The next day, I found myself joining the expedition to the Abyssal Tomb. The Royal Guard, as Orin called them, had mustered protectively around Myria. It was only natural – she was their princess, and they couldn't afford to have anything happen to her.
To my lack of surprise, Orin and his entourage had shown up to, insisting on escorting her royal highness to the Abyssal Tomb. In addition to them, an entire battalion of over a thousand Atlantean soldiers had formed up in massed ranks, holding their tridents proudly while Admiral MerArthur inspected them at the front, drifting rapidly from row to row. Once he was satisfied with what he saw, he spun around smartly and saluted.
"All ready for you to give the order, your highness!" He bellowed.
"Sure," Myria replied, looking uncomfortable. "Please tell your men to be at ease."
"At ease!" MerArthur bellowed, and the soldiers of the 4th battalion of the Atlantean Armada relaxed just a fraction, moving their hands behind their backs and spreading their legs while still drifting in the water.
"Um, are you sure you should be leading this expedition, your highness?" One of the royal guards asked. "It'll be very dangerous."
"That's precisely why I have to go," Myria replied firmly. "How can the royal family sit back and let the brave soldiers of Atlantis risk the danger on their own? We have to lead by example."
"But what if something happens to you?"
"My father his majesty is still healthy and have a long life ahead of him. Besides, I'm sure my brother, Marius, will be a worthy successor to the throne. He will be more suitable to ruling than I am."
"That's not true at all, your highness!"
"Yes, it is. You don't have to flatter me. Marius is more politically astute than I am. I'm just a tomboy princess who only knows how to wage war." She smiled and raised a hand to forestall any protests. "This military role suits me the best. You all know that."
"But…"
"Besides, with me to inspire the men, we will definitely be victorious. Isn't that right, soldiers of Atlantis?"
"YES, YOUR HIGHNESS!"
The soldiers roared in unison, clashing their tridents against their armor and sending determined pulses of qi throughout their formation. I could almost see a massive sea dragon manifest over the armada, howling silently at the heavens above.
Their fighting spirit was indomitable, if nothing else.
"Let's move out!"
With that, Myria issued the order, and the 4th battalion moved out in a flurry of bubbles, accompanied by the royal guard and the private militia of House Maroma. I followed them, checking my summoning space to ensure that my spirit beasts had all been recalled there before I moved out.
I was going to need every single one of them for what lay ahead. Well, except Xiao Huo. Unless there was a pocket of air, I couldn't summon her, and even if there was, her fire abilities wouldn't be of much use underwater anyway.
Thankfully, I had an entire armada of aquatic spirit beasts right now. That was something I never would have imagined in the past, but I guess the super summoning system really lived up to its name. at least I wasn't an SSS-ranked lone summoner…or Zhang Ze from Only I can use summoning. The guy had an entire army of summoned beasts as well, though every time he went up one floor, he would lose a bunch of his monsters through attrition.
I wasn't going to sacrifice my summoned spirit beasts, though.
While I was lost in thought, we reached the Abyssal Tomb before I knew it. Once we neared the vicinity of our destination, I understood the name.
We were approaching what seemed like a trench. The Mariana Trench, if I wasn't mistaken – the deepest part of the ocean. Or the deepest oceanic trench in the world. I had vaguely heard about it from mom and Jun Hai, about how it was largely unexplored and the possibility of plenty of yet unknown marine life to exist within its unfathomable depths.
A chill ran down my spine as I approached the abyssal trench. From the distance, it looked like a gargantuan maw that stretched across the bedrock of the ocean, ravenously poised to devour all who were foolish enough to risk its depths.
"The Abyssal Tomb is in there?"
"Yeah. If you're scared, you can back out now."
Unsurprisingly, it was Orin who taunted me. He slithered toward my position, an oily grin on his handsome face. I felt like punching his arrogant mug, but held myself back. Admittedly, he was a far cry from the usual arrogant young masters who infested web novels and manhuas, you know, the types who love to scream, "Courting death!" Shao Ye was a better fit for that role than Orin.
That didn't make him any less irritating to deal with, though.
"If you don't feel any fear peering into the abyss's depths, then you're insane. Those who don't fear danger are doomed to succumb to it. It's what keeps you alive, after all."
Orin snorted, but didn't retort. I was tempted to repeat the old adage about how if you peered into the abyss for too long, the abyss would look back, but…Orin wouldn't catch that reference. That was something from the surface.
"Let's go."
Myria didn't hesitate to swim right into the depths. I felt kind of stupid after making that speech about fear keeping one alive, especially when the princess of Atlantis herself didn't appear to experience such dread. The royal guard, on the other hand, were panicking as they dove after their charge. I didn't blame them. If Myria wasn't afraid of the abyssal trench, then she was crazy.
And crazy people tended to die because they lacked a sense of self-preservation.
I squinted into the dark depths of the trench, not able to make out anything. The only illumination was afforded by the spiritual qi emanating from Myria and her royal guard. They were joined by the large battalion under MerArthur's command, the soft glows of their auras merging to form a huge light. I raised an eyebrow at that.
"Um, wouldn't they draw too much attention? If the enemy is inside there, they'll spot us coming from a mile away."
"You don't have to worry about that," Orin said sharply as he dove after the Atlantean Armada, his private militia forming up around him. "The enemy will be distracted by the contents of the tomb."
I sighed and took off after them, hoping they were right. As it turned out, my worries were unfounded when I spotted a bright light suffusing the depths, ghostly pseudo flames that were produced by the bioluminescence of deep sea, abyssal creatures that dwelled in the perpetual dark.
They were massive too. Something even larger than a whale drifted past, almost resembling an underwater island…no, an undersea mountain. Lights flickered all over its body, either parasitic angler fishes clinging onto its scales or luminous moss that had crept across its surface.
And it wasn't the only one.
Fortunately, there were cuter versions of the hideous monsters that lurked in the depths. I caught sight of familiar Lantern Fishes and their Little Angler counterparts swimming in shoals. Summoning my own armada, I had them surround me to afford some light as I dove deeper into the murky waters of the trench.
Then I saw the edifice sticking out of one of the walls that made up the trench. It was even larger than the island slash whale like creature that had just floated past earlier. Like a true mountain, it rose out of the depths, the runes etched into its surface glowing ominously. I didn't know why, but that eldritch green glow emanating from pure black metal made me feel like metallic skeletons were going to crawl out of the structure any moment now, wielding advanced weaponry that was capable of stripping down a target to the molecular level.
…yeah, I had read way too much science fiction stories or played too much science fiction tabletop wargames. I had an army of giant robots known as Knights, by the way. They were my favorite faction in the setting.
Putting my irrelevant hobbies aside, I spotted the enemy at the entrance of the pyramid-like structure. An army of merfolk had clustered around the base, guarding the edifice vigilantly. They were accompanied by a gargantuan sea serpent.
"An Abyssal Serpent," I muttered, recognizing the titanic creature whose coiled length reached up to over a hundred meters in length. This particular Abyssal Serpent was the size of a ship, its yellow eyes glowing ferociously in the dark.
"That's going to be a problem," Myria said when I caught up with her and her troops. "They have several merfolk chiefs taking charge of the undersea tribe army around the Abyssal Tomb, and those will be difficult enough opponents without having to worry about that Abyssal Serpent standing sentry over them."
When she glanced at me, I immediately knew what she required of me. So this was one of the reasons why she brought me along. Suppressing a sigh, I nodded.
"I'll do my best to deal with the Abyssal Serpent."
"Are you sure?" Orin snapped. Of all the people to be concerned about me, I didn't expect him to be among them. "That's a Mystic ranked spirit beast. Even with the spirit beasts under your command, there's no way you can defeat it. I recall that the highest ranked spirit beast you have is Yellow, and even then, the majority of your spirit beasts are either ordinary or beginner stage Yellow Rank."
"You're right," I admitted. "But I will figure something out."
"I knew I can rely on you!' Myria, on the other hand, possessed full confidence in me for some reason. She turned to MerArthur. "All right, let's start organizing the attack."
"Yes, your highness."
Their discussion mostly flew over my head, but I didn't have to worry about them. My only objective was to deal with the Abyssal Serpent while the Atlanteans dealt with the undersea tribe. I followed their signals, and when Myria gave the order to charge, I plunged into the abyss after them.
The Abyssal Serpent hissed as it snaked around to meet the Atlanteans, but I distracted it with a single azure arrow. The qi projectile detonated against its head, causing it to reel slightly, but I wasn't surprised to see that my attack didn't even leave a mark. There was a whole realm difference between us, after all.
Still, it was enough to draw its attention. Snarling, the Abyssal Serpent focused its reptilian gaze on me.
"That's right," I said, preparing another arrow. "I'm your opponent, you bastard."
Launching it, I then swam off to the side. Below, the Atlanteans engaged the merfolk army, the mighty exponents among them – MerArthur leading the charge – engaging the formidable merfolk chiefs that led the grunts. However, I didn't have the luxury of worrying about my aquatic allies. The Abyssal Serpent had whipped about and lunged at me.
Its mass was so huge that when its tail struck parts of the trench, it sent debris tumbling away. With water everywhere, the rocks floated all over the place, making the area resemble an asteroid field from cheap science fiction movies.
After all, real asteroid fields weren't that tightly packed. There were many thousands, if not millions of kilometers between each asteroid, more than enough space for entire fleets of spacecraft to travel through. Not that the directors of those science fiction movies cared. They took creative liberty with the setting to invoke drama and tension.
Speaking of tension, I was desperately fleeing from the pursuing Abyssal Serpent. Weaving through the confines of the trench, I flipped myself over a protrusion and hurtled toward a turn. The Abyssal Serpent chased me relentlessly, its flexible body twisting about elegantly as it rounded the corner.
And right into my trap.
"Now!"
All around me, my summoned spirit beasts sprang to life. The Little Anglers and Lantern Fishes synchronized their attack to unleash a combined Divine Thunderstorm attack – the same technique we used to turn the tide of battle against the undersea tribe two days ago. The titanic thunderbolt struck the gargantuan Abyssal Serpent just as it entered the crevice within the trench, lighting it up so spectacularly that I could almost see its skeleton. The enormous spirit beast convulsed, its thrashing body colliding with the stony edge of the trench and knocking piles of stone loose before it finally came to a halt.
For a moment, I thought it was over, the smoking body of the Abyssal Serpent drifting away motionlessly as residue lightning continued to crackle along its length. Exhausted, I allowed myself to float backward.
Then the Abyssal Serpent reared up once more, dispelling the electricity that plagued its system. Ferocious light returned to its eyes, a glint of vengeance sparking life back into its body.
"No way…"
I gulped, realizing that I had just made a fatal error and underestimated the enemy. The Abyssal Serpent wasn't just any Mystic ranked spirit beast. It was at least Advanced level Mystic rank…no.
The Abyssal Serpent was peak Mystic rank.