Chapter 179: The Thing That Emerged Into the World (1)

When Aquaz first told Ketal that a being from the Demon Realm had seized control of the City of Merfolk, a familiar window appeared before his eyes.

[Quest #787]

[Respond to the Anomaly.]

It was the same Quest window that had aided him since his days in the White Snowfield, occasionally appearing even after he left that frozen land behind. This time, its content was simple: deal with the Anomaly.

Until now, Ketal had believed the Anomaly referenced in the Quest was the sea apes. Yet, even after defeating them, the Quest did not display a completion message. The task was still ongoing.

He narrowed his eyes, thoughtful. It was not unheard of for a Quest to linger unfinished. After all, they had not checked the deepest part of the sea, where the apes had once dwelled. He had assumed all the apes had surfaced, but it was possible some had remained behind, hiding in the depths. The most plausible explanation was that the quest was not complete because some sea apes might still be lurking below.

But something about that did not sit right with him. Ketal’s instincts were warning him—the reason the Quest had not ended was not simply because a few stragglers remained.

“Kukulitan,” Ketal said.

“Yes? What is it?”

“Do you have a map of the sea?”

“A map? Yes, we do.” Kukulitan was surprised by the sudden request, but answered without hesitation. “We actually have a detailed map of all the nearby seas.”

“Can you show me?”

“Of course.” Kukulitan gave a quick nod and slipped into the city. He soon returned, carrying a very large map. “Here you are.”

“Thank you.” Ketal spread the map out in front of him. It was huge—large enough to show not just the local sea but the distant continent on the other side as well.

As he examined it, Ketal realized something crucial. “This sea... it’s directly connected to the White Snowfield.”

At the far edge of the map, a vast, white continent was depicted. There were no obstacles between the City of Merfolk and the White Snowfield—just an endless stretch of open water.

“Yes, that’s right... but is there some kind of problem?” Kukulitan looked puzzled, not understanding the concern in Ketal’s voice.

“For now, there’s no problem,” Ketal replied quietly.

Kukulitan fell silent for a moment. Then, finally catching on to Ketal’s line of thought, he smiled reassuringly.

“Are you worried that something from the White Snowfield might make its way all the way here? I think that’s a bit much, honestly. We’ve never heard of anything ever coming out of the White Snowfield.”

The White Snowfield was vast. The Demon Realm sat at the continent’s center, connecting to many places, but if anything had ever escaped from there, it would have become a rumor somewhere. Yet there had never been any news or sign of it—nothing had ever come out of the White Snowfield.

“Maybe, since it’s the largest and oldest Demon Realm, there are some unique restrictions?” Kukulitan guessed, trying to lighten the mood.

Ketal didn’t reply. The fact that he was here at all was proof that Kukulitan’s guess was wrong.

Of course, Ketal had always thought of himself as unique—someone who had left the White Snowfield through the special mechanism of the Quest system. He had assumed that no one else could leave that place. He believed that all the other Demon Realm beings that had surfaced elsewhere were unrelated to the White Snowfield.

However, he couldn’t get rid of the feeling that he could be wrong.

Ketal recalled the words of the last creature he had defeated just before escaping from the White Snowfield.

“The wheel that had stopped is starting to turn again! Monster! Your wish will be realized at the end of this distortion!”

At the time, he hadn’t cared at all. He was only focused on killing that monster and getting out, ignoring all its rambling. Looking back now, though, those words stood out.

It’s not that the restriction has been lifted,

Ketal thought.

Kukulitan wasn’t entirely wrong. If the restriction had really disappeared, nothing would have stayed put in the White Snowfield. The fact that nothing else had appeared yet meant some kind of limit still existed.

But what if the restriction had weakened? What if something in the world had become twisted?

Ketal wondered. He said nothing, his silence growing heavier.

Kukulitan, now uneasy at Ketal’s expression, stammered, “E-even if something did come out, I doubt it would be our problem. If you look at the map, it’s incredibly far. Even a merfolk, swimming at top speed, would need months to cross that distance.”

Merfolk were the fastest swimmers in the sea, far outpacing any fish. If even they needed months to cross, the distance was truly immense.

But Ketal knew better. For the monsters in that place, a journey of months was nothing at all.

The primates that lived in the deep sea—beings of the Demon Realm, just like Nano—were not especially numerous or powerful. Two Transcendents could wipe them out completely. Even the leader, who bore a fresh, familiar-looking scar on his back, had been relatively weak.

“I’ll be stepping out for a bit,” Ketal said suddenly.

“What?”

Before Kukulitan could question him further, Ketal leaped away, his departure marked by a thunderous boom as he struck the water. Merfolk working on the city’s restoration flinched in shock and scattered as the sea exploded with the force of his movement. By the time the waves calmed, Ketal was nowhere to be seen.

***

A little earlier, before Ketal’s conversation with Kukulitan, Aquaz and Baker had descended deeper into the ocean’s depths. It felt as if they were traveling all the way to the bottom of the world. Eventually, they discovered it—a warped, underwater cave.

The entrance was enormous, large enough to fit an entire lake. Instantly, both of them knew they had found the gateway to the Demon Realm.

“Are you okay, Baker?” Aquaz asked him quietly.

“Don’t worry about me, Aquaz,” Baker replied with confidence.

Aquaz managed a small smile. “Alright. Let’s go in.”

With serious faces, the two of them stepped inside. The moment they crossed the threshold, they noticed something was off.

The air was different. It felt as if the space itself had been separated from the rest of the world, with a wall dividing this cave from everything else.

Aquaz let out a soft groan. “So this is the Demon Realm...”

This place—an anomaly that had existed on the continent since ancient times—was now before them. Aquaz and Baker cautiously continued deeper.

Baker joked, trying to lighten the mood. “I guess I could make a living as a storyteller after this. Who else could say they’ve set foot in a Demon Realm at the bottom of the sea?”

Aquaz nodded. “You’re right. That’s definitely something to brag about when we get back.”

Despite their nervous expressions, neither seemed especially anxious. This Demon Realm was, after all, the home of the sea apes, and those had already been wiped out. They understood their enemy’s strength and could handle a few survivors—or escape if things became difficult.

Their confidence showed as they journeyed further and further down.

“It’s deeper than I thought,” Aquaz remarked.

“Well, it would have to be, to fit dozens of those giants,” Baker replied. “Still, it’s bigger than I expected.”

The cave was vast, wider and deeper than anything they’d imagined. No matter how far they descended, they couldn’t see the bottom.

Eventually, something changed. Aquaz wrinkled her nose in disgust. “There’s a rotten smell.”

“Yeah. What is that?” Baker grimaced, clearly smelling it too. It was a foul, almost putrid stench—like rotting flesh.

As they went deeper, the smell grew worse. Bits of flesh, left over from the sea apes’ meals, began to float past them.

“These damn apes. Just how filthy were they living?” Baker muttered, revolted.

But the smell wasn’t the only thing changing. “My vision...” Aquaz said softly.

“It’s getting darker,” Baker added.

Both of them had been blessed with the adaptability of merfolk—one of the gifts they had received. Merfolk could see clearly in the sea, regardless of light or darkness, an innate ability since the dawn of their race. But even with those powers, their vision was rapidly fading.

Neither realized the implications. They just assumed the cave was so deep that even their senses couldn’t keep up.

As they went deeper, the darkness thickened and the smell intensified, until eventually, they could see nothing at all.

Finally, they reached the very bottom.

“We’ve arrived,” Aquaz said quietly.

But it was pitch black. They could see nothing.

“I’ll bring up some light,” Aquaz offered.

“Yeah, do it. The smell is unbearable. What the hell is down here—some rotting fish they’ve been hoarding?”

“I’ll check. The Sun God’s radiance should light even the deepest darkness,” Aquaz replied, beginning a prayer.

A sudden, powerful light illuminated the area above their heads.

“Huh...?”

“W-what?”

Aquaz and Baker both gasped in shock. The darkness vanished, and what they saw took their breath away.

They had reached the very bottom of the Demon Realm, and there, they saw a horrific sight—countless corpses of sea apes.

“What... what is this?” Aquaz stammered.

This place had been the apes’ lair, their sanctuary. Yet the floor was littered with their bodies.

“Did they just dump the bodies of the old ones down here?” Baker wondered aloud, struggling to make sense of it.

“I don’t think so,” Aquaz replied. The corpses didn’t look old, and most seemed only a few months dead at most.

“Wait a minute. Then the smell of rot isn’t from fish at all...” Baker realized. “It’s from the apes themselves.”

“How many are there...?” Baker whispered, his face pale. The cavern was massive, and yet it was completely filled with sea ape corpses—hundreds, maybe even a thousand or more.

“There were this many?” Aquaz murmured. Every single one of these monsters was strong enough to challenge a Transcendent. Yet now, a thousand lay dead.

If all of them had surfaced, even they would have stood no chance. The city would have been utterly destroyed.

However, that only raised more questions. They wondered why all the sea apes were dead here. Judging by the state of the corpses, it had happened all at once, only a few months ago.

Their earlier confidence was gone.

“Did they not even try to escape?” Aquaz whispered.

“The bodies are all piled up. It looks like they tried to run, but something stopped them,” Baker said, examining the corpses. They were clustered together, as if blocked from fleeing.

Yet, there were no walls or barriers in sight.

Their faces grave, Aquaz and Baker carefully stepped across the cavern floor. There, at the very center, they found a single sea ape corpse—one even larger than the leader ape they had seen before, its body muscular and imposing.

“This... this is...” Aquaz gasped.

In that instant, they realized the truth. The leader they had fought earlier had not been the true leader, but a survivor who had taken charge of the remnants. The real leader was lying dead here, among the others.

Crunch. Crunch.

Something was hunched over the body of the leader, devouring its flesh.