Chapter 168: The Blood Horn

’I’d like to,’ Gray said. ’But there’s still something I need to do first.’

Cindy tilted her head, her frills swaying curiously.

"What do you mean?"

’There’s a trait I’ve been trying to complete for a while now. Undying Heart. I got a fragment from the Reef Kraken, but I haven’t been able to find more of them since. They’re too rare, too good at hiding.’ He paused, his blade-tentacles curling thoughtfully. ’But when I saw that giant kraken, the mother of them all... I think I finally understand where they come from. Where they nest.’

Cindy’s silver eyes widened.

"Gray... don’t tell me you’re planning to go to the kraken’s nest?"

’Of course not,’ Gray said flatly. ’That thing almost dragged me into its nest. I’m not suicidal. But the territory around it... the outer edges, where the smaller ones hunt... that’s where I’ll find them.’

Cindy considered that for a moment, her frills relaxing slightly.

"That’s... actually not a bad idea. As long as we stay on the edges and don’t go anywhere near the mother, it should be fine."

’Exactly.’

"And we’re not in a hurry anyway," Cindy added. "The Great Tartarus wanders. It’s not like it’s going to disappear if we take a few extra days."

They finished eating, or rather, Lily finished eating.

The star creature darted across the Sun Eater’s corpse with an energy that bordered on manic, tearing off chunks of flesh larger than her own body and swallowing them whole. Her five points spun faster with each bite, her dark core pulsing with satisfaction as she worked her way through the massive carcass.

’That thing has an unlimited stomach,’ Gray said. ’Where is she even putting all of it?’

Cindy drifted beside him, her frills swaying as she studied Lily’s relentless feeding.

"Well, she’s still growing," Cindy said. "She probably needs a lot of nutrients to develop properly. Think of it like... a baby. Babies eat constantly."

Gray watched Lily tear off another chunk of Sun Eater flesh, her tiny maw stretching impossibly wide.

’I can actually see her getting bigger,’ he said.

"Then let’s feed her more. If she’s growing, we should help her get bigger and stronger."

’As long as she doesn’t eat my share,’ Gray said blankly. ’I still need to eat.’

Cindy laughed softly.

"She won’t. She’s small. Even if she eats a lot, she can’t eat everything."

’You’d be surprised.’

They left the Sun Eater’s corpse behind and swam toward the deep, dark waters where the krakens hunted.

The journey took most of a day. They passed through familiar ridges and unfamiliar ravines, following the direction Gray remembered from the tentacle that had dragged him into the abyss. The star creature drifted between them, occasionally darting ahead to chase small fish, occasionally falling back to nuzzle against Cindy’s cheek.

When they finally reached the territory, Gray slowed.

The terrain here was different, deeper, darker, the seafloor covered in a dense tangle of black coral and twisted rock formations. And moving between the shadows, he could see them.

Reef Krakens, their mottled bodies shifting through shades of grey and green as they hunted through the coral. There were dozens of them, scattered across the territory, their arms curling and uncurling as they searched for prey.

But they were smaller than the ones he’d fought before. The adults must have been deeper, closer to the mother.

Gray’s tentacles spread wide, his senses sweeping the terrain.

’I knew it,’ he said quietly. ’This is where they nest.’

Cindy drifted beside him, her frills stiff with tension.

"There’s so many of them..."

’Good,’ Gray said, his mental voice carrying a cold, predatory edge. ’Then let’s harvest some octopus.’

Lily pulsed excitedly between them, her dark core flickering with anticipation. She didn’t understand the words, but she understood the tone.

Hunting time.

Gray led the hunt, his blade-tentacles carving through the juvenile Reef Krakens with practiced precision. He targeted their mantles, their arm joints, the soft flesh between their armor plates, exploiting every weakness he had learned from his previous encounters with their kind.

But Lily was the surprise.

The star creature darted between the krakens with a speed that belied her small size, her five points spinning like saw blades. From her body, she projected thin black spines, each one sharp enough to pierce chitin, each one tipped with a dark venom that made the krakens convulse and slow. And when she needed to defend herself, she could shape the darkness that composed her core into tendrils, into shields, into whatever form the moment demanded.

Gray realized that she was a living weapon and she was terrifyingly good at it.

Cindy supported from range, her ice magic slowing the krakens, her water vortexes clustering them for Gray and Lily to finish. The three of them moved together like a single predator, coordinated and relentless.

Thirteen krakens fell in total.

The water was thick with ink and blood by the end, and the seafloor was littered with drifting corpses. Gray absorbed the last one, his carapace mending, his hunger sated.

[TRAIT COMPLETE: UNDYING HEART (5/5)]

[Undying Heart will be available as an evolution option at Level 50.]

’Alright,’ he said. ’That took longer than I expected.’

Cindy drifted beside him, her glow dim but steady.

"Thirteen krakens. That’s a lot of kills."

’It was worth it.’ Gray turned toward Lily, who was already busy devouring one of the kraken corpses. Her small body was noticeably larger now, her points sharper, her core pulsing with a deeper, richer light. ’And she’s gotten bigger.’

Lily paused mid-bite, her core pulsing happily at the attention.

Cindy smiled softly.

"She’s a natural hunter. I think she was born for this."

’Born for hunting krakens?’ Gray said. ’That’s a very specific specialty.’

"Born for hunting in general," Cindy corrected. "She just happens to be good at krakens too."

Gray watched Lily for a moment longer, then turned his attention back to the task at hand.

’Alright,’ he said. ’My trait is complete. Let’s find somewhere safe so I can evolve.’

Cindy nodded, already scanning the terrain for a suitable shelter.

"Good idea. We shouldn’t stay here too long. The older krakens might have felt the disturbance."

’Agreed. Let’s—’

"Wait."

Cindy’s voice sharpened. Her frills stiffened, her silver eyes fixed on something in the distance.

"What is that?"

Gray followed her gaze, something was drifting toward them through the blood-tinged water. Something that hadn’t been there before.

It looked like a fish. An ordinary fish, sleek and silver, with fins and scales and a tail. But there was one thing that made it stand out.

Three horns.

They jutted from its head in a jagged crown, each one glowing with a deep, crimson light. Its eyes were the same color, burning red in the dark water, and its mouth was lined with teeth that seemed too sharp for a fish its size.

The system flickered, and the analysis materialized.

[BLOOD HORN GLUTTON — Level 41]

HP: 1100 / 1100

Threat Level: HIGH ℴ

« Analysis »

A predatory fish that feeds on blood and regenerates its wounds by consuming the blood of its prey. The Blood Horn Glutton is drawn to areas of heavy bleeding and will attack anything that is wounded or bleeding. Its three horns are highly sensitive to blood, allowing it to track prey from great distances.

Weakness: The horns are the source of its regenerative abilities. Destroying them disables its regeneration.

Gray stared at the creature, his blade-tentacles curling with anticipation.

’Jackpot.’

Cindy glanced at him.

"What do you mean?"

’It regenerates by consuming blood,’ Gray murmured, his gaze fixed on the creature. ’And I still have Abyssal Regeneration to complete.’

A faint crackle of electricity ran along his carapace.

’If I kill this thing and absorb it... that trait might finally reach its end.’