They were under his care. His responsibility. And now they were missing because he hadn’t accounted for every possibility.

That alone was enough to make him annoyed..

He straightened his collar, brushing a fragment of coral dust off his sleeve, and muttered quietly to himself.. though no one could hear it:

"...Tch. Irritating."

Razeal sighed softly and shook his head, forcing his thoughts away from the irritation boiling quietly inside him. He turned to the only person beside him.

"You alright?" he asked, his tone calm but distant.

Maria blinked, surprised by the question. Of all things, she hadn’t expected him to ask that. For a moment, she just stared at him those sharp black eyes glancing at her, unbothered but not entirely cold.

"I’m fine," she replied at last, her voice uncertain. Then, after a pause, she added, "How about you?"

It felt strange to ask.. Razeal didn’t seem like someone who needed concern from anyone. But something about the way he’d shielded her just minutes ago still lingered in her chest... Thought little irritated about her chest pressing down on him.. But for now she ignored that.. as she doesn’t wanna seems insensitive..

Her gaze shifted slightly to the side, catching sight of the blue-skinned giant who’d been grabbing Razeal by the collar earlier. He was still glaring at them from a few steps away, his heavy arms crossed now, his thick tail flicking slightly behind him.

Maria frowned.

"Are you sure you’re fine?" she repeated, glancing back at Razeal but his focus had already moved elsewhere.

It was then she noticed where they were.

As the panic of the fall finally faded, Maria’s attention was stolen by her surroundings. Her eyes widened, her head turning slowly as she took everything in ..the towering structure she was standing in glowing faintly with bioluminescent moss, the wide paved with crystal-like stone dowm her feet, the dozens of figures standing around her.. through the shimmering water.

It wasn’t air here she could feel that clearly and yet she could breathe as if she were on land. The water pressed softly against her skin, light as mist, glowing with faint threads of energy... She well could breath under water.. even before as she was from grave family.. But the water here feels totally different.. as how light and.. invisible it was.. so comfortable to her..

Atlantis...

The word formed in her mind, and her heart skipped a beat.

"This place..." she whispered, unable to hide the awe in her voice. "We’re really... underwater."

Her gaze trailed along the people standing around.. Atlantians, she realized. They looked almost human, though with subtle, striking differences: faintly scaled arms, skin tinted in shades of blue and silver, sharper features, and the occasional flick of translucent fins along their necks or temples.

Other than that, they looked so normal that it was almost uncanny.

"Are these... the Atlantians you were talking about?" she murmured to herself, still in wonder.

Her hand brushed through the water absentmindedly, feeling the soft resistance of the current, her eyes still darting from one to another... Even the table.. and well this coral structure and tables

It was beautiful ..surreal, even. Like a dream pulled out of one of the old stories she’d read about the underwater civilization.

For a brief moment, she forgot everything else the chaos, the crash, the tension and just stared, mesmerized.

But Razeal’s quiet sigh pulled her back.

"Good," he said curtly, responding to her earlier question as if he’d only just remembered she asked. "Though we might have to find them. They aren’t with us."

His tone was more to himself then her. As even though he spoke so plainly the irritation in his voice was impossible to miss.

Carelessness. He hated that word and yet, that’s what this was. His own mistake.

Maria turned to look at him again, watching how calm he was even when he clearly wasn’t. His expression didn’t change, but his fingers flexed slightly at his side, betraying the faint edge of his mood.

Meanwhile, the restaurant owner.. Mordock was still standing there, looking like he was ready to burst.

Razeal’s complete lack of attention toward him was only making things worse.

The boy was talking casually to the aqua-haired girl, ignoring him completely. Mordock’s face twitched a muscle pulsing at the corner of his jaw as if he were seconds away from grabbing the brat again and teaching him some manners.

Before he could explode, though, another voice spoke up.

"How about I pay for the damages they caused?"

It was the yellow haired girl from before.

She stepped forward gracefully, her long hair swaying lightly in the water, golden strands shimmering like sunlight reflected through waves. Her calm, confident tone immediately drew attention not just from Mordock, but everyone in the room.

Mordock turned to her, eyebrows lifting in surprise. "You wanna pay for his damages?" he asked, sounding both suspicious and curious.

Even Razeal’s head tilted slightly in her direction, his eyes narrowing faintly as if to study her.

Neptunia.. though they didn’t yet know her name smiled.

"Yes," she said lightly, not taking her gaze off Mordock. "Tell me the price."

The crowd stirred at her words, murmurs rippling through them like small waves.

Mordock hesitated for a second, clearly calculating something in his head. He knew this girl she’d been coming to his restaurant almost every day for the last month. A clearly rich.

So, of course, his greed got the better of him.

"Ten thousand gold coins," he said firmly, without a hint of shame.

Gasps echoed through the crowd immediately.

"What?!"

"That’s fucked up!"

"Mordock’s at it again .. greedy bastard."

"No wonder everything here costs triple the price it should... Even yellow.."

The whispers filled the water, disapproving but not daring to say it too loudly.

The yellow-haired woman didn’t even blink.

"Done," she said simply.

And without hesitation, she reached into the small pouch hanging at her waist. The faint sound of coins clinking together rang out as she pulled out a velvet bag, tossing it lightly toward Mordock.

The bag landed in his large hand with a solid thump.

He blinked, surprised. "You’re serious?"

She only smiled.

Mordock opened the pouch, the golden glint of coins lighting up his eyes. He weighed it briefly in his palm, his earlier anger dissolving instantly into greed-fueled satisfaction.

"Hmm... good," he muttered, his tone shifting completely. He looked back toward Razeal and Maria, his grin wide and smug.

"Now get out of my restaurant, you crab-skinned brats!" he barked, waving his massive arm toward the exit.

Maria frowned but said nothing. Razeal, however, didn’t even look at him. His eyes were fixed now on the yellow-haired girl calm but sharp, observing.

There was something off about her.

And as he thought that, she stepped forward, dismissing Mordock with a simple, "Calm down," before approaching him directly.

She stopped just in front of him, the faintest hint of amusement playing at the corners of her lips.

"Hello," she said softly, her voice carrying that same confident, melodic tone as before. "My name is Neptunia."

She extended her hand toward him, her golden eyes bright and steady. "What’s yours?"

It was an open, friendly gesture ..but there was something calculated behind her smile.

Razeal’s dark eyes narrowed slightly as he looked down at her hand. He didn’t move.

"What do you want?"

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