From the darkness of the trench edge, shadows detached themselves. They weren't the standard Whale Shark guards. These were sleeker, faster. They were [Abyssal Hunters]—sharks mutated with speed enhancements, riding massive, armored eels.

There were twenty of them. A kill squad sent to investigate the explosion.

[Enemy Identified: Abyssal Hunter]

[Level: 46]

[Status: Bloodthirsty]

"They're fast," Seraphina hissed, drawing her daggers. "Flankers."

"Hold your position," Alvian ordered. He floated forward, separating himself from the group. He looked like a lone figure in black robes, silhouetted against the dim light of the distant bioluminescence.

The lead Hunter saw him. He screeched, a sound that vibrated through the water, and signaled the charge. The pack of twenty riders accelerated, their lances leveled, aiming to skew the lone mage.

"Alvian, they're spreading out!" Valeria shouted, raising her shield. "They're trying to encircle us!"

"Let them try," Alvian said calmly.

He didn't raise his lance. He raised his left hand, palm open, facing the charging horde.

He waited. He let them get close. Fifty meters. Forty. Thirty.

"Now."

"[Void Vortex]."

He didn't cast the spell on himself. He cast it in the center of the enemy formation.

"VWOOOM!"

The sound wasn't loud. It was the sound of sound being sucked away. A sphere of absolute darkness, the size of a carriage, materialized in the water.

Gravity broke.

The water didn't just flow toward the sphere; it collapsed.

"SCREEEE!"

The lead Hunter tried to turn, but his mount was yanked backward as if caught on a giant hook. The eels thrashed, their tails beating frantically against the current, but the pull was irresistible.

It wasn't just water pressure. It was spatial contraction.

One by one, the twenty hunters were dragged into the center. They collided with sickening crunches. Metal armor buckled. Bones snapped. They were compressed into a tight, screaming ball of flesh and steel.

[Effect Triggered: Armor Shred.]

[Defense Reduced by 50%.]

The hunters were helpless. They were trapped in a washing machine of gravity.

"Now," Alvian whispered. "The finish."

He pointed his [Lance of the Void Winter] at the ball of trapped enemies.

"[Glacial Void Pierce]: Scatter Shot."

He fired a single beam of black ice. But as it hit the vortex, the gravity bent the beam. It didn't pass through; it spun. The beam was caught in the singularity, whipping around and around at light speed, slicing through the trapped monsters hundreds of times in a split second.

"SHRED! SHRED! SHRED!"

The water turned red. Then black.

[True Damage Triggered: Singularity Scaling.]

[Damage: 25,000 x 20!]

The ball of enemies simply disintegrated. The armor, the weapons, the bodies—they were ground down into fine silt.

Alvian closed his hand. The vortex collapsed in on itself with a soft pop, leaving nothing behind but a cloud of loot and blood.

[You have slain Abyssal Hunter x20!]

[Experience Gained: 600,000!]

The ocean was silent again.

Valeria lowered her shield, her mouth slightly open. She looked at the empty space where twenty elite enemies had been a moment ago.

"That wasn't a fight," Valeria whispered. "That was a garbage disposal."

Magnus stared at Alvian, his stone face pale. "You... you modified the Art. The Vortex doesn't just pull. It... eats."

"It strips away the inefficiency of armor," Alvian explained, collecting the floating loot orbs with a wave of his hand. "And it groups targets for maximum AOE value. It's a farming tool."

"Farming tool," Seraphina repeated, shaking her head. "You just liquified a hit squad and you call it farming."

Alvian checked his mana. The [Void Vortex] consumed a massive amount of energy to sustain, but with the [Tear of the Infinite], his bar was already full again.

"We're done here," Alvian said. "The message has been sent. Megalos knows his hunters are dead. He knows his prison is gone."

He turned back toward the direction of Azureus.

"Now, we go back to the city. The King of the Whale Sharks is a bully. And bullies don't like it when their victims fight back. He's going to try to regain control."

"How?" Valeria asked, sheathing her sword.

"Politics," Alvian said, his eyes cold. "He can't beat me in the wild. So he'll try to beat me in the arena. He'll try to use the laws of the city to bind me."

Alvian smiled. It was the smile of a wolf seeing a trap and knowing exactly how to break the hunter's leg.

"Let's go help him set the stage."

----

The return to Azureus was met with a different kind of tension. The city wasn't under attack, but the atmosphere was brittle, like glass about to shatter. The news of the Abyss Prison's destruction had spread through the currents. The Eighth Guardian hadn't just taken his seat; he had declared war on the status quo.

Alvian walked into the Council Chamber. He didn't wait for a summons. He walked in because he owned the room.

Lord Oceanus sat on his throne, looking weary. The other faction heads were arguing loudly. But when Alvian entered, flanked by the Iron Guardian Magnus and the Golden Knight Valeria, the room went quiet.

"Eighth Guardian," Oceanus said, his voice steady. "You have been busy."

"I cleaned up the trash," Alvian said, walking to his seat—a new chair made of black coral that had been hastily added to the circle. He sat down. "Megalos's prison was an illegal operation housing Syndicate agents and political prisoners. I shut it down."

"You blew it up!" the Crab Lord shouted. "You destroyed city infrastructure!"

"It was Syndicate infrastructure," Alvian corrected. "I reclaimed the real estate."

Before the argument could escalate, the heavy doors of the chamber boomed open.

A messenger swam in. He was a Whale Shark warrior, wearing the crest of Megalos. He looked terrified, but he held a scroll made of sharkskin.

"A message," the warrior stammered. "From King Megalos. For... for the Eighth Guardian."

Alvian gestured with his hand. "Read it."

The warrior unrolled the scroll.

"To the so-called Godslayer. You have broken my property. You have insulted my honor. You have stolen my prisoners. The streets of Azureus are too small for both of us. But I am a merciful King. I do not wish to see the city burn in a civil war."

Valeria snorted. "Merciful? He's scared."

The warrior continued, his voice shaking.

"I propose a settlement. A Tournament of the Younger Generation. A trial of champions. My best against yours. If you win, I acknowledge your authority over the Abyss. If I win... you surrender the [Tidal Core], the [Storm Trident], and your life."

The room erupted.

"A Tournament?" Seraphina whispered to Alvian. "It's a trap. It has to be."

"Obviously," Alvian replied, his voice low. "He knows he can't kill me in a raid. He saw what I did to his army. He wants to limit me. A tournament has rules. No mass AOE. No flight. Restrictions."

"He wants to strip away your advantages," Valeria realized. "He wants to force you into a duel where he can cheat."

Lord Oceanus looked at Alvian. "You do not have to accept, Guardian. This is a challenge to your life."

Alvian stood up. He walked over to the messenger. He took the scroll.

He looked at the terms. It was a classic villain maneuver. Use a public spectacle to hide an assassination attempt. Megalos would undoubtedly have rigged the arena, bribed the judges, and prepared his champions with Syndicate tech.

It was inefficient. It was risky.

It was perfect.

"If I refuse," Alvian addressed the room, "he will continue to use guerrilla tactics. He will attack the supply lines. He will hurt the civilians. He will drag this war out for months."

He looked at Valeria. "I don't have months."

He looked at the messenger. The shark-man flinched under Alvian's violet gaze.

"Tell your King," Alvian said, his voice echoing with the authority of the Void. "I accept."

The messenger scrambled away, eager to escape the predator's presence.

"Alvian," Valeria hissed. "You're walking into a kill box."

"I know," Alvian said, a small, dangerous smile playing on his lips. "But it's a kill box where all my enemies are gathered in one place. It saves me the trouble of hunting them down individually."

He turned to his team.

"Valeria, get your armor repaired. Seraphina, scout the arena. I want to know every loose stone, every hidden trap door."

"And you?" Magnus asked, stepping forward. "What will you do? Megalos will bring his strongest. He has champions fueled by Syndicate drugs."

Alvian pulled the [Lance of the Void Winter] from his inventory. The blade seemed sharper, darker than before.

"I'm going to upgrade my gear," Alvian said. "If they want a show, I'll give them a show."

He walked out of the Council Chamber. The Tournament of Tides was set. The stage was built. And Alvian was ready to bring the curtain down on the Whale Shark King's reign.

[Quest Accepted: The Tournament of Tides.]

[Objective: Defeat Megalos's Champions.]

[Hidden Objective: Expose the Syndicate's Cheating.]

[Reward: Total Control of Azureus.]

"Time to grind," Alvian whispered. He headed for the smithy. He had one charge left for the day, and he knew exactly what to use it on.

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