The Ocean Outside of the Special Dungeon Before the dungeon was cleared

"So we still haven't figured out what is so different about this portal compared to the others?" Jaleth asks as he frowns at the large portal floating in front of them within the water.

Dozens of other hunters along with several researchers from the guild branches nearby all surround the portal from a safe distance. But none of them answer his rhetorical question. They simply shake their heads.

Jaleth frowns without taking his gaze from the portal.

The Hunter's Guild branches all around the world have found numerous portals like this one across the planet, but none of them are quite like this one. This one gives off a much more intimidating aura along with an incredible amount of mana that the other portals don't give off.

And at this point, the researchers have discovered that these portals are what are creating the Anomalies filling the oceans.

The Anomalies are simply the contents of the portals appearing outside of the portals when the portals themselves break.

But this portal is different.

It's lasted longer than all the other portals and is far more dangerous as well.

And what's brought his attention even more is the fact that Aqua has been missing for a while now. She hasn't brought in any more monsters to the guilds nor has she shown her face at any city for too long.

What's more is that her last known whereabouts were this general area.

If he had to guess, Jaleth would say she's most likely inside of this portal.

He frowns while staring at it for a little while longer before eventually stating, "Alright. Let's prepare to enter the portal. We've never seen a portal outside of an air pocket before, and a few aquatic monsters have already left the portal. It could be-"

His words cut off when the portal suddenly begins to fluctuate.

Everyone tenses up at the sight of the portal suddenly beginning to flicker.

"Get back!" Jaleth shouts before rushing backwards.

"The portal is breaking!!" "Will we see an Anomaly appear before our own eyes?!" "Make sure to record this!"

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The researchers all begin talking at once as everyone backs away from the large portal. Meanwhile the portal continues to fluctuate. Growing brighter, darker, releasing more and less mana, and even flickering.

All before the portal suddenly closes with a sound akin to a popping bubble.

And in the portal's place, dozens of monsters begin appearing one after another. All with deep blue almost black scales.

Including strange ships with numerous undead creatures manning the ships. Also with deep blue almost black scales.

But what frightens Jaleth and the others the most is when a massive creature spanning over a kilometer in length appears right beneath them all. Covering their entire vision of the ocean beneath them with an enormous mouth.

And the moment they all see that, terror fills every last one of them.

Even Jaleth feels himself freezing up in sheer terror at the sight of the creature.

Not enough terror to stop him from identifying it though.

And that identify result alone makes him understand that it's one of Aqua's servants.

[Abyssal Copy – Dead Maw of the Sea – Level 173]

Despite knowing it's one of Aqua's servants, he still can't help but feel terror at the sight of it. Especially when he looks at his own level, which is a mere level 61.

It's a servant that is over a hundred levels above him.

A summoned creature.

Then Aqua herself appears high above the massive creature that he now notices is starting to fall down deeper into the water. And when he identifies Aqua, a sense of helplessness fills him.

[Aqua Azuranth – Level 147]

How is she so powerful… is this really the difference in strength between humans?

As he has that thought, he notices her eyes. Which are currently slit and without any white in them.

Her eyes… they're terrifying…

He feels a shiver run down his spine at the mere sight of her. And he can tell that he isn't the only one as the others all show the same fear.

This is a fear he hasn't ever felt towards a human. It's one he's only ever felt towards deepsea monsters until now.

What's worse is that no one can blame them for feeling this terror.

After all, her level is nearly a hundred above the highest level human behind her in power. And on top of that, she can summon swarms of servants, some of whom are even higher level than her.

Then there's the enormous creature that is still sinking in the water.

If she were to summon that near a city, it could easily eat the city and everyone in it.

And that's only a single summon.

He and the others all watch the many different servants swimming in the water around Aqua as the enormous creature beneath them slowly sinks further and further into the water. Implying that it isn't able to swim or float.

When the creature sinks so much that they're finally able to see the ocean beneath it again, he gradually begins to see the main body of the creature behind its mouth. Which shows him the creature's crab-like legs.

Despite the trust he's built towards Aqua, he still feels a little relief at the mere fact that the creature isn't able to swim. Since that decreases its threat level.

He glances back and forth between Aqua and the enormous creature until the servant itself finally vanishes. No doubt having been dismissed by Aqua.

Then he focuses entirely on Aqua as the other servants continue to swim around her while occasionally glancing at them. Sending a shiver down their spines every time their eyes meet.

"Um, so, hi?" Aqua says with a lazy smile on her face and a brief wave of her hand. "Is there some sort of gathering here?"

Jaleth feels half of his fear turning into sheer confusion.

Huh?

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