Shrouded Seascape

Lily rushed through the melting tunnel of ice before her. To achieve her goal, she had paid far too high of a price, so she had to persevere. She had to keep her word, after all.

Lily looked extremely nervous as she glanced alternatingly at the nautical chart and the compass.

If Mithila hasn't lied to me, then I just have to travel ten miles more at most.

Just then, shrill buzzing noises reverberated from the ice and pierced Lily's ears.

In response, Lily curled up into a ball. Agony marred her face as she covered her ears to block the noises, but it was useless. The shrill buzzing noises seemed to be capable of attacking her soul directly.

Lily extinguished the light emanating from her to conceal herself in the darkness.

Regardless of where the noises were coming from, she had no intention of provoking the entity producing it. She just wanted to reach her destination as quickly as possible.

The noises were coming from deep within the ice, and each wave was stronger than the last, tormenting Lily.

As Lily struggled to open her eyes, an iridescent light shone on her face through the translucent ice. The light was multicolored, though not like one would see from a rainbow. Instead, they were dim like one would see from soap bubbles.

The dim light was somewhere deep within the layers of ice.

Lily took a closer look and saw something within the ice.

It was a pile of bubbles.

They appeared to be an irregular structure with no definable shape. They were nested within each other, forming a huge pile of interconnected bubbles.

The sight immediately reminded Lily of one of the stories Charles had told her about what happened after her death. Isn't this 010? The one that teleported the First Mate away?

Just then, yellow tentacles stretched out from the ice, pushing 010's bizarre figure forward. Within the ice, 010 moved quickly—no, it was moving frantically for some reason.

There was a loud crack, and a fissure opened in the iceberg. Unfortunately, the fissure happened to block block 010's path. There was another crack once again, and a fissure manifested in the ice, cleaving through 010's figure as if it were a sharp blade.

Three bubbles in the pile of bubbles deflated rapidly, and the liquid within the bubble seeped into the fissure.

Lily was astonished. Then, she finally realized the reason behind the time loop. It was brought upon by physical contact with the snow from this massive block of ice.

The colossal iceberg was actually alive. It was devouring 010, attempting to seize its power over time for itself. The iceberg had to have absorbed a portion of 010's power, and they ended up getting trapped in that time loop upon contact with the snow coming from it.

Records were never truly accurate throughout the Subterranean Sea. However, it wasn't because no one was willing to do so. It was simply because things were ever-changing, so an accurate description of their special abilities and characteristics was impossible.

The relics and entities throughout the Subterranean Sea could actively and passively obtain new special abilities by absorbing other things or simply existing.

010 was in an unfavorable position, and the colorful bubbles all over it popped one by one. The shrill noises coming from 010 also constantly pervaded Lily's ears.

Lily had seen enough. She also had no intention of getting involved in the conflict between the iceberg and 010. She had her own matters—far more important matters to attend to.

Amidst the desperate battle between the two entities, Lily's figure abruptly emitted a radiant light as she flew as fast as she could to her destination.

The tunnel ahead of her expanded nonstop. Lily wasn't sure, but she felt like she had flown for over five hundred miles so far. She was tired, extremely tired. Her head was starting to swell from the exertion, but she persevered.

Just then, Lily's eyes lit up. She was about to exit the iceberg. Unfortunately, whenever one thought that things were going well, things often immediately go wrong.

Loud cracking noises echoed at once, and Lily instantly found herself trapped in a cage made out of ice.

"I don't care who you are, but you better not think that you can stop me!" Lily had no intention of waiting for her death. She gnashed her teeth and clenched her fists as her slender figure transformed into a dazzling sun.

The miniature sun melted the iceberg rapidly, and a huge cavity was made inside of it, spanning five hundred meters at the very least.

At first, Lily thought that the fissures would disappear without the iceberg as their medium, but to her surprise, the fissures could actually exist without the iceberg.

To make matters worse, without the solid ice serving as their containers, the fissures' true form was revealed. The slender and long fissures were made from spacetime rifts.

Lily's gaze pierced the fissures, and she clapped her eyes on quite a few bizarre eyes and appendages within the crack.

The entity's identity was still unknown, but one thing was finally sure—its true body was within the spacetime rifts.

The net made out of spacetime rifts contracted at once. Had it not been for the light radiating within Lily, she would have been chopped into dozens of pieces in an instant.

However, Lily was still in a bad situation. The spacetime rifts made quick work of the light around her before making a beeline for her figure.

At the critical juncture, a violent tremor ran across the iceberg, followed by a deafening explosion.

Lily looked down and saw a translucent orb colliding with the iceberg.

The fissures seemed to have decided that the orb was far more dangerous than Lily. The massive net made out of spacetime rifts dispersed and drilled into the iceberg as they made a beeline for the orb.

The fissures' disappearance presented a good opportunity for Lily, and she didn't waste that opportunity. She melted the wall of ice ahead of her and moved as fast as possible to escape.

The familiar sea breeze blew against Lily outside, but before she could feel relieved, she trembled and turned around to see the huge iceberg tilting toward her, slamming into her without any warning.

The powerful attack blasted Lily toward the sea, and the huge waves generated by the attack were akin to a tsunami that inundated Lily before she could fly out of the sea.

As the Light God's inheritor, Lily wouldn't die so easily. About a minute later, Lily flew out of the water and was left panting as she stared deeply at the distant iceberg. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

The iceberg was right there; it was neither near nor far from Lily, and it was unmoving as if it were truly an inanimate object.

The tunnel that Lily had used to exit the iceberg was no longer there as well.

However, Lily understood that the sight before her was just a mere disguise.

The iceberg that towered so high that it seemed connected to the rock layer overhead and so wide that it seemed to stretch across the entire sea region was actually a living entity.

Lily turned around and cautiously looked around.

The nautical chart told her that her destination was right here. Lily looked around with her dazzling light but found nothing. There weren't even traces of any island.

If it's not on the surface... Lily trembled, but she decisively dove into the pitch-black sea. Soon, a sunken, colossal island finally saw the light of day again, all thanks to the sunlight radiating from Lily.

The island had buildings built in the Foundation's unique architectural style, and there was also a grand, steel arch on the island. At last, Lily had reached her destination.

The Foundation created the Light God on this SITE.

I must find a way to contact the Mr. Charles of this plane. Having made up her mind, Lily flew rapidly toward the sea surface. Just as she was about to emerge from the sea, however, the collision with the sea surface felt like hitting a steel plate.

Lily was dumbfounded, and she stretched a hand toward the sea surface just a few inches above her. She was one step away from breaching the sea surface, but she was somehow sealed beneath the waters.

Who is it? Lily sensed something and turned around. Something was drifting toward her from the seafloor.