Shadow Slave: Gleaming Stars

The black waters of the Dark Sea engulfed me in a familiar bone-chilling cold; the oxygen in my lungs becoming a limited resource due to my human biology.

I had long since grown used to fighting in these conditions; however, this time, the opponent was not only lucid, but probably a lot stronger than a couple of sleeping crabs.

I had to end this fast. 

Forming a barrier around my nose and ears, I cut through the waters smoothly, flaring my purple aura brightly to attract the abomination's attention away from the boat.

Clad in a pristine obsidian scale armor, [Midnight Shard] in hand, my eyes pierced through the abyssal veil of the Dark Sea, locking onto the Nightmare Creature lurking within its depths. 

And I wasn't a big fan of what I saw. 

Before me was a coagulation of every single cephalopod species on earth painted in the nightmarish shades of the Dream Realm.

It had a freakish amount of limbs, 40 total tendrils extending from its body and mouth.

Possessing a nearly Vanta Black skin color, it was thoroughly concealed in the inky waters, and if it weren't for the 4 hypnotic bioluminescent eyes shining dimly atop its crown, its camouflage would've been absolutely flawless.

Encasing its soft body was a barbed plate-like armor, eerily reminiscent of the Carapace family's shells, though this creature's blasphemous shell was covered in tribal purple like wave patterns of unknown origin.

If I were to pick one aspect of this sacrilegious sea creature that screamed "danger", it'd have to be the second set of unseen tentacles extending from its armored body. 

On top of the 8 (Technically 7) colossal tendrils that attacked us earlier, I could feel the presence of another 8 invisible tentacles moving around with a water-like fluidity, and despite my sixth sense's ability to feel them undulating around in the depths, the rest of my senses weren't privy to their presence.

Coupled with the other 24 appendages sticking out of what I assumed to be its mouth, it was one very fugly bastard. 

Unfortunately for me, it was a very dangerous fugly bastard.

Slicing through the depths like a torpedo, I shot towards the creature's head, hoping for a quick end to the battle.

Sadly for me, that was rarely the case.

As soon as I stepped into its range, the creature's eyes gleamed as 15 tentacles lashed out like whips, each one coming from a different angle and different speeds. 

My eyes narrowed, spine tingling under the harrowing assault.

On-the-spot prediction was nearly impossible with such a disorderly tempo, and I therefore had to rely completely on reflex to react and counter. 

With [Perfect Harmony], my body and mind were able to move independently of one another, my brain processing and analysing its attack patterns and behaviors while my body focused entirely on evasion.

My eyes burned with platinum light, the Star of Memory juicing up my already strong analytical ability.

The abominations of the dream realm resembled the demons populating the outland a lot, and thus my approach to this hunt wasn't much different. 

Find order in the disorder. 

All intelligent creatures had habits, and this abomination was no different.

It took a few moments, but after a bit, I broke down its attack pattern, and a moment after that, I mapped out a path through the complex net of tentacles. 

My inner metronome clocked its attack rhythm at around 115 BPM, the tentacles moving in a 3:4:6:12 polyrhythm.

The tentacles always struck in groups of at least 3-4, sometimes striking in groups of 7-8 or 11-12, occasionally striking all at once. 

Taking advantage of the omnidirectional movement available to me underwater, I created small footholds with starlight to push off and accelerate through small gaps in its offense. 

Fully understanding its patterns, I moved with purpose through the complex web of tentacles, my calculated assault seeming inevitable. 

"Seeming" being the keyword. 

To my confusion, the creature remained eerily still, as if welcoming my offense with open arms, an observation that immediately put me on edge. 

Centuries of experience told me that I was about to get royally fucked if I didn't back up, and experience never lies. 

Screeching to a halt a few meters away from the Octopus, I quickly realized that the two dozen tentacles sticking out of its mouth weren't for show.

Nearly getting peppered by a shotgun spray of tendrils, I retreated, a couple of meters, reassessing my approach while threading through the labyrinth of appendages. 

Realizing that its trap had failed, the nightmare creature repositioned to my right with a burst of speed, its frustration surprisingly palpable.

My eyes narrowed, intense focus playing across my features. 

The probing phase of the fight was over, and I now had enough information to act with confidence. 

The beating of my heart intensified as I increased my aura output, creating a small platform out of starlight to launch forward.

Readying the austere tachi in my hands, I was intent on giving it a little trim. 

Unfortunately, the nightmare creature was way smarter than I gave it credit for. 

Shooting forward, I dodged the abominations' first attack, the whip just barely missing my torso, and got ready to launch a counterattack.

Unbeknownst to me, the Sea monster had realized that it was getting read like a book and decided to switch up its patterns.

Caught off-guard by the coordinated assault of 6 tentacles, I was barely able to dodge out of the way of 5 before getting struck by the last one.

It struck my left arm hard, the armor plating of my memory shattering upon contact, though thankfully, my armor took the brunt of the damage. 

The attack shot me backwards a couple of meters, my body spinning slightly from the force, the rotation disorienting me a bit.

The frigid touch of the Dark sea on my unarmored, injured skin cooled me off; the stinging pain shooting up my non-dominant hand keeping me alert.

Before I could reorient myself again, I felt movement behind me, my sixth sense ringing alarm bells in my head.

Capitalizing on the blow it landed, the abomination readied a follow-up, 8 tendrils flying towards me from all angles. 

But this time, I was ready.

Underwater swordsmanship is quite different from normal swordsmanship.

With the lack of footing in the water, the drag, and the lack of gravity, it's incredibly hard to generate any kind of meaningful force, so for most swordsmen, underwater is probably the last place you'd want to draw you're blade.

Fortunately for me, with the versatile nature of Sword Aura and Stars, I wasn't out of options...

I was just out of safe options. 

Faced with the encroachment of tentacles, I swung, rotating violently as the [Midnight Shard] cleaved through the water. 

Using a mix of starlight and aura, I detonated a burst of sheer force in the water, using it to instantly accelerate my blade with terrifying power. 

This time, I tensed at the moment of contact, taking the full brunt of the force without yielding.

I gritted my teeth as I felt some of the muscle fibers in my arm tear.

The strain from instant acceleration proved to be as tremendous as I had anticipated. 

Effortlessly severing the octet of tendrils, the [Midnight Shard] sliced through the gargantuan tentacles like a hot knife through butter. 

Letting out an eerie guttural cry, the titanic beast recoiled in pain, the eight bleeding stumps leaking a liquid the same bioluminescent blue as its eyes. 

My eyes narrowed

In order to showcase my full might, I had to put on a bona fide lightshow, and in fear of attracting more abominations, I had been rather frugal with the usage of my abilities. 

But I saw the opening my attack gave me, recognizing the fleeting chance to end the battle right then and there. 

Pouring a deluge of aura into the pitch black tachi, the inky waters of the Dark Sea lit up with a radiant amethyst light.

I resonated with the sword in my hand, and surprisingly, instead of screaming, the blade seemed to sing. 

Tightening my grip on the blade, I let my twin stars burn with platinum light, pure celestial might pulsing around me as a disembodied song echoed clearly in the abyss. 

Ripping off my self-imposed shackles, I created another foothold out of starlight, rocketing forward while detonating another burst of energy to further accelerate my assault.

My back and legs were left throbbing after the impact, but the damage was still manageable. 

I pierced through the tiny opening I had created, my comparatively small frame soaring unhindered through the depths.

24 pointed tendrils shot at my body, but with another bone rattling explosion, I adjusted my trajectory, just narrowly dodging the abomination's brutal counter. 

I kept forcing more aura into the [Midnight Shard], the tachi's blade practically burning with pure destructive force.

Feeling the dull ache in my chest from lack of oxygen, I saw no reason to prolong the battle any longer. 

Staking everything on a single strike, I drew a single downwards slash, an incandescent purple line vertically bisecting the titanic Nightmare creature's armored head. 

Its four bioluminescent eyes shone with utter frustration and disbelief, unwilling to believe that it had been bested by a creature so much smaller than itself. 

With its head peeling apart, glowing blue blood flowing freely from its exposed brain matter, the mess of appendages primed to strike my form paused forever, now drifting aimlessly in the abyss. 

Letting out a tired heave, I listened halfheartedly as the spell whispered in my ear. 

[You have slain Awakened Titan, Ebon Chobotnice.]

[You have received an echo.]

Instantly, a giddy grin spread across my face.

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(A/N: Straight action chapter tdy!

It was a bit of a chore to write, and honestly, I felt like it was oddly specific at times, but I digress.

As long as you guys enjoyed it, I'll be happy.

I've always thought that the nature of underwater combat was interesting, and I hope you guys do too!

Regardless, Thanks for all the support, and I'll see you tomorrow with another chapter.

(P.S., don't forget to leave a comment or review ykyk.))