Senia found herself rapidly overwhelmed by five kelpies.

The big water horses blocked her path, and were even threatening her by running around her.

'W-What do I do?'

Trying to find a way out of this, she began to panic.

'I should have known this would happen if I entered their lair uninvited!'

One kelpie suddenly rushed toward her.

*FUSH*

Surprised, Senia dodged the charge and looked behind her. When she looked back in front of her, another kelpie charged her.

"Wait! Wait!"

In a frantic effort to make her words come across, she finally spoke.

But the kelpie completely ignored her and kept charging at her, persuaded that she was a threat.

"I said wait!"

The situation turning worse as time went by, she began to lose patience.

"I came here to help, not hurt you!"

She lifted her arms and pointed the palm of her hands toward the side. Twisting her body, she began to spin, releasing foam at the same time.

Fearing for its life, the kelpie reared and swam away, joining back with the others, who stopped after seeing the siren defend herself.

"At least give me a chance to explain myself before thinking I'm a threat! Do I look like that monstrous thing outside?"

The five kelpies kept their stare on her as the foam dissipated. Behind the bubbles, Senia reappeared with anger on her face.

She swiped her tail in front of her to push the foam, and crossed her arms.

"So, do you want to continue? Or are you going to let me through?"

They kept glaring at her, before finally turning around.

'Seems like I will be able to find that leader...'

'Though, I shouldn't count on these guys. They are on edge, which is perfectly valid, knowing what is happening to them.'

Senia carefully followed the kelpies and looked around her.

As she entered deeper into the cave, she began to scan the place.

The kelpies lived under massive rock formations, carved by themselves with magic. From the looks of it, this place was their home.

Corals, sponges, and starfishes covered every rock, every nook and cranny of the cave, even on walls and pillars. Rare species of fishes seemed to live peacefully, and even sharks sometimes swam by Senia.

A whole marine ecosystem different from the outside was thriving in this underwater heaven. The bioluminescence of many beings illuminated the cave, which should have been a very dark place, out of the rays of the suns.

Just by looking at her surrounding, Senia gathered that there were as few as two or three hundred kelpies in the den.

She thought that there would have probably been more, but those were hunted by the giant corrupted resting in the abyss.

Why would the kelpies needed to go outside was a question floating in her head. She had no idea why they would risk their lives knowing they would probably die.

Suddenly, the kelpies in the distance stopped, and bowed their head toward a massive blue conch. Its size was scary, making Senia wonder what kind of monstrosity used this shell to live in. At least a twenty-meter sea snail lived at some point.

This massive shell was the home of the kelpie leader.

'Seems like I'm arrived. Alright, Senia, don't mess this up.'

Swimming past the five kelpies, she entered through the opening, and waited for a moment.

"Hello?"

Her voice came out a little stiff, but someone answered her call nonetheless.

"A rare visitor."

When she turned her head toward the voice, she noticed a large kelpie, probably two meters larger than the ones she saw outside, resting on a bed of soft brown sponges.

After noticing the being she wanted to see, she looked around the home she was in.

Strapped to the ceiling with seaweed was a large white pearl, reflecting Senia perfectly on it. Its purity was incredible.

Lots of lifeforms also lived in her, mostly sponges and bright, harmless jellyfishes that simply floated peacefully.

Then, she turned to look at the kelpie leader.

This particular kelpie had a very different appearance compared to the ones outside. All kelpies Senia saw were blue or green skinned. They had a very thin mane, and muscular front legs.

Compared to them, their leader was white skinned, with a long black mane. Its bright yellow eyes stared back into Senia's, which made her slightly uncomfortable.

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Its physique was also thinner than normal kelpies, as if it rarely moved around. A long eel-like tail also appeared, healthier and in better shape than the others.

"My apologies, this is the first time an individual from outside entered our home. I believe my people were a little bit rough with you at first."

"That they were. I will accept your apology, though."

Senia approached a little bit, but remained a little distance away still.

The kelpie seemed to smile as it closed its eyes. Then, it opened them and gave an intense and oppressing glare.

"I will say this once, but you are not welcomed here. It is not particularly against you, but we are facing an unknown threat that tries to kill us all."

"We do not have the leeway to welcome guests at this moment. We will probably never, from the looks of it."

Feeling the unwillingness to continue from the leader, Senia sighed.

"I will ask anyway, but have you tried contacting the humans?"

The leader nodded.

"With twelve of us, and me included, we tried to. All the ones following me died, while I barely made it out alive."

Moving its body slightly, a large bloody scar came into Senia's view. On the right rear of the leader, the fresh wound caused by the massive corrupted hindered its movement.

"I see. That's the reason for all those corpses laying on the beach, then."

With a frown, Senia said.

"What did you say? Corpses?"

The leader also frowned at Senia's words. Senia nodded and explained.

"From what I've heard, the corpse of one of the kelpies washed ashore, making the Lord of Noctelagia panic. She asked my... friend, to come and help today after seeing many more laying on the sand."

"That's why I'm here. To find you, and help you."

Senia saw the kelpie suddenly stand up and approach her.

"Is that true?! Lady Olivia brought help?!"

It stopped in front of her and seemed incredibly relieved to hear the news.

"Then our attempt wasn't in vain. Our dead still managed to bring the message to the land. Thank the sea."

Little tears began to float upward before joining the seawater.

"But... how are you going to help us-"

*BAM*

Suddenly, the cave shook violently. The kelpie leader showed worry and closed its eyes.

"It had come again..."

*SLAM*

Again, the cave shook. It was a miracle the pillar held the shocks.

Senia closed her eyes and made up her mind.

"I have a proposition for you."

The kelpie leader stared at Senia as if it wasn't the moment for that, but still quietly listened.

"Can you call all the kelpies to you? For now, I'll bring all of you out of danger."

"How?"

"Answer me, and I'll show you."

It frowned before nodding.

"I-I can."

"Then do it now!"

Rapidly, Senia swam out of the conch and went upward. Once she was in an open area with no obstacle, she grabbed the crystal with both hands and waited.

-NEIGH-

A loud echo traveled through the water and caught the attention of all the frightened kelpies, who hurriedly swam toward the leader's home.

Their leader swam out of its home and joined Senia.

Less than a minute later, all kelpies had joined the leader. They looked at Senia, who nodded once she saw that they were all here.

"Alright, here I go."

*Crush*

Senia crushed the crystal. Its pieces began to turn into dust, before floating in front of her.

Moments later, a large portal opened.

"Everyone, go through it!"

The first one to get through was the leader. It didn't hesitate to think about Senia's words and became the example.

Sure, it was terrified. Trusting a random person could bring the end for the faction, but at this point, choosing which way to go out was a luxury.

And if that person was right, Olivia was waiting for them. It had to see this for itself.

All kelpies then swam toward the portal and vanished into it. When the last kelpie swam into the portal, the shaking stopped and calm returned to the cave.

Senia listened for a second.

-ROOOOOOOOAR-

A terrifying, loud roar echoed through the cave, almost shattering her eardrums.

'It's not happy at all... Damn it, that hurts.'

Holding her head in pain, she went through the portal, which immediately closed behind her.

...

*Wuuuuu*

A portal opened next to Orion.

"Olivia, get ready! We don't know what will come out."

"Yes!"

Having calmed down, Olivia was prepared. She looked at the portal, ready to strike at anything that wasn't Senia or a kelpie.

"Waa-!"

The leader of the kelpie, not expecting to be sent on the sand, slid and stopped before looking around. It hurriedly dragged its body out of the way and breathed a sighed of relief.

Then, one after the other, the kelpies flew out of the portal. They hilariously pilled on, until one broke the pile, sending most of them flying into the water.

"What... is happening..."

Orion blinked, confused, while Olivia held her stomach and mouth, trying not to laugh.

The flow of hundreds of kelpies finally stopped, but Senia was nowhere to be seen.

'Where's Senia?'

-ROOOOOOOOAR-

The loud roar terrified not only the kelpies, but every citizen of Noctelagia. Orion looked into the distance, toward the roaring creature.

'This might be worse than we were expecting.'

Olivia grabbed Orion's hand and looked at him. He smiled and caressed her hair.

"Don't worry. Let's wait for Senia first."

At last, Senia flew out of the portal and fell on the sand while holding her head.

"Senia!"

Both Olivia and Orion ran to her, before helping her stand on her tail.

"Are you alright?"

Said a worried Olivia.

'She looks fine, but just in case.'

Without wasting a single second, Orion healed Senia. A short moment after, she was back to normal.

"I'm back."

"Yes. It's good to see you in one piece."

Orion hugged Senia, who remained still, surprised. Olivia looked at her with a smile.

When he released her, Orion looked at the kelpies next to them.

"So... I see you've managed to bring not only the leader, but all of them."

Just by seeing the mess of knocked out kelpies on the sand, Olivia couldn't hold it anymore. She turned around and began to laugh.

"Well... yes."

With a dry smile, Senia agreed.

At that moment, a white kelpie dragged itself with its front legs toward the three.

"Lady Olivia!"

"Saffira!"

Hurriedly, Olivia returned to her senses and rushed to the kelpie.

"Wait, are you hurt?!"

Noticing the bloody scar, she stopped.

"..."

The kelpie leader, known as Saffira, turned its head away.

"Why haven't you-"

Senia cut her off and answered.

"They tried. That's why there were dead kelpies on the beach. That's also how she got that injury."

Olivia frowned, thinking of the beast that roared previously.

"That thing, what is it that made such a mess?"

"It's a corrupted. And a massive one at that."

Surprise appeared on both Orion and Olivia's faces.

"I don't want to ask, but..."

Orion walked in front of her and looked deep in her eyes.

"Have you seen it?"

She nodded.

"I couldn't make out much of it, but I know that it is very long, and extremely dangerous."

Senia began to explain what she saw.

...

"A giant corrupted with one eye... This is going to be difficult to deal with. It also dwells in the abyss, so this makes it even more difficult."

Orion concluded that this creature was probably going to be a pain in his ass.

"Hmm... I'm sorry, Lady Olivia, but could you, perhaps, tell me who these people are?"

"Oh, sure."

Olivia nodded at Saffira's request.

"This is Orion, and this is Senia."

The kelpie tilted its head.

"That's it?"

She didn't know if she had the right to speak about his origin or not, so she simply told the bare minimum. To that, Orion smiled and walked next to Saffira.

"I'm Orion Feales, an Agathion. I am the son of an angel and a demon."

He placed his hand on the kelpie's back, which began to shine brightly. Saffira shuddered slightly from being touched by a stranger, but rapidly, it felt the pain of its wound subside.

"What..."

It looked at its back and noticed that the wound had completely healed, with no lasting pain.

"Alright, it's done. You can thank me later. For now, we have other things to talk about."

Orion walked back next to Olivia and Senia, and looked toward the storm above the sea.

"There's a beast to slay."