Did I disturb you? (Part 1)

The Sixth Layer, its deepest reaches—

This was the very bottom of Sandra’s Abyss, where it overlapped with the material world, and the deepest point ordinary individuals could ever hope to reach.

The air hung heavy, as if permeated by a viscous black oil. The twisted ground seemed to ripple with a strange gravity, littered with scattered stones.

Each stone was covered in swirling patterns, countless small vortices connecting to form massive, intricate whirlpools. Staring at any single spot for too long would inevitably induce a dizzying disorientation.

Venturing deeper still meant confronting an endless ‘darkness.’ To press onward, to delve further into that gloom, required one’s body and mind to remain intact against its encroaching dissolution.

Those who succeeded would arrive at a place perilously close to the Sea of Imaginary Numbers. The inherent danger was self-evident.

Anyone with an overall ability rating below A-class who dared to venture so deep would, in essence, face a journey of no return.

“I truly despise this wretched place,” Paris grumbled as he tossed Aimira onto the ground.

A short distance away, the tense Justin had already retrieved the Abyss Seed.

It was a black, elastic sphere, roughly the size of a tennis ball, with a texture akin to konjac. Wrapped in a film resembling plastic cling wrap, it bore a small note that read: ‘Handle with care!’

“I implore you, Lady Nicoviss…”

Justin peeled back the cling wrap, and the sphere immediately bounced to life. After a single rotation, it ‘adhered’ itself to the space, creating a visual effect much like black chewing gum stuck to glass.

He murmured something under his breath, and the Abyss Seed began to gurgle and foam.

“Good… It’s absorbing the abyss’s energy, slowly forming a subspace rift. Normally, that would take—”

“—about a month, I know! Aren’t your Venerable Lords supposed to be incredibly powerful? Can’t they speed it up?”

“Lady Nicoviss is certainly formidable, but the Abyss Seed operates by using the abyss’s turbulent currents to birth tiny offspring that erode the dimensional barrier. There has to be a process.”

“What kind of cryptic setup is that…”

“If you’re so impatient, then contribute the Subspace Crystal. With its blessing, the rift could form instantly.”

“If we expend the crystal’s energy now, what happens if the subspace demon emerges and we can’t successfully contract it? We’ll be in deep trouble then!”

“That would be your problem.”

“Damn it! You talk as if you have no interest in subspace demons at all. Aren’t you here for this very thing?”

“Obtaining a subspace demon would certainly be beneficial, but if we don’t… that’s not for you to question. You only need to know that we have our own objectives and have no desire to argue with you.”

“Hmph, fine then. But I’ve noticed you’ve been quite agitated ever since we descended into the abyss. Distracted, even.”

“…Is there a problem?”

“Hey, Justin, when we were confronting Dochido earlier, you peeked, didn’t you?”

“Why would I need to peek?”

“You liar, you absolutely did peek—huh?”

Suddenly, Paris sensed something. Justin did as well, startled at first, but then letting out a sigh of relief after a careful assessment.

“They’re approaching…”

“Ha, they certainly took their sweet time!”

“Still, is your companion, Parashana, truly reliable? She doesn’t seem to be a member of Dawn’s Light, does she?”

“She’s a mercenary I know well, having collaborated with Dawn’s Light several times. She’s a bit simple-minded, will do anything for money, and most importantly, she never asks questions she shouldn’t.”

“…That’s good then.”

On the ground of the Abyss’s Fifth Layer, two women and a female dragon were locked in a fierce battle. The trio moved like a destructive whirlwind, leaving chaos in their wake.

Abyssal Beasts occasionally caught in their path were frequently injured by friendly fire, making it impossible to discern who was human and who was monster.

Unaided by drone boosters, Jadette glided rapidly close to the ground, while the giant dragon and the other woman followed her like shadows. Their division of labor was clear.

An Meng relentlessly flapped her wings, unleashing a rain of fire and an incessant barrage. Jadette already found it troublesome to evade these flames, and then there was also—

“I~ thought~ you~ alchemists~ were~ all~ rather~ frail~”

The girl named Parashana moved with the speed of a phantom. With a distracting flash of her irritating, tanned skin—the distance between her dagger and Jadette instantly vanished!

Jadette dodged immediately. Though her artificial spinal cord compensated for the natural human body’s lack of reflex speed, her opponent’s attack was simply too swift!

The dagger left a savage gash on her shoulder. The Relic Reversal Circuit had offered almost no defense, despite being capable of directly blocking a Dragonkin’s full-force punch!

‘That dagger is no ordinary weapon… Who exactly is this person? Another demon, perhaps? Or a remnant of Dawn’s Light?’

“Hey, hey, don’t you dare forget about me! Zodiac Meteor!!!”

!!

A dazzling flame crystal plummeted with a crash. In a mere 0.05 seconds, Jadette completed a sequence of actions—reloading, chambering, aiming.

The highly compressed coolant, ‘Glass Flower,’ collided head-on with the meteor. First, the flames exploded outward—then, the fierce blaze was swept away by frost, solidifying into a small iceberg that staunchly blocked the attack!

‘Behind me—!’

Jadette dared not be careless in the slightest. She snatched a test tube from her belt with lightning speed and hurled it behind her. The rapidly approaching Parashana parried it away with her dagger.

However, this time, the thrown test tube automatically detonated the moment it neared her, splashing acid—powerful enough to instantly vaporize plexiglass—all over her!

“Oh dear~~~~ how annoying~~~~~”

Yet, she merely let out a theatrical cry. The meager strips of fabric that barely covered her chest and hips were utterly incinerated, revealing a tantalizing display that would capture the gaze of any man or woman.

Still, not a single mark was left on her skin.

‘What incredible physical resilience! That acid should have been strong enough to burn through dragon scales… And yet…’

“Oh my, oh my, with no clothes to bind them, my little bits of flesh just bounce and jiggle~ Ah, but you wouldn’t understand, would you? It’s really wonderful~ Having small breasts must be so nice~~”

She leaned forward, using both arms to lift and display two massive mounds of flesh, swaying them provocatively before Jadette.

“What is there to be proud of with that excess flesh?!”

In a surge of anger, Jadette raised her shotgun and pulled the trigger—but Parashana’s body abruptly lost all tension and sank, pushing off the ground to leap out of the blast radius.

Her movements were eerily fluid; the slightest lapse in Jadette’s attention would see her vanish from sight, only to reappear perilously close the moment Jadette regained focus.

This time, however, Jadette was prepared. She crushed a flashbang hidden between her fingers, and in the instant Parashana’s movements faltered, she seized her arm!

“Oh my, so eager to get close to me~?”

“Shut up—”

“But I still quite fancy getting close to you!”

!?

Jadette was just about to crush her elbow joint when Parashana’s arm suddenly bent in an utterly impossible direction. In that instant, it was as if all the bones in her entire arm had vanished!

With a twist and a turn, she yanked her arm free, then backhanded with her dagger, piercing Jadette’s hand. Jadette had to detonate a second flashbang to barely create some distance!

‘Her joints can twist at will… It’s as if she has no joints at all. Does she possess Naga blood?’

However, none of these were the true problems for Jadette. The crux of the matter still lay with—

‘These daggers…’

Even with her discerning eye, she couldn’t identify the daggers’ material or craftsmanship. An exceptionally potent close-combat martial art, combined with a body stronger than a Dragonkin’s, and daggers that exceeded her defensive limits, made Parashana Jadette’s ultimate nemesis.

“Yaaaaa—Hooooo!!!!!”

Before one wave subsided, another rose. A blazing dragon claw descended from above, smashing the abyssal ground with a single strike! Parashana leaped back and forth amidst the rising debris, launching a 360-degree assault on Jadette, giving her no respite to use her tools!

In this overwhelmingly one-sided engagement, Jadette fought and retreated, unknowingly delving deeper into the Sixth Layer! This was already an extreme depth, and even Jadette felt profoundly uncomfortable remaining here.

“Our esteemed guest has finally arrived? You’ve kept us waiting!”

Just then—

A familiar male voice suddenly echoed from the darkness.

“For your flames—”

Paris snapped his fingers with a sharp crack—

“—add a dash of pure oxygen!”

Simultaneously, Parashana promptly retreated, while An Meng spewed forth a massive gout of dragonfire.

BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

…

…

…

…

“…Tsk… What a truly… formidable… display…………”

Jadette barely managed to stand on trembling knees.

Paris, An Meng, and Parashana formed an equilateral triangle, effectively surrounding her.

A former second-in-command of a terrorist organization and a wanted criminal responsible for tens of thousands of deaths, a Venerable Lord’s direct general with significant standing among the demons, and an assassin of unknown origin but astonishing power, boasting a hundred percent critical hit rate with a tanky build—it was truly a dream team.

Just behind Paris, Aimira lay limp on the ground, filthy and unconscious. Beside her, a black, fleshy mass was actively eroding space, appearing utterly grotesque.

In contrast, Jadette’s face, hair, and neck bore varying degrees of burns. The skin covered by her bodysuit was also scalded by the intense heat.

This, however, was not the main concern; repairing her skin would be effortless for her. The critical issue lay elsewhere…

‘Pure oxygen…’

“Hmph hmph hmph…”

Paris chuckled ominously, drawing a magic circle of blood. From the surrounding air, he purged all other gases, including nitrogen and carbon dioxide, creating a pure oxygen environment that constantly enveloped Jadette.

Even if Jadette exhaled carbon dioxide, he would instantly remove it. Only pure oxygen filled her lungs, and her breathing mask had already been destroyed in the previous battle.

Even worse was the air pressure… likely exceeding five atmospheres.

Even a child knew that pure oxygen was a potent poison. In a pure oxygen environment at one atmosphere, an ordinary person could survive for about 24 hours. At three or more atmospheres, survival was limited to mere minutes.

At five atmospheres… had Jadette’s body not been enhanced, she would have instantly perished.

‘When the tiger falls into the sun, it is bullied by dogs’—this old saying surfaced in Jadette’s mind. Tools, tools, tools. An alchemist’s true calling was never direct combat.

Without a sufficient supply of alchemical tools brought in advance, even the greatest genius would be unable to unleash their full potential.

At the very least—she had to take down Paris first!

With that thought, Jadette immediately raised her gun, pointing it at Paris—

[Miss Jadette…]

!?

Aimira, lying on the ground, caught her attention.

She had awakened at some unknown point.

She mouthed the words—

[To the… upper right… 46° angle… shoot!]