Chapter 8: Gladiia

"Laurentina, how are you feeling? Can you still hold on?"

"Of course."

In the deep sea, far away from the Acahualla region, hunters were having a conversation.

After a fierce battle that had lasted for several days.

Victory still belonged to the Abyssal Hunters.

After the battle comes the holiday, but the holiday won't be too long because the activities of Sea Terror and Seaborn are becoming more frequent.

It would take about half a day to swim from here to Acahualla, and it would be great to have a two-day holiday, spending one day on the round trip and having one day left.

"Laurentina, after this battle, we should have three days of rest. How about taking a good rest? We can go to the theater to watch a movie, and you can continue to learn sculpture. I remember you said before that your dream is to become a sculptor."

"Yeah, the wood he gave me is almost carved, and I don't need to borrow any large workbenches, just a small carving knife. If necessary, I can use my circular saw, it's really convenient."

The underwater girl felt her pocket and found that it had torn at some point.

"Huh, did it fall during the battle just now? This is not good."

Laurentina turned around and swam towards the deep water.

"Captain, I'm going to find something, I'll be back soon."

"Wait, Laurentina, don't leave the team without authorization!"

A tall woman saw Laurentina leaving the team and immediately stopped her.

In the deep water, a fearsome fish that had merged with the seabed looked up and saw the girl who happened to fall in front of it.

Faint, fragmented sounds came from the girl's body, making the nearly dying fearsome fish feel an emotion called "anger."

It wanted to peel open this creature!

It wanted to save the one trapped inside this creature's body.

Its own kind!

A thin, hair-thin spike spewed out like a bullet after being compressed by a force strong enough to easily crush a vehicle.

A long spear fell from the sky, piercing through its body.

The girl who was searching for wood carvings swung her circular saw and blocked the attack that was dangerously close.

The second dying fearsome fish roared.

A thin, almost invisible wound appeared on the girl's cheek.

She's bleeding.

...

Boom!

On the open sea, a tremendous roar echoed from afar and drew closer, until a figure burst out of the water's surface like lightning, leaping onto the shore as gracefully as a soaring fish or bird, clearing a waterfall hundreds of meters high.

Even the frigid seawater couldn't cool down the heat radiating from her due to the high-speed ascent. When that figure landed on the ground, the seawater on her quickly boiled and evaporated.

"Garde!"

The tall woman shouted this name with an angry tone. She had originally not paid much attention to a land-dweller; after all, how could a mere land-dweller compete for their affections?

In her eyes, the way Laurentina treated the land-dweller was no different from how one would treat a domesticated pet.

But for the sake of a wood carving gifted by the land-dweller, Laurentina had actually ignored her orders and committed a mistake.

Although the team had managed to leave in time and avoid a major catastrophe, she still had to discipline the team member who had made the mistake; otherwise, how could she maintain authority?

To make matters worse, she had asked Laurentina to hand over the wood carving given by the land-dweller, and Laurentina had refused!

As the captain of an Abyssal Hunter team, Gladiia should have maintained her composure at all times.

But teaching that detestable land-dweller a lesson.

It wouldn't pose any threat to Aegir.

Gladiia's gaze turned icy.

Gladiia had never met Garde, but there was something about him that carried Laurentina's aura.

With just that, she could track him down.

Following the river upstream, Gladiia easily found a towering crocodile person.

Gladiia's hand holding the spear trembled slightly.

The imposing figure made Gladiia feel like she was looking at a mountain of flesh.

Is this the guy that Laurentina likes!?

"Laurentina, do you find that guy good-looking?"

"Good-looking, yes! When I look at him, it's like looking at a beautifully crafted piece of art!"

At this moment, upon remembering what she had asked before, Gladiia suddenly felt like a fool for asking such a question in the first place.

She should have known better; Laurentina, whose mind was filled with sculptures, probably had questionable aesthetics!

However, upon closer inspection, the contours of the crocodile person's muscles layered together in an unusual way, giving off a unique sense of beauty.

Gladiia covered her eyes.

She must have been influenced by spending too much time with Laurentina; even her sense of aesthetics had been tainted.

As the Technical Regent of Aegir, the Chief War Designer of the "Abyssal Hunters" organization, she had once seen an encyclopedia of land-dwellers.

Among the creatures that looked like the one before her, there was a species known as Adakrys, which meant crocodile.

Nevertheless, Gladiia absolutely refused to acknowledge any possible blood relation between this crocodile person and their Aegir.

It was just a similar name.

But enough of that, Gladiia hadn't forgotten her purpose.

"Are you Garde?"

A cold voice rang out above Garde, and when he turned to look, a pale-skinned, white-haired, red-eyed woman with a tall figure stood not far away.

The similar style made Garde think of a certain girl from Aegir, even before he could read the writing on the template.

But then, Gladiia disappeared.

Perhaps "disappeared" wasn't the right word; it was more like her high-speed movement gave Garde the illusion that she had suddenly vanished, as if the scene that had been a hundred meters away had instantly come right in front of him.

Gladiia, who had disappeared in her original location, appeared in front of Garde.

"It seems I haven't mistaken you for someone else."

After Gladiia appeared, her voice followed.

"So."

The spear in her hand traced an arc in the air and swept toward Garde.

"You can die now!"

With a speed that defied logic, the crocodile person hadn't even figured out what had happened, why a member of Laurentina's kind was attacking him, when the sharp spear had already struck him.

It's a direct hit.

Although Gladiia's intention wasn't to kill him, the strike had been forceful enough.

In the distance, smoke dispersed, and the crocodile person, swept dozens of meters away by Gladiia's spear, remained standing in the end.

The crocodile person looked at the gash on his arm, his eyes turning somewhat crimson.

He stared at Gladiia, emitting a low, muffled growl from his mouth.

"Aegirian, are you provoking me?"