Uraj couldn't believe his eyes.

Since Uraj was a child he has dreamed of finding great treasures of legend so he might become just like one of the mythical figures told in songs.

Reality was cruel though, crushing his dreams to pieces. His talent was far too ordinary, surpassed by too many of his siblings.

In the following decades, he had made peace with that. As the bottom-rung of the kingdom’s soldiers, his job didn't ask much of him; he just needed to stand all day near the gate of the oh-so-glorious kingdom.

Gone were the days when he dreamt of glorious conquests and doing great deeds like hunting evil leviathans. Nowadays he was content with having enough for dinner. Even the idea of finding a mate was too much now. As everyone so often reminded him, he was too ordinary, like anchovy.

Covering the shift of a friend, he instead was forced to investigate a disturbance by his superiors. Uraj didn't like it, too close to the surface and it was usually a waste of time but did his opinion matter? He could only go through with it.

When he found the rock in the crater surrounded by all kinds of frenzied sea denizens, he knew he had found the source of the disturbance. The feelings of annoyance turned into joy.

Uraj’s tail shivered with excitement and his gills shook because of irregular breaths.

Praise the Mothersea!

He was familiar with the rock’s energy. His people have gathered similar things in the places of worship, closely guarded. The priests said it was Mothersea’s gift to her children, that she plucked a piece from what the surface-dwellers called the sky and sent them unto the fertile depths. Uraj didn't care all that much actually, who cares where it came from?

Was this his moment? Was this the day he fulfilled his childhood dream? If he could obtain the shining rock’s heart for himself, how powerful would he get? Could he hope to challenge the highborns? Perhaps, even the king? How wonderful!

Just as Uraj started to devise a plan to pass through the legions of monsters and extract the Shining Heart, he was startled by a loud burst. He saw an orca move with incredible speed, combining swimming and teleporting.

A Godkin! A descendant of the Whale God!

The spatial powers and shining purple eyes were unmistakable. To his surprise, the bigger rock’s luster was fading. That meant the Shining Heart had been taken. Sure enough, Uraj sensed the heart’s presence from the Godkin.

He wasn't the only one sensing it, all the monsters gave chase. Regardless of their species and tiers, all moved as one like an army of legion. A terrifying sight, Uraj felt like he was seeing a sea of flesh on the move.

A Monster Tide!

A significant force for sure, but could they slay the Godkin or would the Godkin escape?

Uraj thought it might go either way. For now, he would follow them. He still hadn't given up on the Shining Heart, how could he, when he was so close?

And he still had a chance. Even the Godkin would need a long time to consume something as significant as the Shining Heart. When it hibernated, it would be his time to strike! If the currents aligned, could he even subdue the Godkin? It would make him a legend overnight.

Keeping the reignited long-dead spark of his dreams alight in his chest, the Mer clenched his army standard-issue coral spear and gave chase, his fish lower body giving him the necessary speed to keep up with the Monster Tide.

***

“One, two, three!”

On Dia’s mark, she, Futon, and Faiya were striking three targets at the same time. Each was targeting a human statue.

In Viridis, Arsène and the girls were sorting out the loot from their latest righteous pillaging. Opening storage rings and the like was similar to opening Christmas presents or gacha boxes. There was a little bit of hope for getting something grand.

Arsène, who had Viers’ personality, had learned to keep his expectations low so he wouldn't be disappointed too much. Be that as it may, Marvin was a rich blackguard with a doting father-in-law. He expected good things to come out of the box.

Sometimes opening an inventory item was easy, sometimes it was not. There were various types of security, like a specific Victa or password. Using soul search, he could bypass the lock and directly access some, but for those he couldn't, he had no qualms about breaking the container.

Viers had set up a magic formation specialized for destroying inventory items in the Biome and it was often in use. He killed a lot and stole a lot. Simply by placing the storage item in the formation it would gradually break down and expunge its contents. Viers was grateful he was in a world where destroying a storage item does not mean the loss of its content to the void of space. The world of some Fables he read worked like that.

This time, from one of the Black Shield knights that Viers killed in the Archion Volcano, there were three battle puppets. Not much different than a golem, these were simply shaped similar to a human. From the owner, Arsène knew this puppet had the power of around a Level 2 peak but was way sturdier.

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Dia and the other two elementals took a liking to these toys. They wanted to have a contest of who could break theirs first. Futon and Faiya were on board.

Dia with her root strike, Faiya with his fireblast, and Futon with his thunderbolt.

Paina, Farley, and Clarissa, joined by Gwen who was helping out sorting things they got from the Lucan Duchy, did their task while giving cursory attention to the little ones.

“Muu…” Dia was pouting. Compared to the other two, her statue’s destruction was not as impressive as the other two and she was the slowest. While she was technically still a bit ahead of the other two in cultivation, her offense was surpassed.

In return, her versatility was far greater, thanks to the many types of plants she could make. Of course, this was only the case in her normal mode. If she fully tapped the Biome’s power, not even Viers’ full strength could match her.

“Now now, don't pout,” Arsène patted her head. “We all know you are by no means weak. And Faiya, bragging about your firepower to your siblings is a bit petty, don't you think? You have the strongest offense between the three, that is true, but a battle is not only about who can hit the hardest.”

Faiya lowered his head, which was his entire body. Just as he was about to give a lecture to the kids, Dia got a phone call.

“Ah, hello, kin… Uh huh… Other kin is next to me…”

Dia plucked a leaf from her leaf hair and gave it to Arsène.

“Other kin say it's urgent.”

Arsène took the leaf and placed it next to his ear. It wasn't necessary but it just felt right. He did come from a world with mobile phones after all.

“Partner, talk to me.”

Without combining, Viers and Arsène didn't know each other’s thoughts or point of view. Up to a certain distance, they could communicate via soul power but they were currently in a closed pocket dimension. Only Dia could receive Viers’ call from the outside world.

“...Got it. We’re coming.”

Arsène put down the leaf phone and gave it back to Dia, which she placed back into her hair. By now, Farley and others were already approaching.

“Trouble?” Clarissa asked.

“My other self mined the meteor’s greatest natural treasure, the thing is, the others are not too happy about it. He is on the run, pursuers on his heels,” Arsène said with a solemn voice and tone.

“How should we assist him?” Farley asked. “Does he need immediate extraction?”

“Ooh! Me, me ready!” Dia jumped in place while raising her hand. “I’ll crush-crush the other baddies too! All fertilizer snappy-snap, for sure!”

The cute-faced ten-year-old dryad said some bloodthirsty things but none among them were surprised.

“Who’s he running from? Level 4? 5?”

Paina didn't think any Level 3 would be Viers’ opponent now. Even Arsène could defeat the average Level 3 peak without too much trouble. Meanwhile, the real Viers had his mysterious boost ability.

Furthermore, unlike the clone who could revive, the real Viers most definitely has robust protective measures on his person, which made him much more difficult to kill. For such a person to request assistance… What manner of foe did he face this time?

Paina silently prayed to the Radiant Lady that it wasn't someone like the Grandmaster of the cult again. She sometimes still had nightmares of that battle.

“A Monster Tide,” Arsène replied. “A million strong.”

“Shhh,” Paina took a sharp breath. “That’s… bad, isn't it?”

The sentiment was mirrored by the others. Even Futon and Faiya, who were still counting the zeros of a million, thought it was bad.

Arsène’s stern face slowly turned into a jester’s smile.

“On the contrary, We’re having an all-you-can-eat tonight! All hands, battle stations!”

“Ugh! Seriously? You shouldn't make a joke like that!” Paina fumed. Beside her, Farley had already begun putting on her armor. “So it wasn't a million monsters, right? A dozen? A hundred krills?”

“Oh, that part is accurate. The number is around a million, he said.”

“Haaah!?”

“And we will meet them in glorious combat!” Arsène said with a true thrill of battle coursing through his veins. “What are you waiting for? Get ready for battle! All hands on deck! Move, move, move!”

Paina rolled her eyes and started preparing. Clarissa, who didn't need to prepare anything, asked Farley who was inspecting her spear.

“What does 'all hands on deck' mean?”

“Beats me.”

***

Me, angry.

She had no name, but the monster shark had begun to form sentience. It had been a long journey through the centuries, from her roots as an ordinary shark until this point in her life.

When she found the nice-smelling twinkle rock, she instinctively knew she would ‘go beyond’, becoming more than she is now.

That was why when the black-white fish took her prize, she would not stop chasing it until it and the good thing got into her stomach.

With fervor and zeal, the Rank 4 shark chased Orca-Viers. Time was an unknown concept to the shark so she didn't know but after a race of nearly twenty minutes, she was gaining on the bad black-white fish.

They were also in the shallows, some manner of greenery grew here, but it didn't matter. In her experience, less strong predators exist in the shallow water. Of course, it was not absolute. She still had the scar on her body when some manner of winged creature she never encountered before dived from above the water and tried to eat her.

But she had nothing to fear here. The rest of the beings that made her wary were around but she was the fastest. She would chomp the thieving fish and the good thing first.

The aura of the good thing only brought more fish during the chase. There were so many now. She might not be able to see her quarry because of the other fish but the aura was unmistakable.

She summoned her maximum speed and surged forth, teeth-laden jaws wide open. One or two bites, then it would be over.

The bad black and white disappeared again. How did it do that? No matter, it won't escape. Just need to turn and-

She wasn't able to turn.

She felt she was passing through something.

Then she was in a place where she couldn't swim. She was floundering.

“Gate open! Hahahaha!” Arsène said to the Rank 4 shark. The shark only heard noise.

“There’s no JSDF here but there’s us! Attack!”

The shark soon learned that though she was a fierce predator in the water, she was weak in a place without.

That was her final lesson.