Yan Country, Eastern Sea, outer reaches of the Dragon Bone Sea Trench.
Dozens of exploration ships assembled by Yan Country's major seafaring guilds stood on the brink of destruction.
The sea was no longer blue. It had turned a sickening dark green, and its churning, corrosive waves ate away at the protective arrays around the ships.
"Guild Leader Tide Listener! The shield on the Wave Breaker, third ship on the starboard flank, has been breached! The hull is dissolving!"
"Send for help! Our healing divine arts barely work against the ongoing damage from the polluted seawater!"
"There's something beneath the surface! They're eating through our hulls!"
On the deck of the flagship Sea Suppressor, a man whose ID was Tide Listener gripped a trident, his face dark as a storm.
He was the guild leader of Azure Wave Pavilion and the temporary Commander-in-Chief of the joint fleet.
They had come to investigate the source of the pollution in these waters, only to sail straight into a death trap.
The entire sea had come alive, turning into a monster hungry for prey.
"Order every ship to tighten formation! Channel all available energy into the flagship's main cannon and prepare to fire straight down into the trench!"
Tide Listener gave the order in near despair.
He knew this might be their last chance to strike back.
Conventional attacks were almost useless against the polluted seawater. Only by compressing their energy to its limit might they pose even the slightest threat to the source deep below.
But just as the mage players aboard the warships began channeling energy, a figure appeared above the fleet.
He used no flying item. He simply hovered there, his black robes hanging motionless in the corrosive sea wind.
"Who... who is that?"
The players on deck were the