Warlock of Oceans: My Poseidon System

Cyrus' voice was calm but tense. "Athena?"

"I'm here," she replied, her voice tight with unease. "What just happened?"

"I don't know," he muttered, glancing around. But it was useless. There was nothing to see—just endless black.

Suddenly, a presence loomed above them. Slowly, like something emerging from the darkness itself, a massive, grotesque eyeball appeared overhead. It was enormous, its size dwarfing them both as it floated silently in the void. Veins pulsed beneath its glistening surface, and its pupil—wide and unblinking—stared directly at them.

Athena's breath hitched. "What... is that?"

The eye didn't move, but its gaze was paralyzing as if it were dissecting their very souls. Cyrus clenched his jaw, feeling an immense weight press down on him just from being under its gaze. It felt familiar, in a way—like the Winter Deer they had encountered earlier, but far more intense, as though the forest itself was peering into their minds.

Athena's eyes narrowed. Something was gnawing at her—a hunch, a feeling that connected this moment to their previous experience in the dungeon. She tried to summon mana, but nothing happened. Not a single spark of power stirred within her. Her brow furrowed, and she let out a frustrated breath.

"It's happening again," she said quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. "The same thing as before."

Cyrus glanced at her, his expression sharp. "What do you mean?"

"Mana," Athena said, trying again to summon her magic but feeling nothing. "It's like it's being blocked, just like when we faced those golems on the previous floor."

Cyrus cursed under his breath, gripping his aether blade tighter. "So we're trapped in another suppression field?"

Athena shook her head slowly, her mind racing. "No... It's different." Her eyes flickered with a thought, and her fingers tightened around her staff. "Let me try something."

Without waiting for a response, Athena closed her eyes and reached for the raw energy within her—Aether. The ancient, untamed power responded instantly, flowing through her like an electric current. Her staff glowed faintly, a soft light cutting through the oppressive darkness around them. She opened her eyes, a mixture of awe and wariness crossing her face.

"Aether works," she said softly as if testing the reality of her words. "It's like the suppression is targeted. Mana doesn't work here, but Aether does."

Cyrus' eyes glinted with understanding. "Just like on the second floor... but more refined."

Athena nodded. "Exactly. This is more... sophisticated. The dungeon isn't just suppressing us. It's adapting, forcing us to rely on different powers. It's almost like it's trying to manipulate what we can use."

Cyrus turned his gaze back to the massive eye above them, his blood still simmering with tension. "Then this thing must be part of that control. It's watching us, learning from us."

Athena's eyes locked onto the floating eyeball, the glow of her Aether-powered staff reflecting in her pupils. "And it's not going to let us leave unless we figure out how to break its hold."

Cyrus smirked grimly. "Then let's break it."

Athena began channeling her Aether, gathering the raw energy at the tip of her staff. Her eyes narrowed in focus, the power coalescing into a glowing orb that radiated a bright, pulsating light. She was about to unleash it toward the massive eyeball above when the ground beneath them rumbled violently.

Without warning, a mass of squirming black tentacles erupted from the darkness below, writhing and twisting unnaturally as they rose, reaching toward the ceiling of the void. The tentacles rippled and swayed like the limbs of some eldritch creature, their black, glistening surfaces reflecting the faint glow of Athena's Aether.

They writhed together, converging into a shape—vaguely humanoid but grotesque in every way. The creature stood tall, its body made entirely of the same swirling, black tendrils. Its face was a swirling mass of tentacles that writhed like serpents, with no visible eyes or mouth, just a shifting, undulating void where its features should have been.

Both Cyrus and Athena felt it immediately: a suffocating sense of dread, primal and overwhelming. The air around them seemed to thicken with terror, and even though they were seasoned adventurers, the sheer presence of the creature rattled them to the core.

The creature took a step toward them, its body uncoiling as it moved. The tentacles that made up its limbs began to unravel, splitting apart and whipping through the air like the arms of a hundred predators. They twisted and slithered, aiming straight for Cyrus and Athena.

"Move!" Cyrus shouted, lunging to the side, his body moving on pure instinct. He narrowly avoided a mass of tentacles that crashed into the ground where he had just been standing, the impact cracking the stone beneath.

Athena spun on her heels, her staff still charged with Aether, and blasted a bolt of energy at the nearest tentacle. The blast struck true, sending the appendage recoiling back with a hiss, but it only seemed to anger the creature. More tentacles shot out from its torso, converging on her position.

Cyrus darted forward, his aether blade flaring to life as he sliced through several of the tentacles that came his way. The tentacles writhed in agony, splitting apart as his blade cut through them with ease, but they quickly reformed, growing back like twisted vines. He grunted in frustration, slashing and spinning, trying to keep them at bay, but they kept coming, relentless.

"Watch out!" Athena cried as she conjured another blast of Aether, sending it surging toward the tentacles that were encroaching on Cyrus. The blast created a temporary opening, giving him space to breathe.

"I'm fine!" Cyrus barked, but he knew they were in trouble. They were outnumbered by the sheer volume of tentacles, and every move they made felt like fighting back an ocean of darkness.

The creature's main body suddenly lunged forward, tentacles whipping out in all directions. One tendril lashed toward Athena's leg, but she jumped, flipping mid-air and twisting her body just in time. She landed gracefully, pivoting to fire another bolt of Aether that sliced through the approaching appendage.

But as soon as her feet hit the ground, another tentacle snaked around her ankle from below. Athena gasped, yanking her leg back, but the grip tightened. The tentacle began to pull her toward the creature, the sheer strength of it dragging her across the floor. Discover hidden content at My Virtual Library Empire

Cyrus didn't hesitate. He dove toward her, sliding across the ground and slashing at the tentacle around her leg with his aether blade. The cut was precise, and the tentacle snapped, releasing Athena. She quickly rolled to her feet, nodding to him in gratitude, but there was no time to exchange words.

More tentacles surged from the creature, coming at them from every angle.

Cyrus dodged one that came from his left, twisting his body just enough to let it whip past him. He spun on his heel and brought his blade up in a sharp arc, slicing through another that came from above. His movements were fluid and precise, his battle instincts honed from countless fights. But this creature—this thing—was unlike anything he'd ever faced.

Athena, meanwhile, conjured a barrier of Aether around herself, deflecting several tentacles that slammed into it. The force of their impact sent cracks through her barrier, but it held, if only for a moment. She dropped the shield and launched another blast of Aether, aiming for the creature's central body. The blast hit, but the tentacles absorbed the energy, rippling and reforming almost immediately.

"They're regenerating too fast!" Athena shouted, backing up, her eyes scanning for any weakness in the creature.

Cyrus gritted his teeth, barely dodging another swipe from the creature's tendrils. "We need to stop it from regenerating... focus on disabling its core!"

Athena nodded, realizing that the creature's tentacles were distractions—if they didn't find the source of its power, they'd be overwhelmed. She focused her mind and began gathering Aether, not in blasts this time, but into concentrated spears of energy. She hurled them one after another at the creature's core, hoping to disrupt whatever dark magic was animating it.

Cyrus saw his opening. While the creature's attention was on Athena's relentless barrage, he dashed forward, weaving through the writhing tentacles. His feet were light, his body agile as he ducked and dodged, each movement measured to avoid the lashing tendrils. He kept his eyes locked on the creature's torso—the swirling mass of darkness that seemed to anchor the tentacles together.

Just as a massive tentacle lunged at him from above, he ducked, pivoted, and slashed upward in a single, fluid motion. His blade cut deep into the creature's core, and for the first time, the thing let out a low, guttural screech that reverberated through the void.

The tentacles convulsed wildly, as if in pain, and several of them recoiled, retreating back into the creature's body. Athena seized the moment, conjuring a final spear of Aether and launching it directly at the creature's swirling face of tentacles.

The spear struck true, piercing the mass of writhing tendrils. The creature let out another ear-piercing screech, its entire form trembling violently as the tentacles began to unravel and dissolve into black mist.

Breathing heavily, Cyrus and Athena stood their ground as the last remnants of the creature faded into the darkness. The massive eye above them slowly blinked, then vanished, leaving them standing in the eerie, silent void once more.