The black mist swirled like a frantic tornado, tapering as it descended towards Wilder. By the time it reached him, the stream was only as thick as an arm, entering his body with the strange gentleness of a feather settling.
Simultaneously, the dense black mist filling the vast underground cavern rapidly diminished, visibly shrinking with each passing second.
Claire, Yves, and Bacon watched Wilder, enveloped in the swirling blackness, with unconcealed tension and worry etched on their faces.
As more and more of the black mist flowed into him, the intense pain Wilder felt seemed to lessen, perhaps through habituation, or maybe because he was reaching a saturation point. It finally subsided to a level that was… bearable.
Of course, "bearable" was strictly relative to Wilder himself. Only someone experiencing it firsthand could truly know the depth of the agony. Perhaps… it was comparable to the pain of childbirth.
Wilder, having never given birth, had no real concept of how painful it truly was, but based on its fearsome reputation, he imagined it must be genuinely agonizing.
He'd heard it described as feeling like ten ribs breaking simultaneously – a claim likely made irresponsibly by someone lacking firsthand experience, he mused wryly. Unless, of course, the person saying it had actually suffered ten broken ribs at once.
The rate at which he absorbed the black mist gradually slowed. Wilder could clearly feel a sense of fullness, not physically, but emanating from his soul, or perhaps somewhere else entirely.
As this sensation grew stronger and clearer, the black mist tornado began to collapse, the whale-like inhalation ceasing abruptly.
Roughly half of the black mist still remained in the cavern when Wilder finally stopped absorbing it. The remaining mist seemed to hesitate for a moment, then abruptly changed direction, flowing rapidly towards the small, cuffed creature on the ground and merging into its body.
Unlike Wilder's dramatic absorption, this process was silent and unobtrusive, yet incredibly fast – even faster than Wilder's own rate. In less than five minutes, every last trace of black mist in the cavern had vanished, completely absorbed into the small creature's form.
The underground space instantly brightened, feeling open and clear, like the sky after storm clouds have dispersed.
The sound of rushing water became audible again. Bacon, Claire, and Yves looked up, noticing for the first time a large pool constructed near the ceiling, apparently made of glass and filled with water. Pipes seemed to circulate the water, feeding it in one side and letting it flow out the other.
"Could it be…" Bacon suddenly muttered, recalling the fountain in the town square above.
"It must be the fountain," Claire confirmed. "Looks like we're directly beneath the square."
The trio then turned their attention back to Wilder.
The last few lingering wisps of black mist swirled around him before finally being drawn into his body. At last, everything settled.
Gurgle!
Suddenly, clumps of swamp, each about the size of a fist, began to detach and fall from Wilder's body onto the ground below. He remained perfectly still, the only movement the continuous dropping of these swampy lumps. He looked like a humanoid statue completely coated in a thick layer of mud.
Plap! Plap! Plap! Plap!
The swamp clumps made crisp plopping sounds as they hit the ground. They would splatter slightly on impact, then immediately pull themselves back together into cohesive blobs.
"What's happening?" The trio stared, completely bewildered by the scene.
A motionless mud-man continuously shedding lumps of swamp – it was undeniably bizarre.
Plap!
Another clump fell. They initially paid it little mind, but soon…
Their eyes widened in unison!
"That seemed… wrong," Bacon stammered, trying to recall the exact moment the last clump landed, his eyes fixed on it with stunned disbelief.
"Mm," Claire agreed slowly. "Just now… it seemed to move. That clump of swamp."
"Not seemed," Yves stated flatly. "It did move."
The three stared intently at the most recently fallen swamp clump, their expressions a mixture of confusion and disbelief, watching it closely.
Gurgle!
It was confirmed. The fist-sized blob of swamp was definitely moving, wriggling and twitching slightly, behaving like a living thing.
After another stunned moment, Bacon asked hesitantly, "Did the boss just… give birth?"
SMACK! This time, Claire didn't need to act. The newly animated swamp clump flew up and splattered directly onto Bacon's face.
Bacon fell backward stiffly, wisely choosing to remain silent this time.
Wilder opened his eyes. He cast an expressionless glance at the downed Bacon, then turned and walked towards the small, cuffed creature still lying on the ground.
Shluk! With a flick of his wrist, a sharp spear – presumably formed from swamp or hardened earth – materialized and plunged into the creature's chest. Wilder didn't even spare it a second look. He had briefly considered keeping it alive earlier, but now… weighing the potential future risks and unknown consequences, decisiveness seemed the better course.
Killed was killed.
The small creature struggled weakly for a few moments, its eyes wide, a trickle of blood escaping its lips. Its body gave a few final twitches, then lay still.
Swamp erupted from beneath Wilder's feet, forming into a thick pillar, roughly the diameter of two people hugging, that began to rotate rapidly as it ascended.
In an instant, it reached the cavern ceiling. Its rotation speed increased dramatically!
"Earth Tornado Drill Spear!"
Crrrssshhh! The sound of grinding stone filled the cavern as the swamp drill bit into the ceiling. Rock fragments, dust, and debris rained down.
The swamp drill spear punched straight upwards, blasting a clean, circular hole through the hard stone roof of the underground chamber.
As the drilling swamp fell away, bright light poured down from above.
With a series of powerful thumps, Wilder used Moon Walk to ascend through the newly created opening. His calm voice drifted down to the trio below: "Withdraw."
"Yes, Boss."
Claire immediately followed, using Moon Walk to ascend after him. Bacon looked over at Yves, flashing a fawning, hopeful smile.
"Hmph!" Yves turned away disdainfully, his expression as cold and impassive as ever. He opened his hands, and a thin membrane appeared between them.
Once again, the onlookers witnessed the strange spectacle of Yves inhaling deeply, though this time he was drawing in air, not swamp. His belly visibly inflated. With a controlled exhale, a balloon began to inflate rapidly. Bacon chuckled smugly and quickly positioned himself beside Yves.
The balloon expanded, enclosing both of them, and began to rise slowly. Yves, apparently still needing to vent some air, continued to exhale into the balloon, but angled the expulsion downwards, using the escaping air like a jet to propel the balloon upwards and forwards.
The air outside felt infinitely better than the stale, charged atmosphere below. Sunlight streamed down, the fresh air of dawn caressing their faces – it felt wonderful.
Yes, daybreak had arrived.
Ashin stood waiting at the edge of the hole in the ground, flanked by the dozens of crew members who had remained with the ship. The commotion from Wilder breaking through the ceiling had clearly alerted them, and they had rushed over from the tavern entrance area. Relief washed over their faces as they saw Wilder and the others emerge safely.
Bacon spotted Ashin immediately, his eyes widening. "Holy crap! Ashin, you bastard, how are you still alive?!" he exclaimed incredulously.
Ashin merely gave Bacon a bland, dismissive glance and chose not to reply.
In truth, Wilder had known for some time that Ashin was alright, so his reappearance wasn't a surprise. In fact, Wilder himself had instructed Ashin to wait at the exit point as a precaution against any final traps the mastermind might have laid – a precaution that now seemed unnecessary.
As it turned out, Ashin had never truly vanished. He and the crew had encountered the black monsters back at the Black Serpent. Realizing they couldn't kill the creatures, Ashin had made the decisive call to retreat. During their withdrawal, he discovered the monsters seemed unable or unwilling to enter seawater. He led the crew into the ocean, swimming away from the shore. It was then that Ashin stumbled upon a hidden passage beneath a small reef near the coast – a passage that led directly into the underground cavern system connected to the town square.
He had cautiously explored the passage. Just as he was nearing what he presumed to be the lair of the creature Wilder had captured, he and his men were ambushed by more monsters. They retreated again. Ashin was attempting to find a way to report his findings to Wilder when he was intercepted or blocked, forcing him to use the underground river system to hide. Eventually, he and Wilder had encountered each other back at the fork in the tunnels.