Submission

"I... I don't know..."

Pasi struggled to force the words from his throat. "It... it's forcing me..."

"Where is Lucius? Speak!"

Donald threw Pasi to the ground and pressed the walking stick in his hand against his throat.

"I don't know..."

"I really don't know... It... it's all because of it... the Deep Sea Watcher... It's been forcing me..."

Pasi's voice sounded almost like he was crying.

Suddenly, he coughed a few times, then vomited murky seawater from his throat.

"Urgh... urgh... It... it's here!"

A flood of seawater spread through the room. A sea fish wriggled out of Pasi's mouth, followed by an octopus and a mass of seaweed.

"Urgh! Urgh!"

Pasi clutched at his throat, his eyes bloodshot.

Suddenly, his head burst like a watermelon. A monster covered in scales, resembling a mermaid but far more vicious, crawled out through the gaping hole in his upper body.

Donald hurriedly backed away.

Anyone who witnessed this would have thought the laws of the physical world were beginning to crumble.

But he had been through too much to be caught unprepared.

The moment Pasi started vomiting seawater, Donald had fled the bedroom. By the time the monster appeared, he had already reached the front door.

"Gurgle! Gurgle!"

The hideous fish-man-like monster blew bubbles from its mouth. Its hind legs were powerful, and it leaped forward with a sudden burst.

Smack!

It punched straight through the wooden wall, hurtling toward Donald like a cannonball.

"Get back!"

Donald swept his cloak.

Whoosh!

A current of water appeared, forming a transparent, resilient membrane.

The sea monster slammed into it. Its tremendous force made the membrane buckle at once, its webbed hand stopping just a hair's breadth from Donald.

Bang!

But in the very next instant, as if a bowstring drawn taut had suddenly