Chapter 185 — The Black Heart Fungus

Chapter 185: Chapter 185 — The Black Heart Fungus

Chapter 185 — The Black Heart Fungus

Victor was alone.

Dark blue water surrounded him in every direction as he swam deeper into Region F.

Thankfully, he wasn’t completely blind.

The connection between him and Lyra was still close enough for her enhanced night vision to help him see through the darkness. The effect wasn’t perfect, but it was more than enough to keep him from swimming through the cavern completely blind.

Victor was grateful for that.

Being trapped inside a massive underground body of water with almost no visibility would have made this considerably worse.

Still, this wasn’t the time to be afraid.

Sometimes, you just had to deal with something.

Victor gritted his teeth and continued forward.

Just keep moving.

He pushed through the water at a steady pace.

Every so often, he activated Flash Step.

His body vanished and reappeared farther ahead, allowing him to cover a surprising amount of distance even underwater.

Victor had been worried that Flash Step wouldn’t work beneath the surface.

Thankfully, he had been wrong.

At least I can still use this.

That made things much easier.

He continued swimming.

Then something moved in the darkness ahead.

Victor immediately slowed.

A massive creature was swimming toward him.

Victor narrowed his eyes.

What the hell is that?

The creature looked vaguely like an alligator, although it was clearly different from anything he had seen on Earth.

Its long body cut through the water as it headed directly toward him.

And it wasn’t changing direction.

Victor sighed internally.

Of course.

His dagger was already in his hand.

He waited.

The creature came closer.

Closer.

Victor held his position until the last possible moment.

Then—

Flash Step!

His body vanished.

The beast passed directly beneath him.

Victor reappeared above its back and immediately drove his dagger downward.

Pfft!

The blade pierced its skull.

The creature convulsed before going limp.

Victor pulled the dagger free and examined the beast.

Rank Ten Tempered Beast.

Nothing particularly dangerous.

Still, the thing had looked terrifying while charging through the dark water.

Victor sometimes forgot how strong he actually was.

He was a Spirit Gathering cultivator now.

Compared to the creatures that had once terrified him, he had come a long way.

But strength didn’t erase every weakness.

Victor collected the beast’s core and stored its body inside his storage ring.

Then he continued forward.

Nearly forty-five minutes passed.

Eventually, Victor noticed something ahead.

A small opening.

He swam toward it and immediately realized how narrow it was.

You’ve got to be kidding me.

There was barely enough room for his body.

Victor turned sideways and squeezed through.

The stone scraped against his clothes as he forced himself forward.

For several seconds, he was completely wedged between the rocks.

Then—

He broke through.

Victor’s eyes widened.

On the other side was an enormous dome-shaped cavern.

The ceiling stretched high above him, and the entire chamber was submerged beneath the water.

Coral grew along the rocky walls.

Small stones formed natural shelters across the bottom.

Hundreds of tiny fish swam through the water, their bodies flashing as they moved through the faint light.

For a moment, Victor simply stared.

It almost looked like an enormous aquarium.

Beautiful.

And then he saw what was growing at the center.

Black Heart Fungus.

Victor’s eyes immediately widened.

There were at least thirteen.

Maybe fourteen.

Enough to complete the potion.

Then he noticed the creatures swimming around them.

His expression changed.

Seven.

Snake-Eyed Goliaths.

Victor studied them carefully.

Their bodies resembled something between a snake and a barracuda.

Long, serpentine bodies.

Sharp teeth.

A single enormous eye in the center of each head.

Victor stared at them.

He shook his head.

Whoever created the monsters in this world seriously had something wrong with them.

The Snake-Eyed Goliaths moved around the Black Heart Fungus, occasionally swimming close to the plants.

Victor slowly pulled out his citizen ID.

Thankfully, the magical device worked perfectly underwater.

He quickly sent a message to Grace and Zack.

Victor explained everything.

He would move in and grab the fungus while Grace and Zack distracted the beasts.

Once he had everything, they would retreat through the entrance and collapse the passage behind them.

The narrow opening was their advantage.

If they could block it, the Snake-Eyed Goliaths wouldn’t be able to follow.

Grace and Zack eventually arrived.

They squeezed through the same narrow passage and emerged into the massive underwater chamber.

Both paused.

Even they seemed impressed by the sight.

Zack looked toward Victor.

Then nodded.

Grace did the same.

The plan was set.

Grace moved first.

She pushed herself through the water.

Even underwater, her movements remained precise.

Victor watched her carefully.

She moved almost as naturally beneath the surface as she did on land.

The Snake-Eyed Goliaths immediately noticed her.

Several of them turned.

Then they charged.

Grace raised her sword.

A faint energy began gathering around the blade.

Victor’s eyes narrowed.

He had noticed something strange about her sword before.

Now he finally understood part of it.

The weapon was a space-type artifact.

But there was something else.

Grace’s Spiritual Energy carried a faint icy quality.

She extended her sword.

The water around her suddenly began to freeze.

Thin crystals spread outward.

Then more.

The frozen water rapidly expanded into the shape of a massive dragon.

Victor stared.

What the hell...?

The ice dragon opened its mouth.

Then it charged.

The Snake-Eyed Goliaths rushed toward it.

BOOM!

The dragon collided with one of them.

Ice exploded through the water.

The Snake-Eyed Goliath was torn apart instantly.

Victor stared.

Grace had just obliterated a Beast Soldier with a single technique.

That’s... impressive.

For a moment, Victor forgot about his own task.

Then he remembered.

The fungus.

Victor immediately activated Flash Step.

His body vanished.

He appeared directly beside the Black Heart Fungus.

His hand swept forward.

Victor rapidly collected the plants.

When he reached for the final one.

A sound came from beneath him.

A deep, guttural vibration passed through the water.

Victor froze.

The ground beneath him shifted.

Sand and small rocks began moving.

His expression changed.

The earth beneath the fungus exploded upward.

A massive head emerged from beneath the sand.

Victor’s eyes widened.

Another Snake-Eyed Goliath.

But this one was different.

Much different.

It was nearly twice the size of the others.

Its serpentine body disappeared beneath the sand, and an enormous single eye stared directly at Victor.

Spiritual Energy erupted from its body.

Victor’s instincts screamed.

Beast Soldier.

But this wasn’t a normal Beast Soldier.

The others had been around Rank One to Rank Three.

This one was different.

Rank Five?

Rank Six?

Victor couldn’t tell.

All he knew was that its energy was suffocating.

His expression became serious.

Damn.

If he fought this thing seriously, he would have to reveal too much.

I need to leave.

Victor immediately activated Flash Step.

But the moment he disappeared—

BOOM!

The Snake-Eyed Goliath moved.

Its enormous body shot forward.

Victor barely reappeared before the creature slammed into him.

He twisted his body at the last second.

The beast’s massive jaws passed beside him.

Victor still couldn’t avoid the attack completely.

Its body clipped his side.

Bang!

Pain exploded through his ribs.

Victor was thrown through the water.

He spun several times before forcing himself to stop.

Blood escaped his mouth.

Too fast!

He wiped the blood away and immediately activated Flash Step again.

The beast followed.

Victor disappeared.

Reappeared.

Disappeared again.

The Snake-Eyed Goliath stayed on him.

It wasn’t simply fast.

It had some kind of innate technique that allowed it to track and match his movement.

Victor’s eyes narrowed.

This thing can keep up with Flash Step?

He pushed himself harder.

Flash Step.

Again.

Flash Step.

Again.

The cavern blurred around him.

Every time he appeared, the Snake-Eyed Goliath was already turning toward him.

Victor barely avoided another bite.

Its teeth snapped shut behind him.

CRACK!

The sound echoed through the water.

Too close.

Victor disappeared again.

The creature’s tail whipped through the spot where he had been.

The force sent a violent current through the water and knocked Victor off balance.

Before he could recover, the beast was already there.

Its enormous jaws opened.

Victor’s eyes widened.

No.

He forced his body sideways.

The jaws snapped shut beside his torso.

One of the teeth scraped across his side.

Pain tore through him.

Victor gritted his teeth and Flash Stepped away.

Blood slowly drifted into the water around him.

He looked down.

A shallow wound ran along his side.

That was close.

His breathing became heavier.

Grace and Zack were already retreating toward the entrance.

Victor caught sight of them.

At least they’re out.

That gave him a small amount of relief.

He didn’t have to worry about them for the moment.

Now he only needed to survive.

Victor looked back at the enormous Snake-Eyed Goliath.

What the hell was Elder Benton thinking?

His eyes narrowed.

Was this intentional?

Benton had assigned them the ingredients.

He knew the Basement Levels.

He knew what lived here.

Was he testing me?

Victor couldn’t know.

And he didn’t have time to figure it out.

The Snake-Eyed Goliath charged again.

Victor’s eyes hardened.

It doesn’t matter.

If he didn’t increase his speed now—

He wasn’t getting out.