Fangs pierced through the hunter's resilient body, the iron taste of blood flooding Garde's mouth, snapping his rage-fueled mind back to clarity.
'Did I lose control again?'
The crimson in his eyes gradually faded as Garde released his bite on Gladiia's abdomen, spitting out a few small bone fragments.
"You dare..."
An ordinary person would be completely incapacitated, if not dead, with their abdomen crushed.
However, the formidable physique of an Abyssal Hunter allowed Gladiia not only to survive but also to continue resisting.
Her spear clattered to the ground, and without her weapon, Gladiia clenched her fist and struck Garde's face.
"Let me go!" Gladiia shouted with difficulty.
The punch on his face was more a nuisance than pain, and the recoil made Gladiia's body tremble, causing her to cough up blood.
"Ugh..."
Gladiia, an Abyssal Hunter for over a decade, fighting across countless battles, had never been this miserable.
She had always believed she would die one day, perhaps in combat with a giant Seaborn, or covering her team's retreat, or succumbing to exhaustion facing endless Sea Terror.
But she never thought she would lose to someone from the land.
"A loss is a loss. The proud second-in-command of the Abyssal Hunters, the chief designer of warfare of the Ægir military organization Abyssal Hunters, is unable to accept defeat?" Noticing his fingers still pressing on Gladiia's chest, touching a soft area, Garde discreetly moved his hand away.
He wasn't deliberately being lecherous; during a fight, he recognized no one. How could he be inappropriate? Fortunately, Gladiia hadn't padded her armor or undergone surgery, or else he might have crushed it.
"Who are you?" Gladiia asked, nearly unable to stand, clutching her wounded abdomen as she looked at Garde.
"Someone from the land shouldn't have such power!"
"Heh, Aegir only occupies a corner of the ocean. Who gave you the courage to underestimate this land?" Garde looked down at Gladiia and said in a deep voice.
"What happened to Laurentina?"
"..."
Gladiia pursed her lips. Honestly, she didn't want to tell this land dweller anything about Laurentina. Because of him, Laurentina had ignored her orders, nearly putting her in danger.
But she also knew that if she said nothing, this monster wouldn't let her go.
"She's fine."
Her abdomen still ached. Ordinarily, such a wound shouldn't affect her movement. But Gladiia felt her breathing become labored.
"I just put her in solitary confinement for a few days..."
Gladiia sensed something was wrong. Her vision blurred, feeling like the symptoms of an ordinary Ægir losing too much blood.
But she was an Abyssal Hunter!
"Pant, pant..."
Gladiia started to pant, turning to head towards the river.
Garde's voice came from behind.
"Hey, don't push yourself if you're hurt."
"This is none of your concern!"
She had bled on land; she had to leave quickly. Otherwise, she might bring disaster to this place.
Because.
"The sea are coming!"
Thud!
Gladiia fell to the ground.
Garde scratched his head.
"I told you not to push yourself if you're hurt."
He walked over, lifted Gladiia, and slung her over his shoulder.
The Abyssal Hunters' extraordinary self-healing ability came from another type of blood in their bodies. But after being injured by him, the Seaborn blood in Gladiia's body went dormant, reverting the mighty second-in-command of the Abyssal Hunters back to an ordinary female Ægir, as she was before her transformation.
Under such circumstances, the wound on Gladiia's waist was indeed life-threatening.
Garde glanced at the blood trickling from Gladiia's abdomen.
The deep red blood appeared no different from that of an ordinary human, but upon closer inspection, it became clear that the blood, once exposed to the air, rusted quickly like iron meeting oxygen.
The blood flowed, releasing a special kind of pheromone.
Garde seemed to hear a voice, a cry for help.
He extended his tongue and licked Gladiia's waist.
"Shut up!"
The voice instantly disappeared.
The rusty taste on his tongue made Garde spit several times.
He didn't eat raw things, raw meat, or drink blood, and he certainly wouldn't eat people.
Gladiia wasn't sick, just injured. Although it looked severe, the village Casters were adept at treating such wounds.
If not, they could seek Saria's help.
Despite being the Department Head of Security and Vice President of Rhine Lab, Saria was also skilled in medicine.
Garde wouldn't refuse their help just because he had declined their previous requests. After all, they needed his assistance.
Garde carried Gladiia back. After a few steps, he saw a small figure, Tomimi, running over in a panic.
"Garde, Garde, something's wrong! Gavial is about to lose; you need to help her!"
After Saria used her Originium arts, Gavial was at a disadvantage.
Seeing the dire situation, Tomimi ran out to find Garde.
When she saw Garde and the unconscious Gladiia on his shoulder, Tomimi was momentarily stunned.
Whatever crossed her small mind, she immediately turned and ran, shouting.
"Gavial! Gavial! something's wrong! Garde brought back a woman!"
Garde: "???"
However, as Garde left, the blood Gladiia had spilled on the ground began to reactivate.
The pheromone it released crossed rivers, cliffs, and reached the ocean, traveling to unknown waters far from the Acahualla region.
Clusters of dark brown, fiber-like meat balls lay quietly on the seabed thousands of meters below the surface, drifting with the ocean currents.
Suddenly, one of the clusters trembled.
Then a second, a third... densely packed fiber meat balls started to shake in the pitch-black depths.
Formless entities began to sprout limbs, heads, fins, and scales.
In just a few seconds, grotesque creatures were born.
Despite their hideous forms, they withstood the immense pressure of the deep sea.
Tens, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands.
No one knew how many of these creatures existed in the deep sea. Dormant for an unfathomable time, they awakened merely by hearing a cry for help.
Because a comrade needed assistance, wasn't it only natural to reach out? Some fiber meat balls, long deprived of nutrition, had already perished.
But death was not an end.
At the moment of their death, they rejoined the swarm.
The living meat balls devoured the dead ones.
The dead ones sacrificed themselves for the living.
Even if it meant giving their lives, even if it meant sharing their bodies, they would bring back their comrades.
They were the Seaborn, offspring of the sea!
Blood flowed within the Seaborn, turning the ocean red. It was as if a blanket had covered the ocean's original color.
At this moment, the sea turned silent.
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