Versatile Mage

Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

The crack was very narrow. Zhang Xiahou had to turn his body sideways to fit inside it.

The strange thing was, the bone-piercing cold disappeared after he swam into the crack. He no longer felt the strong water pressure, either. He felt like he was floating in the air.

He could still feel the buoyancy from the water. It felt like he was flying through a rift.

The inside of the crack was pitch-black. Zhang Xiaohou could only rely on a magic ring to light up the path ahead.

Zhang Xiaohou felt like he was currently at the bottom of an abyss. A strange sense of suffocation was pressuring him from all directions.

(Tap tap!)

Zhang Xiaohou was constantly tapping on the wall, sending out a military code.

He was tapping at a certain rhythm. Only those who were with him in Beijiang knew the code. He could not make any sounds with his mouth, and could only use the code to tell Yang Xiajie that help was on the way.

(Tap tap tap, tap tap-tap!)

Zhang Xiaohou soon received a similar response from the distance!

He was overjoyed. Yang Xiajie was still alive and was responding to him!

Zhang Xiaohou immediately picked up his pace. He wriggled his body like a fish, dodging the sharp rocks in the crack.

The space finally broadened a little, but the seawater still felt non-existent. Zhang Xiaohou felt like he was on a planet that lacked gravity.

He shone the magic ring around his surroundings to light up the area.

However, he felt like his skin was stabbed with countless ice needles when he could see the things around him. He felt a shiver in all his muscles!

This… Impossible!

Zhang Xiaohou was dumbfounded.

He saw Yang Xiajie, but his body was already dismembered. His remains were floating about, scattered in the little cave.

If Zhang Xiaohou had not seen Yang Xiajie’s head spinning slowly in front of him, he might even have thought it was someone else’s remains.

Something else sent a chill down Zhang Xiaohou’s spine.

He was hearing the taps again!

(Tap tap tap, tap tap-tap)

The unique code that belonged to his troop in Beijiang was extremely clear in the enclosed space!

Zhang Xiaohou’s lost his last hope when he heard the taps. He thought Yang Xiajie had just been killed a moment ago after responding to his taps. He had come a little late!

Zhang Xiaohou could not feel the water pressure and cold from the seawater.

However, his body was shivering!

The code he had sent meant ‘help is on the way’.

The response he received was ‘help, I’m right here’, which only Yang Xiajie would know!

It was not like something was mimicking Zhang Xiaohou’s taps!

He had no idea what he was up against. Yang Xiajie had already been dead for some time!

—

—

A figure swam out of the crack around one and a half kilometers inside the trench.

Tan Feng, Captain Tong, and the others were relieved when they saw Zhang Xiaohou was back unharmed.

“General, where’s Yang Xiajie?” Tang Feng asked.

“He’s dead. I brought his remains back,” Zhang Xiaohou shook his head.

“Are you injured?”

“No, but… forget it, we should keep going,” Zhang Xiaohou did not mention what he had seen in the crack.

He could not explain what had happened. He also had a clearer understanding of why people were afraid of the deep sea. It was not the kind of ugly, sinister, and hideous fear that struck one’s heart directly. It was slowly permeating his bones like something cold. It would slowly take away his senses and cause him to lose himself. When the fear thoroughly engulfed him, he would feel suffocated and be overwhelmed by despair!

Zhang Xiaohou could already feel his body trembling in fear. He did not want to tell the others because it would not do them any good.

“It might be a powerful creature. Stay on alert at all times and prepared for battle,” Zhang Xiaohou reminded them.

“Affirmative!”

Death was not really unacceptable for the troop. However, their will would be crushed if they knew how they were going to die…

——

“General, we are picking up traces of demon creatures at a depth of twenty-five hundred meters. Most of them are Commander-level creatures,” Tan Feng informed him.

“No wonder the sea monsters in the seaweed forest are avoiding the trench. It turns out to be the territory of powerful creatures!” an old captain murmured.

“Avoid them,” Zhang Xiaohou said.

“Affirmative!”

The troop continued to dive deeper. They did not dare use any Light Magic. They could sense huge shadows moving not far from them, even though everything was pitch-black. The ripples and waves from their movements were making everyone feel uneasy.

Luckily, the creatures did not have an outstanding vision, either. They were mainly relying on unusual movements of the water to sense any intruders. The troop just had to control their movements to remain undetected.

“General is a lot more experienced than us.”

“We didn’t alert any of the creatures even after going five hundred meters deeper.”

“General Zhang was a scout, too! He’s better at avoiding demon creatures than Captain Tian.”

Tian Cheng was an expert at tracking down demon creatures and searching for their traces through analyzing the clues they left behind, but Zhang Xiaohou was better at penetrating enemy territory, concealing his presence, and avoiding demon creatures.

Captain Tong was a scout, too. He had played the same role as Zhang Xiaohou had when he was still working in the field, but Captain Tong had been attacked by sea monsters after reaching a depth of fifteen hundred meters.

Captain Tong could not help but blame himself. If only he was better at avoiding the demon creatures, Yang Xiajie would still be alive now!

—

“General, we’ve reached a depth of two thousand meters.”

“General! The camp has picked up the heartbeats of a Ruler-level creature!”

“Where is it?” Zhang Xiaohou frowned.

“It’s moving very quickly. It’s heading right at us!” Tan Feng signaled urgently.

The rest of the troop was astounded. This trench was indeed a terrifying place. It had a Ruler-level creature in it!

Normally, Ruler-level creatures avoided the shallow seas. Even though the troop was inside a trench, it was not that far from the land.

A Ruler-level creature could easily inflict massive destruction on the land!

“Stay calm, and fire a bait to lure it away!” Zhang Xiaohou ordered.

Sea monsters were generally stronger than equivalent demon creatures on land. The creatures in the sea were roughly three times stronger in the water!

Even though the troop had killed Ruler-level creatures in Beijiang before, it was a different story stumbling into a Ruler-level sea monster in its territory!