The True Form of the Loch Ness Monster

The mad conspiracy revealed by that incomplete operation log made the already-chilly air above Urquhart Castle's ruins feel even more oppressive.

Alistair, a scholar who had spent his entire life searching for the truth, sat slumped on the ground, his face deathly pale. He couldn't imagine that the "Guardian Deity" he revered as a god was, in the eyes of these fanatics, nothing more than a pitiful "living supply depot" for carrying out their evil ritual.

The veteran William, meanwhile, looked sickened.

Only Lin Jie was the first to shake off the suffocating words. This was no time for fear or anger. They were the only ones who knew the truth, and the only line of defense against the coming disaster.

"They're sure to act again, and soon," Lin Jie said, breaking the silence. "Their ship may be destroyed, but the log mentioned a backup plan. They'll also realize their base has been exposed after the break-in. Before the authorities discover them and put a stop to it, they'll rush to complete the capture. It'll probably happen tonight or tomorrow."

His assessment rang like an alarm bell, jolting the other two from their stupor.

The most dangerous plan of their expedition soon took shape amid the ruins. They would no longer be conducting a simple investigation or waiting passively to defend themselves. Instead, they would strike first and use themselves as "bait" to disrupt the Eternal Serpent Cult's capture attempt, buying precious time for the "Guardian Deity," who was still in danger and unaware of it.

The night deepened. A thick layer of clouds shrouded the moon, and all of Loch Ness lay in silence.

Just as Lin Jie had predicted, the Eternal Serpent's remaining forces began their final operation.

Three steam launches, much smaller but clearly faster than the previous survey ship, slipped out of a heavily concealed natural cave on the lakeshore. Their engines had been specially modified to run quietly, producing only a faint hum as they moved across the water, making them difficult to detect.

Each launch was fitted with one of the "steam whaling cannons" they had seen before, capable of firing enormous harpoons. Faint alchemical runes shimmered along the barrels.

They had brought all their forces to bear.

But this time, Lin Jie and the others were no longer passive observers. They piloted a steam fishing boat that the scholar had cleverly disguised in the same fashion, trailing the three launches from a distance like a crocodile lurking in the dark.

William handled the helm, the scholar operated his Ear of the Lake to monitor the underwater sounds, and Lin Jie stood at the bow, serving as the team's "eyes" and "brain."

"They're heading toward the middle of the lake, and their target is clear," Lin Jie said, watching their formation through a telescope. "The three boats have formed a perfect equilateral triangle around it. Their earlier survey must have let them pinpoint the Guardian Deity's general resting place."

Just then, the scholar's face twisted in pain beneath the Ear of the Lake he had kept pressed to his head. He struggled to speak. "I... I hear an incredibly high-pitched, grating sound! It's like thousands of needles stabbing into my brain! They... they're attacking the bottom of the lake with some kind of sound we can't hear!"

Infrasound?!

Lin Jie immediately understood what they were doing.

This sound, beyond the range of human hearing, might not be able to inflict direct physical harm on the thick-skinned UMA, but it was more than enough to torment its nervous system with unbearable irritation and pain.

It was a more malicious, but also more efficient, way to drive it out than the earlier explosions!

Sure enough, just as the scholar sounded the warning, a huge bulge swelled upward from the lake's mirror-still surface.

Then, with a roar filled with pain and fury, the lake exploded!

A being that defied every known biological term finally revealed its true form beneath the cold moonlight, after humanity's endless provocations had roused it for the first time in a thousand years!

It was no plesiosaur, nor any humped monster.

Its lower half remained hidden in the lake's unfathomable depths, beyond anyone's view. Yet the mere sight of the dozens-of-meters-long back rising above the water, winding like a mountain, was enough to rob any mortal who saw it of the ability to think!

Its body was no solid mass of flesh or scales. It was a wondrous aggregation, somewhere between pure energy and translucent matter.

Its "skin" was a flowing galaxy made up of countless stars. Within its body, points of light drifted slowly, appearing and disappearing.

It had no fixed shape. Its outline shifted in graceful, wave-like ripples with every passing second.

Rising high above its enormous back was a majestic head, also composed of blue starlight. It had no features, yet its "gaze" was unmistakable.

Its shape bore a faint resemblance to the dragons of Western mythology, but was more abstract, imbued with the sacred beauty of nature itself.

This was the true form of the "Guardian Deity of Loch Ness": a magnificent, half-elemental life-form, glowing with soft blue light like a living galaxy!

As it appeared, a vast spiritual field, filled with both fury and majesty, spread outward. Every launch and boat on the lake seemed to be held down by an enormous hand, unable to move even an inch!

The members of the Eternal Serpent Cult didn't show the slightest fear at the sight of the divine being's arrival. Instead, their eyes blazed with frenzied greed!

"Praise the supreme Primordial! The Primordial Dragon Species... it has finally appeared!" A black-robed cultist who looked like the leader raised both arms and shouted like a madman from the lead launch. "All units, prepare! Activate the Dragon-Binding Chains! Today, we shall accomplish the divine binding!"

The steam whaling cannons on all three launches aimed at the newly emerged elemental being and fired with a deadly roar!

Three enormous harpoons, thicker than stone pillars and glowing with dark golden runes, hurtled through the night sky toward the UMA, dragging behind them steel chains engraved with the same runes!

But what happened next left everyone stunned.

The lethal harpoons, each powerful enough to pierce the thickest whale blubber, passed straight through the Loch Ness Monster's energy-made body without resistance. They caused no damage, as if they had struck a phantom, and finally plunged uselessly into the lake behind it.

This UMA was immune to all purely physical attacks!

"Fools! It's useless!" the black-robed leader cursed again, raving. "Activate the 'rune resonance'! Anchor its existence to the material world!"

At his command, the dark golden runes engraved on the three steel chains in the water suddenly lit up. An alchemical field of "confinement" and "binding" formed rapidly around them, creating a huge triangular spiritual cage that tried to trap the UMA inside!

Lin Jie knew they couldn't wait any longer. If the cage was allowed to take shape, the consequences would be disastrous!

At that critical moment, the great elemental being seemed to have finally exhausted the last trace of mercy it had shown as the lake's Guardian Deity.

Its featureless head slowly turned toward the three hostile launches, and an emotionless, absolute indifference settled upon the fanatical cultists.

Then it opened its "mouth," made of light.

It made no sound.

But in that instant, the entire Loch Ness began to boil violently!