"Lilian, I really need your help; the water splashes are making her slip," Viny yelled, his face filled with fear as his body trembled.

"Brother, why not let her fall?" Lilian suggested, a wicked smile playing on her lips.

"Why?" Viny wondered, still too focused on Aurianna to turn and face his sister.

"Did you forget Viny? She ate them all, our friends, our family. What if she kept us alive to eat us as well?" Lilian's voice turned cold as she whispered into her brother's ear.

"This isn't the time…" Viny protested, despite knowing the truth.

"This is the perfect time to get rid of her! To make her pay with her life for killing everyone!" Lilian yelled, trying to remove her brother's fingers from Aurianna's hand, surprising him with her sudden erratic behavior.

Noticing her brother wouldn't let go, no matter how hard she tried, Lilian picked up a stick from her pocket and stabbed it into his hand, causing him to shriek in pain and reflexively let go of Aurianna's hand, sending her plunging into the ocean.

"Lady!" he yelled, reaching out, but the rope around his waist prevented him.

As the ship lurched and swayed, the captain fought to regain control, and finally stabilized the ship. The captain then managed to steer it away from the leviathan's mouth and pressed a special button on the wheel, activating the magic stone embedded underneath the ship. The ship gained a sudden burst of speed, sailing away from the dangerous area as fast as it could.

"We managed to survive," the captain sighed in relief, turning to face his remaining crew.

"How many survived?" he asked, his tone heavy with sadness.

"From the auras I'm sensing, only eight of us, captain." one of the crew members responded solemnly.

"Damn it, if only I had been more vigilant, we wouldn't have lost anyone!" He slammed his hand on the pole in frustration.

"Lilian, what is wrong with you?" A sudden cry came from the back, drawing their attention to Lilian and Viny.

"I saved your life, brother. If not, you would have been dragged in with her!" Lilian yelled, believing she was right.

"I was almost about to save her!" Viny retorted.

"Why do you care so much about her? She's a noble you just met three days ago!" Lilian's voice trembled as she gripped her palms.

"If not for her, we would have never escaped that place!" Viny yelled back.

"She killed Antonio!" Lilian's voice cracked with emotion as she wiped her tears with her hands.

"How sure are you that it was her and not the slave traders?" Viny's anger flared as he glared at his sister, surprising her. "All we saw was the aftermath. So how can we determine that it's her?"

"Didn't you see that giant ball?" Lilian asked, but seeing the clueless expression on Viny's face, it seemed he had not. The ball of flesh was made from the bodies of the slaves that were fed to Aurianna.

"Lilian, why did you do that? If not for her, you two would have been thrown out of the ship," Clara protested, finally understanding the situation from Viny's and Lilian’s bickering and the absence of Aurianna.

"And what do you mean by aftermath?" Clara asked, her brow furrowing with confusion.

"She was fighting against the slave traders and killed almost everyone in the slave room. And she even killed some of the traders!" Lilian declared.

"I find that hard to believe. These are Arc Humans we're talking about," Clara stated skeptically.

"It's true. Brother, you saw her, didn't you?" Lilian turned to her brother, seeking confirmation.

"I did witness her fighting, but it's because of her that we were able to escape. Without her, we would have been trapped in that place forever or even sold to someone horrible!" Viny's voice rose with frustration as he defended Aurianna.

"But, but—" Lilian attempted to interject, her eyes wide with shock.

"I can't believe you did that, Lilian," Clara shook her head, joined by the disapproving glances of the rest of the crew.

"Why... why is everyone taking her side?" Lilian wondered aloud, feeling guilty from seeing their eyes.

"She's the main reason why monsters avoided our ship. I found it incredibly odd that not a single monster attempted to attack us, not even once. That never happened when we were sailing under our former master," the captain stated firmly, his arms crossed. "It means we might all die in these treacherous waters without her."

_______

"Damn it, the water current is too strong, and I can't swim," Aurianna thought, her consciousness returning as she found herself sinking into a swirling vortex of water. Looking down, she spotted rows of enormous teeth spiraling downward, opening and closing menacingly.

[ Underwater breath activated. ] The system announced and suddenly Aurianna grew some gills on her neck allowing her to breathe normally in the water.

"Ah, damn it! How am I supposed to defend myself in this situation? At this rate, I'll be devoured by sea monsters!" Aurianna realized, panic rising within her as she watched the walls of teeth drawing closer. Sensing imminent danger, Aurianna instinctively transformed her entire body into a liquid form, narrowly avoiding being crushed as the teeth closed in before parting once more.

All around her, other creatures met grisly fates, torn apart by the churning maw of the Leviathan. Aurianna bit her lip, even in her liquid form, she still didn't feel safe knowing how long she'll have to be in this form in order to avoid getting chewed into pieces.

_________

“How long would this take?!” Aurianna wondered as she passed through the leviathan's throat on the water current. Soon, she reached its stomach and before she fell inside she sensed danger and used her gun skill to push herself towards a cave, avoiding the sea of acidic juices that melted unfortunate monsters that were lucky to survive the first part.

She laid amidst what seemed like the columns of the leviathan's stomach, taking a moment to rest despite the crushing pressure on her lungs. Her skill [Underwater Breathe], acquired from her first sea monster she killed during her early days in the training grounds, helped her adapt.

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‘Such a repulsive smell, but I'm too weak to get up. I guess I'm stuck here,’ Aurianna thought, watching the inner walls of the Leviathan’s interior move.

“Not really, but you're in critical condition,” Eva stated, her voice reaching Aurianna.

“Just this once, I would intervene, so please allow me, system,” Eva requested, observing Aurianna.

[ Fine. ] The system agreed.

“Thanks,” Eva said before disappearing from the void space and appearing beside Aurianna.

“Eva,” Aurianna weakly uttered, her wounds reopening due to the heavy water currents, causing her to bleed.

“Calm down, okay? I'm going to heal you, but it will hurt a bit,” Eva warned, placing her hand over Aurianna's injured stomach, which was soon surrounded by sparks of golden electricity.

“Ahhhhhhhhh!!!” Aurianna screamed in pain as the golden sparks repaired her wounds.

“Stay strong, Aurianna. You're a level 2252 Germaris; you should be able to handle such levels of pain. If not, it would be difficult for you to survive here. Please, try your best,” Eva stated calmly, continuing to heal Aurianna.

One year later…

Aurianna was still trapped in the belly of the Leviathan. During that time, she tried everything to escape, but nothing she did was successful. She attempted to break through the leviathan's guts, but barely made a scratch, which left her very frustrated.

“King Nebula!” Aurianna commanded, and King raised his sword high. Chaotic magic formed around his sword, giving it a dark purple and dark blue color, while emitting an eerie humming sound.

He slashed his sword, causing a large explosion covering over 400 kilometers, killing all the sea monsters around. But once the attack subsided, Aurianna stared in shock as such a powerful attack didn't even damage the leviathan.

‘Only a cut, just like before,’ Aurianna thought with a frown.

‘Dammit! I've been stuck in this forsaken place for a year. I need to get out!’ Aurianna gritted her teeth and waved her hand, causing King to disappear. She moved her legs through the water and managed to swim smoothly. A year of living underwater and fighting monsters had improved her swimming skills.

‘Despite my level, King still can't injure this thing. What the hell is this monster made of?’ Aurianna wondered as she swam away from the place she had just attacked.

"I can't stay here forever. Seriously, Eva, won't you help me?" Aurianna pleaded as she gazed upwards, seeing endless darkness. Below her, smoke bubbled through the water.

"You have to figure this out on your own. I've already done my part by showing you and Leila sea monsters to kill in the training grounds. I've also taught you about the biology of this Leviathan. However, you're not strong enough to cut through it's body to its heart, which is its weak spot," Eva stated, her arms crossed as she appeared before Aurianna.

"I've devoured thousands of high-level sea monsters, but still, I'm unable to swim through the water current created by this damn beast’s throat. And it doesn't move too much for me to get unstuck out in the sea!" Aurianna exclaimed, slamming her fist through the water, creating a massive wave that soon subsided.

"Yes," Eva nodded.

"Then let me recommend you to eat sirens and mermaids. I have some in the training but they are few and extremely powerful compared to you and Leila,” Eva revealed and Aurianna perked up.

"Then why didn't you recommend it at the start?" Aurianna asked, clearly annoyed.

"Like I said, there are a few. I wish that they bred more, but it seems it's extremely hard for them to have children. Also, you were too weak to take them on. But during this year of surviving underwater, and the two days of being in the training grounds last year, as well as killing the sea monsters that tried to eat you every single day, you have now reached level 4,130," Eva stated with a satisfied smile.

"That's quite an improvement, if I should say so myself. You wouldn't have gotten such a benefit if you were back at Sandeph," Eva said, trying to make it sound positive, but Aurianna still maintained a frown.

"Why not stay a few years?" Eva suggested with sparkly eyes.

"No way!" Aurianna refuted, crossing her arms into an X. "I'm not staying here for another damn year. I hate the fishy smell this place has. I hate not being able to sleep comfortably in my tent because I'm underwater!" Aurianna sobbed. "My skin, I'm getting scales, I don't want scales!" Aurianna cried even more.

"And can't you monsters let me have some peace when I'm talking with Eva? There's never any peace, and I can't get some good damn sleep!" Aurianna yelled noticing thousand of monsters approaching her growing menacingly and showing of their teeth.

"Lightning water kick!" Aurianna activated her skill, and a spiral of water and lightning surrounded her leg. She immediately raised her leg high like a ballerina and brought it down, creating a large slash of concentrated water and electricity that attacked the surrounding sea monsters and created a chain electric attack that fried the sea monsters into smoked fish.

"Water slash!" Aurianna summoned two sabers into her hands and made numerous arcs of water that slashed other incoming monsters that survived her previous attack into pieces.

"Another thing I hate most about this place is the disgusting taste of the souls on these fishes! I need more delicious souls; I'm being starved over here! And when I eat monster souls, they have no effect on the black chains."

"Better than starving, right?" Eva shrugged, and Aurianna gave her a blank stare.

"But I need some sleep. Luckily, I can go into the training grounds tomorrow and get some good rest," Aurianna's eyes immediately turned hopeful as she clasped her hands with a grateful smile.

_______

“Carol!" Aurianna called out, spotting Carol in her Harpy form, chewing on the carcass of some monster.

Carol immediately swallowed the meat in her mouth and approached Aurianna, shifting back to her humanoid form.

"So, how's the situation with the sea?" Carol asked, studying Aurianna.

"I'm still stuck there. This time, I want to fight stronger sea monsters—the strongest ones you've got—and also the sirens. Eva told me some are here!" Aurianna said eagerly.

"Those sneaky fellows? It'll be hard for me to assist in a fight like that. I'm a land ruler, but the Sirens have a King who's the sea ruler," Carol explained.

"As powerful as you and Gumura?" Aurianna raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, and he's very protective over his domain. He isn't as reasonable as me or Gumura, but he doesn't care about the mindless sea monsters. That's why I allowed you and Leila to kill those ones at the shores. To find him, you must swim deeper into the sea," Carol said nonchalantly, pointing at the sea before them.

"I really want to get out of the sea. The mediocre swimming skills I gained from the sea monsters I've eaten still can't help me escape," Aurianna sighed, annoyance written on her face.

"Well, you can go into the sea. I'm sure Eva can talk to him for you," Carol suggested.

"Hmm, when is Leila coming?" Aurianna wondered impatiently.

"Are you waiting for your big sister?" Carol teased, getting closer to Aurianna with a grin.

"Yes…" Aurianna admitted shyly, sitting on the beach, gazing at the sea filled with monsters that dared not approach the shores.

"Aww, how cute," Carol cooed, and Aurianna huffed.

After a while, Leila finally arrived and hugged Aurianna from behind.

"Leila!" Aurianna exclaimed, looking up at her.

"Aurianna, why are you still stuck in the sea?" Leila asked, sitting beside her.

'Ahh, she knows!' Aurianna thought nervously, pouting.

"Well, I've been trying my best, but I can't seem to swim out or kill it. It's too strong," Aurianna sighed, and Leila patted her on the back.

"Don't worry, I hope you escape soon," Leila said, giving an enthusiastic thumbs up.

"What do you mean 'one day'? I'm gonna escape this year!" Aurianna declared.

"That's quite ambitious."

"Yes, so I need to eat mermaid-like creatures. From what I've learned from Eva and the system, they're some of the best and fastest swimmers in the sea. If I can just get a tail, I believe I can escape!" Aurianna proclaimed.

"Aurianna as a mermaid," Leila mused, imagining Aurianna with a cute mermaid tail waving at her from the sea.

"Yes! Let's do it!" Leila exclaimed enthusiastically.

"Well, you're both pumped up," Carol remarked, seeing the fire in their eyes, unaware of Aurianna's and Leila's different motives.

"Then shall we go into the death seas, the territory of the Merman Ruler Aquarius?" Carol asked with an evil grin.

"Yes!!!" They both yelled.

"Also, Aurianna and Leila, I believe eating Sirens would fix that horrid singing voice of yours. Then you'll finally be able to learn The Song of Death from me. You and Leila. Leila's voice isn't so bad, but it's as horrid as yours," Carol said, shaking her head as Aurianna and Leila stared at her with flushed faces.

"Carol is so mean," Leila whispered to Aurianna, though Carol could still hear.

"Yes, such a big meanie!" Aurianna whispered back as they both glared at Carol with flushed faces.

"For someone like myself with an excellent singing voice, it's obvious that I would strive for perfection when selecting a candidate to teach this skill to!" Carol declared proudly.

"It wasn't that bad," Aurianna tried to deny as she scratched her cheek.

"Wasn't it?" Carol asked, arms crossed, as they all remembered the day they saw Carol using her death song skill. Aurianna and Leila were very interested, so Carol asked them to try. But their singing voices were so bad it made Carol frown the whole day. No matter how much they practiced, it didn't get better, and it seemed they had no talent for singing at all.

"Well, let's forget about that and look toward the brighter perspective. At least we would be getting better voices soon!" Aurianna declared with a red face.