Villain : Nonchalant Greedy-Chapter 18: Dive Or Die

"Damn it! Is there a monster guarding this place or what?" Arsene cursed inwardly, staring at the fin speeding toward them—and that massive shadow hidden beneath the water. Whatever it was, its size was insane.

They had jumped in too quickly. The rope had fallen in with them. They should've expected something like this, especially after discovering several monsters inside the cave.

Maybe the shark was just a small fish that grew huge thanks to that sticky substance they'd found earlier. That was Arsene's guess. But fish or shark, they needed to get out of this mess fast.

Luckily, they were close to the wall. Even though it was super slippery, they managed to cling on and climb up a bit. At least they were out of the water. The plan now was to climb all the way up again.

Sarl kept staring down at the pool, watching the fin draw near. That shadow below the surface kept growing, like it was something massive.

"What is that?!" Sarl asked in disbelief.

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Arsene's eyes were on the thick roots hanging above them. If they could just climb up and grab onto those, they might be able to walk across them all the way to the center. Maybe even reach that hole underneath. If they could just get past this thing first.

Both Arsene and Sarl were climbing as fast as they could. Still too close to the surface... and the rocky wall was way too slick to scale quickly.

Sarl suddenly screamed, "It's coming!!"

The water exploded—something shark-like burst from the pool, leaping straight at them. It was huge. Arsene and Sarl froze, stunned for a split second.

Its skin was blackish, rougher than iron. Its eyes—if you could call them that—were hollow black sockets. No pupils. No fins. Wide gills. And those teeth... sharp enough to tear through steel.

It shot at them like a spear, aiming to devour them whole. There was no room to dodge—too big, too fast.

Their reaction wasn't fast, but it was perfect. Only one thing to do: let go and drop back into the pool to dodge it.

They jumped in opposite directions at the last second. Luckily, it missed.

BOOOOM!!

The impact left a massive hole in the cave wall, echoing outside like thunder. The water rippled violently like a tsunami had just hit.

Arsene and Sarl were stunned—but also very lucky.

The shark-like monster was now embedded in the stone wall, stuck like a spear. It thrashed wildly, trying to break free.

Arsene and Sarl rushed to climb again, using this opportunity. But the shockwave had cracked the entire wall, making it even harder to scale. Water gushed from the cracks like hot spring waterfalls.

They tried—but it was no use.

Then Arsene noticed something in the water: Sarl's copy was still there, just floating and watching them. What was it doing? Was it buying time?

It wasn't looking at them. It was staring at something else. Arsene met its gaze. It was eerie—like it had its own awareness.

Once Arsene understood what it was trying to say, he laughed.

"You're crazy... Hah! But let's try it. Might work on a monster that size."

Sarl was confused. Then he heard Arsene's voice beside him:

"Can you get down there?"

"Haaah?!" Sarl stared at him like he'd gone mad. "You want me to go down there?! To die?!"

He looked down again. His copy was still floating there. Why hadn't it disappeared yet? If it died... he didn't want to think about that.

"Can you do that thing? The fusion or whatever. It makes you stronger, right?" Arsene asked.

"Damn it, Arsene. I don't know what you're planning, but it's gotta be another crazy idea, huh?" Sarl cursed.

Arsene grinned. "Hey, thank your copy for that. Look, I just need you to distract it."

"Distract it?! Have you lost it?! You can't distract that! You either run... or you die!" Sarl snapped.

"Then all you have to do is run... successfully!" Arsene smiled again.

Sarl didn't understand what he meant. But he trusted Arsene. He wouldn't throw him into danger without a reason. So he decided to just go along with it—no questions asked.

"See those cracks near the center? They're draining water to somewhere beneath us. That's our ticket out. All I want you to do is fuse with your copy, then swim fast toward those cracks. They're big enough."

"The only thing left is whether you can. Can you dive that deep?"

Sarl thought hard. That monster was still stuck. If he fused with his copy, he might pull it off. He had to. He wasn't planning on becoming shark food.

He glanced at Arsene like he was asking, What about you?

Arsene smiled and reassured him with a nod—like he was saying, I'll be fine.

Without hesitation, Sarl let go and dove back into the water. His copy began to dissolve—and so did the other half of him. So this... this was fusion, huh?

The fused version of him—flawed and all—started speeding toward the center. Arsene climbed higher and higher up the wall.

Sarl swam fast, glancing back every few seconds to see if the monster had broken free. And unfortunately... SPLAAAAASH!!

It had. The beast had finally escaped the wall.

Sarl paddled harder. Just a little more. But the thing was fast.

He reached the center—and for a second, he was stunned. The tangled roots... that strange déjà vu...

Those two seconds were all the monster needed.

It charged. Sarl saw it, fast and terrifying. He almost gave up.

But his copy—merged with him—forced him to dive at the last second.

He had to go deeper. Give it his all.

He turned around for a second—

And saw it. That terrifying grin. A mouth full of metal-shredding teeth, inches from his face.

Sarl panicked, closed his eyes, and braced for the end.

But instead...

He felt something pull him—down, fast.

It was the water draining through the cracks. It dragged him down, deeper.

He'd escaped.

The monster tried to follow. But just as it got close—it hesitated. It was... scared?

Sarl, stunned, watched as the monster stopped completely. Then, like trash down a toilet, he was yanked through the cracks and thrown below.

He and his copy had survived.

But Arsene was still up there.

The monster sensed him. It turned and swam up.

Arsene was hanging from one of the giant roots above, a rope tied to the branch like he was Tarzan swinging through the jungle.

He saw the monster's shadow getting closer to the surface—those hollow eyes locked onto him, waiting for him to jump so it could chomp him mid-air.

Arsene grinned.

"Alright then. Come on, big guy. Show me what you've got!"