"Don't breathe it in," Alvian said. He checked his [Vestments of the Void Monarch]. The [Void Shell] passive would filter the toxins, but the visibility would be an issue.

"System. Equip [Greaves of the Tide-Runner]."

He swapped his boots. The silver metal formed around his legs, humming with speed.

"We need to move fast," Alvian said. "Ursula won't just be holding the Pearl. She'll be using it. If she corrupts the core, the city's defenses will turn against us."

"How do we find her in the dark?" Seraphina asked.

"We follow the ink," Alvian said.

They jumped.

The descent was long and silent. The water grew thicker, almost like oil. Visibility dropped to zero. Even with Alvian's enhanced perception, he could only see a few meters ahead.

"Light?" Valeria asked.

"No," Alvian ordered. "Ursula is an ambush predator. Light makes us targets."

They landed on the floor of the trench. It was a forest of black coral and rotting shipwrecks. The ground was covered in a thick layer of sludge.

"Movement," Alvian whispered.

From the ink, tentacles emerged. They weren't attached to a body. They were disembodied, writhing limbs made of shadow and slime.

[Enemy Identified: Ink Tentacle]

[Level: 44]

[Status: Hidden]

"They're sensors," Alvian realized. "She knows we're here."

Suddenly, the ink around them solidified. The water turned hard.

"Trap!" Seraphina shouted.

Hundreds of tentacles shot out from the darkness, aiming to wrap around them and crush them.

"Valeria, Spin!" Alvian barked.

Valeria didn't hesitate. She activated [Titan's Whirlwind]. She spun with her claymore extended, creating a vortex of golden blades.

"SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!"

The tentacles were chopped into sushi. Black blood filled the water.

"Keep moving," Alvian said, stepping over the twitching limbs. "She's trying to slow us down."

They pushed deeper into the trench. The architecture began to change. The natural coral gave way to structures made of bone and black pearl. They were entering the Queen's palace.

But the entrance was guarded.

Standing before the gates of the palace were two massive crustaceans. They looked like lobsters, but their shells were made of black iron, and their claws glowed with necrotic green energy.

[Monster Identified: Abyssal Iron-Lobster]

[Level: 46]

[Status: Elite Guard]

"Armored," Valeria noted. "My sword might bounce."

"Physics Lesson Number Five," Alvian said, equipping his [Lance]. "Pressure."

He didn't charge. He activated [Void Step].

He appeared directly above the first lobster. He didn't thrust the lance. He activated [Gravity Well] on the tip of the weapon.

"Crush."

He slammed the lance down onto the lobster's shell.

"CRUNCH!"

The gravity well increased the weight of the blow by a hundred times. The iron shell didn't just crack; it caved in. The lobster was flattened instantly.

[-35,000! Crushing Damage!]

The second lobster snapped its claws at him. Alvian didn't dodge. He used [Runic Aegis +2].

"Reflect."

The claw hit the rune. The kinetic force bounced back. The lobster's own claw shattered against the shield.

"Finish it," Alvian told Valeria.

Valeria lunged, driving her sword into the exposed flesh of the stunned lobster.

"Dead," she reported.

Alvian looked at the gates. They were sealed with ink magic.

"She's inside," Alvian said. "And she's busy."

He could feel the mana vibrations. A ritual. The Pearl was being corrupted.

"Open it," Alvian ordered.

Valeria kicked the gates. They groaned, then burst open.

The interior of Ursula's palace was a nightmare of non-Euclidean geometry. Walls curved in impossible ways. Corridors looped back on themselves. The floor was covered in a foot of black water that rippled even when they stood still.

"Illusion magic," Seraphina hissed, her mechanical eye spinning as it tried to map the room. "My scanner is going haywire. Up is down. Left is right."

"Ignore your eyes," Alvian said. "Trust your mana sense."

He closed his eyes. The [Tablet of the Earth Core] inside him resonated with the stone of the trench. He could feel the vibrations.

"This way."

He led them down a spiraling corridor. As they walked, shadows peeled off the walls.

[Enemy Identified: Shadow Eel]

[Level: 45]

[Status: Stealth]

The eels were made of living ink. They didn't bite; they phased through armor and drained mana.

"Valeria, aura up!" Alvian commanded.

Valeria flared her [Titan's Aura]. The golden light burned the ink. The eels shrieked and retreated into the walls.

"They can't touch the light," Valeria said, keeping her aura bright.

"Keep it up. We're draining your mana, but I have potions." Alvian tossed her a flask.

They reached a central chamber. It was a vast, dome-shaped room filled with floating bubbles of water. Inside each bubble was a treasure—gold, gems, artifacts. Ursula was a hoarder.

But in the center, hovering over a pit of pure darkness, was the Queen.

Ursula was a monstrosity. Her upper body was that of a beautiful, pale woman with jet-black hair that floated like ink. Her lower body was a mass of eight massive tentacles, each thick as a tree trunk. She wore jewelry made of bones and pearls.

And in her hands, she held the [Pearl of the Deep].

The Pearl, once a pristine white, was turning grey. Veins of black ink were crawling across its surface.

[Target Identified: Ursula the Octopus Queen]

[Level: 48]

[Status: Ritual Casting]

"Intruders," Ursula's voice was a whisper that echoed from every corner of the room. "You dare disturb my art?"

"Art?" Alvian scoffed. "You're ruining a perfectly good legendary item with cheap ink."

Ursula's eyes flashed black. "Insolent land-walker! I am refining it! With this Pearl, I will drown Azureus! The Syndicate promised me the city!"

"The Syndicate promised a lot of things," Alvian said, equipping his [Voidpiercer]. "They usually pay in death."

"Kill them!" Ursula shrieked.

The bubbles in the room burst. The treasures fell. But from the shadows behind the bubbles, guards emerged.

[Enemy Spawned: Ink Myrmidon]

[Level: 45]

[Status: Elite]

There were twelve of them. Four-armed warriors made of solid ink, wielding curved scimitars.

"Valeria, hold the Myrmidons. Seraphina, flank the Queen. I'm going for the Pearl," Alvian ordered.

"On it!" Valeria charged, her shield slamming into the first Myrmidon.

Alvian didn't run. He used [Void Step].

He teleported directly to the center of the room, aiming for the Pearl.

But Ursula was ready.

"You think you can just take it?"

She waved a hand. The ink on the floor shot up, forming a cage of black spikes around the Pearl.

"INK PRISON!"

Alvian slammed into the spikes. They were solid as steel.

[-500 HP!]

"Solidified mana," Alvian noted, pushing off the cage. "Strong."

He landed on a floating platform. Ursula laughed.

"This is my domain, boy! Here, the shadows obey me!"

She lashed out with a tentacle. It moved with the speed of a whip crack.

Alvian dodged. The tentacle smashed the platform into dust.

"Fast," Alvian muttered. "And she has reach."

He needed to get inside her guard. But with eight tentacles and an army of Myrmidons, the room was a kill zone.

"Seraphina!" Alvian shouted. "The eyes!"

Seraphina dropped from the ceiling. She threw a handful of flash-bang pellets.

"FLASH!"

Bright light exploded in the dark room. Ursula screamed, covering her face.

"MY EYES!"

"Now," Alvian whispered.

He activated [Klaus's Upgrade].

[Ding! Blessing Active.]

"[Void Step]."

He didn't teleport to the Queen. He teleported inside the Ink Prison.

He bypassed the physical spikes by stepping through the void. He appeared right next to the floating Pearl.

"Mine."

He grabbed the Pearl.

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