The sea didn’t move. It exploded. No warning. No delay. No divine announcement. His blade came down like a comet—Naerida blocked it, barely. Her coral shield shattered on impact, shards flying like razors through the water. Dominic was thrown backward by the shockwave. Athena leapt forward with her spear, spinning mid-current, driving the tip straight toward Ares’ shoulder. He didn’t flinch. His hand shot out, grabbed her by the throat, and slammed her into a rock pillar. "Too slow," Ares muttered, eyes glowing. The ocean raged behind Dominic, swirling around him like a whirlpool. A blue surge burst from his palm — water sharpened into a blade. He slashed toward Ares’ back, fast, reckless. But Ares turned, blocked with his gauntlet, and elbowed Dominic so hard he skipped like a stone across the reef floor. Blood drifted into the water. Dominic growled, wiping his mouth. "Alright... so that’s how it is." Naerida rose into the current like a queen made of thunder. She didn’t shout. She didn’t warn. She summoned the Eye of the Abyss — a twisting, black storm that coiled like a snake from the deep. It hissed forward, wrapping Ares in its dark tendrils. For a second, he vanished. Just pressure. Crushing pressure. The kind that breaks bones before sound even travels. The tendrils burst apart. And out he stepped, flames crawling along his armor now. Sea boiling. Eyes wild. "You wanna play deep magic?" "Let’s drown together." Lyrielle Watches... Still Waiting Far away, Lyrielle watched the water flicker in her vision orb. She saw Ares. She saw Naerida. Dominic. Athena. All of them locked in chaos. She turned to her new choir—young sirens with glowing scars. "Let the gods exhaust themselves," she said. Back to the Battlefield Athena rose again, blood trickling from her forehead. She spat and rejoined the fight, spinning beside Dominic. Their attacks began to sync — wave, spear, storm. For a moment, Ares staggered. He blocked Dominic’s blade but missed the punch that followed. He caught Athena’s spear but got slammed into coral by Naerida’s water burst. But he laughed through it. "Good. I needed to feel something." He raised his sword again. But something was off. A silence spread through the sea. Dominic Noticed First "Wait... something’s wrong." Ares’ blade trembled. His eyes flickered — red fading to gray. A voice echoed through the ocean. "The blade you stole... is not yours." Final Moments — Cliffhanger Ares screamed. Not in rage this time. The Void Blade in his hand pulsed black. Symbols began crawling up his arm. His skin cracked — not burned — but shattered like broken stone. He dropped the sword. But from something coming through him. Dominic shouted, "Get back!" The sea split open beneath them. And something with no face but a voice like thunder began to crawl through Ares’ body. And something else was taking his place. Ares wasn’t screaming anymore. It poured from his eyes, nose, mouth — even from the cracks in his god-flesh. The Void Blade lay beside him, pulsing like a heart torn from some deep-sea monster. The thing inside him... was waking up. Dominic backed away, gripping his trident tighter. "What the hell is that...?" Athena didn’t answer. Her voice was low. Barely a whisper. "That’s not Ares anymore." Something Crawled Out The body of the war god jerked and convulsed. And then... it cracked in half. Out spilled a figure cloaked in shifting black water. No eyes. No face. Just the hum of ancient hunger. Even the ocean recoiled from it. Naerida stepped forward, jaw tight. She’d seen it before. "Abyssborn," she said. "One of the forgotten." Dominic frowned. "The what?" "Not gods. Not monsters. Just... what existed before order." The Abyssborn floated just above Ares’ corpse, the shattered remains drifting in a slow spiral of dying bubbles. In a voice like hundreds of whispers all at once: "This world was never yours. It was merely borrowed." Flash of Lightning — Battle Ignites She launched her spear—straight into the thing’s chest. Reappeared behind her. Grabbed her by the head and slammed her into a stone ledge. She didn’t move. He roared and thrust his trident forward. Waves obeyed. The sea snapped toward the creature, crashing it into the sea floor. But when the foam cleared... "No—" Dominic turned— The creature was behind him, arms stretched like shadow ropes. Tʜe source of this ᴄontent ɪs ɴoᴠel Fɪre.nᴇt He hit the sand hard, coughing up blood. Naerida Unleashes Her True Power The queen of the sea clenched her fists. Her eyes glowed. She whispered a name no mortal was meant to hear. From below, from the cracks of the sea bed, massive chains erupted, glowing with gold runes. They wrapped around the Abyssborn, anchoring it in place. For the first time... The water rippled with pain. Naerida floated upward, energy pouring off her skin. "This isn’t your sea," she said. "It never was." She raised both hands—and the Trident of Depth materialized from coral and magic. She aimed it directly at the creature’s heart. Dominic pulled himself up, coughing. "Now! Do it!" A white-hot beam pierced through the Abyssborn’s core. It flailed, twisting, writhing. Silence After the Storm Dominic dropped to his knees. "Is it dead?" Athena groaned from under rubble. "No. Banished. For now." Naerida floated still, eyes narrowed. "It’ll return. They always do." Dominic looked over to Ares’ body — nothing left but his cracked armor. He didn’t feel victorious. Meanwhile — In the Depths Far below, where the sea no longer touches sunlight, Lyrielle stood at the edge of a jagged trench. Her choir behind her. The water around them felt darker now. Heavier. Something had stirred. She turned to the sirens. "Change of plan," she said. "The gods aren’t the biggest threat anymore." She stepped into the abyss. "Let’s find out what just woke up."