Black Online-Chapter 68: Sea Tower Key

"This should be the place!"

Machary said as he looked over the board at the water and saw some old ruins at the bottom of the sea. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

He then took off his shirt and pants—only standing in his briefs—and Poppy immediately looked away, blushing furiously.

"You are around girls, you know!"

Abigail shouted.

"Eh, sorry. I got eight sisters, so it was pretty natural for me."

Machary scratched the back of his head awkwardly, and then he looked at Abigail with a sly smile.

"You should also take off your clothes, you know. You don’t want to get those clothes wet, now do you?"

"...These magician’s robes are waterproof, you absolute moron."

Abigail said with an annoyed gaze, and without further ado, she jumped into the water and disappeared beneath the surface with a quiet splash.

"...You miss all the shots you don’t take."

Machary whispered with a wry smile and jumped off the boat after her and quickly disappeared beneath the surface as well.

With their legs kicking and arms propelling them forward, they swam towards the ruined town and soon after arrived at the Sea God’s Tomb.

They entered and arrived in some kind of chamber, where there wasn’t water, and they could breathe again.

"Ahhhh! I almost passed out!"

Machary climbed out of the water and looked around the chamber but, in that moment, found a blue flower blooming under a crack in the stone.

The flower had a blue-colored key embedded in its petals.

"Sea Tower Key!"

Machary shouted.

With quiet and hesitant steps, Abigail went and retrieved the key from the flower. She immediately stored it inside her inventory.

At that moment, the chamber started shaking, and water started filling the places from every crevice.

"WHO DARES TO STEAL FROM THE SEA GOD?"

An angry sound shook the place, followed by a deafening roar that echoed through the chamber.

At that moment, a trident-wielding seahorse appeared before them in a burst of bubbles, and he looked ready to unleash his wrath upon the intruders.

’...The guardian.’

Machary thought while he held his breath.

In that moment, Abigail brought out her grimoire and cast "Magic Armor" around hers and Machary’s heads.

It made it so that they could breathe again.

"Ah... That’s a nice use of your skill!"

Machary admired.

"We’re at a great disadvantage when it comes to fighting in the water. We must escape somehow!"

Abigail shouted.

"Nah, we fight!"

Machary pulled out his sword, activated "Duelist Instinct," and swam straight towards the seahorse.

The seahorse’s trident and his sword made contact. The sparks flew. It seemed very even for a moment.

At that moment, the seahorse used its natural advantage, swam to the backside of Machary, and thrust his trident towards his side.

At the last moment, Machary parried the strike to the side and then tried slashing his head off, but the seahorse was far too quick.

"Magic Missile!"

Abigail fired powerful spells at the seahorse, but even her magic attacks were slow underwater, and thus, he was easily able to dodge them all.

"Cast an Earth Wall behind the seahorse!"

Machary shouted.

"Why?"

Abigail asked.

"Just do it!"

She didn’t know why, but she did just like he asked, and an Earth Wall rose behind the seahorse like a looming mountain.

Machary kicked his legs through the water, swam towards the seahorse, and tried slashing, but once again, he just swam past.

The seahorse swam to his backside, trying another thrust of his trident, and this time around, it looked like it would hit.

In that moment, Machary turned around, touched the Earth Wall with his legs, and crouched till he was in a jumping stance.

"SUPER JUMP!"

Machary propelled off the Earth Wall, caught the seahorse by surprise, and his sword sank deep into his scaly skin.

"Arghhhhh!"

The seahorse gurgled on his own blood and started sinking to the bottom of the chamber, and Abigail finished him off with several bombings of her "Magic Missile" skill.

"...Well done."

Abigail said as she looked at Machary.

All this time, she had believed that he was just a stupid boy who was a goofball with no actual skill or ability.

This proved her wrong.

He was very powerful.

’...I thought Fang Raon was the stronger one, but maybe it is actually Machary, or at least they are extremely close to each other’s strength.’

"Hehe, thanks!"

Machary brought his sword back to his inventory.

...

The boat rocked back and forth as the small waves crashed against the hull.

It was silent on the deck, as nobody was really speaking.

While waiting for Machary and Abigail to come back, Poppy was just admiring the sight of the crystal-clear water below.

Ragnar was swinging his axe around as he was training, and Fang Raon was just sitting and enjoying the peaceful moment.

Splash!

In that moment, Abigail’s and Machary’s heads popped out of the water, and they climbed back to the deck.

"You got the key?"

Fang Raon asked.

"We got it!"

Machary said with a smile, and he quickly dried himself off and put his clothes back on.

Abigail reached her hand to her inventory, pulled out the beautiful-looking blue key, and showed it to them.

"We can head straight to the tower now!"

Machary shouted.

With a nod, Ragnar put his axe down and pulled the anchor from the sea and steered the boat in the direction of the tower.

The tower was already visible on the horizon. It was a massive structure. It was shaped like a spike, looming menacingly against the darkening sky.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

"...What is that sound?"

At that moment, Poppy asked.

It made everyone stop whatever they were doing, and they could also hear strange "swooshing" that sounded like something was moving through air.

"Watch out!"

Ragnar shouted, and he pulled out his massive shield from his inventory and protected Poppy behind his back.

In that moment, arrows came crashing down on the boat, drilling holes through the hull, and kept smashing into his shield.

Spurt!

A couple of arrows pierced Fang Raon’s hide armor, but didn’t reach his flesh, but couple hit his shoulder and shed blood.

Abigail hid inside the cabin, and Machary fended off the arrows with his sword, but he couldn’t parry them all, and one struck his leg, causing him to stumble.

"Who the hell?!"

Machary screamed angrily.

In that moment, they saw a boat heading their way, and there were a couple familiar faces on board, whom Poppy and Fang Raon recognized.

"...Haha, should’ve expected as much."

Fang Raon chuckled and pulled the arrows out of his shoulder.

"Ah... No..."

Poppy trembled in fear.

In the same moment, the boat started getting filled with water, and it was slowly sinking with each passing second.

"We only want Poppy and the Sea Tower Key. If you give them to us, we’ll let you live!"

Lucas said with a smirk.

Since they weren’t in the city anymore, they weren’t in the Safe Zone, so attacking other players was acceptable.