Thalion surged through the flooded corridors, his movements sleek and fluid. Twice he encountered groups of fishpeople, but they were dispatched with swift, brutal efficiency. His Aqualance struck like a harpoon of light, while Tsunami Breaker shattered their formation like a collapsing wave. They either never saw him coming or mistook him for a lesser aquatic beast, too insignificant to pose a threat. Their misjudgment was fatal.

What fascinated Thalion more than the brief skirmishes was the strange behavior of his bloodline flames beneath the surface. That they could even exist underwater seemed miraculous. The last time he had assumed this form, he had only verified that the flames worked, not what they truly did. At the time, he had been preparing for a battle in a desert, making further underwater testing unlikely. Besides, water-based terrain was rare on the fifth stage. They had yet to discover a single river or ocean. That made this opportunity all the more precious.

A swirling wheel of blue flame spun ahead of him, casting ghostly light through the murky water. The fire wasn’t hot, nor cold, nor electrical. It seemed to consume the ambient mana from the water itself, an eerie siphoning effect. Were he to stop feeding it his own power, the flame would vanish. It had no effect on him personally, at least not through the passive skill, and he had no clear idea of its purpose. That left only one logical course: experimentation.

High above the remnants of a submerged village, Thalion hovered in the currents. The village was composed of crumbling stone structures that didn’t align with the palace’s more ornate design. Perhaps slave quarters, or an ancient settlement. Seaweed drifted lazily through broken windows, and collapsed rooftops offered perfect lairs for small aquatic beasts. He selected a ruined house overrun by crabs for his first test.

Rising above the structure, he ignited the water above the roof, since the building material itself resisted direct manipulation. The blue flames bloomed, nearly translucent, like flickering ghosts. Trapped inside, the crabs scrambled in disarray. Thalion watched with narrowed eyes. Their legs jittered, movement growing clumsy. Some stumbled, others collapsed entirely. He gave them time to regroup, to form a defensive circle, but a few seemed downright intoxicated, their coordination lost.

Once they clustered together, he released a concentrated wave of flame into the room. What followed wasn’t what he expected. They didn’t cook, combust, or scream in pain. There was no kill notification. One by one, they simply passed out. Thalion descended and nudged one crab with the tip of his snout. It floated lazily, completely unresponsive.

Curious, Thalion thought, extinguishing the flame and leaving the crabs to their dazed slumber. This couldn’t be a sleeping spell. He needed more data. He swam two blocks over to another ruined home, this one inhabited by a school of violet sunfish.

This time, he altered his approach. He blocked the entrances with flickering walls of flame and waited. The fish darted around in panic, swimming in tight, frantic circles. But they didn’t need to be touched by the flame. The moment their eyes caught the swirling blue, they froze, then slowly sagged, unconscious, as though lulled by an invisible lullaby.

That settled it. Thalion wasn’t testing fire. He was wielding something more akin to hypnosis. The flames seemed to carry a mental weight. Visual contact alone was enough to overwhelm the lesser creatures. If he wanted real answers, he’d need a more intelligent subject. Maybe one of the fishpeople, assuming he didn’t kill them before they could talk. Fortunately, his title allowed him to detect lies, a boon that grew more powerful now that he had nearly worked off the experience penalty it imposed.

With testing over, Thalion accelerated, slicing through the water like a torpedo. The labyrinth ahead held no serious threats. No apex beasts, no enemy troops. The fishpeople probably clustered near the main pillar, leaving only scouts along the way. That anyone might assume the form of a beast to slip through this aquatic maze clearly hadn’t occurred to them.

He passed through several drowned cities, gliding silently past coral-covered ruins and overgrown plazas. He ignored most of the creatures lurking there, only pausing for those who looked like they might carry rare skills. So far, luck hadn’t favored him in that regard. His passive skill cloaked him well, and unless he ventured too close, he went unnoticed.

It was strange, seeing such massive cities buried beneath the waves. These catacombs must once have been part of Ankhet’s palace, or perhaps they had simply been swallowed over time. Either way, the scale of it all was breathtaking. How vast is this place, Thalion wondered, truly awed. The systems of this world shattered every norm from before Integration. Everything here was monumental.

He now swam between two colossal buildings that towered like underwater skyscrapers. Nature had claimed them. Coral encrusted the walls, algae drifted in the currents, and tiny creatures made their homes in forgotten windows. The city no longer looked like a ruin, but an artificial reef, vibrant, alien, and beautiful in its decay.

The challenge lay in the city’s sprawling design. Countless exits branched from the main structure, narrow corridors etched into the walls like veins in ancient stone. Thalion had a rough idea of the right direction, guided by his title’s intuition, but something else had caught his attention. A group of fishpeople moved with clear purpose through the water, and he wanted to intercept them before continuing.

Thalion dove silently between towering coral-covered buildings, hoping to vanish into the shadows. The city was lit mostly from above, with pale blue light filtering down from the distant ceiling that arched far overhead. The fishpeople swam near that shimmering canopy, hundreds of meters above the tallest structures. Their forms cast long silhouettes, and though he could see them, their voices did not carry through the dense water. Moving closer would be dangerous. Even with his stealth-enhancing skill, the risk of being exposed was too high.

Among them, Thalion spotted a female for the first time. She looked similar in size to the males, but her appearance was more alien. Long, thick jellyfish-like tendrils extended from her back, drifting with eerie grace. The whole group was armed with harpoon-shaped spears and swam in unison with trained coordination. Two females and eight males moved in tight formation, descending steadily toward the deeper levels of the catacombs.

Thalion observed them with narrowed eyes, trying to deduce their goal. The most logical explanation was a powerful beast hidden deeper within the ruins. He found it strange how little they seemed to care about the larger system event. Were they not worried about others arriving? Perhaps most of their forces were stationed near the central pillar, defending key points while smaller squads scouted. With the size of the labyrinth, it made sense to secure the vital paths rather than stretch themselves thin.

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Still, Thalion's interest grew. If this group was tracking a rare creature, then that creature might hold a valuable ability. One worth copying. With greed flickering in his expression, he began to follow the hunters from the shadows, always keeping a safe distance. Coral forests and ruined structures gave him plenty of cover. The deeper they swam, the darker the water became, but Thalion moved like a phantom, unnoticed and silent.

--

"Another wave is coming. Brace for impact!" Kael's voice rang out, loud and firm, across the battlefield.

They had been locked in combat ever since entering the cursed corridor. While others might have found easier paths, Kael’s squad fought every step forward. The last catacomb had been manageable. Flying pixies swarmed them, but the archers picked them off one by one. The experience had been a welcome reward, pushing several fighters toward their next breakthrough.

Now, however, their progress came with blood and sweat. Their formation mimicked ancient legions, shields raised in a tight wall. Heavy fighters stood in front, bracing as monstrous undead slammed into them. Behind the wall, mages and archers cast spells and loosed arrows with unwavering focus. A thin barrier of magic hung overhead, intercepting blood-red spikes that vampires hurled like javelins. Those same spikes had taken lives before, but now mages were dedicated to neutralizing them.

Even so, the vampires’ eye-based mental attacks remained a serious threat. Only the elite fighters had acquired the training to resist them. When a less prepared soldier collapsed mid-fight, healers rushed in and pulled them back, restoring their strength with practiced speed. Everyone had a role, and no one could afford to fail.

Rogues and swift warriors crouched behind the shield line, waiting for their chance. When gaps opened in the enemy ranks, they lunged forward, eliminating exposed vampires or driving them back. For Kael, killing vampires was no longer intimidating. In the beginning, each fight had been desperate. But now, with stronger gear and the blessings of powerful patrons, they fought with control and confidence.

That said, not every vampire was easy prey. Some were monstrous in both strength and skill. One story in particular haunted them. Survivors from Logan’s base had spoken of a vampiress who wiped out their entire group alone. No one had seen power like hers before, not in this entire trial. Kael was glad she hadn’t appeared here. Not yet.

He hoped the elves or Thalion would be the ones to face her. Preferably the elves. Kael still had plans involving Thalion’s Sanguine Thorn. He had seen him fight on the walls, throwing himself into battle to shield others. Noble perhaps, but foolish. His technique was decent, but not impressive. Not enough to pose any real threat.

Kael had improved far beyond what Thalion could imagine. In both ranged and close combat, his mastery had grown. He had become the kind of fighter who seized every chance without hesitation. This world did not reward mercy. It demanded strength, precision, and cold resolve.

If they met again, Kael would not show restraint. He would take what he needed and leave nothing behind.

Ally or friend, it didn’t matter in the end. Only power truly endured.

Kael had long abandoned the illusion of loyalty. If it served his goals, he would capture Thalion’s people and use them as bait once the pillar was destroyed. He doubted Thalion would prepare his base for war. That man seemed like someone who would face challenges alone, relying on himself instead of his allies. This was exactly what Kael hoped for. A direct confrontation played into his hands perfectly.

The timing of it all could not be better. If the elves suffered great losses during today’s battle, Kael might be the one who seized the palace's treasure when the dust settled. With both the treasure and Thalion’s Sanguine Thorn in his possession, his strength would rise significantly. That boost might allow him to compete for a top spot in the system’s upcoming events once the tutorial concluded.

Reaching the top hundred in those events would be incredibly difficult, yet not beyond the realm of possibility. The elite factions could not send their most pampered heirs if they had been overly nurtured. Still, the competition would be immense. It wasn’t just four planets that had been integrated. Entire clusters of galaxies, filled with life, were now bound to the system’s laws. Simply breaking into the top ten thousand of such a vast event would be a remarkable accomplishment.

Even the top one thousand would bring prestige and powerful rewards. Rising into the top fifty or twenty would offer immense benefits and might even earn Kael a divine blessing from his patron. As for the top ten, he didn’t even consider it. That space was reserved for those who stood at the pinnacle of genius. Only beings with rare bloodlines and overwhelming backing could even dream of reaching that level. Not even his patron’s most favored chosen had made it that far.

His patron once said the best of them had placed twenty-seventh in a treasure hunt a few eras ago. It was an event that aligned well with Kael’s ranger class, focused on exploration, traps, and swift kills. He knew that three such quests would begin shortly after their arrival in the integrated universe. One would be a treasure hunt, the second often turned out to be a grand battle or arena-style challenge, and the third changed frequently depending on the era.

Kael had trained rigorously to excel in the first two. If the third didn’t match his strengths, he would simply avoid it. Participation in any of these quests required a price, paid not in coin but in time. Longevity was the currency, and the fee could range from ten years to five hundred depending on the quality of the rewards. Kael had already made his decision. He would not sacrifice more than a thousand years of his lifespan to those events.

With his high-rarity class, he had a potential of around three thousand years at E-grade. The quests would help him advance to D-grade and beyond. For lesser fighters, especially those still stuck at F-grade, giving away that much time would cripple their future. For Kael, it was an investment with enormous potential returns.

But before any of that could happen, he needed to survive this battle and eliminate Thalion. That would be the moment everything shifted. With Thalion out of the way, Kael was confident that nothing could stop him from becoming a force strong enough to challenge even the titans of the new universe.

Already, the undead forces were falling back. Their lines broke apart under the relentless pressure of Kael’s unit. It all seemed to unfold according to fate, as if destiny itself had cleared the path for him.

In Kael’s eyes, it looked like the world was laying out a crimson carpet in welcome. All that remained was for him to walk forward and claim what was his.