Zachary stared at the figure in confusion, his brows furrowing beneath the handkerchief covering part of his face.
Why was someone still here?
And why were they hiding?
"H-Hey!" Zachary shouted.
The figure immediately ran.
Zachary reacted without hesitation, pushing off the ground and chasing after it at full speed.
Rubble and debris blurred past him as he weaved through the ruined streets, rapidly closing the distance.
Fast.
The figure was fast too.
Far faster than a normal human should've been.
Zachary narrowed his eyes.
His speed nearly matched Zachary's own.
As the gap between them shortened, Zachary extended his arm forward, preparing to grab the figure by the shoulder—
But then—
The figure suddenly raised one arm backward.
"…?"
Zachary's expression shifted in confusion.
What was it doing?
Then—
Rumble…
Rumble…
The ground beneath his feet violently shook.
Zachary's eyes widened.
Something was rising.
In slow motion, cracks spread across the street as a massive blue frame forced its way out of the ground.
A dungeon entrance.
"…What!?"
Zachary tried to stop himself immediately, his shoes scraping hard against the ground.
But he was moving too fast.
The friction wasn't enough.
His body slid forward—
Straight into the swirling blue portal.
"W-Woah!!"
Everything went black.
For a split second—
There was nothing.
Then—
Light returned.
Zachary stumbled slightly as his vision adjusted, his breathing uneven from the sudden transition.
When he finally looked around—
His eyes widened…
Ocean..
Nothing but ocean.
An endless, vast sea stretched in every direction, surrounding the space he stood on.
Zachary slowly pulled the handkerchief down to his lips and inhaled carefully.
Salt.
Moisture.
Cold air.
But—
No mana.
"…?"
That alone felt wrong.
Usually, dungeons overflowed with mana.
But here—
He could only sense his own.
The place beneath his feet resembled a tiny island, barely large enough to stand on comfortably.
A single coconut tree leaned slightly beside him, swaying with the ocean breeze
"It's… an ocean-themed dungeon?" Zachary muttered in confusion.
That shouldn't exist.
At least—
Not like this.
"There were never any confirmed sightings of a dungeon like this…" he whispered to himself.
Then—
A sound echoed beneath him.
Low.
Faint.
Almost ghostly.
A moan.
Zachary froze.
Slowly—
He looked down.
And realized—
The 'island' was moving.
Water rippled behind it, forming a long visible trail across the ocean surface as the massive thing beneath him continued forward.
Before Zachary could look any further—
The ocean suddenly exploded upward.
FWOOOOSH!
A gigantic tentacle burst out from beneath the water, towering high into the sky.
Water cascaded down its dark surface as it rose higher and higher, easily taller than most modern buildings.
The 'island' beneath Zachary violently shook.
"W-what the—?!"
Another tentacle emerged.
Then another.
And another.
The ocean churned endlessly as massive tentacles rose from the depths one after another.
Eight.
A total of eight gigantic tentacles surrounded the area, standing still like enormous pillars emerging from the sea.
Then—
The island suddenly shifted.
The sand beneath Zachary's feet tilted sharply as the entire 'island' began rotating counterclockwise.
He nearly lost balance several times, his shoes digging hard into the sand to keep himself from falling into the ocean below.
Parts of the sand slid off the edges and splashed into the water.
Then—
The 'island' started rising.
Water poured violently downward from beneath the massive landmass as it slowly lifted higher and higher above the ocean surface.
Zachary's eyes widened.
The 'island'…
Wasn't an island at all.
It was a shell.
A gigantic crab emerged from beneath the ocean, its colossal body revealing itself piece by piece.
The small patch of sand and the lone coconut tree Zachary stood on rested directly on top of its enormous shell.
Water streamed violently from its claws as they slowly moved, each motion causing the ocean around it to tremble.
At the same time—
The gigantic squid finally surfaced completely beside it, its enormous head rising from the sea while its eight tentacles loomed over the ocean like skyscrapers.
One squid.
One crab.
Both colossal enough to make Zachary look smaller than a grain of dust between them.