Reincarnated in a novel: I am the villain!-Chapter 258: Glowing dark ocean
The jungle was no more.
With the Guardian slain and the Vein of the Earth severed, the massive fungal trees around the clearing were already beginning to wilt, turning from vibrant purple to a dull, necrotic grey.
But Damien didn’t care about the flora. His attention was fixed on the geyser erupting from the ground.
WHOOSH.
A pillar of cold, salty water shot twenty feet into the air from the organic tunnel, soaking the three of them.
"Salt," Damien muttered, wiping the brine from the lens of his mask. "And heavy Abyss mana concentration."
He looked at Elian. The old Arch-Mage was shivering, hugging his bone cane.
"Layer 3," Elian chattered, his teeth clicking together.
"The Great Lake. It is more than just a body of water, Mage. Not only is it a crushing depth. "
"But The atmospheric pressure alone is three times that of the surface. If you go too deep... it will snap your ribs like dry twigs."
"I assume there’s no staircase?" Damien asked dryly.
"This is the throat," Elian pointed to the dark, watery hole.
"We have to jump. The current will carry us down."
Isabelle stepped back, her ears flattening against her skull. Her tail tucked between her legs.
"Water," she hissed, looking at the dark hole with genuine distaste. "I hate water. Here I feel like my flames won’t be of much use."
Listening to both sides talk Damien tapped his chin.
"Isabelle is right," he noted. "We are walking into a disadvantageous biome."
He opened his System Shop.
A reckless hero would jump in and hope for the best. However for someone like him who had gone through so much already he needed to be prepared for every variable.
"System. Search for aquatic survival gear."
[Search Results:]
Poseidon’s Gill : 500,000 DP
Water-Walk Boots : 50,000 DP
High-Grade Bubble Charm: 2,000 DP
"Regional pricing is a scam," Damien grumbled, eyeing the markup.
He selected the High-Grade Bubble Charms. He bought three.
[System Notification: 6,000 DP Deducted.]
Three small, pearl-like spheres materialized in his hand. He tossed one to Elian and one to Isabelle.
"Crush it when we hit the water," Damien instructed.
"It creates a localized air pocket and equalizes the pressure for one hour. Don’t waste it."
"Don’t asky where they’re from or how they were made, just use them"
He then turned to Isabelle.
"Isabelle, listen to me. Down there, your Hellfire is going to be weak. The water pressure will snuff it out before it travels five feet."
"Also this doesn’t seem to be regular water, judging from the concetration of abyss aura on it, I’d bet a few gold coins that it has some special effects"
"we have to be carefull"
Isabelle looked down at her hands, where small flames flickered nervously.
"Then... I am useless?"
"No," Damien shook his head. "You shift tactics."
He pointed at the geyser.
"Water is naturally heavy. Use that. Shift your focus entirely to Gravity Magic. Don’t try to burn the ocean; crush it. Use the pressure against our enemies."
Isabelle’s eyes lit up. She nodded, her confidence returning. "Gravity. Understood, Master."
Damien adjusted his trench coat and checked the seal on his mask.
He stepped to the edge of the hole.
"Take a deep breath," Damien said.
He grabbed Elian by the back of his robes.
"And try not to scream."
JUMP.
They plunged into the darkness.
The moment they entered the tunnel, the world spun.
It wasn’t a like a regular freefall.
Instead what they expreinced could be called a water slide from hell.
They were caught in a violent, rushing current of freezing water that pulled them down at breakneck speed.
ROAAAR.
The sound of the water was deafening. It felt like being digested by a giant sea serpent.
Damien gripped Isabelle’s hand tightly with his left, and Elian’s collar with his right, ensuring the group didn’t separate.
His system flashed red warnings.
[Warning: External Pressure Increasing.] [Depth: 1000m... 2000m...]
The tunnel twisted and turned. They were slammed against the fleshy, organic walls, sliding on a layer of slime.
"Hold on!" Damien shouted, though the roar swallowed his voice.
Suddenly, the friction vanished.
The walls disappeared.
The water pressure vanished.
They shot out of the end of the tunnel into open air.
Damien’s eyes widened behind his mask.
They weren’t underwater anymore instead they were falling.
"Gravity!" Damien roared.
Isabelle reacted instantly. Her eyes glowed purple.
"[Gravity Magic: Feather Fall]."
The crushing speed of their descent slowed. They drifted, suspended in the air like leaves.
Damien looked around.
"My god," Elian whispered, clutching his chest.
They had emerged from a hole in the "ceiling" , a massive cavern roof miles above.
Below them lay Layer 3.
It was a colossal, subterranean cavern so vast that the walls were invisible.
The "floor" was a dark, endless ocean that stretched to the horizon.
But it wasn’t pitch black.
Floating in the air around them, and swimming in the black water below, were millions of bioluminescent abyss jellyfish.
They glowed with soft blues, greens, and violets.
It looked like the night sky had fallen into the sea.
The Sunken Stars.
"Look for land!" Damien ordered, scanning the dark water below.
There were no islands. Just vast expanses of water.
"There!" Isabelle pointed.
Drifting on the currents was a massive patch of debris, giant, rotting lily pads the size of houses and tangled driftwood from the upper layers.
"Target locked," Damien said.
He adjusted his body, angling their drift toward the debris field.
"Brace for impact!"
They descended slowly, the purple gravity aura cushioning them.
SPLASH.
They didn’t hit the water instead they landed with a wet thud onto one of the giant, sponge-like lily pads.
It bobbed violently under their combined weight but held firm.
Damien stood up, steadying himself as the "raft" rocked.
The air here was freezing. The humidity of the jungle was gone, replaced by a bone-chilling cold that seeped through his coat.
He looked out at the endless, glowing dark ocean.
"Welcome to Layer 3," Damien whispered, his breath misting in the air. "The Great Lake."
