The column of spinning water turned into a solid, twisted pillar of ice instantly.

The connection to the surface was severed. The lightning stopped flowing.

"WHAT?!" Voltex screamed

"Gravity," Alvian whispered as his momentum carried him through the ice pillar and out the other side.

The massive ice pillar, now heavy and unsupported, began to fall. It toppled slowly at first, then gained speed. It fell directly toward Voltex.

"Move!" Voltex tried to dart away, but the ice had disrupted the currents. He was sluggish.

"CRASH!"

The ice pillar slammed into the General, pinning him to the seabed. Tons of magical ice crushed his tail and two of his arms.

[-55,000! Crushing Damage!]Voltex howled in agony. He was pinned. Broken.

Alvian landed softly on the sand in front of the trapped Warlord. He recalled his mana, the [Tear of the Infinite] refilling his reserves in seconds.

"The storm is over," Alvian said.

Voltex glared at him, blood leaking from his mouth. "You... you fight like a demon."

"I am worse," Alvian said. He equipped [Voidpiercer].

He walked up to the General's exposed chest.

"I am a player."

He drove the dagger into Voltex's heart.

"SQUELCH."

The Void energy consumed the lightning. Voltex's eyes dimmed. His body went limp, then dissolved into blue particles of light.

[You have slain General Voltex (Level 49 Elite Boss)!]

[Experience Gained: 900,000!]

[Level Up!]

[Level 52.]

Alvian stood in the silence of the reef. The lightning had stopped. The water was calm.

He reached into the pile of loot left behind. He found a glowing blue trident.

[Item: Kaelen's Storm Trident (Unique)]

"Got it," Alvian said. He turned to his team. Valeria and Seraphina were swimming toward him, looking exhausted but triumphant.

"Easy," Alvian said, tossing the trident into his inventory. "Let's go get my reward."

The return trip to Azureus was uneventful. The denizens of the deep had sensed the death of the Lightning Lord and scattered, leaving the path wide open for the Godslayer and his team.

They arrived back at the Slipstream Sector. Kaelen was still running in his whirlpool, a blur of motion that never seemed to tire.

Alvian walked up to the barrier. He didn't knock this time. He pulled the [Storm Trident] from his inventory and held it up. The lightning enchantment on the weapon pulsed, reacting to the high-velocity mana of the whirlpool.

Kaelen skidded to a halt. The water crashed down around him as he stopped the vortex with a wave of his hand. He stared at the trident, his eyes wide.

"No way," Kaelen breathed. He zipped over to the edge of the platform. "You actually did it? You killed Voltex? In one day?"

"He was slow," Alvian lied smoothly, tossing the trident through the barrier.

Kaelen caught it. He spun it in his hands, a look of pure joy on his face. "My beauty! My baby! You're home!" He looked at Alvian, a newfound respect in his gaze. "You aren't a turtle. You're... a shark. A fast shark."

"The deal," Alvian reminded him.

"Right, right! The Art!" Kaelen nodded vigorously. "A deal is a deal. And Kaelen never breaks a deal. It's bad for momentum."

He reached into his armor and pulled out a shimmering, translucent crystal. It wasn't a scroll. It was a memory stone.

"This contains the essence of [Abyssal Flicker]," Kaelen said, tossing it to Alvian. "It's not just moving fast. It's about moving between the moments. You don't push the water; you slip through the cracks in the world. Understand?"

"I understand," Alvian said, catching the stone.

[System Notification: Skill Book Detected: [Abyssal Flicker] (Legendary).]

[Learn?]

"Learn."

The stone dissolved into his hand.

A rush of vertigo hit him. For a second, Alvian saw the world not as a continuous stream of time, but as a series of frozen frames. He saw the space between the frames. The gaps where he could exist.

[Skill Learned: Abyssal Flicker (Level 1).]

[Description: Allows the user to teleport short distances (up to 10 meters) instantly by stepping through the gaps in space. Max Charges: 3. Recharge Time: 10 seconds.]

Alvian frowned. "Three charges? Ten seconds? Inefficient."

Kaelen saw his expression. "Hey! Don't look at it like that! It takes years to master! Once you get it to Level 10, you can chain five jumps!"

"Years," Alvian muttered. "I don't have years."

He looked at his daily charges. He had saved them for this moment.

"System. Activate [Super Upgrade System]. Target: [Abyssal Flicker]."

[Ding!]

[Authority Invoked.]

[Consuming One (1) Daily Charge...]

A golden light enveloped Alvian's body. The knowledge of the skill in his mind was torn apart and rewritten. The limits placed by the System were shattered.

[Upgrade Successful!]

[Skill Evolved: [Abyssal Flicker +1] -> [Void Step] (Mythical).]

Alvian checked the new description.

[Skill: Void Step]

[Description: The user steps through the Void, ignoring distance and obstacles. Teleport instantly to any location within sight or sensory range. No cooldown. Mana Cost: 500 per jump.]

No cooldown. Infinite jumps. As long as he had mana.

And he had infinite mana.

Alvian smiled. It was the same smile he had worn when he killed Voice One.

"Hey," Kaelen asked, tilting his head. "Why are you glowing? And why do I feel like you just became faster than me?"

Alvian looked at the Speedster Guardian.

"Want to race?" Alvian asked.

Before Kaelen could answer, Alvian vanished.

"POOF."

He reappeared on the other side of the plaza. Then on the roof of a building. Then back in front of Kaelen. It happened in the span of a single heartbeat. Three jumps. Zero lag.

Kaelen's jaw dropped. "What... what did you just do?"

"I fixed it," Alvian said.

He turned to Valeria and Seraphina.

"We're done here. We have the Speed. Now we need the Bindings."

He looked at the map Thorne had given him. The next target was the Lady of Chains.

"Let's go," Alvian said. "The ocean is big, and we have a lot of gods to humble."

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