By Zephyria 
Mage Boulder’s words followed, and I severed the fifth knot.
Even though I was already submerged, a powerful pressure washed over me, as if I’d been struck by a colossal tidal wave. I, who had cleaved mountains of waves with my sword, was pushed back seven paces. The fact was so unbelievable I gaped.
I held my sword upright before me, blocking, and looked back. My companions, clinging to each other to stay upright, all wore looks of bewilderment. Still, it was a small mercy that everyone managed to stay on their feet without toppling.
[Is this right?]
[Yes! It’ll hit harder if you untie the next one!]
What’s coming?
Mage Boulder’s beaming smile and sparkling eyes were highly suspicious.
But there was no putting it off.
He said the next one was the first knot. Though called the first, the distance between knots ranged from a mere meter to three meters. I found the uppermost knot and, cutting through the swift current, pulled myself upward.
Then, I slashed with my sword.
Swoooooosh!
Water rushed in instantly, without regard for my nose or mouth.
[Waaaaaah!]
[Eeeek!]
The Undines protecting the companions had been unable to endure it, letting out strange screams as they were swept away. Once the air bubble around my head vanished, the current was so strong I couldn’t open my eyes. The companions, startled by the sudden turn of events, flailed in panic.
In a frenzy, I grabbed Mage Boulder by the collar and flung him towards the surface.
I was surprised by his unexpectedly solid weight. It seemed others, who had instinctively grabbed Boulder to save the Wizard, had been thrown with him. I wanted to open my eyes and check, but I could only manage to push away the fierce current and sharp, splintered ice fragments.
I swam for my life, but couldn’t tell if I was rising or sinking. I floundered, having lost my direction, until my feet touched a solid bottom. With all my might, I kicked off it and shot upwards.
The surface and the depths alike churned with crashing sounds. It rippled and surged like a sea in a downpour. The Undines, who had been pushed far away, circled in round shapes, hovering nearby to prevent the companions from drifting too far.
The force emanating from the depths below kept pushing the water away, so the storm and the waves hit us head-on. A terrified-looking Undine clung to my cheek. Thanks to it, I could open my eyes and see ahead. I swam in the direction it guided me.
Meanwhile, only the circles drawn by the Spirits remained calm. It was like an aquarium submerged in the turbulent sea. Though the water was shallow, it allowed me to regain my senses.
I counted the number of heads of my companions, who had poked only their faces above the surface like turtles in a fishbowl.
“Gulp! Cough, harrk!”
“Ah, damn it, what is this.”
“Is the Wizard conscious?”
“Ah, he looks like he’s fainted. He’s all limp.”
“His breathing.”
“It probably didn’t fill his lungs. We covered his nose and mouth the moment it happened.”
“Didn’t Spooner kill him?”
“…What? Me…?”
“Don’t make any strange jokes. I’ll try to help him.”
“You seem intent on turning a patient into a critical one…”
Mac Weaber and Andy Spooner were busy tending to Mage Boulder. Andrei went behind Boulder and embraced him. I watched to see what he was doing; he was pressing hard on Boulder’s abdomen and solar plexus, trying to expel all the water from his mouth.
Hugh was clinging to Elvin’s back, coughing incessantly. And the last one.
“Where is Leon?”
Leon had been with me since very early on. He was a generous man who, under the guise of his humble status, always tried to take on all the difficult and rough tasks. How often did one find someone who had reached the realm of Sword Master yet cared more for others than himself?
He was so devout, worthy of the sun’s blessings, that I trusted and relied on him more than others. If he had been lost in battle, it would have been one thing, but I couldn’t bear to lose him in such a trivial accident.
Terrified, I plunged my head into the water. The Spirits still couldn’t go beyond a certain depth. The water outside their circles raged. Among the swirling dark shapes, I couldn’t distinguish between the corpses of Mermaids and Leon, so I just grabbed them and pulled them to the surface.
I suffered three such disappointments. As I plunged into the water again, something grabbed my nape. Hugh Benson gestured with his chin, and I looked over. Elvin Brooks, whom he had somehow rescued, had a limp Leon draped over his shoulder.
Mac Weaber holding Leon and using a healing artifact blurred before my eyes before coming into sharp focus. Relieved, Hugh Benson gave my limp shoulder a firm squeeze and pushed me forward to regain my senses.
Around that time, Boulder also regained consciousness. He shook his head vigorously, his face a mess of red, and shivered.
“Is it over…? Already…?”
“What nonsense are you spouting.”
“The Mana that was entangled… it seems almost, almost all of it has been released.”
“What you mentioned earlier… the fourth knot. That’s the only one left to untie for the seal to be completely broken.”
“Yes, yes. That is true, but…”
Still, seeing everyone unharmed put my mind at ease. I beckoned the Spirits, who had been laughing heartily before suddenly becoming dejected and then bursting into laughter again, and chided them.
“Can you go inside there?”
[Ughh. Too fast, can’t go. Whoosh whoosh flying.]
[It’s a storm! It’s a waterfall!]
[No, waterfalls come from top to bottom. This is waves!]
[Can’t go in strong waves.]
“…I see.”
I couldn’t rely on their help.
“Then I will go in alone, quickly cut the knot, and come back.”
What did he mean by ‘harder’? If I did this one more time, someone would die. I was confident I could endure being hit a few times roughly. What I feared now was not being able to guarantee the lives of those here.
At that, Hugh Benson immediately gestured towards Elvin. Elvin, who approached skillfully parting the water with both arms, met my gaze. Hugh, as if it were natural, placed Elvin beside me.
“In the water, this kid is the best we’ve got.”
“…”
“So take him with you.”
“Huh?”
“I saw you get lost in the water, unable to find your way, you brat. This one can hold his breath underwater for a long time and can handle himself, so drag him along. I and the others will hold the fort up here, and if it gets too much, we’ll spit you out.”
“…Yes. Thank you.”
I ignored the companions’ worried gazes as they looked at Ikyun. As I gripped my sword hilt, intending to dive deep headfirst, Mage Boulder trembled and chattered.
“The second and third, absolutely! You must not touch them! If they break first, the Mana passage will be severed and amplified, rotating in reverse, and the gathered energy…!”
“I know.”
The floating beings gathered closer, as if to protect each other, and retreated backward. My head nodded involuntarily at their satisfied expressions.
Elvin Brooks was indeed very skilled at diving, just as Hugh Benson had boasted.
I received help from his hands, which pushed and pulled me, moving through the current not just with brute force but with skill, bringing me to the correct location. In an instant, we reached the epicenter of the commotion.
I was running out of breath. Without waiting, as I had intended, I brought my sword to the fourth knot. Even underwater, my sword glowed blue.
Gooooo.
A swirling vortex formed in a chilling shape. The current, as if to push me away from touching it, nudged me. I slammed my feet firmly onto the bottom, sinking them up to my ankles. Infusing my sword with energy, I swung it as if to push away quickly. It didn’t cut in one go, so I used force like sawing, repeatedly, two or three times.
Ding.
A sound like a snapped instrument string rang out, and the moment the last knot was severed.
An immense burst of light filled my vision.
Without hesitation, I retreated. Water streams, following the outstretched hands of the Oasis, twisted and writhed, trying to grasp me. Elvin Brooks crawled to the Oasis’s side and tried to speak to it, but it was no use. The god paid Elvin no mind.
The god’s crimson-glowing eyes glared at me.
Without lingering, I kicked off the bottom and shot upwards. I had once thought this water was black. It had been mere moments ago, yet it felt like an eternity. Even with my eyes closed, a kaleidoscope of colors shimmered in my vision as if I were awake.
“Phew…!”
Ten seconds that felt like ten years.
A colossal body, which had followed me to the surface, waved a large hand as if to grab me.
Its flamboyant appearance and skin, shimmering with multicolored light, were the same underwater and above, but its dark blue hair, plastered wetly to its cheek, was grotesque. I stared at the fins that sprouted where its ears should have been, fluttering in the breeze.
I gazed into its wide-open eyes. The eyeballs, originally silver-gray, were now entirely blood-red and gleaming. Something was wrong. It was not an ally, but an enemy.
I recalled the profound fear I had felt the first time I saw the Oasis. I also remembered the god’s gesture, tapping its thigh with a delicate hand while smiling brightly. I remembered its mischievous voice whispering, and its shoulders shrugging as if perplexed.
Ignorance is fear, but knowledge is wonder. Now possessing tens of times more Mana, I could fully read the aura of the mad god standing before me. The power it held was truly wondrous. And now, I was capable of facing it.
I flung myself in the opposite direction of my companions.
As the enraged god’s palm struck the surface, water droplets moved as if alive, trying to trap me. I cut through them with a single slash and fell back, but the wind supported me from below. It was a Sylph. Thanks to the Sylphs’ help, I could barely stand in mid-air.
From that position, I looked up at the god.
What would it feel like to see a waterspout up close?
The Undines cried incessantly, fluttering around us annoyingly. I didn’t know what made them so sad and distressed. My head was filled with the sounds of rain, water, and weeping, threatening to burst.
[No! No, the spring is in pain.]
[This shouldn’t happen, pretty human, you’re bad!]
“Go to the back.”
[I don’t want to…]
“I said go. Hurry!”
[Go! Go away!]
[Don’t hurt Pinky!]
The Sylphs chased away the Undines who were trying to cling to my clothes. Almost simultaneously, a tail the size of a house swept towards me. With the Sylphs’ help, I somersaulted in the air. I fell back in a wide arc, then changed direction in mid-air and retreated to the side.
BOOM!
The god’s tail, unable to catch me, struck the surface. The world shook. The towering jet of water poured down like a torrential rain, pressing me down, and a colossal roar, so loud it made my entire body tingle, pushed me away.
I saw the curse bound around its neck. I could also see and read the dark, murky energy spreading from its seven orifices. I had thought that by coming this far, I would see where its Origin was buried, but I only learned that gods, like Mermaids, could mutate.
A god does not die unless it kills itself.
Therefore, if it is to regain its senses, I must exert some effort.