Shrouded Seascape

"Forcefully turn on the communicator in Charles' hand! We need to know what he is up to!" O5 Pogro hurriedly instructed his subordinate.

Though a terrifying suspicion had stemmed in his mind, he desperately hoped it was just a mere wild speculation. The thought of it being a reality was too horrifying to consider.

However, Pogro's trembling tendrils around his mouth betrayed his inner emotions.

With a beep, the holographic screen flickered to life, depicting a bizarre, green-hued city before the GK Council members.

The city's buildings seemed to be constructed entirely of green stones too large to have come from Earth. Majestic statues, towering monoliths, and ornate stone reliefs filled the landscape.

The instant O5 Pogro saw these structures, a deathly white colored his face. His worst suspicions had turned into reality!

The edifices at the bottom of the Dark Abyssal Trench were distorted at a dimensional level and defied comprehension, making anyone feel nauseous just by looking at them. The stones themselves also appeared convex at first glance, but they would appear to be concave at second glance.

The edges of the stones seemed bizarre and distorted as well, and the confused mixture of distortion seemed to conceal sinister intent and agitation. The bizarre city seemed endless, stretching endlessly into the distant darkness.

At the heart of the city was a hovering, massive concentric circle array that spanned across an entire plaza. At each of the four corners stood four different individuals:

Swann, the Chosen One of the Feaster.

Lily, who had inherited the power of the Light God.

And Anna, who had consumed a portion of Hypnos…

They were the new keys to unlock the seal and the only ones capable of breaking the seal on Fhtagn.

In the center of the concentric circle array hovered a figure made of light. The figure was only visible to Charles and marked the location of the seal.

From the surrounding chaotic waters, men with eyes sealed by wax manifested and slowly encircled the four individuals. With their foreheads pressed against the ground, bubbles frothed from their mouths as they muttered the lamentations from the New Testament of the Light God.

These men couldn't drown; in Fhtagn's domain, the concept of death was nonexistent.

As the chanting grew louder, the strange inscriptions on the concentric circles began to levitate and soar toward the glowing humanoid figure in the center.

A bright flash of light illuminated the giant green sculptures, the majestic statues, and the intricate stone reliefs, bathing them in a white hue.

At that moment, the entire trench blazed white-hot. The glowing humanoid figure in the center of the array suddenly moved. It turned into a beam of light and plunged directly into the bizarre, sickly green city beneath.

In an instant, the entire city transformed into a giant painting. The edges slowly rolled outward to reveal the space behind it. Beyond the rolled-up canvas was an abyss of absolute darkness. Within it, a hazy figure stirred, though it was barely visible.

The figure was a deformed giant. Its body was adorned with countless eyeball-studded tentacles. Although it seemed incredulously unbelievable, the same message popped into everyone's mind: this giant was bigger than anything possible.

Although they called it a giant, it would be more accurate to describe it as a monster that appeared human. Its head was crowned with numerous tentacles, while its body was coated in a green, scaly, gelatinous substance. It had massive claws for its feet and a pair of narrow wings extended from its back.

Meanwhile, its bloated, corpulent form was pulsating, oozing with an unknown slimy liquid.

The giant was in deep slumber.

And with each inhale and exhale, the surrounding time and space were forcefully ripped apart before rapidly mending themselves again. The slumbering giant was none other than God Fhtagn!

The moment Fhtagn's image appeared on the projection screen, everyone in the Foundation's control room clutched their heads and screamed in agony. In an instant, pandemonium erupted. Some suddenly stopped moving amidst their scream, dropping dead from sheer terror.

Hovering in a corner of the concentric circles array, Charles slowly turned around to look at the metal communicator that was tumbling along with the currents.

"Someone once said that the power of the Divinities can't be harnessed, but I don't think so. Perhaps we may not fully understand what they are, but it's clear enough that you can't handle them.

"I'm saying this once again. Stop Plan Three immediately!" Charles demanded. "Otherwise, every one of us will die along with this entire world!"

The third way Charles had thought of was a desperate last measure of using Fhtagn to intimidate the Foundation. It was a risky move but might also be their only shot at survival. The Foundation had figured out ways to deal with the other Divinities, but clearly, they didn't have any methods at their disposal to deal with Fhtagn.

Unlike the other Divinities roaming the Subterranean Sea, Fhtagn was the real deal.

Silence descended upon the GK Council members as they stared at the scene before them. However, they had no intention of backing off so easily.

T6's terrifying, spider-like head was projected through the communicator.

"Charles, I must say that your action has taken us by surprise. But that's as far as how things will go. Fhtagn isn't so easily awakened. Your mere mortal body won't even be able to get close to it. Don't even think that you can trick us."

As T6 spoke, another member was simultaneously ordering the Foundation's strongest mobile task force to head to the Dark Abyssal Trench at the fastest speed possible.

Charles turned his gaze onto Fhtagn Sawito. Half of its massive body was shrouded in the endless darkness while the other half was revealed. In the brief time that had passed, a significant change had occurred in its appearance.

Fhtagn's body slowly twisted as though a mass of malevolent flesh was merging with it. The narrow wings on its back had mysteriously disappeared.

"Can't be awakened?" A smile played on Charles' lips as he raised his hand slightly. From the side, a pitch-black submarine approached them.

The hearts of the GK Council members pounded wildly against their chests. They felt as though their hearts would burst out of their chests at any moment now as two rapidly spinning torpedoes were fired from the submarine.

The torpedoes streaked across the water and rushed toward Fhtagn.

But just as the torpedoes neared Fhagn, they were shattered into pieces. It was only then did the Foundation members let out a collective sigh of relief.

However, there wasn't a trace of disappointment on Charles' face. Small bubbles escaped from his lips and floated toward the surface.

"Are you thinking that my threat has failed? Don't be too sure. For this moment, I have carefully combed through my old navigational logs.

"You know, you better take this as a lesson and be more careful next time about clearing up all your random experiment data left behind in those ruins.

"Otherwise, someone might just use that data against you one day. Do you remember how the last panel of Foundation members extracted the Divine Blood to create the Light God?"

The hatch to the nearby submarine opened, and a young girl clad in a Gothic dress, swam out. It was 134, and following closely behind her was a gray, misty figure with a bone flute and a green centipede-like creature.

134 had always been fearless, but the moment she saw her surroundings, her face was suffused with evident terror.

Charles nodded subtly at her; she hesitated only for a brief moment before deciding to follow through with his earlier instructions.

The gray misty figure brought the bone flute to its lips and started playing while the green centipede revealed silver threads between its limbs and started plucking them. Following this, the adorable 134 clasped her hands behind her back and began to sing.

134's voice was sweet and pleasant to the ears. Coupled with the flute music of the gray misty figure and the plucking of the green centipede's strings, life was instilled into the song. Every listener could feel the unique emotions embedded within the melody.

The song sang about the joy of new life and an innocent curiosity toward the world. As soon as the melody echoed through the abyss, Fhtagn's breathing suddenly halted in the infinite darkness.

The next second, an indescribable terror washed over everyone in the Subterranean Sea. Their hearts pounded hard against their chests, their pupils dilated, and their breathing quickened.

It was as though some unseen entity was corroding their wills. The strange murmurings that could only be heard by seasoned sailors were now echoing in everyone's mind.

However, the whispers were no longer hazy or difficult to understand. They had become crystal clear, and anyone who focused could grasp the meaning behind them.

For Charles, the murmuring had an even greater influence on him as the tentacle tattoo on his neck began moving.

Black tentacles extended from Charles' neck and spread across him. With each passing second, they grew longer and thicker as they thrashed wildly like living shadows dancing across his skin.