Chapter 18 – Sirens Wrath
The ocean screamed.
Not the wind, not the water—the ocean itself.
The Abyssal Siren's claws raked across the wreckage, sending splinters and foam skyward. Her song rippled through the air, sweet and terrible, cutting straight into Soren's skull.
[Status Effect: Hypnotic Song]
– Movement Speed -40%
– Sanity Threshold +10% per second
"Don't listen to her!" Soren shouted, digging his dagger into his palm to keep his mind clear.
Blood dripped into the water. The siren's many eyes rolled back as she sniffed the air, smiling with too many teeth.
"All of you… mine…"
⸻
Phase One – The First Chorus
Kryssa leapt from a falling mast, her crimson spear gleaming.
"Focus fire! Center mass!"
Soren lunged alongside her, his dagger slashing deep into the siren's scaled arm. Selene's whip lashed out, snapping around the siren's neck.
[Coordinated Strike Bonus: +20% Damage]
The siren screamed, her song faltering.
"Keep her from diving!" Kryssa barked. "If she gets below the waves, she'll regenerate!"
Soren gritted his teeth. "Easier said than done!"
⸻
The siren thrashed violently.
Her tail slammed into Kryssa, sending her crashing into a ruined mast.
Kryssa Blackhook – HP: 2300/2800
Selene yanked on her whip, her corrupted fish swarming the siren's face.
"Rogue! Now!"
Soren activated his new skill:
[Skill Activated: Undertow Rend]
– Dash through enemy, dealing heavy bleed damage. Leaves behind water blades.
The water exploded in a burst of blue light as he ripped through the siren's midsection.
Abyssal Siren – HP: 84%
Phase Two – Corruption Spreads
The siren's body shuddered.
Then—her pale skin cracked open, black veins spreading like oil slicks.
Tidebreaker Protocol Detected.
Corruption Level: 59%
Boss Behavior Modified.
"Oh no…" Selene whispered. "She's… adapting."
The siren's head split in two, revealing rows of glassy teeth. Her song deepened, becoming a low, rumbling chant.
Soren's Madness Meter spiked.
MADNESS: 68%
The world tilted. The water turned red. He saw Haruka's face floating above the waves, smiling sweetly.
"Stay with me…" she whispered.
No. Not real. Not her.
⸻
"Snap out of it, rogue!" Kryssa snarled, hurling her spear.
The weapon buried itself in the siren's chest. She shrieked, flailing wildly.
Soren lunged, using the distraction to climb onto her back.
"Time to reel you in!"
⸻
Phase Three – Betrayal in the Deep
Soren plunged his dagger deep into the siren's neck.
Abyssal Siren – HP: 21%
"Almost there!" Selene shouted, cracking her whip.
But then—
"Now, Selene!" Kryssa barked.
Before Soren could react, Selene's whip wrapped around his throat and yanked him backward.
"Sorry, rogue," Selene purred. "We're claiming the kill."
⸻
Soren's Descent
Soren slammed hard against a mast, his HP dropping into the red.
HP: 220/1500
MADNESS: 79%
Status: Bleeding
The siren lunged for him, her song like knives in his mind.
And then—
"Soren! Don't give up!"
Haruka's voice.
The tether in his chest blazed bright blue.
NEW SKILL UNLOCKED: Soul Resonance
Effect: Chain your tether to unleash a devastating counterattack.
Cooldown: Once per tether.
Soren's eyes burned with light.
⸻
Final Strike – Abyssal Bond
He grabbed Kryssa's fallen spear and hurled it with all his strength.
The weapon tore through the siren's chest.
Critical Hit!
Abyssal Siren – HP: 0%
BOSS DEFEATED
The siren's body dissolved into bubbles, her song fading into silence.
Soren collapsed to his knees, gasping.
⸻
Aftermath
Kryssa staggered forward, blood dripping from her lip.
"This isn't over, rogue."
She and Selene vanished into the shadows, leaving only the wreckage and a faint blue glow.
Soren looked down at his chest. The tether pulsed faintly.
Haruka… I'm coming for you.
Chapter 4 – The Blackwater Cathedral
The sea floor stretched endlessly in all directions.
Soren's boots sank into black silt as he trudged forward, the faint glow of the tether pulsing in his chest.
SANITY LEVEL: 42%
Corruption Level: 61%
Environmental Hazard: Pressure Increase – Movement Speed -20%
Above him, the shattered wreckage of the Abyssal Siren slowly settled into the water. Bubbles rose like dying fireflies.
Haruka… where are you?
Every now and then, the tether tugged gently, guiding him deeper into the void.
⸻
The Descent
The darkness pressed in from all sides.
Occasionally, Soren caught glimpses of movement—shapes that didn't belong to any fish he knew. A bloated anglerfish floated by, its lantern glowing faintly red. It had human fingers growing from its gills.
Soren kept his dagger drawn.
This world's getting worse by the hour.
He passed a cracked diving helmet, half-buried in silt. The name etched into the brass made his stomach clench.
[Player Tag: Akiro] – Status: DECEASED]
Beside it lay a journal fragment.
Day 12: The tether whispers in my dreams. It says she's waiting… but she's not human anymore. None of us are human anymore.
Soren stuffed the fragment into his pack and pressed on.
⸻
The Blackwater Cathedral
It loomed ahead, rising from the abyss like a sunken temple.
Columns of black coral twisted skyward. Stained-glass windows flickered faintly with corrupted code, depicting scenes of players drowning, lines of text flashing and distorting:
ALL IS TETHER. ALL IS CATCH.
Soren's Madness ticked upward.
MADNESS: 54%
Status Effect: Visual Distortions
The Cathedral Watcher
The heavy cathedral doors groaned open.
Inside, the water felt colder. Rows of pews lined the hall, covered in barnacles. At the altar, a figure knelt—a priest in ragged robes.
No, not a priest.
Its head turned slowly, impossibly far, until its milky eyes locked onto Soren.
MINIBOSS ENCOUNTER
The Cathedral Watcher (Lv. 33)
Abilities:
– Hypnotic Chant
– Tentacle Grab
– Soul Drain
The creature rose, dozens of tentacles unfurling from its back.
"She's waiting for you…" it whispered in a dozen voices.
⸻
The Fight Begins
Soren's dagger flashed.
[Skill Activated: Phantom Reel]
– Dash forward and leave an afterimage. Cooldown: 12 seconds.
He lunged at the Watcher, slashing across its chest. Dark ichor leaked into the water.
But then—
[Status Effect: Hypnotic Chant]
Movement Speed -30%
Skill Cooldowns +5 seconds
The voices grew louder in his head.
"She's gone. She's gone. She's GONE."
⸻
A Tether's Whisper
Just as the Watcher's tentacles wrapped around his throat—
A faint voice echoed in his mind.
"Soren… keep fighting…"
Haruka.
The tether glowed brighter, burning away the darkness.
NEW SKILL UNLOCKED: Resonant Strike
Effect: Unleash stored tether energy in a powerful slash.
"GET OFF ME!"
Soren's dagger pulsed with light as he slashed through the Watcher's tentacles. The creature shrieked, its body dissolving into static.
MINIBOSS DEFEATED
Loot Acquired: Tether Fragment x1, Blackwater Key x1
The Next Door
Soren dropped to his knees, gasping. The tether pulsed gently in his chest.
"Haruka… you're still there."
He looked toward the massive cathedral doors at the far end of the hall. The Blackwater Key shimmered in his hand.
Beyond those doors lay deeper corruption. And, maybe, her.
⸻
– The Core of Blackwater
The Blackwater Key melted into the lock.
With a grinding groan, the cathedral's inner doors split open, releasing a slow, freezing current.
Soren stepped through, his hand tight around his dagger.
Corruption Level: 72%
Sanity Threshold: 61%
Warning: Core Dungeon Detected. Respawn Disabled.
His HUD flickered, then steadied. He could feel the tether tugging harder now, each pulse stronger than the last.
Haruka…
⸻
The Hall of Tethers
The Core was enormous—like the inside of a sunken cathedral turned upside down.
Dozens of glowing blue threads hung from the ceiling like fishing lines, swaying in the black water. At the end of each tether floated orbs of light—souls, perhaps, or player data.
Soren reached out to one.
PLAYER: Elian Raithe
Status: TERMINATED
Cause of Death: Soul Drain (Tidebreaker Protocol)
He pulled his hand back.
This place is a graveyard.
The tether in his chest pulsed violently.
⸻
The Tidebound Leviathan
At the far end of the hall, the water shuddered.
A massive shadow shifted in the gloom.
Tentacles, hundreds of them, uncoiled from a skeletal frame the size of a cathedral. A single enormous eye flared open, glowing with corrupted light.
WORLD BOSS ENCOUNTER – TIDEBREAKER PROTOCOL ENTITY
The Tidebound Leviathan (Lv. 40)
Special Effects:
– Soul Hook
– Corruption Wave
– Tether Consume
This… is the heart of the Protocol.
⸻
Phase One – Soul Hook
The Leviathan's tentacles lashed out, each one tipped with glowing hooks.
Soren dodged and darted, activating Phantom Reel to avoid being skewered.
[Skill Activated: Phantom Reel]
He slashed at a tentacle, cutting deep into corrupted flesh. Black ichor clouded the water.
Tidebound Leviathan – HP: 92%
But each time he struck, his tether dimmed slightly.
"Stop fighting, little fish…" a voice whispered. "Every struggle drains her life."
Soren's Madness Meter spiked.
MADNESS: 76%
Phase Two – Corruption Wave
The Leviathan roared, sending a shockwave through the hall.
[Status Effect: Corruption Wave]
– HP Regen Disabled
– Skill Cooldowns Doubled
The water shimmered with hallucinations. Soren saw Haruka floating above him, her lips moving soundlessly.
"Don't… come… save me…"
Not real. Focus.
He hurled his dagger at the Leviathan's eye, buying himself precious seconds to dash for cover.
⸻
Phase Three – Tether Consume
The boss's massive eye locked onto Soren.
[Ability Activated: Tether Consume]
Warning: Your tether is draining faster!
Pain seared through his chest as the tether dimmed to a flicker.
"She's keeping you alive," the Leviathan hissed. "Every step closer is killing her. Will you still take another?"
"SHUT UP!"
Soren slammed his dagger into the boss's central core, triggering his new skill:
[Skill Activated: Resonant Strike]
– Unleash stored tether energy for massive damage.
The blade exploded in a burst of blue light.
Critical Hit!
Tidebound Leviathan – HP: 0%
WORLD BOSS DEFEATED
The Revelation
The Leviathan's body dissolved, releasing hundreds of soul orbs.
Soren collapsed, clutching his chest.
The tether pulsed weakly.
"Soren…"
Haruka's voice was faint now.
"I can't… hold on much longer."
His HUD flashed red.
Tether Stability: 17%