Maybe Isaac had been a little too quick to call the vast sea an afterthought in their journey.

At first, everything was calm and silent. He and Harry just continued flying in a straight line for a good few hours, unbothered. Of course, after his experience in the Valleys of Whispers, he wasn't stupid enough to believe that there were no monsters anywhere in this territory. They just hadn't seen any yet.

Then, the sea began to darken, turning from bright ocean blue to a murky, poisonous green. Once that process finished, the first troubles arrived.

It all started with simple Water Elementals—floating blobs of liquid that formed from pure air. Nowhere near as fast as Isaac or even Harry, but their numbers alone made them quite annoying. That all of them were at least level twenty-five was yet another issue.

Still, they dealt with those pests one way or another. Crimson Deaths. Blood Daggers. Harry's illusions. Anything to slow down their tail and maybe earn an additional level.

Not that the former ever happened. The Elementals were just too tough to die from a single hit, and after getting injured, they always ran. Could they have chased them? Sure, but that would have been a waste of time, especially as most of them escaped straight into the waters below.

There was no way Isaac was risking a dip here of all places.

So overall, the Elementals made their journey harder but not impossible. They just had to be smart about how they used their Viron. As simple as that.

Or so they thought.

Well into their fourth hour of flight, something else burst from the toxic green waters. When Isaac first spotted the creature, he almost laughed. Another serpent? He had lost count of how many of those he had fought lately.

His amusement, however, didn't last long.

The green-blue monster wasn't content with just keeping up with them while swimming. It launched itself into the sky and stayed there, ignoring gravity. Now, that alone wasn't that big of an issue despite the beast being easily over fifty feet long. Unfortunately, it didn't leave the depths without support.

The serpent dragged the sea with it. Dozens of water tendrils joined the Elementals on Isaac's and Harry's tails. Only those were much faster, much like the beast itself.

Thus, the game began. Running was pointless. They had tried that already for the past ten minutes, and not even flying into the clouds accomplished much. The serpent had to die before it brought more potential monsters into play.

And so, after a quick exchange of messages, a plan was made.

Harry would handle the Elementals and buy Isaac enough time to deal with the serpent undisturbed. They could, of course, help each other if needed, but their assigned tasks took priority.

As for how well that was working out?

Isaac would give himself a solid five out of ten. Maybe six. For a 'fish' out of the water, the damn thing was just too fast for his liking.

No other way then. Burnout.

His blood ignited, the reserves in his Core starting to evaporate as his body kicked into higher gear. He dived out of the way of a few more water tendrils chasing him, and transformed mid-air.

But he didn't fall.

Just as another water razor came at him, Isaac conjured a bar of solid blood at his side and yanked himself clear of the attack. How did he manage that? All thanks to his maxed-out Blood Manipulation. Ignoring gravity like this took a lot of focus, but it was quite a useful trick when the agility of his Legacy just wasn't enough.

My turn.

In a flash of red, Crimson Deaths manifested around him. They all shot straight at the serpent flying at him with its jaws wide open. A normal beast would have died right there, but not this one.

Almost faster than an eye could follow, more water tendrils arrived to intercept each spear. Another reshaped to create a temporary barrier in front of the serpent.

Mist of blood filled the sky, and Isaac smiled as gravity reclaimed him. He could have transformed, could have fled, but he didn't.

Come.

As if listening to him, the serpent burst out of the fading crimson cloud, a few feet being all that separated its jaws from Isaac.

Another blood bar snapped into place. Fueled by Burnout and the Symphony, he pulled himself out of the way again, the beast's fangs missing him by inches.

What followed was a blur.

The Root fell into his hands, and he drove it into the serpent's side with all the strength he could muster in his current position. Which wasn't all that much, but still enough for the sword to become an anchor that allowed him to take a ride on the monster's back.

A fact that it realized all too late.

Sacrificial Obliteration.

Isaac's open palm slammed right into the serpent's tough hide. In a blink, the blue-green skin vanished, as did a good chunk of flesh beneath it. A loud, pained roar shook the skies.

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But he wasn't done yet.

Even as the serpent dived, even as he was forced to hold onto his dear life, another charge of Obliteration gathered in his hand. He unleashed it seconds before the beast plunged beneath the surface.

Blood erupted all across its body, the internal mark left behind by the first Obliteration finally coming into play.

Unfortunately, by committing to this tactic, there was no time left for Isaac to escape before the waters closed around him, dark and cold. All he managed was a deep breath as he continued holding onto the Root.

Die, you dumb snake!

His prayers were answered seconds later.

[Elder Sea Serpent (LVL. 28) slain.]

Now! Isaac yelled in his head, reaching for the beast's damaged flesh. Red Puppeteer.

He gasped, some water spilling into his mouth as about half of his remaining Viron vanished just like that. Still, he held firm and waited for his energy to spread over the corpse.

Something clicked in his mind.

He grinned.

Go!

At once, the drowning corpse sprang into action and surged upward. Light pierced the waters, and Isaac broke the surface, fresh air filling his lungs. Nothing he could do about the slimy water still sticking to him, though.

Later, he thought, giving his puppet another order.

It roared and shot into the sky, right toward where Harry was still entertaining the horde of Elementals. The beasts noticed the approach of their superior and scattered, obviously sensing something was very, very wrong.

Isaac snorted and stood up atop the serpent once it came to a stop.

"Need a ride?" he called to Harry.

The ray fish look-alike let out something akin to a bark of laughter and flew down, landing next to him. A moment later, Harry was back in his human form, smiling widely.

"Another wonderful showing, my friend," the man said. "You neglected to mention you could command corpses. Keeping secrets, are we?"

Isaac shrugged. "Doesn't matter. You know now." He gestured at the white mane around the serpent's head. "Hold on tight. Let's see just how fast this thing can go."

Harry listened right away, and once they were both seated, the beast received another order.

Full ahead! Find me a shore.

The serpent did not, in fact, find them a shore. It tore across the waves faster than either of them could fly, but thirty minutes later the horizon was unchanged. By then, Isaac had to release the corpse and give it back to the Overseer.

Still, its speed left him wondering. Had he fought it underwater, he would have been dead in seconds. He had no issue admitting that much.

None of that mattered now, though.

They just transformed back into their Legacies and continued flying in the same direction. Water Elementals descended upon them soon after, but they were a bit slower and weaker than those they had faced before.

A very good sign. Another Safe Zone had to be within reach. Well that, or they had gotten lost during the fighting and were now flying back toward the land of ash.

That would be embarrassing.

One thing is certain. This is an ocean, not a sea…

Night fell an hour after they reached a frozen shore.

Snow, ice, and mountains stretched as far as Isaac could see. Aside from the occasional monster, at least. Strange creatures, those. All made out of dark violet ice that came in every shape imaginable. They even shared the same name.

Blizzard Fury.

Why such a dramatic name for beasts that could barely fight back against him and Harry, Isaac had no idea. And it wasn't like their levels were low. No, every single monster they had killed up to this point was at least level twenty.

Odd, but no reason to complain. Points were points after all.

But where to now? Isaac wondered, overlooking the area using his Legacy. Monsters aren't getting weaker no matter where we go. No Zerians anywhere either. Maybe it's just time to extract?

Extraction in: <7h:21m:11s> | Location reveal in: <14m:32s>

He shook his head. Seven hours. More than enough to still find something. He could consider extraction later.

A bit disappointed, he glided back down to the nice valley where Harry was just finishing a group of Blizzard Furies. It was kind of impressive how the guy used just a dagger—his version of the Root—and illusions of other humans to cut them down.

Isaac's methods were often a bit more brutal.

Each to their own, he thought, landing a few steps behind the other man. "Still nothing. Gotta pick a random direction and keep going."

Harry hummed, dismissing the last of his illusions with the snap of his fingers. "There's something wrong with this place, my dear friend. I can't quite put my finger on it, but my Dreams… they have been oddly silent."

Isaac frowned. He wasn't one hundred percent sure what the man meant by that, but if those "Dreams" worked anything like his Symphony of Blood, he could understand the concern.

He reached for his Legacy. "Let's get out of here then. No stops from now on."

Harry just nodded absently, as though he hadn't really heard him.

Isaac just chalked it up as another of the man's quirks and transformed. Or rather tried to.

Just when his body was about to shift, a wall of shimmering crystals erupted between him and Harry. It grew in a blink, stretching far and wide, and curving overhead until he was sealed inside a vast dome, cut off from the outside.

The hell? He narrowed his eyes, the Root already in his hand.

And then he saw it.

On the opposite side of the dome, a figure slipped out of the wall. At first, it looked like a formless amalgamation of crystals, but then it shifted, reforming into a now-familiar alien.

A Zerian. Female, judging by the softer features.

An ambush? How? Last ping was over fifteen minutes ago. No way they could have predicted our location.

And yet they did. His opponent raised her hands, and twin short crystal blades appeared in them. But those didn't look like pure Origin constructs. More like half-item, half-skill. Maybe even a bit like his Root.

But that's impossible, Isaac thought. They didn't go through the Pioneer trials.

The Zerian opened her mouth and started yelling at him in a language he had no hope of understanding. He got the gist, though. She was angry, furious even. It wasn't hard to guess why.

He huffed. So much for reaching the next Safe Zone before word of his "achievements" spread.

"Fugrah!" the Zerian spat.

Isaac had the distinct feeling it wasn't a compliment. No matter. If she thought he was trapped here with her, she got it wrong. By raising this arena of hers, she just signed her death wish.

"Come then…"

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