On the surface of the sea, Nora was the first to break through the water, spitting out the seawater from her mouth as the gill-like organs on either side of her neck slowly receded.

Peggy popped her head up from the water to her right, shook the water off her face, and asked,

"Where's Aske? Do you see him?"

"He's dived back down to save Eleanor," replied Nora.

Peggy pursed her lips without a change of expression, as if to say, "That knight needs saving too?"

Sensing the subtle jealousy in her, Nora explained,

"Eleanor can't breathe under water, and she was slammed directly to the seabed by the Giant Dragon, so Aske had to pull her up."

"Doesn't she have that...what's it called, the Unyielding Holy Sword?" Peggy asked, clearly irritated.

"The Unyielding Holy Sword can't last that long either," Nora said, worried.

In the deep sea,

Eleanor was still sinking rapidly. The force of the dragon's tail hit was so great that although the Unyielding Holy Sword blocked all damage for her, it couldn't completely eliminate the tremendous downward acceleration, along with the intense dizziness it caused her.

This dizziness lasted only a few seconds; by the time she came to her senses, she found herself surrounded by the dimness of the ocean floor and the terrible pressure coming from all directions.

How deep am I on the seabed now?

However, she couldn't afford to think too much because she had to keep concentrating on maintaining the Holy Sword State to ensure she wouldn't suffocate or have her bones crushed by the terrifying water pressure. The words of her former squad leader inevitably came to mind:

"…You know? The Unyielding Holy Sword is not invincible. Or rather, no Extraordinary Swordsmanship, no Law Sequence, is invincible and irreproachable; they all have their own weaknesses."

"More potent higher-level skills have fewer or harder-to-catch weaknesses, but that's not the same as being invincible. The weakness of the Unyielding Holy Sword lies in its duration."

Yes...my time is running out...

"Admittedly, in the state of the Holy Sword, no one can kill you, but the Holy Sword can't stop you from being displaced. In other words, if the enemy pushes you into a lethal situation, like the inside of a volcano, the depths of the sea, or even outside the atmosphere into space, then you just need to wait until you can't maintain the Holy Sword State, and you'll die. This thing is called 'Map Kill.'"

"Map Kill…" Eleanor pondered. "So, the way to prevent being map killed is to not get hit by displacement skills?"

"If that's what you think, you've fallen into the trap of missing the forest for the trees," Aske said with a smile. "Don't forget your duty is to take on more damage for the team."

"If you're obsessed with not getting hit, then the enemy can take advantage of that to disrupt the function you provide to the team. As a result, not only is there a risk of the team being defeated, but even the support relationship between you and your teammates could be severed."

"I understand," Eleanor said solemnly. "The correct approach should be to wait for support from allies."

"Exactly," Aske said. "After all, dealing with a control skill is the Support System's role, not yours. If you try to solve every problem alone, that's not realistic, and you'll become exhausted."

"If you really find yourself in that situation, all you need to do is wait for rescue…"

Wait...for rescue...

However, in this lightless deep sea, it was impossible to discern up from down. She strained to turn her head, trying to use any light source to determine her orientation, but in the end, she could only see the boundless, murky gray.

Suddenly, a faint light flickered through the increasingly blurry vision.

Aske was rapidly swimming downwards, his skin shimmering like the silver scales of a ribbonfish. Using the Evolution Law he had plundered, he had evolved the unique pressure-resistant organs of deep-sea fish—a bit of a challenge for the uninitiated regular players, but trivial for professionals who had specifically trained for it.

Having swiftly reached Eleanor's side, Aske realized that the radiance of her Holy Sword had dwindled to a mere thin layer, flickering in and out like a light bulb on the verge of short-circuiting.

Once the Holy Sword State was cut off, it wasn't just the lack of oxygen that could kill her; the immense water pressure at this depth alone could do so instantly.

Then Aske embraced her and once again plundered and activated the Unyielding Holy Sword, enveloping her completely.

Of course, he didn't possess any innately extraordinary physique, and at best, the Holy Sword State could last about ten seconds, so defeating the enemy quickly and getting away from the seabed was imperative.

He swam upward while holding the female Knight, when he noticed Eleanor opening her mouth wide, as if gasping for air, but no oxygen entered... The Holy Sword State that had enveloped her was now dissipated, and with it, the small amounts of air that had been locked within the Holy Sword before their descent had all bubbled out and dispersed.

Although Aske had covered her with his own Holy Sword State, it contained no locked-in gases... After all, he had temporarily added gills to himself and didn't need to carry or use oxygen while swimming down from the surface.

Soon, Eleanor awoke in agony, nearly bulging her eyes out from suffocation. Aske hurriedly evened out some oxygen from his gills, held it in his mouth, and then prepared to press his lips onto hers with force…

…Of course, he couldn't really do that; he wasn't the type to take advantage of others. Creating a small straw with Sword Intent would suffice.

A small amount of intent formed a thin paper on his shoulder and then quickly curled up, shaping into a straw. Naturally, the straw currently contained highly pressurized seawater, so he needed to figure out how to expel it…

Then his cheeks were suddenly clasped by her hands, as Eleanor went ahead and blocked his lips, her movements forceful as if prying off a beer bottle cap.

...... Nevermind.

Aske slowly breathed the air from his lungs into hers. As the oxygen entered Eleanor's lungs, her consciousness also began to clear slightly.

Eleanor:......

She felt a mingled sense of shyness and an indescribable, peculiar joy and sweetness—even she couldn't articulate it—her arms tightly curled around Aske's neck and waist, then remained motionless as they exchanged gases.

The moist, warm breath from her lips entered Aske's lungs and was quickly expelled into the seawater through his gill apparatus.

Then, the oxygen filtered from the seawater refilled Aske's lungs and through their oral connection, entered Eleanor's chest.

In this way, they maintained the embrace and kiss, swiftly ascending towards the surface. As they neared the surface, Aske deactivated the Holy Sword State, and the slippery, fishlike scales slowly reverted back to human skin.

Eleanor blinked slowly, her azure pupils slightly dazed, followed by an inward skip of her heart.

She was unaware of the decompression adaption process required when moving from the deep sea to the shallows, but seeing Aske's fish organs and ease under the water pressure dissipate, she guessed they must be close to the surface.

Despite her reluctance, despite wishing their current posture could last longer, it was but an unreasonable longing.

After all, this wasn't a kiss born of heartfelt love but merely the Squad Leader's attempt to save her from suffocation...

But then again, having kissed her like this, did the Squad Leader feel nothing at all for her? Did he still unilaterally believe it was just a rescue?

Thinking this, Eleanor clenched her eyes shut, and with a resolve as if to brace herself, she [text censored in accordance with relevant laws and regulations].

Immediately after, she pushed Aske away with force and then surfaced above the ocean.

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