The Genesis Game

Chapter 31: Abyssal

Immediately, in response to the falling debris and the death of the Skeletal Lord, the water on both sides of the pier exploded upward onto the pier. Forcing Seraph to throw himself backwards to avoid any of the wretched corruption getting on him. Reforming itself into dark tentacles that spread out like tendrils probing, searching for the cause of the noise and source of the disturbance.

Clutching his arm and thankful for the moment that the frozen skin was mostly painless, Seraph slowly backed away from the tentacles as they explored and probed, treading carefully as he moved to not make any noise that could attract those tentacles to him. Though Seraph wondered wonder why the same response had not been triggered by dispersing the lesser skeletons.

As the tendrils moved about, Seraph could see they were made up of the blackened water, greasy, and slick from oil, exposing itself as something far more sinister than what Seraph had originally thought. This was not an Abyssal Ocean, it was an Abyssal Elemental. A legendary grade water elemental that had been corrupted.

Seraph watched as the thing carefully went through the pier, searching the overturned bodies, the skeletal bones, clothes left behind, and the overturned boxes and trash. Not once did the thing approach the locked gate, as if in avoidance, Seraph would store that information away for later. Eventually the tentacles found the rock that Seraph had thrown to destroy the skull of the Skeletal Lord.

Without any effort, one of the tentacles wrapped around the rock and crushed it into a dust so fine that it scattered onto the wind, rather than falling to the ground. Seraph knew if he was caught by those things, it would without a doubt end in his death.

Though he did not hear any sounds, Seraph felt and knew that the monster was dissatisfied at having found the rock to crush. It d.e.s.i.r.ed, it needed a life to take, and Seraph knew on an instinctive level that he needed to be looking for an escape, this monster would only be satisfied if it caught something or someone else, and never seemed to be coming. Additionally, he knew this monster was not something that he could kill at his current level.

An intelligence guided those dark tendrils and they began to sweep to the end of the pier looking for life as they probed inside the crates and wooden boxes that had been scattered around and destroyed the remnants of bodies and skeletons that had not yet animated. For a brief moment Seraph thought he would be ok, but when the tendrils found no life towards the end of the pier. For a brief moment he thought about staying in place to avoid additional attention thinking maybe the tendrils would give up the search.

"That's a terrible idea." Thought Seraph in criticism. "If I stay here, those things will find me, and my bones will join the ranks of the dead. I need to get out of here without drawing attention to myself."

As the tentacles reversed direction, they decompensated into a pile of black water, and for a moment Seraph felt relief until the thing reformed into a loose web of netting.

"I don't know if that's automatic or not." Thought Seraph as he looked at the abyssal water and saw that its surface was streaked and rugged, and in several places, hands appeared to be trying to push their way out into the world, whether to escape, or look for him, Seraph did not know. "But I need to assume it's going to sweep the entire pier until it catches me."

Carefully, Seraph continued to move away from the spreading water, trying to maintain his distance as he moved his sights to the shore shore. He walked with a hurried but careful pace, staying in front of the danger behind him, not wanting to join whatever else had been imprisoned and absorbed by those dark waters.

With his eyes on the shore line, Seraph didn't notice that his arm had started to ache as the limb began to thaw and his blood began to drip from the wound. Despite his precautions, it had not been enough as that black death seemed to speed up as if in pursuit, and though he had closed the distance between him and the shoreline, he realized at his current pace, it would overtake him before he reached the shore. Carefully he considered his options, but ultimately it came down to two factors, either he would be faster than the thing behind him, or he wouldn't be, and that left him with but one course of action He summoned all his reserves of stamina, and he ran.

As he sprinted the darkness behind him pulled itself up from the very depths of the ocean, exposing the ocean floor as b.a.r.e with no signs of life, be it plant or otherwise. Whether it was the rustling of his clothes or the boots he was wearing or shifting sand and gravel beneath his feet, it didn't matter, as quicker, far quicker than he expected, the abyssal elemental reacted by forming a wave that covered the entirety of the pier. Seraph reached deep into himself, and pulled out even more speed, urging himself, forcing himself to go faster, faster beyond his limits as muscles strained and tendons pulled.

Little by little, the closer he got to the shore, he noticed the gap between him and the pursuing abyssal elemental grow.

"Looks like i'm going to clear it." Seraph thought with a measure of relief, he needed to get to safety soon and heal before blood loss caused him to lose too much.

Seraph's heart was pumping and his lungs were gasping for air, his sides burning, he refused to let up even as he felt his body beginning to wear down.. So close to the shoreline,, he knew he was going to make it, so long as he didn't give in to the pain in his body and quit. Unfortunately for him, partially due to blood less, and partially due to the unfamiliar level of exertion. Seraph's vision began to go black as his body began to shut down and no amount panic was going to help him. Unlike with Sadie he could not ask the monster to adjust it's pace.

With only a few meters to go until he reached the shore, Seraph was no longer able to ignore the blackening of his vision or the tears in his leg as his meniscus tore causing him to stumble, and Seraph clumsy from his exhaustion and the deep fatigue that was eating at his consciousness collapsed, unable to move.

Though he couldn't see, Seraph knew the abyssal elemental would be catching up to him soon, and though his legs no longer responded like they should, he still had arms, and he still had some magic. He used his "Thousand Handed" ability to summon his ethereal arms, and starting to drag himself across the ground. His only thoughts were that he needed to get moving, hyper focused as his manipulated both physical and magical limbs to move his body.

But in seconds, he fell back to the ground. His mana exhausted. There was nothing more for him to do but wait for death to take him, he had misjudged his own strength and had underestimated the environment around him.

As he began slipping ito unconsciousness, he felt his body beginning to pull, sliding against the wooden planks beneath him as he felt the barbs of a month full of a thousand teeth set thousand teeth set in and screamed.